Latest on Braves Pitching Search, Catching Remains a Big Strength

00:00:22
Speaker 1: The Hammer Territory Podcast once again, a new era of the Hammer Territory Podcast, a more clear, concise, naturally beautiful era of the Hammer Territory Podcast. Okay, enough about my new camera. My name is always is Sean Coleman. Wherever we are and wherever you are listening, it is always a pleasure to be with you, and I cannot talk enough about how much is it is a pleasure to always be with one of the best when it comes to breaking down the Braves. My podcast partner, best podcast partner in America, Stephen Tilbert. Hello, Stephen Tilbert, what's.

00:00:54
Speaker 2: Up, buddy. So we're close today as we're recording, it is Tuesday, February something, seventeenth, middle of February. We got a spring training game that starts in like four days, five days something like that. So yeah, Saturday, so we're close. I can't wait. Obviously, there's the the mood around Braves spring training has not been the best. The news has not been great. You know. The focus has been on what the Braves haven't done and what the Braves have already lost. And we're gonna talk about some of that, but we're not gonna stay We're not gonna stay drowning in our sorrows for every show that we do. Like, there's still things to be excited about about this team, and we're gonna spend some time talking about that on the back end of the show. So we're gonna cover some of the what's happening, but we're also gonna spend some time talking about like things that because I feel like like we've had to cover what's been going on with the injuries, but I feel like the overall tone has been negga because of it, and I do want to make sure that we are including some of the positive things that are still very much in play for the Braves in twenty twenty six. So that's going to be tonight's show.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: This team still has many strengths, and we'll get into one of the clear areas of strengths for this team a little bit later on in the show, but first we will start with the pitching, because you know, while the news on the pitching has not been that positive here, you know in recent days, it still is where you know, the news lies. And a couple of areas of news for the Braves, one where we have not got news yet and another where we got a little bit more details of you know, the news that we're all hoping to get. But you know, instead of you know, being you know, secret, when with what we're getting at, let's get right to it. Of course today we were hoping by now you know, there was news over the weekend of hrschel Walder having loose bodies in his pitching elbow, and the hope was was that, you know, he was going to get examined by a doctor. The thought process is that maybe yesterday we would get some news and if not yesterday, of course we would get today. But of course we have not, so it's kind of a waiting game to be clear, to kind of reset the stage whatever news that there is. Hurst and Waldrop is likely going to miss a somewhat significant to definitely significant time of the season. You know he'll at least you know, this isn't something that you know, he's going to be on the mound in a few weeks. He likely at this point best case scenario would be like maybe him missing the first month of the season. A worst case scenario obviously he's out for the year with it being something more significant. But the thing is is that you know, we don't know, and that's the waiting game, and that just seems to be what we're constantly in for one reason or another when it comes to the Braves pitching. But the Stephen the thing that I've got that specifically when it comes to Hurst and Waldrop that that's frustrating, besides the fact that you were hoping that he could provide depth for this team, is that now you've seen him have elbow issues.

00:03:56
Speaker 2: We've seen a J.

00:03:57
Speaker 1: Smith Shover also have elbow issues. This next era of Braves pitching that we had hoped would come in and has shown flashes of being able to come in and be contributors. Unfortunately, it's going to be delayed for the same reason that the Braves current era of pitching really can't get the job done consistently injuries, and that's frustrating when it comes to Brave's young depth.

00:04:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, so essentially the distinction that we're waiting to hear is he's got these loose bodies, these bone spurs whatever you want to call, in his elbow, and some guys can pitch with those in their elbow as long as they can manage the pain. You know, some guys do like a cortozone shot. You can take some different antibiotics, you can take like anti inflammatory stuff like that, and you can control it non surgically. And that's the option where herson, Roger Hearson Waldroup would only be out a few weeks, like if he courtizone shot, like he probably be down like three weeks or so. That's what Sean was just talking about. The other side is is if he has to have the arthroscopic surgery to remove the bodies because you know, the pain is not tolerable or they're too big, they might cause damage. You know. That's why I went to see a specialist to really get the details. And that's the information we thought we'd have by now. We just don't yet. And if he has the surgery to have him removed, then that's where it's like he's got to sit for like eight weeks or ten weeks, and then he's got to start ramping back up. That's like the three month, three or four month option that we're just waiting to hear. So you know, as soon as we know something, obviously you guys might know it by the time you're listening to this. As of eight thirty Central time on Tuesday. We don't know, and so that's what we're waiting for, and it, you know, it does suck, like you just said, Like you know, if you look at kind of the next stare of Braves pitching, which is supposed to be Strider, Weillumback, Waldrup, and j Smith Schalver, all four have now had you know, elbow scares of some sort. And coming into the year, Waldrop's elbow was supposed to be the healthiest of all all four of them, and he doesn't even get you know, two days in the spring training without his elbow starting to bark. So the good news is the ligament in his elbow is is reportedly still fine. I guess they'll know more when they look at it, but that was the report that his ligament is fine. It's not like we're staring at Tommy John or anything. It's just loose bodies. But yeah, that's what we're waiting to hear, is just the distinction between no surgery or surgery, and that pretty wildly changes the timetable, which obviously affects the Brave's depth. I do think Waldrup was gonna spend some time in triple at the beginning of the year no matter what. But that was before Schwallenbach got hurt, and now the Braves are kind of one more injury away, where Hurst and Waldroup very clearly would have been in the rotation. So it's a pretty important it's still a very important piece of information we're waiting on. We just don't have it yet.

00:07:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean again, it's just it's it's incredibly frustrating, and I'm sure there's no more no being more frustrated than the players themselves and the franchise itself because you know, again last year we saw over what a a six week stretch for both Waldrop as well as miss Shaver just how effective they can be. So Mims Shav at the beginning of the year, Waldrop at the end of the year, and of course Swellebach has been one of the most impressive pitchers over the past two years, regardless of age. So you think that at least two of those, Waldrop and Schwellebach, and a year ago you're thinking all three, all three of them can be big contributors in twenty twenty six and beyond. And now it's fair to say that you know, the right expectation is to not consider a contribution from any of the three, and that's very frustrating and it does bite into their development time as well. And of course that lead is a segue into the report that we saw today. Gave Burns of the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote an article basically saying that the Braves didn't have they weren't in on Chris Bassett, they didn't have interest. They don't really have interest in Lucas Gilido, you know, they they're focused on their internal options.

00:08:14
Speaker 2: Now.

00:08:15
Speaker 1: I don't want to question you know, a report at all that I myself don't have knowledge of, but it just it just doesn't make sense. Like and the reason why I say that is because if the Braves don't have interest in adding external pitching depth all of a sudden, when they've said that that's their number one priority, not only this offseason, but now going on three straight off seasons for them all of a sudden to pivot away from that when the need is bigger now than ever, that doesn't make a lot of sense. And if this is maybe you know, kind of a you know, giving a misdirection with information by the Braves, well it's really not effective because everybody knows that you need pitching. So it just again, I don't want to put two much on a report that's out there because we typically know that, you know, the Braves are pretty tight lift when it comes to their intentions. But you just have to hope that the Braves are continuing to do work on how to add external talent, because no matter how much they believe in the ability of their current croper pitchers, the availability and the lack thereof is becoming the more significant aspect of this Brave's pitching depth, because the lack of reliability when it comes to the talent being available is now starting to outweigh the overall talent itself.

00:09:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's funny. I listen to a lot of just national baseball content just I want to know what's going on around the league. I don't just listen to local stuff, you know. I really wanted kind of a whole idea of what's going on over the league, and so I listened to quite a bit of national stuff. And even on the national level, the Braves will come up. Because the Braves have had these significant injuries early in camp. It's a storyline. It's become a national storyline, and almost universally every single podcast or show that I watch, the same question gets asked, and that is why haven't the Braves fortified their pitching staff? And no one has a clear answer to this. And even the answer that Alex gave a couple or last Friday when he did like his twenty minute media segment, was that we're only focused on top of the rotation arms, like, we're not really looking for any depth. We're just unless it's somebody that could slot at the top of a rotation, could be a playoff strutter, that is not something we're really interested in. And that, of course doesn't make any sense because the Braves didn't have enough pitching to get through the regular season last year, never mind the playoffs. So you know, this is what this is the disconnect that people are trying to figure out. And again, even on a national level, and almost unanimously, anybody that talks about this is left wondering how that logic makes sense. I know, Bradon Scott talked about it. I mean, we've all talked about it, bunch, and so that's you know, and we've got that report today from Gabe that they were not really all that interested in Bassett apparently not interested in Giolito. I would certainly take that with a grain of salt. Until we actually see where Giolito goes. I'm not gonna just you know, Gabe is very good at what he does. But the Braves, you know, can lie to your face, you know, just as easily as they could do it to a reporter, just eas as they do to us. So until I see where Giolito goes, I'm not gonna write that in pen But that would track with what they said publicly a few days ago that they're only interesting, they were only interested in top of the line pitchers, and Giolito is certainly not INMBASSTD is certainly not. So I don't get it. I mean, I've made this point of a bunch like the Braves are not in a strong enough position in terms of their pitching depth to be this picky where they can only look at like top of the rotation arms. And I thought Scott made a great point on the show on Sunday. He's like, Scott said something to I'm gonna butcher it. But Scott said something to the effect of, you know, you're not even really in on these top of the rotation arms because you're not spending top dollar on pitching, you're not willing to give opt outs. So if you're not really in on these top of the line pitchers, but those are the only types of pictures that you say you're in on, does that just mean you're out on all pitching? Like, it doesn't make a lot of sense, and I haven't been able to make sense of it. And listen, we try to be very fair. We try to be process oriented on the show. You will never see us just freak out about results. Like we try to understand the process being used to get where they get. And by process, I do not understand what they're doing with the pitching staff. They don't have enough depth. They didn't have enough depth before these guys hurt. They rolled over all of this injury risk. They did nothing to mitigate any of that risk by adding depth to the roster. Alex says he has money to spend. I don't if you have the funds and you have the ability to mitigate some of this extremely high injury risk, I don't understand why you don't do it. I just it's the same thing that happened in the bullpen last year. Like you had a need, you said, you had money, but you just didn't. You didn't do anything like I can't figure it out. I don't understand it. I know plenty of national people who don't understand it. So we're just gonna have to live in our and are not understanding it.

00:13:20
Speaker 1: The quick thing that I'll say to that is that I believe Alex when he says that he truly is focused on a playoff level pitcher, like a top of the rotation level pitch.

00:13:29
Speaker 2: Oh, I believe him.

00:13:30
Speaker 1: I just don't understand it, Yeah, because it tracks with what he's done. And that's the thing that I you know, we could go on for for you know, another full show about this. But what I will quickly say the thing that frustrates me the most about this it's not just this offseason, right, It's been the past three off season. It's been two plus years where the consistent theme from the Braves has been that they want to add significant starting pitching. We know they had interest in Aaron Nola, we know they had interest in Nathan the Abaldi. We know that they had you know, interest in Garrett Crochet for instance. When it came to trade, they able to get the job done. The thing that stands out to me is that I definitely feel that they have the focus of wanting to add significant levels starting pitching. But it also feel like this feels at times like Alex has to have so much value, are so many boxes checked to actually pull the trigger, that he winds up basically taking him own self out of contention for these arms. It's either that it's not you know, the money, the money's not at the level that he wants it, or it's too rich of a prospect costs things such as that. So I think that's what it is to Scott's point, To your point, either you need to become a bit more lenient on how much risk you're willing to take on to bring in a significant level pitcher, or you need to widen your definition of a picture that will make a difference and one that at least has durability. Certainly would check a big box for the Braves. But the thing is is that again, we could talk about pitching all day, all summer, all spring, we could talk about it forever. Let's focus on something that's a streak of this team. That's the Braves catching situation. More of that in a moment after a word from our sponsors.

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00:16:09
Speaker 1: Just think if you get some of those Warby Parker glasses, your vision becomes more clear, and that just means you get to see me more often. I mean, that's just the amazing thing about it. I need to sell celebrate in this camera. AnyWho on to better things when it comes to talking the Braves, and that of course is their catching situation. Now, I know, I know, I know some out there may not necessarily think that the process in recent years of how the Braves have arrived their current catching situation may have been the best or most effective, But who cares. They have catching as a strength. And I go back to a point that I made and I will continue to make this over. Since nineteen ninety, the Braves have had the second best catching situation in terms of f war in all of the majors. The only team that's had a better catching situation is the Dodgers. Other teams that are near the top of that list include the Red Sox and the Yankees. The point that I'm getting at is we know how much Alex and Thoppoless loves to have good catching talent, and he's good at identifying it as well. If you have consistent top flight catching talent winning usually correlates quite well with that being a team trade. And Stephen, we're back there once again. And it's kind of crazy after we traded William Contreras for Sean Murphy. Whether or not you think the Sean Murphy trade has worked out, it's really all or not because right in that train of Shay long eliers and you know, William Contreras and making the trade for Sean Murphy, here comes Drake Baldwin, who may be the best of them all, coming off what was one of the better offensive rookie seasons we've seen from a catcher in quite a while.

00:17:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's just it's it's all about Drake at this point. I mean, Rookie raining Rookie of the Year. He's the reason to have the extra draft pick because he won Rookie the Year and he was on the opening day roster and you know, we have all the numbers and he had a fantastic season. The thing that I remain most impressed about is that when no one was hitting in like April and May, Drake Baldwin was hitting like he It's been a while now so people might not remember it, but go back and look at what April, like what he was doing in April where everyone's like, who the hell is this? Like I didn't realize this kid was like an All Star. He had a Monsters season one twenty five WRC plus for a catcher, which is just I mean, this has been one of Brad's bits for a long time, but go look at like offensive stats among catchers around baseball, and it gets pretty ugly pretty quick, Like a one twenty five WRC plus from a catcher is pretty nuts. And the thing about that one twenty five is every single metric we use to try to determine if something is real or not or if it's a bit of a mirage. Says that everything he did last year was very real, like very real. Like his average exi velosity was ninety two miles an hour, which is like Austin Riley territory in terms of how hard he hits the ball. It's like Matt Olsen territory in terms of how hard he hits the ball, Like you know, Acuna is in a different level, but for all the other like mortals, Drake Baldwin hits the ball just as hard as you know, some of the best sluggers on the team. If you look at like the his Oba versus his expected Oba, expected Oba and Oba are almost identical, you know. The it's just everything about his game last year seems repeatable. His left versus right splits, he actually hit lefties better than righty's last year. I'm not convinced that's real. That's probably the one I have the most questions on. You know, you always need to be very very careful about using a how or one season of splits to arrive at any conclusion. I'm guessing as his career goes, that left handed number will come down. But even if it's even, if it anywhere close to that is just a monster number because you have to be platooned, and most left handed hitters in baseball get platooned now, and so if Drake can do anything close to that, he's just that much more valuab He's literally an everyday player, and with the DH you can do that. So, you know, the defensive stuff I think is probably where he could see the most growth in twenty twenty six. He blocked the ball really well. He was not the best at throwing out runners, he was not the best at framing. I think if you're looking for where can Drake get better, and then that's where you start right defensive framing. I think Jonaheim was a strategic move by the team, and Sean Murphy is also a tremendous defensive catcher, so that's the area where he can definitely get better. But he wasn't like he was he was average. It's not like he was just pitiful in those spots, like he's more than playable there. It's just an area where he can get better. But the offensive stuff looks so real, and that's the stuff I'm most excited. I want to see what year two brings. There. Of course, is always a chance of a sophomore slump of some sort, but again that's why we look at the process based numbers, the numbers behind the numbers and all of that stuff says everything you saw last year was very real, very repeatable, very predictable. And so yeah, the brands catching strength starts with the fact that they have this young, cheap, controllable, what looks like a monster at catcher and drake ball.

00:21:26
Speaker 1: And along with the expected stats or the underlying metrics, you know, supporting the surface level numbers. That's one thing that certainly makes you realize that what he can contribute is real, but you kind of hinted at it. It's also just across the board production in situational hitting, in different situational hitting. That's really really exciting. What he did versus left handed pitching, what he was able to do against a high velocity, what he was able to do with runners in scoring position, he was able to do at different areas of the lineup, The fact that he had very encouraging walk compared to strikeout numbers, that he can just as comfortably go to left field as he can right field. What that not only means is that what he did last year was real, but as the league adapts to him, he's going to be able to adapt back to the league, which is what's going to help him maintain being a highly productive player. That's what really stands out about Drake Baldwin. The difference between this year and last year, though, is of course going to be He's likely going to be playing eighty to ninety percent of the games at catcher to start the year, and you mentioned the defensive shortcomings, especially when it came to being able to contain the running game. If you remember the first game of last season, we were kind of like, oh no, they allowed those five steals against the Padres in Game one of last year. We wondered how much of a concern that would be. But he got better. But the one thing that I also think makes a difference, even for Drake Baldwin his teammate, it's clearly believe in him as well. The most supportive and outspoken person for Drake Baldwin beginning even last year in spring training was Chris Sale. And if there's anybody that you want in your corner on this brave squad from the beginning, it would be Chris Sale. So if Chris Sale was able to notice it and lo and behold, his trust was absolutely validated. I'm not necessarily saying that Drake Baldwin all of a sudden is going to become a top five catcher in baseball. But what I will say is is that if he puts together as good of or a better season this year than he did last year, you really really got a true asset to work with. And one again that teams that are looking to consistently win must have a strong production from catcher. Drake Baldwin certainly seems for the next decade to be right in line with that.

00:23:54
Speaker 2: I remember, you know, Chris sill admitted he doesn't shake off his catcher, so whoever is catching him is calling the game like Chrisselle just throws whatever the catcher says. And that means that as a rookie. As a twenty four rookie, Drake Baldwin was successively calling games for a cy young level pitcher his first year in the majors, and I am curious. You know, he's not the best framer in the world. I do wonder how framing is gonna change now that we have the ABS system, Like, is that going to be as valuable as a skill as it used to be. It probably will be because you can't challenge every pitch, but it's probably gonna be mitigated a little bit. And then if you look at the projections, and again I'm a big fan of these projection models because they're typically the most accurate. Like ZIPS. Again, drey Ball put up a one twenty five WRC plus next year. His projection from ZIPS for next year, or that's what he did last year. His projection for next year or for this upcoming year is a one twenty four WRC plus. So that's a model that sees not only what he did, but all the underlying stuff underneath it and says, oh no, no, this is real, Like, this is not a mirage that you watched last year. This is not something where we expect a big drop. Again, project projection model is usually very conservative, especially with young players, but we don't have a lot of data. That's how real all of his underlying stuff was last year that the projection basically sees an identical season from him for next year. Again, I do think some we need to be somewhat cautious because it's a sophomore year. And listen, he would not be the first guy who's ultra talented who takes a step back in his sophomore year. That happens all the time. Even guys are going to have tremendous careers take a step back. I think Acuna had like a one to twenty five WRC plus in his second year, which I think is still the lowest of his career until at least until he came back from the ACL. The first ACL, I think that was one of the lowest of his career. So like even guys like Akunya take a small cans take a small step back, so we should not be surprised at all. It should not shock anybody if that happens to Drake. But the low Strikeout Radio had like a fifteen percent strikeout rate last year, which is a number you use a lot to tell the guys overmatched that that's a really key indicator. You'll see a lot of rookies come up and run like a forty percent strikeout rate, you know, in their first year, because they're just overmatched. And that never happened to Drake at any point last year. So it's just another indicator that what we saw is very real. The Braves I have legitimately, I'm not gonna say great hitter yet, but if he does what he did last year one more year, I'm gonna start using the word great because I catch her with a one twenty five WRU plus is a great hitter. So we'll see. But as we sit here today, on paper, the Braves of one of the best young catchers in baseball, and that is the anchor for this position for this team in twenty twenty six.

00:26:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you start when you look at what Drake did last year and you see that the only really rookie catchers over the past what fifty some odd years who have done what he did or better. And you look at names like Mike Piazza and Buster Ozy than others, that should kind of give you an indication. I'm not saying that Drake is on a trajectory to reach that level, but he's off to that type of start and that's definitely a good thing. And make no mistake about it, if the pitching is going to be less than reliable and it's going to be put, that's going to be put even more of a need for the offense to get back to be into the top of the league. Having a bat like Drake Baldwin that not only is left handed, but again it contributes to so many areas, especially errors areas where they take on more value if you're not hitting home runs. His value to this lineup will be tremendous and it's going to be a lot of fun to see him in the midst of it.

00:27:38
Speaker 2: And he does not have to be platooned exact, and that is so massively underrated or a young left handed.

00:27:45
Speaker 1: Hitter, but the Brave's catching situation as a strength. Hear me the Brave's catching situation as a strength does not only lie with nor end with Drake Baldwin, Jodah Hin and believe it or not, Sean Murphy also contribute to this being one of the best catching catching setups in the leagues. Well one of the best catching setups in the league. More on that and just a moment after another word from our partners.

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00:28:43
Speaker 1: So Steven, let's talk about it. You know, first we'll start with you know joonah Heim, who again, I know that he has you know, kind of falling off here over the past couple of years, but when you look at what he did just a few years ago, and I know that again, it's a significant time difference between now and you know, twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty three, Jonaheim, you know, I believe he was a former All Star with the Rangers if I remember that correctly. And again he's back with you know, one of the sources that kind of helped him, you know, become that All Star level catcher in Tim Hyers. I'm looking at that in a very positive way. But I think that Jonaheim is about as good of an option that you could have found for a guy that you simply want to be your backup for two months. He'll probably catch ten to fifteen games, you know, in the first few months of the season. But you brought up a great point in the segment just second ago about Drake Baldwin. He's also probably here to kind of be a mentor, especially on the defensive side of things for Drake Baldwin. So in a contract that was very, very cheap, the Braves could get value in multiple ways. And again I'm not saying Jonahian is going to return to All Star form, but I think that he will be able to contribute, you know, successfully to the Braves winning more than some may think.

00:29:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he was a seven win catcher between the twenty twenty t two season. In twenty twenty three season, he was a seven to win catcher. He was a four to win catcher. In twenty twenty three. It was an All Star looks like one of the best catchers in baseball. Obviously, twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five have not gone or did not go the same way, and that's why he was available for basically nothing this offseason. At thirty years old, he's certainly not at the age where he should be washed up. But the performance the last two years just hasn't been good enough. So the Braves are buying low. They know that they've got this kind of a weird catching situation with Murphy being out for an undisclosed amount of time. We think it's gonna be May, but we don't know. But you got to have another major league catcher, you know. I think for the first month and a half, the Braves are gonna for the first time in a long time have a legitimate, like starting catcher and a legitimate backup catcher. Where they've they've run these tandems for so many years now that we've kind of forgotten what that's like. But I think, like, I think Baldwin's gonna play like eighty percent of the time eighty five percent of the time out of the gate at catcher, and you know Jonah will play against especially if there's a tough lefty on the mound. That's kind of you know, for his career. I think Jonah Hym's at like a one oh five WFC plus against lefties, so you know, it's respectable. It's not like you're just he's just gonna embarrass you up there. And I'm guessing that's gonna be the relief point for for Baldwin early in the season. Is Okay, there's a really tough lefty, Baldwin's played four to the last five or whatever it is. We're gonna give Jonah a chance to pitch, our chance to catch and see what he can do. And listen, is it sexy. No, you know, it's a backup. It's a guy who, again, is not gonna play a lot. It's kind of tough to get guys to accept that role, like to sign on for that role knowing how little they're gonna play. You kind of need somebody that's had a rough couple of years that's just happy to have a major league job. You know, guys who are really good don't really sign up for roles like this where you're gonna be primarily a backup and then when Sean Murphy comes back, maybe not even on the roster. So again, that's not a position where you can sign like an all star catcher because they're not going to sign up for that role. So Jonahin's kind of what you get and I'm not you know, I'm not gonna blow smoke, but then tell you he's some great pickup. There is a little upside because we've seen him performingly well not that long ago twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three with Tim Heyers. You know, it's kind of a pretty standard third catcher and for the first six weeks, you know, as the backup catcher role, and you know, it's fine until Murf gets back.

00:32:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's a key, right until Murph gets back. And that's that's where I think it's the funest part to end the show because with all the injuries that were once again dealing with and everything that we're kind of seeing what is shit a little bit of positive light, you know, when we talk about Sean Murphy and in his three years with the Braves, again, I think that it's fair to point out that the past three years probably have not worked out to the best that many had hoped for when we traded and extended Sean Murphy, but that doesn't mean that value has not been there. We're talking about a guy who has the eighth highest f WAR at the catcher position since the Braves acquired him before the twenty twenty three season, and a big part of that is his defense. I do want to point that out. Sean Murphy, despite the offensive struggles that he's had at times over the years and the injuries that he's had, he has maintained being one of the best sources of defensive and defensive catching in baseball. And if you want to talk about a pitching staff where you're hoping that the pitchers that we have will consistently reach the level of impact that they're able to reach, having Murphy back there as a catcher is certainly going to help that that. I think plenty of people know about his defense, but I also I say this with a certain level of confidence. Possibly the biggest mid season pick up for the Braves. Sorry for me, sounded like Chip Carrey could be Sean Murphy's offense if Sean Murphy is healthy, and if the only time that Sean Murphy has truly been healthy was the star of the twenty twenty three season, when he was an All Star and at times looked like an MVP candidate. We saw last year he had a bit of a stretch and you know, I believe in June where he looked like that version of Sean Murphy again. There is a clear two to three win offensive level player with the bat only in Sean Murphy. And if he can get fully healthy and return to form, and then you've start putting him at catcher, Baldwin at DH, possibly Profar out in left field, that could be a big factor in this Braves offense getting back to the level that we all hope it could. I know people are down on Murphy right now because of the injuries, because of the offensive struggles, but the talent hasn't gone anywhere. I'm confident in saying that. And if health gets back in the equation for Sean Murphy, I still think there's a difference making that there that could be are really big benefit once again to an offense that now oldman ever needs to get back to being top of belief.

00:35:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that's that's gonna be a massive story what him and Hassan Kim look like when they come back in May. Whatever it is, it's gonna be a massive deal. And one of the reasons is, again I know, I keep mentioning these platoon splits because they matter a ton. It's really two different lineups that you roll out. It's whatever you roll out against left handeds or whatever you roll out against right handers. I guess right handed pitching the Braves are pretty good. Like the Braves have a lot of really good talent, you know. Baldwin, Olsen, profar All hit from the left side and hit righties very well. Yashimsky hits from the left side, hits righties very well. Akunya Riley both hit righties very well. So I guess right handed pitching there they look really good. It's against lefties where I'm not quite there yet because I Yashimsky is obviously no nowhere near the same. I'm still waiting to see what Baldwin looks like on year two. But against lefties. Where you get a big boost is when Murphy and Hassan Kim come back, because Murphy and Hassan Kim for their careers, destroy left handed pitching. Like even last year, when Sean Murphy didn't have the greatest offensive season, he had a one twenty five WRC plus against left handed pitching. Last year that was still with a hurt hip. What's a plus again, a one twenty five against left handed pitching.

00:36:25
Speaker 1: One twenty five WRC plus for the catchup position. Where have I heard that before?

00:36:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly what Bald opened up. So it's a monster year even with a bad hip. So you get that hip cleaned up. Even if it's not the same against righty's anymore. The Braves don't really need it to beat quite honestly. I mean, I know they make I know they pay him fifteen million dollars a year, But if you hit, if you hit left handed pitching and you defend your balls off when you're out there, I mean, you know, even last year he was like, I think, a two win pitcher, which means he was still worth his contract. He makes fifteen million bucks, you put up essentially sixteen million dollars worth of value last year, and again that was with a bum hip. So yeah, I'm not out on Murphy at all. I know people get dramatic about it because of and I get it because of William Contrara's and the same thing happens with Olsen because of Freddy Freeman. People always related to what it was or what was here, which has nothing that Sean Murphy didn't ask to be traded for William Contreras and Matt Olson didn't ask to be, you know, be the guy that replaces Freddy Freeman. So I just look at their value, what they're paid, what they do on the field. Even last year with a bad hip and a really up and down offensive season, he was worth his contract. I think he's got a chance to, you know, over the next two years, really remind people of who he is and if that hip is now healthy. And again, even when it's not been healthy, he's always hit left handed pitching, which is really critical for this team. So yeah, I'm I'm still all in on Sean Murphy. Dreg Baldwin is awesome. Drake Baldwin's clearly the catcher of the future. There's probably an argument that Sean Murphy's fifteen million could certainly be used better elsewhere on the roster. I'm not going to argue with that. That's just logic. You know, I'd much rather be able to allocate that money to probably a starting pitcher at this point. But you know, and if he goes out and has a good year, you probably have that option at the end of the season if you want to move the money. So having a good twenty twenty six is going to help in a lot of areas. And if he gets that hip right and he still has left, he's the way he always has and he still defends the way he always has. I still feel pretty good about a Sean Murphy year in twenty twenty six.

00:38:27
Speaker 1: Hey, and it couldn't come at a better time, because again, when the Braves have catching as a clear strength of this team, just just think, you know, how how good the Travis Darnaul years were, and how awesome he was one of the best performing offensive catchers in postseason history. The Braves have consistently had catching deliver, deliver when they need it most. And if they can come back and you know, potentially have two top ten catchers that they can have, you know, to use as they see fit to keep both fresh. That could be or of an asset than a liability all day long. But hey, this has been a fun episode of the Hammer Territory podcast. The reason Why, No ramts, no no frustration.

00:39:13
Speaker 2: You know, there's a little bit of frustration in the beginning, but it was just a little bit. It wasn't a big one.

00:39:19
Speaker 1: I got you, I gotcha, but at least we ended on a positive note, and that's what we're gonna carry on those positive vibes. For Steven Tolber, you can find him a beat underscore outlier on Twitter, slash x myself shown coming at stats sac Hammer Territory across all forms on social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. Also anywhere that you listen, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, wherever you check out your podcast, that's where we'll be for free and hey more often than ever. With the season right around the corner. Until next time, as always, be good, have a great week, Enjoy basketball, enjoy baseball. H m hm enjew a life.

00:40:04
Speaker 2: Really good, solid, solid as good.

00:40:06
Speaker 1: Inspiration Until next time, go brace. We'll talk to you again soon here on the Hammer Territory pot