Rhys Hoskins signs with Guardians, Joe Ryan injury update, Imai's filthy splitter, Ketel's glove goals

00:00:03
Speaker 1: In our territory.

00:00:05
Speaker 2: Our Territory Spring Training Tour is engineered by Fastenal. Check out more at fastenal dot com for more information. Let's take a look at our Spring Training Tour calendar.

00:00:16
Speaker 1: We are a Rangers camp today. We will be with Pat Murphy and.

00:00:20
Speaker 2: The Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow and the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. It's been a great day at Rangers camp so far. You see the guys out on the field. AJ Prazinski is there and as we know, the Rangers after a five hundred year missing the playoffs, this is a team it's kind of searching for its championship identity again. The pitching staff looking elite. The lineup, they've got some new pieces. We've got Wit mayorfield with us as well.

00:00:46
Speaker 1: AJ. Guys, how you doing.

00:00:49
Speaker 3: Well? Yeah?

00:00:53
Speaker 4: Uh, the sun is out in surprise, surprise, the sun came out today. And so if you guys see me take off my sweatshirt, it will be because I am in a sauna getting here at surprise. But other than that, it's a beautiful day. I'm running down a dream in the background. And USA kicked the ass in the hockey gold medal games, so in both men's and women's. So we are now a hockey.

00:01:18
Speaker 5: Nation feeling golden, failing gold.

00:01:27
Speaker 3: In that right? A, who are the Hoosiers.

00:01:33
Speaker 2: We're gonna have a lot more Hoosiers references throughout the show, so embrace.

00:01:37
Speaker 1: Yourself, everybody speaking though of Team USA.

00:01:43
Speaker 2: Wow, guys, you want to talk about a move George Springer at Blue Jay's Spring trading wearing a USA hockey jersey in his first at that.

00:01:55
Speaker 1: What'd you guys think about that?

00:01:56
Speaker 3: Wait?

00:01:56
Speaker 2: I'm so curious your thoughts on this, especially after a playing in Toronto.

00:02:02
Speaker 6: Well, George, I will say George is a huge hockey guy, huge hockey guy, like Donamo, hockey fan, truly loves the sports. So I know that he was fully invested in in the Olympics, in Team USA and their hockey run and the fact that they won gold.

00:02:18
Speaker 5: I know he's super fired up, so this is more of it.

00:02:21
Speaker 6: I know this is more of a him just celebrating what just happened.

00:02:25
Speaker 5: Versus a day at Canada.

00:02:27
Speaker 6: But I know he plays for the Canadian team, so people are gonna view it as that. But this is just George being a being a super fan and showing his support for an incredible run that Team USA just went on.

00:02:39
Speaker 4: No troll, This is trolling. He's trolling in that country and he plays for the only baseball team in the country. This is amazing. Good job, George. You just got all of Canada mad at you from your first faked bat of the spring training season, and I freaking love it.

00:02:55
Speaker 3: Uh what you played there?

00:02:56
Speaker 4: How are the Canadians gonna react when George Stringer comes George Springer comes up for his first to bat today, and you know what he should have done in the first spring training a bat in Dunedin. Warn that Jersey and then see how the reaction.

00:03:10
Speaker 6: Yeah, that would have been. That would have been something. But I mean they'll be they'll be fine. They'll be fine. Good for Team USA, Canay, Canada's got all their goals and this is our year. So I want a little bit more of this in baseball.

00:03:26
Speaker 2: I want a little bit more of like, Hey, what can I do to kind of stir the pot?

00:03:30
Speaker 1: What can I do to get people talking? I support you, George.

00:03:33
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk a little bit about the recent news in uh charge the mound? All right, Reyes Hoskins signs a Guardian's minor league deal worth one point five million if he makes the team. Of course, we know that Reese is coming from the Brewers. He's had a couple of injury plug seasons. Could be a little bit of a middle of the order threat for this Guardian's lineup. They could look they could use that a bit with AJ. What are your thoughts on this?

00:04:10
Speaker 3: Amazing to take from the sign.

00:04:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't. I don't get the rece I don't get the rece thing. What's what I mean?

00:04:20
Speaker 6: The guy is the coming off a down year he got he got two hundred and seventy nine at bats and he hit twelve homers. If he'd got a full year, he's gonna hit you twenty five homers. He's just going to and if he'd got a full year, he would have hit twenty five homers. Again, I mean, he's gone eighteen homers his rookie year and one hundred and seventy at bats, and then he's gone thirty four, twenty nine, ten in the COVID year, twenty seven, thirty twenty six after coming off a torn acl and then twelve and in limited playing time.

00:04:52
Speaker 5: So I don't.

00:04:53
Speaker 6: I mean, he's never been an average guy. He's not gonn hit for average, and he's going to play.

00:04:57
Speaker 5: A serviceable first base.

00:04:58
Speaker 6: Uh, and he's got yea clutch postseason experience. I don't understand what this, what the why people aren't more inclined to go after Reese. He's a leader in the clubhouse. I spent some time in Philly, and people all over that clubhouse, whether it was players, staff, whoever, was rave about Reese as a teammate and as a person. So I'm really confused as to why more teams aren't interested in Reese.

00:05:26
Speaker 4: I don't know that it wasn't they were interested. I think they were a little bit scared of the injury bug, right, Remember he hurt his knee and then he missed them a bunch of time in the last couple of years. But like you said, if he if he's healthy, he'll hit you twenty five to thirty any given year. And now he's gonna strike out a bunch, He's gonna he's gonna give you some you know, average, the averages first base play, So maybe teams were looking at that. But for me, for the Guardians, this is a great signing because they can add that pop to their lineup. They can add that leadership to a lineup and they hadn't done much this offseason, So I think for the Guardians this is a huge deal and he can help them try to win another division, which people forget they won the division last year. We're in the postseason with almost the same team, so just another bat they can add to a lineup that we've been seeing for a while and needs more offense.

00:06:17
Speaker 2: Still wild to me that the Guardians won the division last year and how that all shook out. What do you think about where he fits in with this team. I know AJ was talking about how they need that they need that bat.

00:06:28
Speaker 1: And Reese could be a good option for that. I know you you're a big fan of him.

00:06:33
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree with AJ.

00:06:35
Speaker 6: I think he fits in perfectly with with with this team and brings a brings another level of experience and leadership to a fairly somewhat young team. They're not as young, I don't feel like as they have been in the past, but it gives jay Ram a little bit of a little bit of extra protection and another voice in that clubhouse. And I just I agree. I think it's a great fit. I hate that it took so long and that it's you know, it is what it is with the the money that these games getting. I think one to five on a minor league deal, So I don't think it reflects the kind of player that he is. But good for the Guardians. I think it will be a great fit. And they always the Guardians always seem to squeeze out the best out of the out of their players. So good for Reeves, good for Cleveland, and I hope it hopefully goes well.

00:07:22
Speaker 2: Okay, obviously we know how this works. But when you're going to camp on a minor league deal, how different is that than going to camp on a big league deal.

00:07:33
Speaker 6: Uh well, I mean it's it's Uh well, I guarantee you with Reese, it's sometimes it's different when you're a younger player or you're kind of a fringe guy.

00:07:45
Speaker 5: You're trying to go make the team. You're going to have it.

00:07:47
Speaker 6: You need to go have a good spring and earn yourself a spot on the team. With Rees, I can almost guarantee that that Cleveland told them, hey, look, you're on the team, Like, we got to put you on a minor league deal right now because we're not ready to make a forty man move. We don't know what way we're gonna go with it. We don't know who we're going to dfa to make their room for you. So for now you're gonna be on the minor league deal. But I can almost assure you that they told him, Look, you're gonna be on You're gonna make the team, But we just got to do this for now.

00:08:12
Speaker 4: So he's got to make the team. He's got to make the team. They probably didn't have a roster spot open Trischer, so it's a little bit different. He's not coming to with guaranteed money. He's got to make the team. But I have a pretty good feeling and probably make the team. I don't know why the Guardians would do this unless he was gonna make the team.

00:08:32
Speaker 3: Yes, he's on a minor league deal.

00:08:33
Speaker 4: But usually somebody gets hurt in spring training, or there's somebody that didn't perform up that might be had options, and then they they can just dfam and clear a spot on the roster.

00:08:42
Speaker 3: So I don't know why they would do it unless he was going to make the team.

00:08:53
Speaker 2: All right, that was by far the best part of the show. Skip Schumacher cheering for Theirs over the U. We love to hear it all right, so yep, didn't ask for your comment yet. AJ, good news for the Twins. Joe Ryan's MRI showed only inflammation. And this is from our friend Dan Hayes. As we know, that is phenomenal news for the Twins considering the news that they got recently on Pablo Lopez having to have Tommy John surgery.

00:09:27
Speaker 1: The team said on Saturday that with Joe Ryan it.

00:09:29
Speaker 2: Was lower right back kind of soreness, but thankfully for them guys, not a big issue.

00:09:39
Speaker 1: AJ.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: I'll start with you, how much of a sigh of relief for the Twins letting out right now?

00:09:44
Speaker 4: Well, they're like, whoo, we just lost Pablo Lopez and now we can still trade Joe Ryan at some point after we get off to start and you're probably when they're not really trying, even though they said they're going to try and win this year. The biggest thing is how does this affect it for the WBC. Is gonna be allowed to pitch in the WBC? I would think no, right right when if he's hurt, they can't and he can't pitch, they they're gonna have to replace him on the WBC roster.

00:10:09
Speaker 3: So who's that gonna be.

00:10:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a good point.

00:10:12
Speaker 6: I mean that with this new insurance, uh, people bound pounded down your throat about being old and being heard. You got any sort of any sort of ax that pop up, I guarantee the insurance isn't gonna isn't gonna let it fly. So I don't know if I don't think his WBC futures.

00:10:30
Speaker 5: Is gonna happen.

00:10:31
Speaker 3: I hope not. I hope.

00:10:32
Speaker 6: I hope he gets to pitch for Team USA. But but yeah, I don't see it happening. And who they replaced with it with him, I'm not sure because potitch a player wise, it'd be it'd be different. But you know, Joe knew going in to the spring that he was gonna be pitching, and so he had he's built up a little differently than had he just been getting ready for a regular season. You can't really go find a pitcher probably that's been that's built up to the level that he needs to be to go and and be a starter. So maybe they just piece together some more bullpen games. I don't know, But yeah, I don't see his WBC future happening unfortunately.

00:11:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely a blow for Team USA, for the WBC with the news of Joe Ryan and his inflammation. Certainly what the Twins wanted to hear when it comes to Joe Ryan's injury. But guys, I'm also curious the Twins had a chance to trade both pitchers at last year's trade deadline, Pablo Lopez.

00:11:26
Speaker 1: And Joe Ryan.

00:11:28
Speaker 2: AJ you you kind of touched on it briefly, but your thoughts on that the decision they made last year and then how this affects them going into this year with Pablo's injury and then obviously Joe Ryan on the table.

00:11:44
Speaker 3: How does it affel.

00:11:45
Speaker 4: I think they're gonna be more aggressive possibly of trading him if they don't get off to a good start, because now they you know, there was talks to Pablo Lopez getting traded, and now with him out for you know, a year and a half, Let's let's be honest. Everyone says, oh, Tommy, John is a year, but it's really a year and a half. So you're looking at Pablo Lopez missing all of this year and a bunch of next year, so the Twins can't trade him.

00:12:08
Speaker 3: Joe Ryan.

00:12:08
Speaker 4: I think they'd be aggressive on once they get an opportunity and they see where they're at, and if they're doing good or not doing well, they might trade him earlier than we've seen and try and get more value out of them. So I think that's how it affects him more than anything. But and I don't know, as a former twin, I hate this for the people of Minnesota and the fans of Minnesota because it's it could be a long few years and I lived that as when I first came up Minnesota and we brought the fans back and the fans have been great. But now as they continue to kind of go down, you see the fans not showing up, and they shouldn't because he looks like the team to them is not trying. Not saying that they're not, but it just looks like that from the outside.

00:12:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, I agree with you, and I think they're gonna try earlier, and I think there might be it might be having to sacrifice a little bit of what they were asking for before now that he's got this on his on his resume, which you know, I don't I don't know how serious it is, but it's never you never.

00:13:03
Speaker 5: Want to have something pop up when you're trying to trade for somebody.

00:13:05
Speaker 6: But I do I do gotta say with this, with with the Tomma John, you know thing that everybody seems to get Tom John after a picture. Can we get on the Lindsay Vaughan a c L program with Tomma John Because she tore a c L before she went down doing the downhill. A week later she was doing squats and box jumps and and and skiing. So whatever doctor did her a c L, we need to trade him to do some Tomma John surgery so we can get these pictures back a little.

00:13:32
Speaker 1: It didn't really work out well for her. Unfortunately, that wasn't because of her knee though.

00:13:38
Speaker 3: That was because she got the It wasn't.

00:13:42
Speaker 1: Because of her knee. But yeah, there there can be arguments made. But yes, uh a hater. I love Lindsay Van. I'm not being a hater.

00:13:55
Speaker 2: I'm just saying there were probably a lot of doctors that were like, you really should not have been out there for one reason.

00:14:02
Speaker 4: I know the one she found, the one that said she could do it, and she did it. Her post afterwards was awesome, by the way, if you haven't read her post, and it was awesome.

00:14:13
Speaker 2: I did read it, and I'm not blaming her for doing it at all. I would have done it if I were her, But I think there are definitely some opinions maybe she should have listened.

00:14:21
Speaker 5: To before that.

00:14:23
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on from injury talk and let's talk about a splitter that is kind of lighten up spring training right now, tedsuya.

00:14:32
Speaker 1: E may look at it.

00:14:35
Speaker 2: Nailed it, you guys that that name's hard. Don't don't even.

00:14:43
Speaker 1: He min there we go, he mine so much right now. I even practiced his last name going into this. All right, Here's how his splitter was described.

00:14:55
Speaker 2: He said, I'll be honest with you, I played this game for twenty four years now and eleven professionally, and I've never seen a pitch like that before.

00:15:03
Speaker 1: In my life.

00:15:05
Speaker 2: AJ your thoughts on that comment, because that's a strong comment. Don't you dare say something about pronunciation?

00:15:12
Speaker 3: Oh?

00:15:12
Speaker 4: Of course, I mean Indiana. Since they're now a football school, they can't read either, So I mean that that goes hand in hand for sure. Welcome, welcome to being a welcoming to being a football school.

00:15:23
Speaker 3: Football sound something.

00:15:24
Speaker 1: And you will never get the end of it from me. Can you talk now about splutters.

00:15:27
Speaker 4: By Yes, uh, listen, a lot of guys have splits, and Wind knows this. When they get the deep deep it's almost like a forkball. Couse they Contraras used to throw it right, Sazaki throws it. When it is that deep deep forkball, it's almost like a knuckleball, and you just don't know which way it's going. If you if you saw cal Rawley yesterday talk about Logan Gilberts, it's a split, but he called it a forkball. It just you don't know which way it's going. And if you can command that pitch, it is one of the best pitches in baseball because it comes out hard. It comes out like a fastball, but it moves like a knuckleball, and it is really really hard to hit, and it's really really hard to throw because everyone has a hard time controlling it. So if you can control it, you can be really special.

00:16:09
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:16:09
Speaker 6: That's the big thing, right is can you thole for a strike? I know, going into when Sanga first got here, I know that was our our game plan going into his star was he if you look at if you looked at his splits, Yeah, he's got a lot of strikeouts on it. But how many strikes was he throwing with it? It was it was they were all chase strikes. So the four ball, it's not, it's not something that's going to fool you.

00:16:32
Speaker 5: It's not.

00:16:32
Speaker 6: You're not gonna think it's a fastball coming in and it's gonna drop off the table. Those are the ones that, in my opinion, really are the tough ones. Is the ones that they don't come in with that almost knuckleball sideway spin. They come in looking like a two seam and then just diving off the table. So it's yeah, it's it's a matter of canny control it because if you can't and you can recognize it, you got to be disciplined enough as a hitter to just not swing at it and wait for something else because it's gonna be a ball majority of the time time because the chances of him controlling it are not very good. So it can move all, it can move all you want. You got to be able to throw it for a strike whenever you need to throw it for a strike, And so that's what it's really going to come down to.

00:17:11
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But it seems like you kind of had that immediate wow factor in camp with it right, he faced astro hitters for the first time.

00:17:18
Speaker 1: He showed a lot.

00:17:18
Speaker 2: Of of you know, deception as they explained it Hose TV. Altuve was talking about his slider movement, Carlos Correa talking about the splitter in the fastball, so you have to imagine AJ that means it's going to translate. Well, if he's already wowing guys in camp right now, just in a live VP.

00:17:37
Speaker 4: If you can throw it over the plate, he can't, and he can't. You can't really sit on that pitch because it's I remember the one pitch he gave me more trouble than anything. And I don't know if it wit agrees as a split, especially a hard split, because you can't sit on it looks so much like a fastball. And the problem is when you say, oh, make him get the ball up. A lot of times when they throw splits, they throw the high fastball ve low, so then they throw the high fastball velo and then you say, oh, I gotta get him down and then throw the split off of it. Roger Clemens right, the high fastball and then the split off of it, or if they have good angle like a guy like Clements had they throw it right at your knees with the fastball and you're saying, oh, I got to get the ball up, and then he just paint that fastball down and then they throw the split right off of it, and you just look like a fool. Tim Hudson was another great example of it.

00:18:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's the one, is the one that looks like the heater, and U for whatever reason, I always always had a lot of success with the split. For again whatever reason, I never hit the change up very good. If it looked like a heater coming in and he pulled a string on it, I was never very good at it.

00:18:33
Speaker 5: But for a split.

00:18:34
Speaker 6: Majority of them I could recognize, and if I could see the spin difference, then I had a chance. But so I was always kind of partial to it. If a guy had a split, get me in there. But these these ones coming in now, especially from the Japanese pitchers, are like you said earlier, they're not they're not split.

00:18:50
Speaker 5: They're more of a they're more of big fork balls.

00:18:53
Speaker 6: And I think that's as you said, with Logan Gilbert throwing it too, I think that's becoming a little bit more of the trend than the hard Roger Clemens type split.

00:19:03
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's take a look at this yesterday when they were lining up for the anthems. This is from our good friend Chandler Rome. He said, attendance obviously at Great Fruit game at Great Fruit League games, very optional for veteran players who aren't in that day's lineup.

00:19:23
Speaker 1: We all knew that.

00:19:24
Speaker 2: However, Emi was on the first baseline in the national anthem prior to the game against the Nationals and it was his first major league baseball game.

00:19:35
Speaker 1: What do you guys think of that?

00:19:36
Speaker 6: Hey, jay Aw, I was just gonna say, he must have had a tea time setup, so you know he wanted to watch him get want to watch a little bit of baseball.

00:19:46
Speaker 5: No, but I think it's great.

00:19:47
Speaker 6: I mean, a new guy probably sticking around to see his pitcher's throw and trying to get acclimated to the team. And that's a good time when you're in the dugout to talk to guys, hang out with guys you don't really get to see throughout the day. Maybe and you know, good for him for sticking around in the dugout and getting talked to some of those teammates.

00:20:10
Speaker 4: Maybe he just really likes the USA. And also maybe he was rooting for USA and hockey today we don't know. Maybe he's rooting for the USA and the WBC.

00:20:19
Speaker 3: How do we know.

00:20:20
Speaker 4: Maybe he just really likes the USA. It's a very patriotic twenty four hours, for sure.

00:20:25
Speaker 1: So it is twenty four hours.

00:20:28
Speaker 2: I just know in my six years of covering spring training, if a guy didn't have to be out there for the national anthem during a Great Fruit League game or whatever it was, they were certainly not there.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: So that's a that's a different thing to see, I guess.

00:20:41
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on to say this is Zuki on his future as he enters the last year of his contract. This is from our friend Jesse Rogers. He said, I'm not sure about the last year of his contract. He said, it depends on my performance. He said, if I perform well, I want to stay. I feel like I still haven't put up the numbers that people are expecting me to. It comes down to how I perform. So that's a pretty generic statement, right. I think it's fair for him to say that, you know, he hasn't put up the numbers that people are expecting him to.

00:21:14
Speaker 1: But guys what do you think about that?

00:21:16
Speaker 2: And just his mentality entering the last year of his contract and maybe him saying that, you know, he's not entirely happy with his numbers either.

00:21:26
Speaker 4: Is anybody ever wait, is anybody ever entirely happy with their numbers? No matter how I mean, unless you're maybe Aaron Judge or Shoeo Tani or someone like that, is anyone ever totally happy? There's always things you think you can get better at. Sayazuki's been a good player for the Cubs, He's helped them win a lot of games, and is the last year of his contract. It's smart, it's good negotiating play by him. He wants to stay there, So how do you get out in front of this? But yeah, listen, cool, cool, say cool.

00:21:55
Speaker 6: Yeah, I like it. I like the I like to comment. You know, I haven't played where I feel like my game can be and if I play well, then I'd love to stay here. And yeah, I think he's set himself up for having a good first half and saying all right, let's go, let's let's get something worked out before I hit for agency, because I'm gonna have teams calling me. So I think he's a good player. I think he's got a great, powerful right handed swing, and that's uh, you gotta do it.

00:22:20
Speaker 5: You gotta put the numbers together.

00:22:23
Speaker 2: All right, Let's talk a little bit about katel Marte. He says he's been working on his defense, and he said, quote, I need a gold glove. We've obviously heard a lot of guys say, you know, things like that. But when you hear him say that that he's working on his defense and that that's kind of one of his goals right now. I mean you would assume that's a goal for a lot of guys, but it seems like he's he's putting a big emphasis on that. AJ, what do you think.

00:22:48
Speaker 3: Good? Good for him.

00:22:49
Speaker 4: He's already one of the best offensive players in baseball. En if you had a gold glove to it, good for him, and it will only helped the Diamondbacks win. So good for catel Marte to to take this next step. And I just want to know what you played second base? How do you make yourself a goal glover? Can you just wake up one day and say, man, I need to work on this metric or that metric and become a gold Glover.

00:23:07
Speaker 3: How does that work?

00:23:07
Speaker 4: Because I man If someone only would have told that, I would have won so many Gold Gloves and the American League ahead of Pud Rodriguez and Joe Mauer and you know, I was in the Nashley had a Yachtie Molina and those guys.

00:23:19
Speaker 3: Someone just would have told me. Yeah.

00:23:22
Speaker 5: So it's it's it's weird now with all these analytics. Is you gotta one. You gotta get the opportunities to make the place.

00:23:29
Speaker 6: You gotta have the balls hit that are in those like those ranges where you can you can make the play and get the guy out.

00:23:37
Speaker 5: You gotta have the slow guy running.

00:23:39
Speaker 6: He's got to hit you the ball that you got to go a long way for and field and throw and make it out to get your your you know, your your range factor or whatever it is up and you're out to buve average up and all this stuff. So that's that's the first thing, is you got to get the balls hit to you in the right situations.

00:23:57
Speaker 5: He can improve on his jumps.

00:23:59
Speaker 6: I don't think his his just kind of looking vaguely at his numbers over the over the course of his career. He's a he's a super athletic guy, but his jumps have not been great, So that's something you can work on. He's got he's got a strong arm. I think the biggest thing for him is that he's no longer bouncing around. You know, there was a time in his career where he was playing center field. He played some short stop early on, some third base even and and and some second base, and now he's pretty much just a second base and that that that's the big thing, is being able to get that every day and get comfortable and feel like you're you're just like anything. The more you do it, the better you're gonna get at it. And so I think him now having a couple of years in a row of playing solely second base under his belt, if he's really engaged and working on getting better. He's had some some pretty solid years defensively a second and so I think it's in there, just a matter of can he put it together through a whole year and not make the stupid air, make the big plays when they're hit to him. I think there's a he could win a Gold Glove. There's a lot of really good defensive second baseman though in the National League. I will say, so he's got to He's got some some big competition ahead of him, but he is a freak athlete and I think I think if all the stars align, then he could He could probably do it well.

00:25:15
Speaker 2: And he talks about how he's been working with Nolan Aeronato and how he said he's gonna help him win a Gold Glove Aga. Can you think of anybody better for him to work with than Nolan who's won ten Gold Glove awards, an eight time All Star. I mean, that's just a cheat sheet right next to him every day in the clubhouse.

00:25:34
Speaker 3: Right for sure.

00:25:36
Speaker 4: For sure, it's a different position, different side of the field, but Nolan knows what he's doing. The problem is is Nico Herr Horner for the Cubs is pretty good. He's pretty entrenched there with the Gold Glove, so I don't know how he's gonna jump them. But again, Nolan can help them. Nolan can show him. Nolan knows how to do it. But I don't know if Nolan's ever played second base, so I don't know. But I think Kateel can do it. He's athletic enough and he just stays healthy, especially his lower half. Health Wise, I think Katell could definitely do this and become even better if that's possible of a player.

00:26:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's the thing is you got you got Nico, you got Bryce Terrang with Milwaukee, you got Bryson Stott with Philly. I mean, those those are the three guys that have really been battling it out for that goal glove over the last couple of years. And but I will say that that Nolan's I think Nolan's biggest besides just the unbelievable accuracy of his arm, I think his biggest attribute is the jumps that he gets on balls because he's not the most athletic guy in the world.

00:26:34
Speaker 5: I mean, he's not.

00:26:35
Speaker 6: The fleetest to foot, but the way he can anticipate but where balls are hit and his angles he takes the balls that are hit, and his jumps that he gets or why he can get to those balls and make all these amazing plays. And so I hope that's what they're talking about, and it could be a big difference in taking Katl's game defensive game to the next level. But I just think there's too much traffic there for him to win a goal glove.

00:27:04
Speaker 2: All right, let's take a look at the NL Pennant odds. Of course, the favorite the Dodgers. Uh, no surprise there. Biggest liability the Pirates and then obviously the Dodgers kind of run the table there, guys.

00:27:19
Speaker 1: What do you think about this?

00:27:21
Speaker 2: What do you think about the Dodgers?

00:27:23
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:27:24
Speaker 6: I mean, obviously that the Dodgers or have made the news because they spend all the money and do all the stuff, and they've won back to back World Series and you can't discredit them for that because they've they've been the team that won the last game of the season two years in a row. I think there might be a little bit of playoff fatigue that sets in this year. So I would imagine that somebody else in the Nation League. The National League is kind of is kind of stacked, and I would kind of I would imagine that somebody else in the n L is going to step in and and overthrow them this year. So that's kind of where my where my guts at. So you know, I would say that maybe stay away from the future bets with the Dodgers this year.

00:28:05
Speaker 2: Who do you think is their biggest challenge this year? The biggest challenger, I.

00:28:10
Speaker 6: Mean, I mean, you got you got the you got the Phillies. I think the Braves are sneaky, I really do, you know, they're kind of under the raider. I think they're a really good team if they can stay healthy. The Podres are solid. I think San Francisco. I mean that that division over there is is gonna it's gonna put up a it's gonna put up a fight. In the Cubs. The Cubs had a gread year last year. I think they can build on that. So there's just a bunch of good teams and so I think the Dodgers are gonna have their hands full this year.

00:28:39
Speaker 2: How far ahead do you think the Dodgers are from everybody else at this point? When you look at everything that they were able to do this offseason.

00:28:47
Speaker 6: It's just they they just they just don't have a weakness. You know that they just got strengthd everywhere. They got strengthen and as they got so much depth in the starting pitching, their lineup is I mean, it's just All Star after All Star after All Star, like perennial All Star after All Star, and then you've got a guy like Miguel Rojas who comes up with the biggest hit of of the season. So it's you know, you just they have a little bit of everything going on. And but like I said, I think that a little bit of you kind of saw it last year where they were they were kind of squeaking by in some certain and some games and just sort of winning games they probably shouldn't have won. So I think there's a a little bit of playoff of teague that might send.

00:29:33
Speaker 3: Sorry, there was an anthem.

00:29:35
Speaker 4: There was an anthem, So it's okay, exactly, we support you.

00:29:42
Speaker 2: Give us your take on the Dodgers, and they're really good.

00:29:46
Speaker 4: They're really good, by the way, and and I think that there will be number one of my power rankings probably for the entire year like they were last year. So until someone beats them, they're going to be number one of my power rankings because they keep signing players, they keep improving points of weakness. Their outfield last year was down, So or do they do they go get Kyle Tuck or their bullpen stunk last year?

00:30:04
Speaker 3: So what did they go do? Get Edwin Diaz. I think they're all right.

00:30:10
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