Braves checkup: Profar’s return, Ozuna’s future, Missing pitchers

00:00:00
Speaker 1: I think they're going to trade Murphy at some point. I think they were going to want the financial flexibility to go other places. They've again, they've got so much long term money locked up, they need some flexibility somewhere.

00:00:13
Speaker 2: Steven Tolbert joining us right now on FT, one of the star hosts of Hammer Territory, the most downloaded podcast for Atlanta Braves coverage. Stephen. Great to have you on, and a lot of news to cover with this ball club, and it's not great news. So let's start at the top. Soon after our show ended, we found out yesterday that Spencer Schmellenbach is going to be down for significant time with the fractured elbow. What else can you tell us about how long he might potentially miss, what it came from, and the impact for the Braves going forward.

00:00:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's up, guys? So Spencer today, he did a press conference right after the announcement. Obviously reporters had a bunch of questions, and essentially what they told him was it was a fracture in his elbow that they don't really know the cause. The term they used was freak injury, which is pretty on brand for how the Brave season has gone. And his timeline was he's pretty vague about it. He said, you know, it's a broken bone, and it's just you know how it feels, how quickly it heals. The general consensus was about four to six weeks, so you know at this point in the calendar, that's I mean, we talked about it on the show last night. It's it might not be the final nail for the Brave season, but if it's not the final nail, it's the second to last nail because it's it's getting late early in Atlanta.

00:01:35
Speaker 3: Some of the things people were saying about Spencer Schwellenbach was whoa, you know, he kind of had a little bit of a downturn, but then his velocity jumped up, and Spencer Schwellenbach said, well, I think it actually attributed to my broken elbow. So do you want Spencer Swellbach when he comes back young starter, somebody that's like coming up? You also see Spencer Stryder. All they're worried about is that velocity. Everybody's superjuiced about that velocity and now you lost them. Do you want him coming back and learning to pitch more or are you like, you know what, it didn't work? Out when his velocity was down. I want that velocity. Screw it, we'll see what happens.

00:02:18
Speaker 1: Well, the thing with Schwellenbach is the velocity was relatively new. I mean it was really in the last month that he was throwing ninety eight, ninety nine, even one hundred at times. And he was good last year when he pitched at ninety six, ninety seven, ninety eight. So like, I don't, I don't you know every team in baseball chases velocity. The Braves, aren't you know, They're not the only ones who go after starters with high velocity. And listen, if it was an elbow injury, a shoulder injury, this is a broken bone. Even the doctors really couldn't verify that. That's why it happened. It was more of a Spencer that was. They asked Spencer his opinion and he kind of just that was kind of his best guess was maybe the velocity had something to do it. It's a very weard injury for like a non contact broken bone. So yeah, again, the doctors use the term freak injury. I'm not a doctor, I have no idea, but it was I mean, again, it's just very on brand for how the Brave season is gone.

00:03:16
Speaker 2: So let's push going forward here with the rotation, and then I want to get to the position players in your tweet about Marcel Azuna. But where are we at with the rotation and the chances of this team potentially still buying around the trade deadline if they keep themselves more to a four to five game deficit in a wild card spot. I know alex Anthopolis is super competitive. There is still a good core of position players here. I think most of the starters are going to come back at some point later this season. Where are you at? Because if they choose the other side selling, I was on Fair Territory an hour ago with Ken Rosenthal and he doesn't see them selling any guys that are on contract for next season. So are they gonna do nothing or are they gonna buy a little bit?

00:04:06
Speaker 1: So it's important to note that alex Antopolis, the Braves president of Baseball Ops, did a radio interview about two weeks ago. This was before the Sail injury and obviously before the Schwellenbach injury, and he pretty, I mean, he pretty emphatically said they're not selling, and they're certainly not selling anybody that's got more than you know, one year of team control, which is basically the entire roster. I mean, the only notable guy that doesn't have team control after this season is Marcel Luzuna, who's got his own injury problems because he's had a hip thing for like two months and his production has just fallen off a cliff. So even if the Braves got to the point where they were going to sell, which let's be honest, I mean they're they're as close as they've been in a long time, there's not much to sell. You know, I saw stuff about Acunya. They're not trading Acunya, and they're not I mean, they're not trading anybody that's got they want to compete next year, and you know, all of these guys, Saale Schwellenbach, Ronald Lopez, they're all scheduled to come back this year, so it's not like these are eighteen month in injuries that affect twenty twenty six as well. So you know, you can bind wanting to compete next year, you can bind not really having a lot to sell this year. My guess is they stand pat they might buy a little something just to see if they can, you know, spark a rally and maybe get some of these guys back in late August and then make a push. But you know, a realistic outlook of the team says this is probably not their year. There's not much to sell. My guess is they do a little bit. You know, maybe maybe trade Ozuna if he gets hot, but I wouldn't expect this team to do much at the trade deadline, to be honest, does.

00:05:35
Speaker 3: That make Atlanta Braves fans feel good or bad? Because it's you're hoping now, you're hoping this team comes back to this almost unrealistic level that they were in twenty twenty three when they were the greatest offense ever. Do Atlanta Brais feel Atlanta Braids fans feel like the team is a little stagnant and mixing it up a little bit would help.

00:06:00
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean, you know, one the thing about contract extensions is that they're great if they work, and if they don't work, then you're stuck. And right now, the Braves are somewhere in between it working and it not working. I mean, you know, you have to zoom out. The Braves have made the playoffs for seven straight years, so like, I don't want to get crazy with this. They're still a very good organization, but the last couple of years, especially on the position player side, it hasn't worked, and they've dealt with a lot of injuries, and so now you're in a situation where do you run it back with the same group, because you kind of have to. I mean, Marcelo Zunna is the only kind of big name guy that's not gonna be around next year. Technically Ozzie Albi's could They could move on from Ozzy. He's the guaranteed portion of his contract is up after this year, so they could do something at second base if they wanted to switch it up. They can always find a short stop. They haven't had a real short stop since Dansby left. You know. Profar just came back from the PD suspension, So we're gonna see what this offense looks like. They've only played one game with him, or at least one game since April, and they scored seven runs last night, so they're gonna see what he looks like, what the offense looks like with him in the lineup, and then we'll see with the rotation. I mean, all the rotation guys are under contract for next year. So yes, to answer your question, Brace fans do want a change. It's definitely gotten stagnant. But the contract extensions they've handed out, I mean, honestly, they put the team in a little bit of a box, like, unless you're okay moving these guys, and Alex has shown zero indication that's true, then you can only kind of manage the roster around the edges. The core pieces are pretty much set.

00:07:38
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00:07:46
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00:08:10
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00:08:40
Speaker 5: I want to go back to what you said about Ozuna. How do you have a hip torn for this June third? And whose fault is that that he's playing it Ozuna's fault? Is it the training staff's fault? Like they haven't get I don't think they've given him a day off, have they? And he has this is no power, I mean, that's my question is who is this on? Is this on Ozuna saying I want to play every day? Or where is the We're snitt and I love Snitt saying hey man, we need to give you a day or two to manage this thing.

00:09:06
Speaker 1: This may be the most frustrating part for Braise fans right now. He's like, like there is no team set up. Better to have your DH take a couple of weeks off than the Braves because they have Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin who both play catcher and one can catch it, one could DH and Azuna could just take a couple of weeks. And what they've said publicly is that it's a type of injury where one il stin is not going to fix it. It's only going to be fixed with surgery in the offseason. The problem with that logic is he's been awful for like two months and he's tanked any trade value he has. He's been you know, he sits in the middle of that lineup. He's got like a six hundred ohps over the last two months. Like, Okay, you don't want to put him on the IL, but like, give the guy a day off. I mean, that's the part that I can't figure out, Like, why not at least give him a day or two. Again, you have Baldwin, you have Murphy, who've been two of the best hitters on the team that can cover DH for a couple days. Yeah, Age, I'm with you. That's the one I can't figure out, and really no one can figure out. And they've they've been very kind of cryptic with this injury to begin with. They just kind of randomly released it one day and have said nothing else about it, and no one on this side can make sense of what's going on with the Zuno.

00:10:18
Speaker 5: Well, first of all, with the Braves, do you think want to bring him back? Regardless? And then then I want to ask you about the catching situation.

00:10:25
Speaker 1: No, I don't think they'll bring up. The Braves need to inject something new into this core because it's gotten stagnant. The problem is they don't have a lot of positions where they can do that because they've signed so many long term extensions. D H and Second Base are basically the only two spots where they can kind of try to inject some new energy, new life, new blood. So I don't think they'll bring a Zuna back. He's also thirty five. He's you know, if you look at Marcel, he's not like, it doesn't look like a good thirty five, Like he's kind of round, like, you know, it looks like he might be aging pretty quickly. Here in the hips is not gonna help that. So my guess is they don't bring him back. You know, he might get traded at the deadline, but again, he's been so bad for two months. I don't know who's gonna want a thirty five DH who hasn't hit in two months. So No, to answer your question, I don't think they'll bring Marcel back next year.

00:11:15
Speaker 3: Round.

00:11:15
Speaker 5: You said round, by the way, which is great.

00:11:18
Speaker 1: He's I mean he's round.

00:11:21
Speaker 5: I mean he can still hit when healthy, though, so let's see hit when he's healthy. I mean he can still be as strong as strong as I'll get out too. But let's go to that. You mentioned Murphy and Drake Baldwin. Now Murphy signed the long term extension. Then Drake Baldwin comes up and he's kind of taken a lot of his playing time away because he's been so good as a rookie.

00:11:40
Speaker 1: What are they gonna do there?

00:11:42
Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, you can DH one, but I guarantee if you haves Sean Murphy, he's gonna want to catch, And then you want Drake Baldwin to catch because he's a young guy and he's your future. Could they trade as Sean Murphy to try to change and now I'm not saying they'll trade him this year, but is that an offseason traded or is the team, like let's say the Rays who were looking for a catcher.

00:11:59
Speaker 6: Help.

00:12:00
Speaker 5: We'll come in and say, hey, we'll take Sean off if the Braves eat some of the money.

00:12:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, this has probably been the other big discussion is Drake Baldwin, I mean came out of no where. He's you know, he's been on the Brads tradar, but nobody expected him to be this good this early, and he has. He's he's eaten into Sean Murphy's playing time because he's been so good. Now Murphy has also been good. Murphy's been red hot of Lady's got three homers in his last four games. It's kind of been carrying the Braves offense lately. So this is gonna be a fascinating situation because what do you do. I mean, you have two good catchers. Murphy's locked up long term, you know, Drake Baldwin's just starting his career. I think they're gonna trade Murphy at some point. I think they were gonna want the financial flexibility to go other places. They again, they've got so much long term money locked up, they need some flexibility somewhere. Trading Murphy at least alleviates a little salary. Drake Baldwin's clearly good enough to be the starter. I don't know if you can trade a catcher. I mean, AJ, you could probably speak to this better than I can. I don't know how easy it is to trade a catcher mid season learning a whole new pitching staff, like on the fly in August and September. That seems like more of an offseason trade that you would, you know, try to pull off. But I don't know. I think I think a couple I think, like Wilson Contresk got traded at one point mid season at one point, so I don't know, maybe you could pull it off mid season if they if you, if you, you know, twisted my arm and said, what's the biggest trade the Braves could make this trade deadline? I would probably say, Sean Murphy. I just don't know how realistic it is to trade a catcher and have him, you know, reactly made to a whole new pitching staff on the fly as the season in the middle of the season.

00:13:35
Speaker 3: It's rare, you're you're right, it's rare. I mean, it's usually the backup catcher that they bring in. It's gonna play some oh, now it's a starting catcher, but it's somebody that will fill in as a need. It's rare because of exactly what you said, and I think that's one of those things it's tough to do. But somebody that definitely won't play in the playoffs if the Braves crawl out of this and get a wild card spot.

00:13:59
Speaker 6: Is your boy, Profar you tweeted last night. I think about how he's fitting right into this lineup. How much was that out of frustration for you? And how much was it This is exactly what we're getting.

00:14:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, So if you follow, if you fall, I mean I I live tweet most of these games, and it's been a frustrating year. And obviously we had just learned about the Spencer swallobuck news and I was already in a pretty pissy mood. And in his first and his very first a bat, he came up with the basis loaded and he struck out with one out. And that's I mean, if you follow the break, that's literally what happens to every single game. And so his first, you know, his first played appearance is he gets kind of fifty to fifty boos and cheers. Nobody really knows how to handle this at the moment, and his very first played appearance, he strikes out with the bases loaded and one out, and it's like, good lord, here we go to his credit. He ended up going I think two for three or three for four. Last night he started a rally, he got a two out single the Braves. The Braves didn't scored seven runs with two out and nobody on because he started that ending with a single. And that was that tweet you saw about how he's mastered the art of hit getting a hit with two out, nobody on. And then he came up better and hit a homer. So, you know, Braves fans don't really know what to think of Profar. Quite honestly, I don't know. You know, with PDS, you guys have you know, you guys have been in clubhouses. You've dealt with that way more than any of us. We don't really know how to handle, Like do you cheer for this guy? He kind of put the Braves in a brutal position from you know, the first half of the season. The Braves had zero production from left field for three months because he got popped through PDEs and so, like half the fan base wants to boo him, half wants to cheer him. What I know for sure is they need him. They need somebody to hit in this lineup, and to his credit, he came out immediately. First game he hit hit a homer, he had a couple other hits. Brave scored seven runs. So we'll see.

00:15:59
Speaker 2: My thing is from a storyline perspective, as a fan of the game, I always want to see what a player looks like coming back from a ped suspension. Is he the same guy?

00:16:09
Speaker 6: Right?

00:16:09
Speaker 2: We've seen guys go down a notch, that's usually the case. Rarely do they go.

00:16:14
Speaker 6: Up a notch.

00:16:15
Speaker 2: How much do they go down? So anyway, we'll see what happens when Jerkson comes back for the rest of the season. And he's not eligible for the postseason, so that certainly hurts his case. If the Braves somehow we're getting value out of him and able to trade him to a contender, but he's also got two years left on his deal. Anyway, this was awesome. Thank you so much for joining us, and we always appreciate what you're doing over at Hammer Territory. The show's awesome, you know that, but I advise anyone to check it out here. It is Brad and Scott your buddies. Steven live tweets the games and he's part of the Hammer Territory crew. So if you want to give that show a little listen, or give them at least a sub if you're on YouTube right now, that would be great. These guys bring it usually about four shows a week with Atlanta Braves coverage, breaking news, the whole deal. Thank you again, Steven. Have a good weekend.

00:17:03
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys. Have a happy Fourth