AJ Smith-Shawver Season debut and A Series Win

00:00:19
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast.

00:00:21
Speaker 2: My name is Sean Coleman.

00:00:22
Speaker 1: Hope, wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you are having a great endto your Thursday start, to your Friday start to your Memorial Day weekend. And I'm here with my co host, Stephen Tolbert. Stephen, always a pleasure to be with you again The Hammer Territory Podcast part of the Foul Territory Podcast Network. But Steven, we get to talk about a series win, two straight wins for the Braves of three to nothing win over Chicago. It was a really impressive game overall once again for the pitching staff.

00:00:53
Speaker 2: But it's good to talk with you. How are you tonight, sir Sean.

00:00:56
Speaker 3: What's up, buddy? Yeah, man, it's good to do. Good to do another one of these with you. Yeah, since last week talk, obviously, the team went two and oh last two games, so that's obviously improved the the mood around the team versus when we talked on on Tuesday, where it was pretty bleak and you know, they were coming off a pretty brutal stretch of baseball and just kind of an ugly stretch of baseball for being honest, but yeah, two wins since then, you know, the offense is still you know, they had a good they had a good game on Wednesday, uh, you know, and they had a decent game today. The wind was blowing in in Chicago. So but we'll get we'll get to all that in a minute. But yeah, the you know, two wins. The pitching staff has been incredible, which is going to be the main topic tonight. But two two wins and two wins and and it's better than two losses. And you know, it's it's good to get a series win when things were looking kind of bleak and and off to Pittsburgh.

00:01:51
Speaker 1: We go absolutely and you know, it was it's just good to get this series win. And you know, this is four out of six now against Chicago, as you pointed out on on Twitter, slash X, you know, we won four out of the six games. We have a tiebreaker for Chicago, who I believe is right there with us right now. I want to say, you know, in that wildcar, Max, I think their fifth right now, we're fourth, no long way to go. But this is a you know, this is one of the better teams in the National League, a team in Chicago who legitimately has a chance at a postseason birth and the Braves were did a good job. You know again, no they should have been a series sweep, but they got the job done on Wednesday and Thursday behind some excellent pitching performances. And that's where we'll start, because the story of the game today was the fact that A. J. Smith Jaber made his two thy and twenty four debut season debut for the Braves, one of the Braves' top two pitching prospects last year, showed a bit of a glimpse of just the overall talent that he has, you know, someone who could be a top of the rotation starter in time. He looked impressive at times last year, including in the playoffs against the Phillies. But on Thursday, Steven, we were really interested to see how he looked at after going through you know, some changes, you know, some adjustments down in Triple A. He had his struggles at times this year so far in Triple A. But what really stood out to me in his start today four and one thirds innings, four strikeouts, no earned runs. He got up to ninety nine, the velocity was up. He carried it and he carried it into the fourth inning. It seemed like it kind of tailed off a bit in the fifth inning, but his velocity was up and he was able to carry it into the game. He also kept the ball on the ballpark, which obviously was a great thing, and he seemed to have good command of the strike zone. He seemed to be throwing several of his pitches for strikes at different parts in the count, so his overall understanding of his stuff and how to pitch. He was a pitcher instead of a thrower, and he was able to do it at ninety nine miles per hour plus with good breaking stuff. He looked really, really impressive for his season debut.

00:03:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we you know, we obviously everybody wanted to see what he looked like with the twenty twenty four version. Looks like versus last year. You know, last year he came up, he had flashes. The big thing we saw last was he had a really hard time holding velocity throughout a game. He would start out throwing you know, ninety six ninety seven in the first inning, and then by the usually by the third or fourth inning, he was down to ninety two ninety three pretty consistently, and you know, you're just such a different picture. I mean just the level of command. We've talked about this before with with Tyler Matsik, but like the level of command you have to have it ninety two ninety three versus ninety seven, ninety eight ninety nine is is you know, leagues apart, and you just got to be a leak command guy when you're throwing ninety two ninety three. So the fact that he was a you know, he's added velocity, he was pretty consistently throwing ninety seven ninety eight ninety nine today and the fact that he was able to hold it. He threw I think three I think he threw three in the in his last inning of work. I think he threw like three ninety eight minar fastballs and one ninety nine milinar fastball in his last inning. So that's tremendous. Our buddy Garrett Spain Olbert Battery Power was talking about that about that's been one of the bigger developments this year is he's he's added muscle, he's bigger, he's stronger, so he's added velocity, but he's added some endurance where he can maintain that pilosity, and that's what they you know, they had seen in the Miners and Brad did a whole show that Garrett. You should go check it out. It it's on the it's on the podcast feed about the minor league system. If you haven't listened to that show, go listen to it. It's a really good episode. But but yeah, that was the big thing for him, is can he hold his velocity because he's just so much easier to pitch it in ninety eight ninety nine. I mean, that's a you know, that's an obvious statement. But when you could throw that hard, you don't have to be as sharp everywhere else. You can get away with some hanging, breaking balls, You can get away with some if he command, you know, you can get away with leaving some pitches over the middle of the plate just because it's just hard to hit. And you know, that's that's what we saw today. The wind was blowing in. You know, Chicago's a lineup that's kind of going through a dry spell, you know, not not too dissimilar from the Braves, and so you know, he he definitely got a nice draw in terms of when to make his debut. But you know, four innings, four shutout in or I think four and two third shutout innings, four strikes outs, two walks. You'll take it, you know, especially for his first start. But the stuff looked good. And you know, I mentioned see what they do if you know, how they play with the rotation, if they if he's up for a little bit and gets a run here, if he's gonna you know, go back and forth, we'll see what they do. But yeah, it was a really good outing by him. It was nice to see and it was nice to see the things that he struggled with last year are the things that he is. You know, you can clearly see the improvement that he's made this year.

00:06:29
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00:08:05
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00:08:07
Speaker 1: So Stephen building off this performance, you know, Spencer Strider goes down obviously, so he's not an option for the rest of the year. Whatever the Braves may do with the trade deadline, will wait and see. Obviously, the Braves had a natural first option to go with with Bryce Elder, who you know last year was great in the first half, struggled in the second half, but struggled in spring training. He struggled once again, you know, in his you know, a few starts that he's had this year. Bryce Elder just right now does not seem to be a valuable option for the rotation. So the Braves have this open spot in the rotation. And of course, as we're going to discuss a little bit later on the episode, going into Thursday, they had a need for a starter on Thursday as well as Friday. But Aj Smith Shover with some other moves that have been made in the minor leagues. AJ Smith Shover's performance on Thursday and then even seemed as if this may have been the thought before he started. He could now get an extended look, and Thursday certainly offered promise and validation that he should get a few more starts in that rotation spot. The Braves have opened.

00:09:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, that's gonna be the question, right they you know, they had they had moves that they had to make because of the doubleheader and because they wanted to get Elder back in Triple A just because he hasn't looked very good. So there was some necessity to this week's moves. It wasn't just purely because AJ was you know, blowing them away at Triple A and and was clearly ready for a call up. That this was, you know, a product of necessity more than anything else. But in saying that, you know, he clearly has the highest upside of any of the you know candidates for the five start, you know, for this five spot in the rotation, whether it's Dylan Dodd or Alan Winings or Darius Fines or Bryce Elder, like, none of those guys have the ceiling that that Aj has. So and you know, he's he's clearly improved on some of the areas that he was weekend last year. His numbers were't great at Triple A and that's you know that that's part of it. And he he definitely got you know, some good fortune today with the wind blowing in. There were some balls that you know, maybe would have left the yard if if not for that. So you know, he's not perfect. He's certainly not a finished product. But relative to the other options in that spot, yeah, I mean, he's clearly got the highest upside. I don't know how much more they want him in triple A. You know, it's gonna be interesting what they do. You know, obviously, with Elder being optioned, he's got to stay down there for fifteen days unless somebody goes on the IL. So this could be I mean, he could get it. This could be an extended run from uh Aj where he gets through four starts and you know, if he if he grabs hold and and does well, he might just keep the job. I'm sure the Braids would love that. So it will be interest to see what they do. But you know, tomorrow the Brads need and other starters, so there's gonna have to be some sort of decision made in the next twelve hours about who's going to start tomorrow, and that might give us some indication of what they're thinking, but yeah, the fifth starter job is kind of an open competition right now. For being honest, and you know, Aj looked good today. We'll see what they do going forward.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And the thing though that stands out is this is that, yes, the Braves certainly need that fifth starter role to be filled. But Stephen, this pitching staff just keeps coming along.

00:11:18
Speaker 2: You know, Brad did a great job.

00:11:20
Speaker 1: You know, if you haven't listened to the Hammer Territory podcast after Wednesday's game in which you know, Max Freed went five perfect innings, he got the complete game, I did a great job just giving the bullpen arrest. You know, he was outstanding. Ag Smith Shouper was outstanding. What's really starting to emerge, Like, you know, we've talked about the fact that, you know, over this stretch, the Brave's pitching staff has been good, but that spreatch has started in that stretch is starting to expand you know, we talked about it for the past few weeks, we talked about it for a month. It's really been the whole season. And Stephen, when you look at the numbers, this Braid's pitching staff is arguably top five in baseball. I think second in era now in the n L, you know, fourth overall in MLB. Don't quote me on that, but I think that's the numbers that I saw. But the big that stands out is that it's it's the starting rotation. Each and every one of your you know, regular members, Freed, Morton, Sale, Lopez, each and every one of them are out have had outstanding stretches so far this year.

00:12:17
Speaker 6: A J.

00:12:17
Speaker 1: Smith Shauber. Hopefully we'll be able to build off this performance. But what also stood out after you know, some struggles on Monday, Steven this phrase bullpen over nine innings against the Cubs between Tuesday and Thursday, added on a lot only two runs, and you saw everybody pitch Jose or Joe Jimenez, you saw Pierce Johnson pitch right Soll Iglesias.

00:12:36
Speaker 2: So overall, we're not just.

00:12:37
Speaker 1: Talking about one part of the Braves pitching staff, it as a whole. The quality of its depth is really showing up. And it's great to see that happen against quality competition.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: Like the Cubs.

00:12:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, that look great, and we listen, we talked about it on Tuesday that you know, the key for this team right now is when they pitch like unbelievably well they win, you know, and in the last two games, the Braves gave up two runs total over two games, and so obviously they won those two games. Now, on on Wednesday's game, the offense obviously showed up in a big way. Scored nine runs. First time they had scored nine runs and over a month. And obviously today the wind was blowing in offense was a little harder to come by. But again, you know, today they pitched a shutout. I think it's their eighth shutout of the year as a teams. So yeah, when they pitched like this, they win. You know, the the question for this team, and we talked about it on Tuesday and I'll talk about it again now. The question is like, when you don't get that elite level pitching, can you still win games? When your starter gives up three runs, your bullpen gives up two runs, Like can you cover that up? And you know, when you know, when other teams score runs against your pitching, you know, how how well do you cover that stuff up? That's this that's still the question like that, you know, the offense still needs to be more consistent. Even in this series. They won the series. But you know they had like two hits the whole series with a runner and scoring position or something like that. It was like two for twenty six or something like that. Now, again that's having that many opportunities is a good sign. So you could read that both ways. But yeah, the offense, you know, you still need the offense to be more consistent. But when this team pitches, and when this team gets elite level pitching like it has, it's gonna win it's fair share of games. The pitching is just so good, like you said, I mean the Braves even without Strider, I mean the four guys the Braves have in their rotation. If Aj is ready to take a step and be that fifth man, you could add him into that equation as well. The Braves are still incredibly talented there. And then the bullpen is in really deep, you know, seven eight guys that are really quality. Plus Ray Kerr is still in Gwinett. He's not going to get him back at some point. He's he's been fantastic. So yeah, the depth on this pitching staff has just been absurd. We talked about it all winter, you know, Alex. The thing he wanted to do was was add high level, high quality depth and really have a full thirteen man pitching staff. And that's what he's done, and it's been fantastic. That pitching has saved the Bradves baking. I can't even explain how I mean, if the Braids weren't pitching like they have been the last month, you know, they would be in much much worse shaped than they are. That pitching staff has just been nails for over a month now.

00:15:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and as we mentioned also, you know, I believe it was last week we talked about the fact that along with the pitching, the defense has stood out as being a strength as well. So two of the three biggest facets of the game, pitching and defense have been right there for the Braves. Is it's a reason why they're in there. They're now twenty nine to eighteen.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: When you look at the.

00:15:32
Speaker 1: Overall production of Atlanta, you see the reason why they have a winning record, why they're ten games over five hundred, still less than fifty games into the season, and it's again because of the fact that they're pitching and defense have been so good. And one player that I think has you know, contributed to that, one player who I definitely think is added to the overall defensive upside of this team is Jared Kellnick And of course he hit a home run to give the Braves, to give the Braves the lead that would last, but also their first run of the day on Thursday. He loves hitting, you know, in Wrigley Field, if you go back to last year, he hit that four hundred and eighty two foot shot in Wrigley Field. But I want to spend a bit of time talking about him, Stephen, because you know, it was great to see him put the ball in play, you know, with hard contact, and to see him hit a home run. I believe it's fourth of the season. Maybe it was his third, third or fourth of the season. But I do want to bring him up because I definitely think that he's been a positive value so far, at least on the defensive end. But I also think it's worth discussing kind of fifty games in, you know, where is the opinion on Jared Klnick. Again, I think overall him and left field is a positive value because he does add good defense. But Stephen, I'm trying to find some glimmer of hope, something to say, Okay, yes he's struggling, but this number or that number may indicate, you know, reason to have faith that he'll get better in time. I'm sure as time goes on he'll be a bit better. It's going to be hard not to be. But I will say, despite his home run offensively, when it comes to Jared Kilnick, you hope that this is the start of a good streak moving forward. But right now, when it comes to his performance at the plate, the overall results are pretty in line with the expected results, and that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for encouragement.

00:17:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, he homewared today and that you know, he hit a ball very hard. I mean he hit it to the teeth of the wind and still got it out. There's no joke, and rigally as hard as that wind can blow. So he's got like, in terms of his raw skill, he's got tremendous talent. I mean, this guy was like a top five prospect in baseball like two years ago. So you know, he's got unbelievable raw skills, which is why the Braves. You know, the Braves took on quite a bit of money to get him. Now they have him for five years, and he's got minor league options, which is obviously helpful. So if he you know, even if you do have to send him down, if he struggles so much, then you have that option to do so. But he's got tons of all talent. But yes, if we're being objective about it. At the plate, so far in twenty twenty four, he's been very bad. I mean, there's just there's really no other way to sugarcoat it. His expected numbers are down and like you know, kind of where you would expect if pitchers were still hitting, that's kind of where they lived. I remember the last year that pictures hit, Max Freed had like an expected OBA of like two seventy and right now Jerry Kelnick hasn't expected OBA in the two sixties. So that's very bad. There's just no there's no sugarcoating. And his defense has been exceptionally good. He's a fantastic defender. The problem for him is he plays left field. And you know, if you're if you're playing shortstop, or you're playing center field, or even right right field or maybe third base, you can produce enough defensive value where your offense doesn't matter that much, especially at shortstop, catcher in center field. The critical defensive positions. At left field, it's much harder to do that. There's just only so much value you're ever going to extract defensively in left field. Typically speaking, you need your left field or to hit to be valuable, and if they're not hitting, you typically replace them with somebody who is going to hit, because it's an offensive driven position. And to this point, Kelnick has been very poor offensively. He strikes out a ton. He's got like a thirty four percent strikeout rate, which is very, very very high. He's got a very low walk rate. I think he's got six walks all year. So you know, they, like I said, the expected numbers are not great. He hasn't been good. I mean, he had a good start, but other than that, he has not been that good. And you know, it is what it is. You're the Braves are probably gonna give him a decent leash. None of this would be as important if the entire offense was hitting better. You know, if all the guys that were supposed to be hitting great were then this would be much less of an issue. But when the whole offense struggles, then you know, the guys at the bottom who are really, really struggling, they get noticed more. So that's part of it too. But yeah, he hasn't been great. There's no I mean, I can't there's no numbers I can spit out that paints a rosier picture than what it is. He just he hasn't been good at the plate. He's been very good defensively. I don't know that that's gonna be enough to keep the spot. I would not be stunned. And obviously homeer today, so he's gonna get plenty of leash to see if he can get hot. But you know, if it continues at this pace, I wouldn't be surprised to see Duval a little bit more. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them maybe go get somebody at the deadline if neither guy has really taken off. You know, outfielders are pretty easy to acquire, so we'll see what they do. He's got a ton of potential, he's got a ton of talent. He's really good defensively, but if we're being honest, they need more out of him from the you know, with the bat, because that's you know, you put guys in left field to hit, and they need somebody that's gonna hit a little bit more. And if it's him, great, he's got a ton of talent. He can do it. If it's not him, it becomes a little more interesting to see what they.

00:20:49
Speaker 1: Do absolutely, and I think that the key that you hit on there is that, yes, you have a clear area where he adds value and for the break, if their offense is at its normal level, as you mentioned at shortstop at left field, if a guy's at he mainly defensive value at those two areas, because again the defense was pretty bad last year, but the defense is pretty good this year. Arcia as well as Kellnick have done very well. But if the rest of the offense is not point its weight, if it's not doing what it needs to do, then those two areas shortstop in left field, those become the prime areas where if the Braves need to go do some type of move to get an offensive upgrade. It makes sense that those will be the top two areas to look at. I'm not saying to expect that or anything like that, but if we go further into the season where Arcia and Kellnick are offering, you know, they're kind of where they are now. A month or so from now, then maybe that conversation changes. But as we are recording right now, I will say this, We're now going into the weekend. Of course, the Braves will be going to Pittsburgh to face the Pittsburgh Pirates, But the biggest storyline of the weekend will be Sean Murphy. Watch when might he be activated to potently join the Braves, And the thought was was that he would do it on the next homestand but Steven, as we're doing this recorning, Sean Murphy went deep again his second home run on this rehab assignment, second home run of the week. Of course, he hit a four hundred and fifty foot bomb on Tuesday, you know, when his first at bat. But hey, his next start, he's hit another home run, so he clearly is ready. Getting him back into the lineup in a series where it's definitely an opportunity for you to be able to sweep or get the series win. You know, we talked about it on Tuesday. It's the biggest storyline out there. If we can get Sean Murphy back and if he's ready to produce, that is going to be such a huge boost to the lineup.

00:22:39
Speaker 2: But that certainly is the biggest storyline to watch over the weekend.

00:22:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, call him up, get him, get him up here. The Braves need it. The Braves need some offense. No, I'll be in to see what they do. You know, when you have an oblique injury, obviously, how you swing the bat is the biggest thing you're looking for. He's obviously, he's hit two home runs in two games. The bat looks pretty good as long as he's healthy. I mean, here's the thing about position players, especially like catchers who have been catching bullpens and live VP, Like, once you got your timing, you're good.

00:23:12
Speaker 2: You know.

00:23:12
Speaker 3: For pitchers, rehab assignments can take two three weeks because of how much rest they need in between starts. But position players can knock out a whole rehab assignment in a few days if they get enough at bats. So, you know, I would be a little surprised to see him this weekend, just because he's only two games into a rehab assignment. But you know, I think it's probably more likely that we see him at the beginning of next week in Atlanta. But hey, if they want to call him up, I'm all about it. The Braves could use the boost offensively. I'm sure Travis Darnaut would love a little more help. You know, Shadowy Trump has been really really good behind the plate, throwing out runners, call him games. He's been tremendous. He deserves credit for some of this, you know, elite pitching that the Braves have had, but all offensively. Obviously, he's a third catcher. I mean, he's a very very limited got two hits today, which is you know, stealing, like stealing, stealing candy from a baby. I mean, it's it's it's it's found money at that point anytime he gives you anything offensively. So yeah, I I don't know what they're gonna do. I would I would guess they're gonna they're gonna bring Murphy back on Monday. But we'll see. It wouldn't stun me to see him in Pittsburgh, you know, the fact that he would have to get on a plane. I think, you know, if the Braids were playing at home this weekend, I think there's a better chance that they would call him up. But the you know, being on the road and then coming back home Monday, I think Monday is what they're gonna end up doing. But yeah, two home runs and two games and a rehab assignment. You know, especially with the offensive problems that the Braids we're having, that's enticing. And we know, I mean we saw last year, especially in the first half, Murphy's got unbelievable offensive potential. I mean, he destroys baseball. He hits the ball as hard as anybody in baseball, anybody on the team, as hard as Matt hits the ball, as hard as a Kuna hits the ball. Sean Murphy hits the ball is just as hard as any of those guys. And so I'd love to have him. But my guess is it's going to be Monday.

00:25:03
Speaker 1: Which will be perfectly fine, And because at the at the very least, why not just let him keep building off this success, get a couple more games behind the plate, and be able to really you know, put a good you know performance in place. As far as the rehab assignment goes, then you can get him right back into the lineup, you know, starting next week when they arrive in Atlanta.

00:25:23
Speaker 2: But the other thing that stands.

00:25:25
Speaker 1: Out is, you know, we could talk all day long about the potential of what could happen with Sean Murphy. One thing we do know is that there is an opening when it comes to who is going to be on the mound to start the game on Friday for the Braves. Bailey Falter, left hander for Pittsburgh, will be going against Atlanta, but on the mound for the Braise is to be determined at this point in time.

00:25:42
Speaker 2: Now.

00:25:43
Speaker 1: Darius Findes is with the big league club and I'm pretty sure he's not been used in his time, you know, since he's been caught up on Monday. But the thing is is that the typically you would see, you know, the Braves at times, they can announce who they will do and they'll wait till the next day. But there was an expectation that we know by now who was going to start on Friday. We don't know that is yet. So the Braves could go with Vines, but they also potentially, I believe Dylan Dodd, Alan Winings, you know from tripa A. Those could be options as well. It remains to be seen what the Braves are going to do for Friday's start. Stephen, as of right now, what are your thoughts kind of a who would make sense to be on the mound for the Braves in what direction you'll think they'll go to to feel Friday starter position.

00:26:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a bit weird that they didn't announce after the game. Everybody, you know they called up Vines. Now, obviously the reason they called up Vines was to have some some length in the bullpen in case something got crazy during the Cup series, and it almost did, right, Charlie had a rough start to Monday's game and almost had to be pulling the second inning. But you know, the expectation was Vines was up to pitch one of these two games, either today or Friday, And so when they didn't announce it after the game today, you know, people kind of raised an eyebrow. You know, they said they're going to talk about it on the plane and lead you to believe that maybe the guy who's gonna start tomorrow is not on the team yet and they're gonna make another move tomorrow. I don't know. If they did that, my guess would be probably Dylan Dodd. You know, I was looking earlier. Ray Kerr technically hasn't thrown a pitch for Guinette yet since he's been since he's been since he got sitt down at the beginning of the week. You know, the Braves would have to make an IL move to get him back up because he hasn't been down in fifteen days. But if somebody went on the IL, ray Kerr could come up and potentially start tomorrow. So my guess is gonna be Vines. But the fact that they didn't announce it today is definitely weird after the game, so maybe you know if they're going to make a move, you know, it's like you said, it could be DoD, it could be Whinings. If they put somebody on the IL, it could be Elder or ray Kerr, because then that would waive the fifteen day rules, so they could bring either of those guys back if they wanted to. So we'll see what they do if they've got, you know, you never know if they've got a nagging injury somewhere on the pitching staff and use an eyel trip to maybe get a guy up earlier than otherwise he would have been able to. So we'll see what they do. My guess is going to be Vines, Winings or DoD. They'll just make a typical roster move tomorrow and then go from there. And then once you get past tomorrow's game, the rotation kind of levels back out again from the doubleheader and all the fallout from you know, the rain out and stuff. So it'll get easier out this week. But that's my guess. Is it going to be Vines or one of the Triple A guys tomorrow?

00:28:26
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

00:28:27
Speaker 1: And so you know, when you look at the Braves schedule, when you look at their calendar, you know, typically throughout the season, you know, over the past several years, you know, when you've seen the Braves play Pittsburgh, it's.

00:28:35
Speaker 2: Been one of the expectations.

00:28:37
Speaker 1: Okay, this is a series where if Atlanta needs to get right, this is an opportunity to do it. And this is especially the case this year because Pittsburgh, I think, to the surprise of some maybe many, you know, the fact that they've had Paul Schemes as well as Jared Jones. I mean, if you were to talk about a duo of young pitchers on the same team this year who have really turned some eyes with.

00:28:56
Speaker 2: Success, it would be those two.

00:28:58
Speaker 1: The Braves actually are going to have avoid both of them in this series. On Friday, You've got Bailey Falter for Pittsburgh against whoever the Braves will name is their starter. Saturday, Ronaldo Lopez versus Mitch Keller, and then Sunday you've got Chris Sell versus Martin Perez. So the Braves have an opportunity to you know, really be able to again either get a series win or be able to get a series suite. But to me, what stands out, Stephen, is that Atlanta needs to have something when it comes to their offense, step up. Something last year that or over the past two years that has clearly been their identity. That's either Ronald Acuna Junior or Matt Olsen having a big series, the Braves' ability to hit left handers especially, you know, maybe a big series from an Adam Devaal or Travis Darnaut having another great weekend. Something about the Braves offense that has clearly been a big source of their success in the past. It seems like a good weekend for that something to show up. I can't necessarily put my finger on what exactly that would be, but this seems like a good time for Atlanta to really get going offensively. Because they're ninth in Major League Baseball in terms of production against left handed pitchers. They face some decent left handers this weekend, but some two Pitchers and Falter and and Perez that they should be able to have success against. I think that this is a good opportunity for this Atlanta offense to really get going. But again, it's got to start for the top.

00:30:20
Speaker 2: Of the order.

00:30:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you definitely catch a break, you know, playing Pittsburgh and not having to play you know, have to go against Schians or Jared Jones. Those two guys are nasty and then both throw you know, one hundred miles an hour. So playing a three game series and missing both of those guys is a nice break. But yeah, I mean, hopefully this is kind of the series where it gets going. You know, Bailey Falter Braces fans will remember from Philadelphia, he played in Philly for a couple of years and is with Pittsburgh now. Kind of saw a soft tosson lefty. The Braves have typically destroyed those guys. You know, last year they just mashed mashed lefties, you know, the you know they had you know with Riley Murphy, Acunya Ozuna or see a left handed Ozzie. You know, they can really stack up against lefties. We'll see, you know what Austin Riley, Sean Murphy's statuses are for for this weekend. You know, Riley's been out forever, Murphy's been out forever, so we'll see. I'm not necessarily expecting either guy back. But even without those guys, you know, they still got a Cunya, they still got Duval, they still got Ozuna, they still got right handed Ozzie. You know, they can do damage against left handers if they get going. So and these are two left handers who aren't you know, no disrespect, but these aren't two of the you know, greatest pitchers you'll ever see. So it is an opportunity, you know, you get a break not seeing the best guys from Pittsburgh. It's an opportunity to really get the offense going. And the Braves have played well in Pittsburgh the last few years. It seems like they play the Pirates pretty well. So it'd be great to see. It'd be great to see acun You get going. And you know, the Braves need him to be you know, they don't need twenty twenty three Ronalds, but they need all they need more than they've gotten so far. They need, you know, they need him to be a little more consistent. He's just you know, he it seems like he takes one step forward and two steps back. You know, you had that three hit game on Monday and against San Diego and then kind of had a rough series against Chicago, didn't do much. So we'll see, we'll see if he can get going. It's a good opportunity to do so. It would be tremendous to get the offense going to you know, I've said it before. The pitching is not gonna throw seven shutout innings every game. You know, what they did the last two games was fantastic, you know, giving up two runs total in two games. But that's not that's not sustainable. You got to be able to win games five to four, you know, you gotta be able one to a seven, a seven to five game. And you know, that's kind of what this team was built on. It was built on, you know, a tremendous offense to cover up anytime the pitching. You know, the pitching isn't as best. So that's what we're everybody's still waiting on. Obviously, the record are still good, the team's still in good shape in terms of the standings. You know, Philadelphia is as hot as any team I've ever seen. That's a whole separate discussion that we can have later. But you know, there's still so much baseball left. I mean, the Braves were down ten games, you know, a couple of years ago against the Mets. Everybody remembers at this point and chase them down. So there's plenty of baseball left that that's not a concern at all. Just got to get the offense going. Just get the top guys going, get Acuona going, and everybody will feel a lot better about this team. And you know, it is a good team, but it's having to rely too much on elite pitching right now. For my comfort level, I want to see them be able to win win games when the pitching isn't, you know, elite, because you can't ask for that all the time. Your pitching is not gonna be elite all the time. We need a little bit more balance and there needs to be a little bit more balance in the team where the offense is pulling some weight. So hopefully that starts in Pittsburgh.

00:33:46
Speaker 1: It's kind of crazy, you know how, you know, as much as things change, they say the same Steven, you know, Brad Rowland, fellow podcast host, with Hammer territory. He pointed out that, you know, forty seven games into last year, the Brave were twenty nine and eighteen. Forty seven games into this year, the Braves were twenty nine and eighteen. But if you go to this time last year, the Braves that had just gotten you know, word or you know, we were fresh off knowing that both Kyle Wright as well as Max Freed coming off there incredible twenty twenty two seasons. Both those pitchers were going to be out for a long period of time due to injury. So you know, there was you know, no you know, efforts by the Braves to get their pitching staff going. But at this time last year, the Braves offense was humming along at a you know, historic pace. May was a bit of a struggle, but it was still a good offense. Well, you come a year later, it's a bit of a one to eighty. It's the Braves offense that is awaiting some key members to get back Sean Murphy and Austin Riley. And yes, even though the pitching staff is Aspenser Strider, though the pitching is what stands out is the clear strength of this team.

00:34:50
Speaker 2: But I say all.

00:34:52
Speaker 1: That to say this, I would much rather bet on the offense getting back to the level that we expect from it to be at than I would the pitching be there. I'm like you, I'm not saying this pitching staff is going to continue as good as it has been to start the year throughout the whole year. But if our pitching can at least stay near the top of the league and our offense, you naturally think will get better. Like I say, even though we have the same record, it's a bit of a different story this year compared to last year. But again, I would be willing to bet on our offense being able to get back to at least a top of the league level. And if you can get Havy get back going, then and we could take off like we could in June. I think it's a great thing. So to anyone who's still really concerned about this team. Again, we're record wise right now, we are right where we were last year. The pitching has been incredible, and you have to think, especially with getting Riley and Murphy back, this offense is going to get going once again.

00:35:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the calendar's turn into June, and you know, we know, I don't know why but this, you know, once we get to summer of this team goes bananas, especially offensively, So you know, maybe that's the magic collicksor again and the calendar flipping and getting some guys back will be the difference. And you're right, listen, this team, you know, has a bunch of individuals on it who are underperforming, you know, versus what they normally do offensively. And if you're going to bet on anything, the you know, the best bet is that at some point they're going to break out. Like Acuna is not going to have this kind of year all year. Olsen's not gonna have this kind of year all year. You know, when Riley gets back, he's gonna get going at some point. Ozzie, you know, same thing. Like the smart bet is that these guys are going to break out of this and and their numbers at the end of the year are going to look similar to what they normally do. The race just need to see it, They just need you know, you're not guaranteed anything in baseball, So that's just what they're waitness, what everybody's waiting on, just waiting on the offense to look normal. I don't think the pitching is bad I know. I say the pitching is gonna regress, I don't mean the pitching is going to regress to a bad level. I mean lately they're they're they're pitching at like a A one E r A level lately, and that's not going to continue. That's what I mean by regress. You know, regress for them is still gonna be a very very good pitching staff, but they're gonna have games where they give up three or four runs. Can the Brigs win those games is really the question, And that's gonna come down to the offense. And lately, if the pitching staff gives up three or four runs, the Brads can't win the game. And that's what we got to fix. That's what we got to change. And that's what I'm waiting for, a little bit more balanced to the team, where you're not so reliant on one part of it that if that if that part doesn't show up, you just can't win. You know, you don't want to be there. So that's what I'm waiting for. Hopefully it starts in Pittsburgh and you know, we'll see and hopefully is pretty soon the Brads can get healthy and get and get get Riley and murphback. That will help tremendously, and.

00:37:40
Speaker 1: It's always more fun, I'll be honest with you, it's always more enjoyable to to talk out you know, you know, discuss where you know your team struggling after a few wins instead of after losing five out of six games. So that's why there's a much more positive vibe to this edition of the Hammer Territory Podcast with me and Stephen versus two Tuesday. But can thank you enough again for all the support and definitely for y'all tuned in. We're coming up on about a month of having the Hammer Tory Podcast back and going. Hopefully better times are ahead. And also certainly want to say with Memorial Day weekend being here, want to wish everyone a very safe and enjoyable I'm a long weekend for your friends and your family from us here in Hammer Territory. But Steven, as we wrap up this edition of the show, you know, Brad Rowland, another special guest host, will be back on Sunday. Anything you'd like to add as we head to the long weekend and the Braves hopefully getting the offense rolling in Pittsburgh.

00:38:35
Speaker 3: Nope, everybody have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. Yeah, go Braves. Well, you know we'll be here to cover it all. Like you said, Brad, we'll be back on Sunday, I think with another guest host Scott gets back pretty soon and then we're off into the summer and we'll be here for the whole thing. So we appreciate it as.

00:38:51
Speaker 1: Always, absolutely For Steven Talvert who you can find it be underscore Outliers on Twitter, myself at Stat's sac at Hammer Territory, across all forms of social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. Make sure you check out all the great content across that family of podcasts at Foul Territory, but obviously Hammer Territory as well. For all Braves fans, make sure you hit that subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcast. That's where we'll be for free. Just hit the subscribe button and you'll get the latest content when it's available again. My name is Sean Coleman here with Steven Tobert Brad Rowland. Will be back with the special guests on Sunday, but until then, have a great weekend, Go Brave. We'll talk to you again here on the Hammer Territory podcast.

00:40:00
Speaker 6: The ms to the lads to lead.

00:40:11
Speaker 1: Let's from the Ta