Dominic Smith Delivers Decisive Double in Dramatic Win Over Marlins

00:00:19
Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the hem A Territory podcast. My name is Sean Covid. Hope, wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you are having a great Tuesday evening. If you're a Brave band, you certainly should some drama. Seemed like it was going to be the same sort of script as it was on Monday night, but this time around the Braves were able to get the job done a cot from behind victory over the Marlins six to five. Again, it seemed like much of the same setup from Monday evening, but the Braves, the way that they have been able to win games pretty consistently early in the season late and eat production. It's some come from behind magic. They were able to do it once again once again with me. He's what about good friends? My podcast partner, what are the best? When it comes to breaking down the Braves? Steven Pulbert, Steven, how are you ser?

00:01:08
Speaker 2: What's up? Buddy? Here we are again twenty four hours later. Obviously, last night was not the most fun we've ever had watching the Braves. Tonight was wild. What a wild game. It looked like it was just gonna be the most frustrating one run loss felt like we watched that loss about eighty times last year, where like the team just couldn't score, and like there was one run, but that one run felt like twelve runs, and like the offense just couldn't get anything going, felt like we were gonna do it again. And then Tom Smith and of course we're going to talk about the whole game, but man, just what a what a fun win is kind of a theft if I'm being honest, and but you take them, and we didn't get a lot of them last year. We hadn't got a lot of them last two years, to be honest with you, these comeback wins. The Braves used to be known for this. So yeah, just a really fun.

00:01:52
Speaker 1: Night, absolutely, and I think he hit the deal on the head of you know, something to get We're looking for these, these small but signs indications that this team this year is not what it was in twenty twenty five or for much in twenty twenty four. Not necessarily going to be convinced we're close to what we were in twenty two or twenty three yet, but what makes us better, what makes us closer to potentially being a team that we can believe can make the playoffs and survive in the playoffs, and the ability to be able to come from behind and get wins is a big reason why. But beyond the ability to come from behind, perhaps the most pleasant development of the season so far has been the subject of our Mixed it Up segment. It's Dob Smith and we're about to mix it up all about him. Engineered by fasten All. It is no surprise that all Dob Smith has been delivered all season long. Now, what's backtrack a bit. Let's go back a month or so as we're looking at spring trading. I believe it was around this time, an maybe it was a little bit more than a month, but it was about this where we were still kind of really you know, from the news that Jerks and Profar was going to be suspended. He was going to be out for the season. When it came to, you know, being suspended for PDS for the second straight year, so feth the Braves are less grambling. What were they going to do to try to fill that hole in their line of And as we were, as many of us as we speculated for weeks on weeks on this show saw many different possible out you know, possible ways to go in social media. Things such as that saw beat writers speculating what have you. Don Smith just kept producing in spring training, just kept producing, kept producing, and it could not have transitioned to the season more beautifully. Of course, I believe it was the second game of the year where he hit that you know, go ahead grand slam against the Royals, and he has just kept producing. It has been exactly what the Braves needed when we have these cold streaks. It's the bottom of the order producing that allows for us to be able to bounce back. And that's exactly what he's done time and time again.

00:04:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been unbelieve I mean, it's just one of the greatest story. I mean, I listen, I get that it's probably not gonna last for one hundred and sixty two games, but like even if it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Like this has just been one of the coolest stories. Like what happened. You know, obviously he lost a parent in spring and like it was just this devastating loss. He kind of makes the team unexpectedly because of the profi stuff, and not only is he on the team, but like he's the primary DH against right handed pitching, which means he's the strong side of the platoon basically where he's gonna play a bunch and you know, the two big moments, of course, the walk off Grand Slam and then the Big Three Run Double Tonight, and we're gonna talk about the whole game as we go through this episode. The Big three Run Double Tonight. Obviously, those are the moments that everybody remembers. But for me, what has stood out has been it's not just big moment, like, he's just been consistently very good, Like Dom Smith has a two to oh one WRC plus right now and that's through you know, forty one played appearance through like fifteen games, and so it's not just you know, he's coming up in big moments and delivering and then doing nothing else. He's just consistently been one of the Braves' best hitters for the first three weeks of the season. And you know, Akunya has not gotten off to the start he wanted, Riley has not gotten off to the start. Yeaz Mikey Strimsky has not gotten off to the start he wanted. Like the Braves have needed this and obviously in these two games, that's two losses. The Braves would have won their Ledger the second game of the year in this one if Tom Smith doesn't come up with those with those hits. So it really has been incredible. I'm so happy for him. I've said this before, but everybody will tell you, like Tom Smith is just like an amazing dude, Like he's an incredible clophouse guy. He's a guy that's had success in the majors before it. You know, he's kind of the quintessential like baseball is hard, example, or like you could have some early success, but like baseball's hard and you're gonna go through some some crazy struggles. You know. He had to, he had to settle for a minor league deal this offseason. He really didn't have a job. I don't know if it would be on the team if Profar doesn't get popped for another PD suspension. And all he's done is just take full advantage, Like you get this opportunity kind of out of nowhere, and he's just taking full advantage. And I'm so incredibly happy for him. It's been it's been unbelievable to watch. I can't believe it happened again tonight, three run double when the Braids are down two run I mean, just just unbelievable stuff.

00:06:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's great to see it. Listen, let's talk about you know, Okay, it's been awesome the same and again I think it shods of importance. Oud how much better it is with the bottom of your order can be producing, right, Like, that's that's what was. That's the difference between like twenty twenty three in the past two years in now. Last year we were starting to go through the bottom of the order of Nick Allen, Michael Harris, Azzy Albi's just doing nothing nine end of nine out. But this year we're seeing the Braves have one of the best bottom of the orders when it comes to offerings and production in baseball. And you see the difference. There are nights where we struggled. Tonight we struggled overall. It felt like he was just gonna be frustrating because not only were we turning towards a one round loss, but we had runners on base ad after any after any that just could not get the job done. Our best stinners couldn't get the job done. But once again, it was the bottom of our order, and it's it's so much easier to keep your offense consistent when you have bottom of the order production. But to Dob Smith specifically, I don't think he's gonna have a two or one RC plus. But I also don't think that his production is just gonna fall off the wayside. We're here in a week or so, he's gonna have a fifty WRC plus for the rest of the year. He had a one nineteen WRC plus last year. Versus right handed pitching, he has a one h two in his career. He spell off over the past few years was really good early in his career. Don't forget, though, the Braves are one of the best in baseball at being able to kind of pick these hitters off the scrap heap that have had success earlier in their careers and had kind of fallen off in recent times before they came to the Braves. The Braves have had a lot of success of taking that type of player set up and helping them rEFInd what worked in the past and regain some of their value that they had during your previous best days. And we could see that once again. To geinst Dob Smith, So what I'm saying is is you now start to have some really interesting conversations when it comes to Dob Smith, do you move him up in the order potentially and put Mike Reeve Stripsky down towards the bottom of the order. Do you continue to play Dob Smith regularly as you get Sean Murphy at hasaud came back? That becomes the conversation, And I think in both cases it's a resounding GISs. You need to do whatever you can to make this offense as consistent as possible, and right now it's hard to argue that, you know, perhaps outside of Drake Baldwood, Dob Smith has been your best hitter. Read this line.

00:09:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really has. I mean it's really not you know, I guess you could argue for Matt Olsen a little bit, but like it's been those three guys in de Bond, you know, it's just been guys not really you would expect, and then some guys who've gotten off to slow starts. And I do think, I mean, you know, Tom Smith is not like Won Soto, Like he's not gonna have a two hundred WRC plus this year. So there will be a point in time where we see a bit of regression, but all the games that he wins for you until that time still count the same. I mean, you know, it's not like they take any wins away from your ledger just because Dom Smith doesn't keep this up all year long. These wins still matter, they still count the same, and it's just been unbelievable. And to your point about the lineup, I am very curious. You know, the right left, right left stuff I get, and the Braves have done it well. They basically put Yustremsky after Riley and then put Ozzy right there and then let Dom bat after Ozzy, which is usually like seventh in the order. I think Michael Harris and Debon have been rounding out the bottom, so I could see them flipping maybe Dom and Yaz. I could also just see like Walt saying, you know what, the bottom of the lineup has been so good. Maybe I don't want them. Maybe maybe I want to keep the same the vibe where we're not just automatic outs at the bottom. We got some guys getting on base for the guys at the top of the order. I don't know, I'm I'm actually interested in what they do, but it starts with just you know, having a guy and credit to the organization. Listen, they signed him on a minor league deal. Anybody in baseball could have signed this guy. You know, obviously, no one knew this was gonna come the first three weeks, and again we don't expect it to continue at this level. But credit to the organization. They obviously saw something in Dom Smith, and he has had success in the past where they thought they could get some value. And I don't think they ever thought he would be playing this much. I know they didn't obviously because they you know, it was clear by how much they paid it to get him in the minor of the deal, he was just going to be a depth piece, and he's just taken full advantage and just all the credit in the world to him.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the thing is is that, you know, this is a team that also has over the past couple of years, has not had many developments where their projected room for error has actually been more than they thought from unexpected sources. I know, I'll getting very specific into how I'm wording that's, but I'm getting that Dob Smith, he's been a luxury, right. You know, listen, if he falls off, Okay, what do you do? You simply put Drake Baldwood more often at DH and you put Sean Murphy behind the plate. Yeah, that's what you wouldn't do as long as long as you got it. So having Dobb Smith produce like he is also strengthened the team because now you're gonna have a more quality bitch because of what he's doing, so on and so forth. So Dobb Smith remaining successful has a trickle down effect to make the team itself better as well. So it's just a great development to see happen. But today we're gonna do a little bit of one eighty. Last night, after you know, talking about the loss a bit, we looked at some positives as to you know, that we took away from what we felt was a quote unquote schedule loss. Even though the Braves would tonight's game, which you certainly will take all day long, there were a few concerns when it came to the pitching staff. More of that just a moment after a word from our.

00:12:20
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00:12:32
Speaker 1: So, of course, Stephen, we talk about the fact that it was wonderful to see that happened in the eighth and need the three red double from Dobb Smith. Again, the Braves offense just kind of like Monday. They were knocking over the door all game log but just couldn't get it done. Felt like even though they had some pretty good success early, you know, earlier in the game with Ruders in scoring position, they just kept letting opportunity opportunity pass. It was great to see them finally cash he had to get the win, but again, some concerns when it comes to the pitching staff. First thing, Renald Lopez just didn't have it tonight, at least early on. Seven of the first eleven Marlins hitters that came to the plate, they worked a three to one or three to zero capped. And they're a good enough lineup to where if you're going to consistently allow for them to get into that good of a hitter's count, they're gonna make you pay when you have to throw strikes. Beyond that, the thing that starts to be a bit concerned it is I think it's pretty clear that the Renaldo Lopez that we're seeing right now is not to the same level that we saw in twenty twenty four. I think that's probably not gonna come as a surprise to medi but it's just kind of not fun to see because you really would love for him to be, you know, close to what he was in twenty to twenty four, though that was always a mirage. The second thing beyond Renald Lopez specifically Stephen that really starts to stand out. You started talking about the regression of the starting pitching. It clearly is subtly did. But what makes it even more concerning it subtenly did in this stretch against into l East teams. You're facing hitters that are more familiar with your pitchers than itdy would, so that kind of makes it even worse. Again, the Braves got the win tonight from a Ronaldo Lopez perspective, though, pretty pretty rough start, and there are some concerns everybody comes to his control. And also it's a bit concerned to see this pitchy regression subtenly did against this stretch of Ita least opponents.

00:14:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was it certainly. I mean Ronaldo did not look great tonight, uh for sure. Obviously the second inning really got away from him. You know, the Marlins, it was really loud contact. Thankfully, the Marlins like forgot how to run bases for a couple of innings because it was probably it probably it was for nothing. After the second inning, it probably should have been like six nothing. Mike Uschemsky made a hell of a play on a diving catch on a line drive that endo the inning that you know, would have been another run. The Marlins ran themselves out of another one. It easily could have been like six or seven runs tonight. And so Ronaldo didn't look good, and you know, the pitching was always going to back up a little bit. It just was like I still don't understand why people were mad about that comment, like just just purely based off the numbers, just completely objectively looking at it, there was no way that Ronaldo was gonna maintain a one ERA and a five FIP. Now, I don't think that Ronaldo was a five Like, I don't think it's like five FIP is his true talent level either, by the way, Like I think he's gonna probably end up somewhere around a four ERA four FIP, maybe high threes if it goes well. I am worried about his I am worried about his pitch performance, how his pitches are actually performing. You know, for a lot of the season, Ronaldo's been running like a two hundred babbit, and that's kind of hidden some of the issues. But when that stabilizes up closer to three hundred, which where it's gonna be eventually, I think you're gonna see the lack of strikeouts. Although he did end up striking out like five guys after the big rally in the second like, he came back and struggled out I think five in the next like seven hitters or something like that. So that was a good sign. If Ronaldo can actually start missing more bats, my worry for him goes down. Like my concern with Lonaldo has been how much contact driven how many contact driven outs he's getting and depending on to get through outings, because it's just not consistent. It's just gonna be up and down. And so it was good to see him actually miss some bats after the beginning. Again, I really appreciate the Marlins for running themselves after a couple more because it really could have been five or six runs but they didn't. And you know, the bullpen, obviously we're gonna talk about here in a minute, did their job. But yeah, I'm not Ronald wo was never gonna be a one era picture with the Perferle Sies running. Grant Holmes was never gonna be a one era picture with the perfole Sies running. I don't think Bryce Elder is gonna be a one era pitcher. Like this was always gonna come. It was a matter of can the offense and the bullpen cover it up when it does come. And that's exactly what we saw tonight. We saw the offense covered up and we saw the bullpen covered up, and that's what that's what's gonna have to happen. So I I am gonna be curious to watch Ronaldo as he makes his way through the next few starts. I still am not one hundred percent sure what kind of season we're looking at, Like, are we looking at like a four era four FIP season because you can manage that. Is it gonna be in the threes, which is even better? Is it? Or is it gonna get like up into the fives. That's what I'm not sure of yet. I'm not completely confident in what I'm watching, and I'm not really sure what I'm watching yet, So we're not drawing any conclusions, but just based off the numbers, there was always going to be a baseline level of regression that was gonna happen to the these crazy low eras the Braser run.

00:18:02
Speaker 1: While the concern is there with Ronald Lopez again, you to regressing setting in for the starting pitching. Overall, I do feel that tonight is much more meaningful in terms of being an actual representation of how the Braves are going to consistently be throughout the season than yesterday. Yesterday you had Grant Holmes, Aaron Bubber, Rodney Budiez who pitched the majority of the games, gave up the majority of the runs in Big bumb But you're not going to see those guys, o correct, right Tonight Tonight you saw the guys who are going to matter. You saw the guys who are going to be there in high leverage situations, and they got the job done. You expected that from the bullpen, you expected that from the guys that took the band. But STEVENA Knowsa that stood out to you was a bit of a difference when it came to the menagerial approach. And what is certainly stood out is a big difference between Walt Weiss as well as Brian Sticker, is that he's going for the win when it comes to his bullpion, so it's always dice to have that bull fed as fresh as possible.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we watched this a lot over the years with Brian Snicker, where he would treat a one run deficit as a lower leverage situation than like a four run lead. And I never got that, because it's always more likely that you're going to win a game where you're down by one than it is that you're going to lose a game where you're up by four. But he would always reverse them, and he would, and he drove me crazy for years, and we talked about it a million times. And I will say it was a little easier for Walt to make that decision tonight because honestly, the only guys who were like fully rested were the high leverage guys. The low leverage guys have been used so much the last week because of how many blowouts the Braves have played in that it's very likely the only guys available were the high leverage guy. So you know, in some ways it was a decision kind of made for him. But I have seen Walt be aggressive with his high leverage relievers, his best relievers when the team is not winning or even when it's not tied multiple times now this season, and I want to give him credit for that, because that's how you should be using those guys, you know, especially if you're gonna play a lot of blowouts and you're not gonna use him a ton anyways, when you're only down by one run, this is a team that has to be driven by its offense and its bullpen, in my opinion, and we've said that a bunch already. I think the rotation is going to show to be more of kind of an average rotation. I think it's Chris Sale and then a lot of question marks at least until we get some guys back. You gotta trust your bullpen and you gotta trust your offense. And that means when you're down by one run in the fifth inning, which is what happened tonight, Ronaldo actually did a good job of getting through five after that blow up inning in the second that could have gotten real ugly if he got knocked out like the third inning, So give him credit for getting through five. But he was at ninety six pitches he had to come out, and I was very curious what what was gonna do because they were still down to run, and they brought in Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley and uh Robert Torrez and Rossie Iglesias and then just trusted that the offense would cover the margin. And that's what you should do when you're down by one run. There was just too many times over the years where we would punt those games. We'd put in our worst relievers, and then to be a game we're up by five runs and you'd see all the best relievers and I'm like, this is completely backwards. We have like missed the point of leverage here, and I'm happy to see Walt do it the way that I think it should be done.

00:21:36
Speaker 1: Speaking of getting better instead of speaking there, I got myself off. Mute, Steven, look at you, Look at you. That's gross, that that that hiatus. Everybody's getting better, everybody's getting better.

00:21:46
Speaker 2: That's that's that's not two kids. You got two kids now, So exactly, just a different guy.

00:21:53
Speaker 1: Tention to details got to be best.

00:21:54
Speaker 2: Crazy.

00:21:55
Speaker 1: What other thing that I would have put a spotlight on real quickly as well? And I don't think that we're going should even know is the defense of this team? You see baseball Savah. You see a many of the metrics out there, for whatever value you would have put in them, the Braves are near the top overall in terms of team performance. And tonight that on's a good stood out if I remember correctly. You know, of course you had the play with Ustripsky out in left field, but also don't forget Ronald played the ball off the wall giving it to God. And when we talk about Devad being an elite fielder no matter where he is, it was that play right there him immediately know he'd swerve around after he got the relay throw from Ronald and made the play at the plate which saved a run, that saved two roods, and that was the difference in the game. So the defense overall from this team has been outstanding. That is what can make a difference in games against quality opponents. But that defense has been just as consistent as our bullpit. And what other thing about it is it's one of the aspects of this team that is legit like we legitimately are a very good fit team. Should stay as it advantage against other teams throughout the year.

00:23:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, great point. Yeah, the play by Sky to save a run with a diving catch. There was another time where they hit a single to Ronald and just like the thread of his arm stopped to run the playoff the wall. You're talking about the Breves another double player. I think they've turned a double play in like every game this year so far. I think I saw that where they've done like fifteen straight games or sixteen straight games with a double play turned. Yeah, the defense has been incredible. And I want to give one other shout out, so obviously if you missed it. In the eighth inning, the Braids were down four to three. Drake Baldwin starts the ending with a bloop single and then Olsen and Riley both get out, and so it's it's two out with one runner on and y Strimpsey comes up and ropes a single. Yeah, he ropes a single to right, and then Ozzie gets hit by the pitch and then that's when Dom Smith hits the basis clearing uh double. But I want to give credit to Yaz for coming up and getting a hit there and extending that inning. Right, if Yas strikes out, that inning's over. If he pops out, that inning's over. And we never see any of this and very likely lose the game. So credit to Yas for coming up from for with a big hit. Obviously, Ozzie got hit with the pitch and then Dom. Another thing about that Dom Smith about is I'm pretty sure I have to go back and look, I'm pretty sure he started the count oh and two. I think he was owed to immediately and then worked like a six or seven pitches and then ripped a double to the opposite field, hit it to left field and crushed it. Just an incredible you know, just an incredible night it was. It was a lot of fun.

00:24:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and Age the Braves are winning, that's the big key, right and it is such a nice contrast from last year. But Steven and are going to have a bit more into the reasons why the Braves are winning. And there's one factor in all of this that's people were talking about. But it just reminds you of how better things could be it likely will be. As Todd goes on more of that in just a moment after a word from our partners.

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00:26:12
Speaker 1: You so Stephen. Before we started the podcast, I wanted to talk a bit about the fact that the brains right now have three well you can really point to four consistent traits that are allowing them to win frequently, and these traits really stand down as be you know, worth minshitting because there it's okay to have these bea the reasons why you're winning when you're facing teams you should be beating. It's deefense, it's the bullpd, it is the bottom of your order producing will, and it is being able to be about the lead's best when it comes to producing late. That means that you're going to get comfort behind wins when you face you know, weaker bullpins. That means that you're going to be able to eventually let your talent come through as you go further into games as your facing weeker teams. And that's what you and I both mentioned before the season started, right, was that what stood out about the first thirty five games or so in this season is that on a nightly basis, the Braves should have the better offense and the better bullpit, so as they go further in the game, their advantage should increase. And we've seen that time and time again. But as you look forward in the Braves schedule over the next several weeks after the stretch against the last, the quality of competition becomes a bit stronger and it's going to be more important for the Braves to produce against doutely starting pitching, but also earlier in games and their best players producing as well, which brings me to my overall point, no doubt, the Braves are in a good position. I wouldn't necessarily call them a true contenderism yet because we still need to see the starting pitching and our best hitters get going. Ronald Acuni Judu right now has a seven sixteen OPS that is the worst of his career through eighteen games now, not for his first eighteen games of the season when he started as season. You know through you know that if there's anything that you can pretty much bet buddy on when it comes to this team, Ronald Cooney Junior is eventually going to produce. Yeah, at some point he's gonna take off. Because when you look at the overall production at the plate, you may be a bit dissatisfied. But you pointed out, and others have pointed out, comes from a lot of bad luck. But I do want to put the spotlight on that. Yes, I don't necessarily think the way that the Braves are winning right now is that sustainable. But the one factor that matters more than anything. It then being a contender Ronald of Coonie Junior being a star that's eventually going to happen, and when it does, us having the record that we do right now makes it even better with the start that we've had.

00:28:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good point because you know a lot of times if your best player isn't having the kind of start he wants, it costs you in the standings, and what you're getting from Dom Smith and Rissio Dubon and Jorge Matteo when he plays, what you're getting from those guys is helping you kind of cover that up until the results catch up to where all of Ronald's expected numbers are. I mean, I tweeted something out today like Ronald. There's a whole metric about like expected home runs, Like Ronald's one of the if not the unluckiest hitter in baseball. When it comes to homers, he should probably have like four or five. He has one. You know, all of his expected numbers look fantast Ronald's gonna. I'm not worried about Ronald's production overall, but like you were just saying, when you have the slow start in terms of results, that can affect the standings unless you have somebody else come along in that time period and help pick it up. Same with Riley and same with Yustrimsky. Quite honestly, that's three guys the braids were kind of depending on. They're not quite getting what they thought at least early, and then you have three other guys who are kind of covering it up and helping bridge the gap until those guys produce more. And that's that is how you sustain. And I've talked about this a lot of the last couple of years, the lineup being deeper to sustain when guys go cold, because the last two years, what we saw was when guys go cold, especially like the top guys, the offense just doesn't score runs, like there was just nobody there to help pick up the slack. When Olsen was colder, when Acunya was colder, when Riley, like, the depth wasn't there to sustain it. And that's what they have this year. They have Dom Smith, they have a shortstop in Marisio Dubon, who's not just a complete zero. I still believe Ustremsky's gonna hit. He just hasn't hit yet. Michael Harris at bats have looked better, Ozzie Albi's at bats have looked better, Like they just have more depth right now to sustain Ronald not having the results that that he should have once you know, they catch up to the expected stuff. So one hundred percent, this just not only does it help win games, it helps bridge the gap until some of your better players start playing the way you pretty well know they're going to get to eventually.

00:31:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, the big payoff is is that if we can continue, you know to win at this pace, you know, continue to you know, win sixty to sixty five percent of every fifteen games, you know, or at least the next fifteen games until we get to that tough stretch towards the end of April at burst of May. If by that time Ronald and Austin for instance, can get going, that's just gonna make things that much easier. Speaking of someone who's got better, that's Bryce Elder. You know, I know a lot has been put on what Bryce Elder has done since last August, and I don't necessarily think that it means that he's turned some significant quarter where he's back to where he was, you know, pre All Star Break twenty twenty three where the league didn't really know him. But I also feel as if one thing that we could point to, his control has gotten better. He certainly seems to be more confident in his overall pitches. Where I'm at with Bryce Elder is this for me. I think that we right now are at a spot to where give me his next three starts over the next ten or so days against ita least opponents, the teams that have seed him the most. And we know that his team, Seymour Bryce Elder, they're going to be able to have more success against him if he can make it through this stretch it's still remained productive. At that point, I'm gonna be ready to say, Okay, the Braves may have something, but beyond me saying that, I'll buy end, the Braves need for that to be the case. Tomorrow may no mistake about it. It's a big game Tomorrow. The Braves legitimately could win a series against the team that's second in the NL East right now, it'd be at a really good spot when they have another off day on Thursday. So they need a good performance from Bryce Selder. They work their bullpen to height, they need a five or six Indy start from Bryce Elder, and it would really be awesome to not see this Marlins team get out to that three plus run lead. So as good as Bryce Elder's been, this wretch coming up right now where he's faced hitters that are familiar with him, this is going to be a real test of is he truly a different picture? The bravested for that to prove to be the case to Borrow, because it would really be awesome to get this series win against the Borrowin's.

00:33:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny like and I've talked about the trio of Ronaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder and how their eras have kind of outpaced their other pferles and there's a regression coming. The funny thing is that of that trio, Elder has the best peripherals by far, like Elder's you know, been striking out a decent amount. He's just under like one per nine, which is pretty good. He's not walking a lot of people right now, which is a huge thing for Bryce. We've talked about that a lot, where Bryce's command oftentimes will tell you very early in a Bryce start, what you're what you're about to watch. You know, he's limited hard contact. He's given up exactly one barrel this year and that's why you know, his running a very low babbit. But again, he's not giving up the hardest contact either. The defense the Braves have been playing obviously contributes to that as well. So I'm not ready just to say that Bryce Elder is going to revert back to the guy he was. There's been some changes, Like you know, it's been talked about a lot with the work he did with Greg Maddox and you know, how to use the slider and when to use the slider, and I'm very curious to watch that stuff progress. Do I think he's a one er pitcher. I do not, and I'm I'm not going to believe that until I see a much larger sample of it. But do I think he can be like a three er pitcher? I do. I do think that. I think he can be like a mid three guy, maybe a four guy. You know, the lack of velocity does hurt him, but everything moves when he's on. He misses barrels, he's got to just avoid the walks in the middle of the play. That's what Bryce has to do. And so yeah, I want to see what he looks like tomorrow. This Marlins lineup has come in to truest and I've been very impressed with some of their young hitters. And again, they don't have their best hitter. Kyle Stowers is not with the teams. He's currently rehabbing and he'll be back probably the next time we see Miami. But they have some young hitters that are fun to watch that if they've got some talent, they've got some pitching that's decent. The Braves actually, obviously the Marlins miss Sale and the Braves missed Sandy al Contra, so it was kind of even in that regard. But yeah, the Marlins are not a bad team. Like I would not be surprised at all if this is a five hundred team come the end of the year. So I want to see what Bryce looks like tomorrow against a pretty good maybe not a good lineup, but like a decent lineup. And I want to see, you know, every Bryce start is going to be interesting to me because I want to see these changes how he's using the slider, and I want to see where these peripherals go, Like what kind of guy are we gonna get this year? I'm I'm still not sure, but I'm I, you know, I want him to succeed. I would love for him to be awesome. And right now I actually kind of trust him a little bit more than Sale than uh not Sale, Lopez and Holmes because.

00:36:08
Speaker 1: Trust Brice Elder, You didn't I that's that's gonna be a snippet.

00:36:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, somebody's gonna snip that. I definitely trust Chris Selmore, but I, you know, again, the peripherles from Home, the peripherles from Elder have looked pretty good this year, so I do want to see what he continues to look like. And this Miami lineup has given everybody, you know, kind of a hard time, and I want to see what he does against them.

00:36:32
Speaker 1: But let's also I've a bit deeper, real quickly into this Viaby lineup because they're not doing it through power, right, They're not hitting a bunch of home runs, honestly, what is Yeah, that's what stood out, And what also stood out is the walks both great Homes as well as Ronald Lopez. They just lost control. They didn't have the control, but they needed. You put this Miamy Bartletts team, who's a speedy team on the base they're challenging Drake Balder, Drake bald what's not the that's the weakness in his game overall is the ability to hold runners. And that's not it's meant to be a criticism because I mean to be, you know, truly negative. It's just what it is, the truth. And teams are in So if the Braves are going to walk people frequently, those teams are going to know that they have a chance to steal and they're going to put that into action. That's what has been the success of the Marlins early in these two games. So how do you prevent that frow strikes? Just simply throw strikes and if Bryce Elder can throw strikes plus miss barrels, that could be a good setup to allow for the Braves to get the early lead that hopefully they can get to be able to support Elder and get that win. Because if you again we talk about we talk about the other thing that dismissed from these past two years is when the Braves have a chance to really find themselves in a good position tomorrow. If you win, you're twelve and seven, three games up in the division, you have an off day, then you have Chris sailed a very winnable game on Friday Night. That's if you win tomorrow. If you don't win, you're eleven to day one gave up to the East. It now becomes a pretty you know big must win on Friday. That's the difference this one game means. And again, I know I'm being pretty dramatic. With as early in the season as we are, You're being very dramatic. But the point that I'm getting at is is that even though I be dramatic, the more often that the Braves get the job done in these situations, it just builds up that room for error. It gets more quality competition later in the season. So that's the point that I'm getting at. Really being able to make the most of these opportunities, that is important to me. And again I'll admit i'd be dramatic, But if you want to talk about indications this team now is different than they have been the past two years, I would to see them deliver on the drama in these dramatic situations. Deliver on the drama hashtag deliver on the drama tag. Brad Roland. When you put that out there, reason I.

00:38:54
Speaker 2: Was about to say, using must win in April, Brad might show up to your house and throw a rock through your window, but no, they all count the same. The winds in April County exactly the same as the winds in September. So like one, like, go win. The Braves are the only team in baseball that haven't lost a series yet. Go win tomorrow, and you keep it rolling, and like you said, then you get Chris Saale back. I think it's I have to look, I haven't. I think it's Taiwan Walker against Chris Sale on Friday night in Philadelphia, which is obviously advantage Braves because Taiwan Walker's had a rough year. But yeah, go win to North Go win tomorrow. That's a huge one. I agree with you. Actually, I'm gonna back you up. I'm not gonna call it a must win because I don't want Brad Rolling to throw a rock through my window, but I am I do agree with you. I do think it's weird, but sweet must win. Okay, well we'll call it a must win.

00:39:46
Speaker 4: I like it.

00:39:46
Speaker 2: I'm in all aboard.

00:39:50
Speaker 1: Brad Cbs and throws a rock through the window. I'll have a glass of milk, Caliver. They're all beautiful I'm never gonna let that down. That's that's where, of course speak we can have run its course. We are happy to say that this episode of the Habit Territory podcast has run its course. A happy episode with another Braves win. You can find Steven Tolbert at b Underscore, Outliers on Twitter, slash x myself at stats, sac Habit Territory across all forms of social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. Big win for the Braves. Hell yeah, Dobb Smith, Let's get another victory. Grea tomorrow, Go Braves. We'll talk to you again soon here on the Hevery Territory Podcast