Tomahawk Talk EP 78: Breaking Down The Hitters

Jeb Maize: What is up and welcome back to the Tomahawk Talk podcast. As always, I am your main man, Jeb Mays. Full squad tonight. We've also got our new member, Ken. Everybody knows Ken. Coach, Ken's gonna be contributing with us a lot. He's gonna be probably sitting in with us, you know, taking over that third or fourth spot. ⁓ You know, we all have stuff going on. ⁓ So we're. Really happy Ken's joining us on that part. ⁓ But we're gonna bring you a pretty interesting episode, I think. We're gonna be talking hitters today, breaking down what is kind of going to be happening this year and what you can expect from the Braves lineup this year. ⁓ And so I'll turn it over to Ryan, because he's kind of our hitting guru. What are you saying so far in spring training, Ryan?
Ryan: Well, I'm finally seeing these guys actually... make the adjustments that he needed to for the past year, year and a half. Austin Riley, we did a deep dive on him earlier. His hip slides a whole lot better. He's staying back behind the baseball. He's not gliding forward. So he's actually being able to read the pitches more effectively, which has resulted in a nice spring training for him. Same can be said for Michael Harris. I put a post out on Michael last year in his second half adjustments. Again, I don't really think it was anything to do with his hands. get made, look, if you want to say he was more comfortable in that position I think that's fair but I think a lot of Michael's problems was he wasn't loading into that back hit properly and he was jumping forward at the baseball like a lot like also was doing it he was doing a hip slide ⁓ Ozzy if you have noticed Ozzy standing up a little bit taller in his stance I haven't done a huge dive into Ozzy yet so I'm gonna kind of wait and see what he looks like in a couple more weeks before I do that but there's been some changes with him ⁓ the guys look good Matt Olson looks like Matt Olson. I love the adjustments Ronald made, opening his stance up a little bit to get to the inside fastball. That's been like his one kryptonite that he's had his entire career, but he's also a nice start hitting some inside fastballs pretty hard. it's the offense is looking pretty good. And also, Yas. I forgot to mention Yas. Yas has had a really good spring training.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, they've also got him hitting lefties too, which is very interesting, I guess. I yeah, I mean, you're gonna have to have that with, you know, Dubon starting as short. ⁓ We can go around the horn now. ⁓ I'll start with Ben. Ben, what are you kind of seeing so far with the hitters?
Ryan: That's gonna be a needed thing.
Ben Weaver: I'm loving what I'm seeing from Michael Harris. mean, the walk rate has just skyrocketed ⁓ in, you know, spring training. And I've said this since his rookie year, you know, if Michael Harris can run just a 6 % walk rate in the major leagues, I mean, look out, because that guy will be a superstar. He will be a top 10 MVP candidate if he can just learn to not swing the bat. And that is very, that is something that's kind of... Weird to say, but you know if he learns to just take those pitches, which I really do think he's doing, he'll be a superstar. ⁓ You know you got Ozzy who has looked not great in spring in my opinion, ⁓ but you know he had the walk off home run yesterday in the WBC game, which was great to see. It was versus a righty as well, so that really does help. the situation makes him look a little bit better. And ⁓ Austin Riley, you I tweeted about it the other day, but looking, watching him go up the middle and to right center with the pitch that's thrown, that is just a beautiful thing to see. I'm very excited for how these guys are gonna bounce back. know, Matt Olson is gonna be Matt Olson. Like Ryan said, know, Ronald being able to catch up with the inside fastball is gonna be huge because that was historically one of the only holes in his swing. ⁓ But the dude matches everything else. So like if you have, he can hit that inside fastball now, the sky's the limit and I wouldn't put it past him to have another 300 season with maybe 50 bombs. ⁓ The rest of the guys, is doing great. what?
Jeb Maize: 50 I said 50
Ben Weaver: He's done 41 twice. All right. And I think, yeah, I mean, I'm not, I'm not putting anything past Ronald. I've seen that man do some incredible things on a baseball field. So I can't put it past him. And then you have guys, I know people hate guys like Dubon and Ben Gamble and ⁓ you know, some of the, some of the lower rank, even Jonah Heim, which I'm not as high on Jonah Heim, but he adds a
Jeb Maize: Yeah, I love it. I love it. I love it. I am.
Ben Weaver: I'm not, but he adds a much needed depth of the catcher position, especially until Sean Murphy comes back. Switch hitter can hit lefties a little bit, at least he could in the past. ⁓ And then guys like Ben Gamble, Mauricio Dubon and those guys. People have said that those are not ceiling moves, but they are because those guys will give you more production than Jared Kellnick, Alex Verdugo, Nick Allen, you know, all the quote unquote depth guys that we had last year. And that's just, you know, the end of it right there. They'll give you more production at the end of the day than those guys. And that's kind of where I'm at with it. I'm sorry, Drake Baldwin too. We know he's gonna give you 270, 280 with 20 bombs and call it a day.
Ryan: So, before we start, I to thank
Jeb Maize: I'll pivot to Jose, man. What do you think of your boy? What do you think of your boy?
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I mean, pretty much like just like Ryan and Ben were saying, man, like it's been really, really nice to see what we've seen so far from Michael Harris, you know. Obviously we all know Michael Harris. He's always been a free swinger in his career. He's always been that person who, you know, he does not see a pitch that he doesn't like, you know, and that's just the type of ball player he is. But This year what we've seen from him in spring training is that he's been more selective, he's been able to see the pitches better, and he's been able to take those pitches that might ⁓ result in like a ground ball to second base, you know? So just seeing that change from Michael Harris, like Ben was saying, if he can have like a 6 % walk rate, I mean, that would just unlock a whole new level for Michael Harris, because we all know what he can bring on the field. incredible defense in the center field but ⁓ just a little bit more play discipline like we were talking about. Michael Harris can be easily an MVP candidate with the type of talent that he has. Aside from him, ⁓ Austin Riley as well. I feel like the last two seasons if I'm being honest with you we've seen Austin play injured a lot more than him playing healthy so what we've seen from him recently hasn't really been like Austin Riley. So just getting him back, being healthy and getting him back to his swing like we've seen so far in spring, I think that would be huge, huge, for this team. What else I mean, well, we're what we were talking about when it comes to Drake Baldwin like ⁓ I think it's pretty clear to say what we've seen so far from in spring training is we don't really see a sophomore slump ⁓ At least so far like that dude is just incredible. He wakes up and he's right at a head Kind of like we were what we were talking about with a Mark Akis some years ago I feel like Drake Baldwin has some of that in him like that dude is just exactly like
Jeb Maize: I like that comp. I like that comp.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: That dude, man, he's just, he wakes up and he can hit 280, no problem. So Drake Baldwin, honestly, like if he can just keep doing what he's doing until Sean Murphy can get here, fill some DH slash catcher in some days. mean, that would just be huge for this team. But so far those have been my big takeaways from spring training.
Jeb Maize: Nice. I'll pivot to Ken. So I'm going to ask you with Michael's resurgence, I guess, with walking a lot and his approach taking the ball the other way. Ryan, if you want, you can chip in too. ⁓ How does one fix that in an offseason? Is it, you know, a pitching machine that's just throwing dirt balls and just, you know, the act of just looking and not swinging or how does one fix that simply in one offseason?
William Ken Anderson: I think in the case of Michael, you started seeing desperation in Michael when they almost sent him to Gwinnett. And he really started listening to Tim Hyers. And the first thing Tim did was change where his hands were at. We all know that. And I think part of that was to get him to lay off the pitch. The pitch that gives Michael more trouble than any is the pitch that's about two inches off the plate outside.
Ben Weaver: Hey, work.
William Ken Anderson: He couldn't lay off that pitch. What we're all seeing this spring is Michael's laying off that pitch. At the Ben's point, it shouldn't reduce his strikeouts, lead to more walks. And we want Michael Harris on the base pass. Michael Harris on the base pass is a run waiting to score easily. He can, he can fly and he's a smart base runner. So I think it's hires and then what the off season did, it got him away from all the noise. and Michael had a chance to finally just go and work and in it back to his old stance that he got to the major leagues with. And so he's had a few months here to really be comfortable. And I think that's what we're seeing this spring is that Michael, Michael has got a chance to finally go back to his old self. You know, look, I was friends with sites and what it did worked, but it's obviously it's not something that Michael was comfortable with. And then what we're seeing is Michael back to his comfortable style, which has enabled him not to panic at the plate and swing at those pitches on the outside. Ryan, you can jump in here because he's, I know he's breaking down the video on him, but that's what you're seeing. You don't see the panic on the outside pitches that we used to see. And Michael's laying off those pitches. And if he lays off those pitches and starts walking, that makes them bring the ball a little bit further in. And you can ask some of the lefties.
Ben Weaver: Thank
William Ken Anderson: In baseball, can't remember what Tanner Scott was one of them. He can take 97 on the black on the outside corner and hit it completely into the seats. And that's what we want. That's a good Michael. So I don't know you're seeing the same thing, Ryan, but that's what I'm saying.
Ben Weaver: Thank you.
Ryan: you Yeah, he's, he's, there's no doubt he's more comfortable at the plate. look, if the, don't think the hands directly correlated with anything, but I think it made him more comfortable at the plate. And when you're more comfortable at the plate, you're not so jumpy in the box. Like Michael was really jumpy in the box last year. Like he was trying to go get the ball instead of staying back and letting the pitch get to him. So, and that's what you're seeing in spring training. He's in a rocking chair right now when he's at the plate, he's just, he's just in there going through his, load and when he's like yep that's the one then he lets it loose he's not he's not jumping at the ball he's not jumping forward he's he's nice control and relaxed in his stance his I mean his swings been freaking beautiful I mean you can't you can't teach a better bat path right now than Michael has it's it's been fun to watch so he's made the necessary adjustments that he's had to make and he's he really worked his ass off in the offseason and now he's reaping the benefits from it
Ben Weaver: I'm Another thing about Michael too that ⁓ I don't think a lot of people realize is just how strong he is. I mean, he is one of those guys. He can just flip his wrist and the ball is going to carry, you know, hitting it down the left field line. He could hit a home run opposite field just by flipping his wrist at it. ⁓ And you can see some of the absolute bullets that he hits down the left field line just by doing that on, you know, fastballs. ⁓ A guy who I have really kind of thought about with Michael who had the same exact problem, who still it flares up from time to time, but for a couple of years there, it seemed like he had solved that problem for the most part. And it's a right-handed batter, but it's Austin Riley. You could throw Austin Riley a slider three, four, five inches off the plate or a change up. three, four, five inches off the plate on the outside and he would swing at it regardless of what he had seen the rest of the at bat did not matter. You could go attack him right there the entire bat three times a game and he would still swing at it. He figured that out and he turned into the Austin Reilly that we know and love today, which was a 30 plus Homer Austin Reilly with 90 plus ribbies. ⁓ And Michael, I think it has the same potential I don't think he has quite the raw power that Austin Riley has, but if he learns to lay off the outside pitch, like Ryan was saying, that would be a game changer.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, we can, I mean, we can kind of stay on the same topic of, you know, some guys just making some mechanical stuff and some changes. Ken, I know you really wanted to talk about this, ⁓ the Dubon and Chipper thing. ⁓
William Ken Anderson: Yeah, yeah, one of the things that in the mechanics that I'm finding interesting is first of all, let's just tell everybody where the brazier at. Everybody gets on Twitter. The braze ceiling has always been with the ceiling is it hasn't changed. That's the core. We always talk about the core. What they did this all season, they raised the floor and they did that with guys like Dubon who are better than Allen offensively. Gamma who's better than Stuart.
Jeb Maize: ⁓ Cathy's gonna be all over you.
William Ken Anderson: Yes, you will steward fair child. They raised that that part and so with Dubon it's interesting Chipper could not wait to get to Florida and The word is he that was one of the guys he wanted to work with so a few days ago He finally got Dubon because he sees a lot in his swing and Chipper's right-handed swing with his release point is and He's not doing a tag, you know, remember Chipper did the toe tap left hand but right-handed he did so He's talking to bond and since that conversation to bond is four for four with a walk. And if Mariso to bond becomes a seven 40 to seven 80 OPS guy, that's exactly what we need to platoon with. Yes. And left field. We have, we have one of the most dynamic left filters in the game when he has was hitting from the left side and do bonds hitting from the right side. So, you know, it's interesting that the bond finally has somebody that can see something in his swing. Cause what you hear.
Ben Weaver: Okay. you
William Ken Anderson: Him say a lot is he didn't have a lot of belief in San Francisco. That's why he bounced around. And to give you an example of that, I fight with some of the award. I've always wanted Matt McClain here, but Matt McClain has struggled in Cincinnati and so Braves fans want to, you know, turn on him. But it's because the Reds had his head mixed up. And I think Dubon's, conversation with Chipper. And I think Chipper is going to be a big part for Dubon to have success. And also remember with Shipper, what did Shipper do in his career? He went to left field. So he was an infielder, a shortstop who had played left field. I think that also helped. I think it's just the whole mental aspect of Dubon. And I think the Braves have shorted how good Dubon can help this team this year. I think Mauricio Dubon will be a big part of this team, especially when Hassan Kem gets back. He can platoon with Yaz.
Ben Weaver: But going off of that, you're talking about if, if just hypothetically, if Dubon becomes a 740 to 780 OPS guy, I'm not taking that out of the lineup. I know Ha Sung Kim is making $20 million, but I don't know what Ha Sung Kim's gonna give me. And if I have Mauricio Dubon throwing up a 750 OPS from the shortstop position, I'm not taking him out. Even, don't care if Ha Sung Kim is making $20 million. That's a one year deal, who cares? But I just, don't know about, I guess you could platoon in left field when there's a lefty on the mound. But that's about it. Other than that, I'd want Dubon at shortstop if that's the case.
William Ken Anderson: Well, I understand Ben, but we always start all these conversations like the Braves. You know, one thing that my friend got buried for as a manager is he'd always say things work itself out. So if he's after that right there, we don't know where the next injury will be. it allows them to have a lot of maneuverability because you know what Daman can do? He can play anywhere on the field. So we can make him a 740 to 780 guy. If somebody gets banged up for a 15 day IAL stint.
Ben Weaver: Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: You got your replacement.
Ben Weaver: See, no no no no no no, Ken, that's not what we do, alright? The Braves don't have 15 day IELTS, they have people with colons falling out of their asses, and they're out for the rest of the season. That's it. We don't have Perfco or whatever.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, it's... Yeah, it's always 60, nothing less.
Ryan: I just want to point out I wasn't the first one to cuss on this podcast.
Ben Weaver: Yes, you were. definitely did say the A word. You said ass earlier in episode.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, Ryan. Shame, shame, shame. ⁓
Ryan: Did I? See, I don't even notice it no more.
Ben Weaver: Yes.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Ben, I would also like to point out it's not just the injuries, it's also that PED thing that just can't seem to escape us.
Ben Weaver: No, no, no, that only bites one person. That only bites one dude and it continuously bites him.
Jeb Maize: Yeah.
Ryan: You mean the needle in the butt? No, no, no, Ben, you forgot AA's throwing the needles at players in the locker room. You forgot about that. Come on now. ⁓
Jeb Maize: Yeah. Yeah.
Ben Weaver: ⁓ no, I forgot about that. That's on me. That's on me.
William Ken Anderson: Hey, you know what? You know what's funny? The Braves even fill it too. Joey went, stepped over the bag or hit the player wrong today. It scared him so much they took the cart out to get him off the field. You thought he had blew his ACL or broke his leg and Chad pecks me. He's walking around the clubhouse.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: goodness.
Ben Weaver: ⁓ my goodness.
William Ken Anderson: What is going on? That's right, that's right, yeah.
Ryan: Hey, better be safe than sorry, chat. Better be safe than sorry.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, they better do that to everybody when they're coming off the field after three outs. All 162, I don't care.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: mean, honestly, we should just be grateful that that ball that hit off of Aaron Bummer's foot early in the season just didn't take him out the whole season last year. That's where our luck is.
Ben Weaver: moment. Brother, good Lord.
William Ken Anderson: Thank ⁓
Jeb Maize: ⁓ Alright, so Alright, we've kind of talked about all the hitters now if we kind of go all across the board and we can we can all put our two cents You've got Olsen. You've got Ozzy. You've got Riley. You've got Ronnie. You've got Michael You've got Drake. So you've got your core guys You kind of know what you're gonna expect there We can go a little bit more in depth if we want but I think everybody knows what you're gonna get So basically right now you're looking at shortstop left field and DH Okay, you kind of filled left field with Yaz and Dubon. I mean, if you can platoon those and it works out fine, hey, that works. And then once Ha-Song Kim comes back and takes over short, and if he's looking like he did at the end of last year, hey, that's fine too. You also have Sean Murphy coming back too. So, you know, I'll ask Kim, because he kind of has the most experience, you know, constructing this kind of stuff. know, lineup wise and whatnot. ⁓ What is to be expected, I guess, when all of the position guys come back from injury and what comes next?
William Ken Anderson: Well, hopefully we're all healthy and AA has to make some serious decisions with some of the guys who don't have, ⁓ have their, ⁓ you know, their options. ⁓ because the fact of the matter is, is Gamble and some of them have played their way to be on a major league ball club. So I think that if we get off to a good start, there's no reason to rush Murphy or come back.
Ben Weaver: Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: And that's the worst thing we can possibly do. So we need a good April. I think that'll be the timeline on how far quick they get back. You're hearing that Kim is quicker than Murphy right now. But to Ben's point, if this lineup is raking, I don't think you just put Kim back in the lineup just because he's making 20 million a year. I don't think it matters. So I think that the biggest thing that they can do is
Ben Weaver: Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: Just let it play out the first month. And I think that's what they'll do. And I everybody wants them to make a move, but if he's going to make a move, then right now with two weeks left in spring training, he's got to make a decision on who he's going to take to Atlanta. And I don't think they know who exactly they're going to take to Atlanta. I think they've all played well enough to get themselves there. think Gammel's played well enough. And then Farmer's played well enough. Dominic Smith's played well enough. Heck.
Ben Weaver: Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: Rome Kersey Jr. has had a good spring. There are lot of guys who've had good springs, including the kid, John Hill. John Hill, not being sent to the minors yet, tells you they're going to make sure where they're at in April. And the reason why is because they can keep waiting because we still got two weeks of ball games going and as Joey Wintz proved, we're one trip over a base from any of them to make a decision. ⁓
Ben Weaver: Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: So John Hill is still on this roster because they see the talent. You know, it didn't mean that John Hill is going to make the roster, but you're asking me, what are they thinking right now? Is there thinking we have this core, but how are we going to supplement this core right now? And they want to take Jonah Haim to Atlanta, but he's got two more weeks to prove it's Jonah Haim over Chad Trump. You know, so.
Jeb Maize: you
Ben Weaver: . Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: ⁓ We'll see how they go, but that's what they're thinking right now is how can we get through April to get back to Kim and Murphy? And if we're good enough, then we can let Kim and Murphy take their time. That's what they're thinking.
Jeb Maize: So we're one ingrown toenail away from John Hill being the Rookie of the Year is what I'm hearing.
William Ken Anderson: You're a Mauricio Dubon going around first base getting hurt from John Hill being on this roster. Yes.
Ryan: 100%.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: No, no, no, these are not the type of injuries we have. I'm talking like washing dishes at home and your hand just starts like cramping up. I'm talking like mowing your grass and all of a sudden your leg gives out. These are the injuries that we have as the Atlanta Braves. But jokes aside, going off of what Ken was saying, John Hill, guys, he has a 913 OPS in the spring. Yes, 16 at bats over 13 games. 3 for 16 so his average is only 188, however his OPS is 913 with 563 slug. MLB ready? No, not quite. But he could be here faster than we think.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah, he's better than Luke Williams.
Ben Weaver: He still needs to get a lot of time down in double A before he can come up. ⁓ I think he's only had ⁓ very short stint at AA at the very end of last year and he was pretty much overmatched in that short stint. I think he's a very good hitter but the last thing I want them to do is be forced to use him in a situation like they had Didier Fuentes in last year which granted I don't think that was necessarily I don't think he's gonna ruin Didier Fuentes at all but it is not good for a player's psyche, especially a young player's psyche, to come up and fail as miserably as Fuentes did last year. Now, with that being said, going back to Fuentes, he looked like a brand new guy the other day. I mean, he was having 17 inches of IVB on that fastball and throwing it 98 miles an hour. He looked like Spencer Strider circa 2020. on the mound and ⁓ that's a kid I'm very excited for. I don't think, going back to John Heel, I don't think he's gonna be ready. ⁓ And I really hope, I'm sure they would probably use Lodice before they use John Heel.
William Ken Anderson: That's not true Ben. I'll just tell you it's not true. going to use the best player because the Braves need to go to the playoffs this year. It's the reason they gave Dede Erd a shot. It's the reason why in was it 23 or 22 when they had to go to get Michael out of AA. Michael hadn't had a lot of bats either. They're going to put the best player on the field. I don't think John Hill is going to break roster with us. But the reason why he's not been sent already is because he's a hell of an athlete and they're not willing to do that until they're sure they get through this spring healthy. This is not.
Ben Weaver: And that's, that's fair. But on the other hand, why has he not played a ton of shortstop and why has he only got 16 at bats in 13 games? He, well, I mean, I don't, I don't think he's played left this off this spring. So I'm not saying by, by no means am I saying you're wrong, Ken. I know you're right. I'm just saying it would make more sense to me for him to load up on it.
Jeb Maize: putting him in left.
Ben Weaver: If that was really the plan for him to see more major league pitching so he could get used to where he would see.
William Ken Anderson: It's. Yeah, it's 100%. I'm not saying he's going to. said I already said he's not make breaking the roster. The question was what are they doing right now? They're making sure they got all the players who they think might can win him a ball game in April. Still here, the fact of the matter is, and I don't like to crap on this kid because I like the kid personally. The reason also because he had to go to WBC, but part of the reason Nacho was one of the first guys out the door is you can see the talent difference on the ball field and you don't need to have to see so many at bats in spring. You see it on the backyard. People don't realize they play. What's the brace played later? 15 16th game in the spring. They played double that on back fields. They played double that. Like when Strider missed his stop start and Twitter was blowing up. Because Bo decided to write a thing. The radar gun was off back there. That was why maybe they were hiding him. No, that's that's what they do. They play a lot more games off the TVs than you realize. Matter of fact, when there's pictures, you know this Ben when they pitch.
Ben Weaver: Yeah. Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: And they don't think they get enough pitches in because they're so good. They make them go throw on the backfield a couple of kids. So they get their number of pitches in. Cause they don't know how many pitches are going to throw in the game. So if they go through an inning and only pitch eight pitches, say Dylan, they only throws eight pitches, but they want to throw 20. They'll go on the backfield and throw the other 12. So John Hill is not making this roster, but the question was, what are they thinking? And I know this John Hill not being sent to the Mironley camp yet says they're high on this kid.
Ben Weaver: ⁓ I'm high on him too. Don't get me wrong. I have him as my I think it was third ranked prospect among top 10 less so he is yeah very very good.
Ryan: You got him right correctly.
Jeb Maize: What is his like... faults, I guess.
William Ken Anderson: Essentially.
Ben Weaver: He has average power, ⁓ average to slightly below average power. ⁓ And apparently, I guess, according to Twitter, the Braves are, I don't know if Ken knows this or has heard the same thing or not, but they say that they're concerned about his ability to stick it short. I haven't seen it. I think he's very athletic. He's definitely athletic enough to play short as a major leaguer. ⁓ His arm is about...
Ryan: experience.
Ben Weaver: Average ish to maybe slightly above average ⁓ There's definitely better shortstop arms in the system, but the the biggest knock against him is his power And potential game power. I mean they project them to be a 10 to 15 homer guy but I could possibly see 15 to 20 and It would be Yeah, he can be a good hitter. I can see him realistically At his peak. I could see him being like a 280 280 hitter getting on base at a 360, 370 clip, slugging 430, 440-ish and stealing 35, 40 bags. That's if he gets his peak.
Jeb Maize: But you're gonna have that, I mean he's what, 12?
Ben Weaver: He's just turned 20, think, or if he's not, he might still be 19. Yeah, I he's still 19.
Ryan: Might be 19 still.
Jeb Maize: Okay, so he's 13, got it.
Ryan: Jeb, then you're like four. Okay, calm down. I I, I think John Heal's got more poppin' in there than a lot of people are giving him credit for. And he's got a good pull side pop. He's gonna pop you 15 to 20 just pull side. Where he will take off in his big league career is when he learns to drive the ball on the opposite field. And I think he can. He, like, yeah.
Ben Weaver: And that could come. That could come with getting older and stronger and his body feeling out. I he's still a kid, know, even he could fill it out. I just personally, I just see him being a 15 to 20 Homer guy as a whole. ⁓ Maybe I'm wrong, maybe hits more, but I would love to be wrong in that sense.
Ryan: 100%.
Jeb Maize: It also helps when you have one of the better hitters who used to hit backside a lot, you know, help and coach hitting.
William Ken Anderson: Well, and I know and all that's really true, but the Braves approve. The number one thing you play shortstop in Atlanta is you got to be able to play defense. And I'm just telling you Ben, they're not 100 % sure defensively he's good enough.
Ben Weaver: Yep. Yep. Yeah, and that's what I've heard and they're not 100 % sure about it. But like I said, from what I've seen of the kid and I watched, gosh, 110, 120 minor league games last year, every game that I saw with John Heal in it, he looked the part. But then again, there's a reason I'm sitting over here and they got major league scouts doing their job.
Jeb Maize: Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: Well, the thing they're worried about is how's he gonna adapt to the big stadium. There's a lot more stuff going on a major league game than a AAA game or a double or single A game. So I think he'll definitely get there. But yeah, so gonna be fun to see and I'm sure they're gonna wanna keep his clock not starting. He's 20, so there's no rush to get him here. If they had their offer, he would not be here until least 27 or 28.
Jeb Maize: Mm-hmm.
Ben Weaver: No.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, mean, and if he was a pitcher, they probably would have brought him up three years ago, but... We can pivot. ⁓ know we kind of wrote down a little bit. We did a little bit of homework before we got on here. ⁓ I'll share my screen right now so anybody who's watching can look. I'm gonna go first since I'm the fearless leader. We can talk lineups. So on the screen right now, you can see for those of you watching, for those of you listening, Versus right handed pitchers, the way I've constructed the lineup, ⁓ I've got Ronald, Drake, Riley, Olsen, Yaz, I've got Yaz, Platooning, DH, and left field, Ozzy, Dubon, and then a combination of Eli White, Dominic Smith, and Ben Gamble, as your DH or white is in left, if Yaz is DH, and then I've got Harrison Center. Versus left,
Ryan: So you just threw the entire AAA roster in that spot.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, well, I didn't throw Luke Williams in there for it, you know, because he'll probably be pitching bullpens. But and then lefties, I mean, it's pretty much kind of the same. You know, I flipped Yaz and Ozzy because Ozzy's better versus lefties anyways. And then I moved white or no, yeah, it is pretty much basically the same. And then when fully healthy, I've got it Ronald Drake, Riley Olson, Ozzy, Yaz, slash Dubon, Murphy. Kim and Harris. What ⁓ What do we think?
William Ken Anderson: Okay.
Ryan: forgot about Eli White, I might have to make an adjustment to mine. Didn't I say that I forget about Eli?
Ben Weaver: Yeah, I did. I kind of did too. I forgot about you lot to him. He was a good hitter last year against lefties to be at 100 or WRC plus. I mean, he is league average against lefties to add with his defense and speed. So yeah, that's on me. I forgot about it.
William Ken Anderson: Thank
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Nah, but wait a second. Ryan, Ben, I got a bone to pick with you guys. How can you forget about the best Major League Baseball player in the state of Tennessee?
Ryan: That's crazy, man. It's blasphemy.
Ben Weaver: You're right, mean he did. Buddy has hit the most home runs in the state of Tennessee in a major league uniform, so.
William Ken Anderson: you
Jose | @ATLHeadband: That's insane.
Jeb Maize: is true. ⁓
William Ken Anderson: Again, the billboard right there. ⁓
Jose | @ATLHeadband: You guys flame him on Twitter.
Ben Weaver: And I think the most most home runs ever in a racetrack.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Is this true?
Jeb Maize: that does sound right.
Ben Weaver: Dang, that should have been in my nuggets that I've been trying to do research for. Eli White looking to become the all-time, extend his all-time racetrack home run leaderboard.
Jeb Maize: Hahaha Uhhh, Ken, I mean yours pretty much looks the same as mine. You've got Gamal in there. Yeah, you've got-
William Ken Anderson: It does. It is gamma. I think gamma is going to be the DH and I think he's done enough. got an argument on in DMS today about that with Don Smith, whatever. And I think Ben brings more speed. ⁓ One of the things that with my lineup is, is I think that they're going to try to have a little bit more space now against left handed pitching. We'll back up to mine left handed pitching. I do think farmer's going to be the DH. think gamble and farmer have done enough to flip flop them and then you can play the white and left field. And so I like, I like that rotation. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going with what Walt is showing everybody. Everybody wants to put Harrison, the nine hoe. Harris is probably going to hit the seven hoe and, because of the extra pop.
Ben Weaver: you
William Ken Anderson: And you can always put somebody with some speed in front of Ronnie, which Dubon and White would do that. So you still have that double kind of off. When they get fully healthy, I think Baldwin is going to hit second behind Ronnie, Olson, Riley, Yaz, Harris, and even healthy. think Gamble's done enough. I think Gamble's going to be our DH against the right-handed pitcher with Albies and Kim. I think Kim will then end up hitting ninth in that. And Kim's a very good baserunner. You can hit in front of Ronnie, then against the left-hander. I'll go Ronnie and I'll hit Kim in the two-ho and have Olsen, Riley, Baldwin, Ketch or DH and Albies will play second. then whoever's not catching DH will bat in the next hole. I'll put Murphy there, Harris, and I'll have Dubon play left field. This gives me a way to have somebody fast in front of Ronnie in every lineup, a good runner.
Ben Weaver: Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: And I think Walt really wants that. One of the things that I've noticed this year is part of the reason I got into the argument in the DMS. The reason why Gamma goes over Dom Smith is the team has shown all spring and talked about all spring. They want to run more. And Gamma is a better runner, base runner and faster base runner than Dominic Smith. So that's where I go. That's how my line looks.
Jeb Maize: We'll ⁓ we'll move on down. Ryan, you care to explain what this monstrosity is right here?
Ryan: I mean... What do you mean monstrosity? First off, sir, thank you kindly. Ronald and Baldwin at the top as a 1-2 combo? I don't think that needs any explanation. I want Old Lee in the 3-hole against Reidy, Riley batting behind him, then Yaz, Ozzy after him, Michael Harris in the 7-hole. Heal if he's up? I could see him being there, I think Dubon is going to be the shortstop. And then DH, got Dom Smith. He's had a very nice spring training, but I do get the point of what Ken is talking about with having more speed down there with Gaml. Left-handed pitching, I'm keeping it kind of the same. Ronald and Drake at the top. I flip-flopped Riley and Olsen just to break up the lefties in the middle. Ozzy hitting behind Olsen. Michael Harris behind Ozzy. Dubon in the 7. I'm gonna keep Yaz at DH just cuz I want him in there and I want to see what he can do against the lefty for a little bit and I don't think that's unreasonable for 30 games. And then we got Eli White and left field.
Jeb Maize: you
Ryan: And then fully healthy. Ronald, Drake either at catcher or DH, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ozzy Albee, Sean Murphy, catcher DH, Yaz and Dubon depending if it's righty or lefty, and then you got Michael in center and HSK is short to fill it out.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah, hitting, hitting cam in front of Ronald is really interesting. He is such a, he takes a lot of walks too. So I love having somebody in there that we know can get on base in front of Ronnie. So I like that a lot. Yeah.
Jeb Maize: I kinda like these.
Ben Weaver: you
Ryan: That was my thinking with it.
Jeb Maize: I scrolled down and I just had a jump scare. Ben, you're batting Olsen in the two hole. ⁓ please explain. I'm not hating, just- Let us know what you're cooking with.
Ben Weaver: I mean I like the lefty lefty back-to-back against righties. think Ronald obviously should be in the leadoff spot no matter what. Dude just has mashed in the leadoff spot his whole career so obviously gonna put him there you know in both lineups. And then Matt Olson hitting right behind Ronald. Listen I know you generally want your best hitter You generally want your best hitter overall hitting in the two hole because they're gonna get the most in bats But I like Matt Olson in the two spot to be able to drive Ronald in whenever he hits a leadoff double or You know and Olson walks a lot too. So being able to get on base And have two runners on or once Ronald hits a solo home run to lead off the game You'll have Olson there to walk. I I just really like Olsen in the two hole, then follow that up with Baldwin right behind him and Sandwich Drake right in between Olsen and Riley. I think that would be a very deadly combination. Give Baldwin just a much needed protection. And then also help Olsen get some protection there too. And then you have Yaz hitting fifth right there with Dubon at short and who'd I put? Dominic Smith at the DH spot, which again I agree with Ken You know Ben Gamble might get that spot just because of the athleticism ⁓ And then put Ozzie at second with Michael Harris the second at in the nine hole I've just always loved Michael in the nine hole. I've always loved it and loved him there I know Ken says, you know, we're doing he was doing what Walt has been showing us and putting Ozzie or Michael Harris at the
Jeb Maize: Yep.
Ben Weaver: 7 hole. That's just not me man. I just always really liked Michael and in the 9 hole I think given the protection from Ronald right behind him and plus Michael's speed on the base paths and everything. I think that gives him a good you know good spot for him. Then he has lefties. I have Ronald Riley Olson Ozzie who shouldn't need really any explanation. I know Ozzy had a down year against lefties last year, but hell, his career has been phenomenal against him. And then Baldwin, Kyle Farmer at short with Jonah Heim at DH, just to kind of get back to back right handed batters. And the only reason I picked Heim over somebody else is because Heim is a switch hitter. ⁓ I think regardless of if late in the ball game, if the other team was to bring in a lefty. You still have, you know, or I'm sorry, your right-handed bat. You still kind of have Jonah Hyne being able to hit, you know, lefty and breaking up that monotony of the right-handed bats over and over again. And then Dubon and left with Michael and center again. So I'm trying to alternate, obviously keep, just, I liked that alternate the lefty righty as much as possible, but while also putting our best, my best lineup out there that I know of.
Jeb Maize: Now you're fully healthy, cleanup kind of is in line with all of ours, right? Like you're not putting Sean Murphy in the two hole when he comes back or... I mean, that would work.
Ben Weaver: I was thinking about putting him lead off to be honest with you. ⁓
Ryan: That tracks, that tracks.
Ben Weaver: Yeah, I was going to put Ronald hitting seventh and then Sean Murphy hitting leadoff with Matt Olson hitting ninth. And yeah, it was going to be just hell. might put Olson on the bench, be completely honest. Cleaning up brother.
Jeb Maize: Mauricio Dubon cleaning up. ⁓
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Just thinking outside the box.
Ben Weaver: Yeah, dude, mean, you gotta be creative with this kind of thing, all right?
Jeb Maize: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, ⁓ Jose, we got yours pulled up right here, man. ⁓ kind of go through it and explain too.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Alright, so for me I have obviously Ronald Lacuna leading off versus Reites. Then we got Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson in the three hole, Austin Riley batting clean up, Mike Yastremski, ⁓ left field slash DH, because know, DH is going to be pretty interchangeable, at least in the first little bit of the season. Ozzy Albies, Dubon slash Hassan Kim when he comes back. And then another outfield slash DH spot with Eli White, Don Smith, ⁓ whoever. Basically, Dubon and then Michael Harrison the 9-hole. I'm with Ben. I like Michael Harrison the 9-hole I think he gets a lot of protection with Ronald Acuna batting lead off in the number one in the lineup. So I really like Michael Harrison the 9-hole. It gets a little bit more pressure off of him as well at least to start the season ⁓ Just because you know, if you get on there's a good chance the Ronald Acuna is gonna drive you away. So
Ben Weaver: So, thank
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Then again, it's left-handed pitching, obviously Ronald leading off. Then I have Austin Riley, Matt Olson. ⁓ Ozzy Albies, cleanup obviously versus left-handed pitching. Drake Baldwin, again, Dubon slash Hassan Kim when he comes back. And then Mike Yastremski, again, left field slash DH spot with Eli White, Don Smith slash Dubon, whoever is basically batting the best at the time. And then Michael Harris in the night hole.
Jeb Maize: So I noticed you put Riley in the two hole versus lefties.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I did.
Ben Weaver: Fun fact, Austin Riley has reversed splits in his career. He has historically hit righties better than he has lefties.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: This is true.
Jeb Maize: What ⁓ what is your ⁓ What is your ⁓ It jumps... Yeah, it jumpscared me more than Benz!
Jose | @ATLHeadband: My reasoning behind that? Nah, I was just thinking the matchups. Ben is right. He has batted better against right-handed pitching in his career. ⁓ But I was just thinking the matchups, right-handed batter versus left-handed pitcher. Austin Riley, I have faith in him this year. I think I've seen enough from him in spring training that ⁓ he'll be a lot better for batter. Fully healthy, not really worrying about the hip or whatever injury. ⁓ I have faith in him, I think he would do well in the 2 hole. However, versus left handed pitching, I mean to be honest with you, I also wouldn't mind seeing Drake Baldwin in the 2 hole. I think he's shown enough that he can bat against righties against lefties, that doesn't really matter. And he can slide Austin Riley to the number 5 spot in the lineup.
Ben Weaver: All right, stick with me here.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Either one would work.
Jeb Maize: Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: Hey, real quick, real quick, Jose on the Austin rally. You know, you're talking about the injury. Let you know about a discussion that I had with one of his family members. And he heard Austin say, I think in a few interviews, he's never started his workouts quicker than he did this year. And what his family member said was that he has never seen Austin work as hard as he has this year.
Ben Weaver: Thank you.
William Ken Anderson: And I think he takes his injuries as maybe something to do, whether it's some core work in the off season or whatever. And also you can tell Austin's carrying a little bit more weight this year than he did last year. And he's doing everything. So his whole off season changed because of the injury. So it's gonna be interesting to see how he hits this year with a longer off season. I think him and Michael both are really
Ben Weaver: I'm. Thank I. Okay. ⁓
William Ken Anderson: their heads are into this to really, this is their year they're gonna show everybody how good they really are. Michael sees himself as the top three center fielder. Austin definitely sees himself as the best third baseman in the game and they need to go prove it this year. And they're working the off season, you can see it on the ball field. know everybody likes Austin. We got a guy on our little Twitter here. He kills Austin and the next bat he always hits a home run. So I want him to do that all year long and you know who you are there.
Jeb Maize: you
Ben Weaver: Okay. you
William Ken Anderson: And Mr. Burner, every game kill Austin so he hits the home run and the next to back. He's done it all spring so. But yeah, you're seeing that what you're seeing is he wants to have a healthy year and he did a lot of extra work this all season to make sure he stayed healthy because his whole thing was in his core. And then he went in there and did the surgery stuff and they found that he had had another injury with it as well. So he should be healthy this year and have a big year.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I mean, I didn't know that about what ⁓ was said about Austin Riley, him starting up earlier this year. I was just going off of his hair, man. As soon as I saw his new hair, his new facial hair, I was sold. I was like, all right, man, Austin Riley means business this year,
William Ken Anderson: ⁓ my dear. It's almost this year. ⁓ my god, it's beautiful like mine.
Ben Weaver: The lettuce. The lettuce.
Jeb Maize: Yes. Yes.
Ben Weaver: Hey, real quick, Jose, can I ask you just a random off the wall question that's been burning my britches for a couple days now? Who the hell does Austin Wells think he is playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic? That man's whiter than anything I've ever seen, all right? He's Irish. Yes. He's whiter than the leprechaun on the Lucky Charms box.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Yeah. Buddy, Austin Wells is a known-
Ryan: He's whiter than Jeb.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: You see Ben, you see Ben. You see Ben, real ball knowers know that Austin Wells is a Dominican man. He always has been. His mom is Dominican or he has Dominican, he has Dominican heritage on his mom's side. He is.
Jeb Maize: I'm gonna get it.
William Ken Anderson: As tell me about it, Mon Dray. Yes.
Ben Weaver: ⁓ she is for real? A Dominican?
William Ken Anderson: Yes, says mama.
Ryan: Yeah, for real. ⁓
Ben Weaver: I did not know that. See, I've just been very, like, it's been burning my britches for the past couple days, all right? I've been really concerned. I saw Austin Wells on the Dominican Republic lineup, and I'm like, who the hell does he think he is?
Jeb Maize: That's like Chapman trying to play for Great Britain.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Buddy, Austin Wells. I mean... Yeah.
Ben Weaver: Jazz?
Ryan: That's kinda wild.
William Ken Anderson: Well, Jedis is from the Bahamas, so his family's from Great Britain. ⁓
Ben Weaver: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, I just thought it was funny when they posted the thing where they denied him and it was it said not British and rolls chap Yeah, yeah No, no ⁓ We'll pivot here kind of kind of you know kind of winding down ⁓
William Ken Anderson: Thank you.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: hilarious. ⁓
Ben Weaver: ⁓ you talking about Aroldis Chapman? Yeah. I thought you said Jazz Chism for a second. I'm like, no.
William Ken Anderson: Thank you.
Jeb Maize: We'll go down the line. And there are a couple people who have the same answers, so this will be pretty easy, but who is one player that we cannot lose? Who is one player on this team that the Atlanta Braves need? And me and Jose have the same guy. And it's this man right here. It's Ronald. I think...
William Ken Anderson: I
Jeb Maize: I'll go first and then I'll let Jose go but Ronald is the spark plug to your lineup. I know Ken, me and you have talked about like, you know, when Riley goes the Braves go but I also kind of think it's the same way with Ronald too. You you start a ball game off one nothing that, that, you know, that, says something, you know, you're putting your foot on the gas. I just think, you know, with the power, the speed, the, you know, he's not really that great in the field. But just the whole dynamic of Ronald Acuna Jr. In this lineup, especially at the leadoff spot, think it is the most neat basically going into this season.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I mean, same for me. I think if you see the Braves records on games that Ronald has played versus games that Ronald has not played, it's pretty clear Ronald is the difference maker for the Atlanta Braves. When he plays, it's just a completely different team. The energy is different. ⁓ Obviously the speed is there, the power is there. Just... ⁓ He literally changes the team. And you can see that on the first day that he came back, that game against the Padres, he hit the home run, first pitch. and all of a sudden the energy was just different. ⁓ Ronald Acuna is just the guy.
Ben Weaver: It's a shame we have non-ball knowers on this podcast.
Jeb Maize: my god. We can ⁓ let's look, I'm looking at the list right now. We'll pivot to ⁓ we'll pivot to Ben. We'll pivot to Ben. So Ben is saying that it's Matt Olson. So, explain Ben. It's not a bad, it's not a bad take. I don't, I think with the core guys we have like, we've seen it the past two years like when one of them's gone.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah.
Ben Weaver: Yes.
Jeb Maize: It's a huge hole.
Ben Weaver: Well, originally what I said before I read the question, because you said hitter and position player. Originally I had said Spencer Strider, who I think is arguably more the most important piece in the Braves roster right now just because of the lack of starting pitching depth and all that. I digress. Matt Olson is probably the most pivotal position player because You know, Ronald was the largest piece to this Braves team in 2021 up until the point he got hurt. And then after that, AA had to scramble and go get outfielders to kind of somewhat replace his production. Now, I think that an outfield bat is much more easily obtainable than a first base bat who can give you 30 homers, 100 RBIs with 270 batting average and gold glove defense at first base.
Jeb Maize: We have Dom Smith.
William Ken Anderson: Okay.
Ben Weaver: Dom Smith is not gonna give you any of that. All right, Dom Smith would look like me going up there to hit against a lefty. All right, and I like Dom Smith, but I'm just saying, know, with Matt Olson, the way, the kind of player that he is, I mean, he's the real deal. And I think he's the most pivotal piece to this Braves year.
Jeb Maize: Hahahaha
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I mean since you're mentioning Olsen as well, let me jump in because I also love Matt Olsen. As I've said, I love my first baseman, so I'm gonna brag on him. His defense, we absolutely cannot lose that on first base either.
Jeb Maize: Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: No, and I'm going to tell you something. I've seen that swing now for 20 years. It's so beautiful. I'm almost teared up a little bit and he's special. He's special.
Jeb Maize: ⁓
Ben Weaver: And again, I'm not taking anything away from Ronald because that man right there is probably the obvious choice ⁓ out of anybody, but in order one, just be a little bit different and two, we've kind of seen this team take off before getting without Ronald and through no fault of his own.
Jeb Maize: Yep, is absolutely getting kicked right now. ⁓
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Now, we are getting into a whole new subject here because it took, I mean, the baseball gods, it took Jock Peterson becoming Barry Bonds part two, Eddie Rosario, the second coming of Lou Gehrig, his hitting ability. I mean, it just took an act of God, honestly, in 2021 when Ronald went down, so.
Ben Weaver: I mean, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. But I still think that offensive production is a little bit easier to obtain than who Matt Olson is as a player.
Ryan: Good times, chat, good times.
Jeb Maize: Yeah. Yeah. I will.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I'll agree on that.
Ryan: You don't have many superstar first basement out there that you can just go pluck off a tree.
Jeb Maize: Yep.
Ben Weaver: Right. Or anybody who could platoon to equal even close to that, you know?
William Ken Anderson: Then if I can And the fact of the matter is that if we did get to the midway break there as Byron Buxton out there, if you got this or nothing, you go get him. He's not Ronald Acuna, but he's lot closer to Ronald than whatever we can get to play first base is tonight.
Jeb Maize: Yeah. We'll, ⁓ we'll jump to Ken.
Ryan: There you go.
Ben Weaver: I mean, for God's sakes, I'm sorry, but we had Scott Thorman manning first base for a year, all right? And if you don't know who Scott Thorman is, bless your heart, all right? That's all I gotta say.
Ryan: Don't. We had Casey Kochman too.
Jeb Maize: I don't, I don't know who Scott, I don't know who Scott Thorman is.
Ryan: Hahaha
Ben Weaver: Scott Thorman was the Braves' first baseman in 2007. He was awful, brother. I'm sure he's a very nice guy. I'm he's a treat to be around, but he was awful.
Ryan: while Jeb was waddling around in diapers.
Jeb Maize: you We'll pivot to Ken. Ken, you put down Drake Baldwin. Now, I love this pick. You know I love the Drake. ⁓ Drake is my guy. Explain to us, you know, explain to us your reasonings and... ⁓
Ryan: That is so good.
William Ken Anderson: Well, first of all, ⁓ Drake is really improving defensively. And I think Drake is, if he has the year, think he's going to have this year is going to be a top three catcher in the game this year. And the reason I think he's the one player we cannot lose is because once you have the injuries that Sean has had the last two years that we know it's been kind of ongoing until he gets back. I just don't know if this team is a playoff team with Jonah Haim, Chadwick Kwame and Sandy Leon being the catcher. And you can say, well, it may be the same thing. We already discussed that with Michael, I mean, with Matt and Ronnie, but we all know that the whole argument on Twitter is about Murphy's contract and me and Ben get on there all the time and remind everybody. Doesn't matter about all of that. Murphy. Even if all his weaknesses are still one of the top 10 to 12 catchers in the game, catching position is very weak. If Drake were to go down, there would be no, we would have to have no other problems in our team if Drake gets hurt. And, or if he has a sophomore slump, you watch the struggle a little bit too. We've already all put him in the two ho five ho and he's a major piece of this and we need him to take the next step.
Ben Weaver: Thank
William Ken Anderson: And I just think he's the one guy I could have picked anybody that we got named on this list. I think we get the big four that have to be healthy this year and have big years. I just wanted to give Drake some love because look at that beautiful swing. Man, he can just hit the ball the other way. And when they're runners on base, you know, it's kind of like for the longest.
Ben Weaver: I'm fine. Okay. Okay.
William Ken Anderson: That you felt like Dan's big when Dan's been when runners got on base, Dan's be had better swings and you felt like the ball was going to pick somebody who's going to score. Y'all remember that when Dan's be with bat, he was so much better. That's how I feel about Drake. More people are on base, the better he hits like he focuses. He has some of the best swings and that's the reason why I think he's the one guy that we can't lose. That is just beautiful right there. He just can. He can absolutely wreck and I think his power numbers will even go up this year.
Jeb Maize: Yep.
William Ken Anderson: as he's getting a little bit bigger and stronger.
Jeb Maize: Now, and I mean, this may be me talking, ⁓ but I think last year too, yeah. I think last year too, like you mentioned, you know, having a sophomore slump, I'm going to, maybe it's not a hot take, maybe it is. I'm going to say he's not going to have a sophomore slump because, you know, he started the season off, what was it? 0 for 15 with, you know, 14 balls at 112 miles per hour, just lined right at people and then.
Ben Weaver: It is.
Jeb Maize: You know, he had that little two week spell in the end of August and then was fine. So I think he'll be fine. ⁓ I don't see any slump coming.
William Ken Anderson: I don't either.
Jeb Maize: ⁓ Ryan! You picked your guy, as always. You picked his guy.
Ben Weaver: Dirt's in prideful? Ryan picked jerks in profile?
William Ken Anderson: Yeah.
Ryan: Don't disrespect me like that, Benjamin. Don't disrespect me. We went big, thick, Austin, Riley. And hear me out, Chad. I know, look, I get the argument for Ronnie. I get the argument for Matt Olson and Baldwin. Look, you can't go wrong with any of them, but I just want you guys to remember when the Braves offense was last effective. It was the last year Austin Riley was Austin Riley. And for the Braves to get back to where they want to be, this dude has to play 140, 150 games and he's got to be that MVP caliber third baseman that we know and love. And counter to the point with Olsen, there's not many third baseman out there that you can go pluck off a tree that are going to replace this dude. mean, Nacho Alvarez was our replacement at third base last year and he did fine, but he was not Austin Riley's production and he was far from it.
Ben Weaver: It was that even hurt Austin Riley's production.
Ryan: Correct. Austin Riley I think put up a 740 OPS hurt last year and people were complaining about that. So imagine a healthy Austin Riley. With the adjustments he's made, it's hard press for me not to brag on my boy. So I'm picking Austin Riley.
William Ken Anderson: And I give you an amazing Austin Raleigh stat. And, uh, that I think I've shared with y'all through messages. There's called the heat map streak, how much a player means to the team. And the heat map for a hitter is 900 OPS or higher. And the games that Austin's in one of his heat streaks of three games or more. And Aaron Judge, the Yankees win 64 % of their games that when he's in his heat streak, the Braves win almost 70 % of their games when Austin's in one of his streaks. And that's the reason why Austin's still the highest paid Braves at 22 million a year is because the Braves see that. The Braves are a different team when that guy is slugging and feeling good. He opens up the whole lineup and they win at a 70 % clip. And guys, just to... ⁓
Ben Weaver: It ain't bad.
William Ken Anderson: Dude, math on that. That's 112 win season. That's pretty good.
Jeb Maize: Yeah, we'll pit. Yeah, I know. Well, I mean, kind of a follow up question to it, you know, who's the biggest catalyst to push this team back to being a World Series contender? And me, Ryan and Jose all picked Austin Riley. And I think it's for those reasons exactly. And you go back and you look at the 21 highlights. Eddie Rosario and Austin Riley. I mean those were your clutch hits. know Adam Duvall, know we obviously know about that. Travis Darnow had a couple homers but the walk-offs against the Dodgers on back-to-back nights, you know the homers and everything with Riley, I just think in the postseason the way he handled it and has handled it, I think Austin Riley and kind of to what Ryan said basically. Just you get Austin Riley back, you go.
Ryan: percent man. There's a reason why they paid him the big contract. I know everybody likes to shit on Riley and because he is the highest paid player and he struggled the last two years because he was hurt but I want you guys to remember is he was still an above average player and that's kind of hard to do when you don't have your core. Like apparently his core was absolutely shredded when they went into surgery so and he was still putting up league average to slightly above league average numbers.
Ben Weaver: Yeah.
William Ken Anderson: Music.
Ryan: And we all know what he can do. He's a 900 OPS guy when he is fully rated rock and roll.
Jeb Maize: We knew he was strong, but we didn't know he was shredded.
Ryan: Don't be lame.
William Ken Anderson: Some of the women know he's shredded.
Ben Weaver: So. Thank
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Alright, alright, job.
Jeb Maize: was like, your reasonings.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Alright, ⁓
Ryan: Yeah, his wife knows. ⁓ just, just, come on, bro. Off the rails.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I mean, pretty much what we already said about Austin Riley, like, it just feels like when Austin Riley is on, the whole Braves lineup just flows so much better. Like, ⁓ just having him in the hot corner, man, his defense, will say, underrated, in my opinion. And just when he's on, fully healthy, it's just a different Braves team. Like we were saying, or like you guys said just a few minutes ago, last time we saw Austin Riley fully healthy, What? Uh, 20, 24? 23? 23. Yeah, and we all know what happened in 23, except for the end of the season. We don't have to talk about that. Um, it's just Austin Riley, man. He is one of, he is a spark plug. That's the best way I can say it. He's one of the spark plugs in this lineup. When he's on, it makes everyone else better. So, 100%.
William Ken Anderson: Thank
Ben Weaver: Yeah, 23. ⁓
Jeb Maize: It's kind of funny how we also call Ronald the spark plug, but when you have a core of guys who can perform like they do, I feel like everybody's a spark plug. Yeah, it is.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: pretty much. Hitting's contagious,
Ryan: 100%. It is.
Ben Weaver: But, Jeb, how can you call Austin Rowley a core guy when he doesn't have a core?
William Ken Anderson: Okay.
Ryan: He does now, it's
Ben Weaver: There we go. See that works.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: There you go, Joe. That was the right time for it.
Jeb Maize: Wow, Ben, you have a child and now just the dad jokes just keep pouring in. ⁓
Ben Weaver: Hey, that dad joke was better than the whatever AI slop you brought out once.
William Ken Anderson: Hmm.
Jeb Maize: ⁓ Ben, you said Ozzy Albies. So I'm going to, I'm just going to touch on it just a tad. I see it. You know, I feel like Ozzy's the little engine that could, you know, I feel like if he's going, he to me is one of those guys that kind of gets everything started.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: AI slop is crazy.
Ryan: Oof.
Ben Weaver: Yeah.
Jeb Maize: you know, like if they are in a slump and you know, he hits a double off the wall or something, I feel like he is one of the kickstarters to get them out of those slumps.
Ben Weaver: Yeah. ⁓ you're done? ⁓ yeah. So, yeah, I think Ozzy really is just a spark plug on this team. I think the only downside for Austin, in my opinion, is he doesn't have the hype, you know, hype man type attitude or mentality. ⁓ Austin is very much lead by example kind of guy and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But Ozzy is one of the, you know, leaders in the clubhouse. He knows how to talk to guys like Ronald who are just hype and ready to go and full of energy, high energy guys. But he also knows how to talk to guys like Matt Olson, guys like Austin Riley who come across a lot more quiet and not necessarily reserved, but like I said, more of a lead by example kind of guy. And I think Ozzy, ⁓ is one of the biggest leaders in that clubhouse for that reason exactly. And when he's playing good, I mean, he brings in energy to this team that hardly anybody else can. You you'll have him, if he can get back to mashing lefties like he has in his career, I can see him being a 25 homer guy again. And that's something that the Braves sorely need out of him is being a 25 homer guy. 270 batting average, and being able to drive in 80 to 90 runs from that second base position with 30 doubles, ⁓ if he does that, man, this team will go.
Jeb Maize: Yeah. Last and not certainly not least, we've got Ken and a little off the wall, but Michael Harris. Ken, please, please let us know about this one.
William Ken Anderson: Well, piggyback a little bit on Ben. I like to see the team with lot of injuries, energy, and Michael Harris is the one guy who shows the most energy on the field. Him and Ozzy, Ozzy's happy, but Michael, even in his slump, when he makes some of those great catches like that, he just exudes energy and the team feeds off of it. And the reason why
Ben Weaver: Thank Okay.
William Ken Anderson: The question is who's the biggest catalyst to push this to the world series contender. I expect great years out of most of them. I want to see Michael have a full year. We've seen second half Michael and when second half Michael is engaged, that's what you get is just five tool. One of the best players in the game. And when he's raking, it's like.
Ben Weaver: Okay. ⁓
William Ken Anderson: ⁓ CJ said last year when he finally turned it around, he is almost, you can't get him out because even if he miss hits the ball, he finds a way to, he can turn it. He can turn something down the line into a double at any point. And I think if he's feeling good and he puts a whole year together for the braids, you're telling me if Michael ends up 25 to 30 home runs and he ends up being a two 80 instead of a two 40. for a year hitter, not this one 9,200 first half and this three 30 in the second half. If he puts together a two 80 to 300 batting average, you don't think this team is going to take off. mean, it will be the one of the most vaunted lineups, whether you bat him in the nine hole where y'all love to hit him or anywhere in that lineup. And if he has the year that I know he's capable of having. Jose always, we always talk about it is you could bat him anywhere in the lineup and he's going to be rolling. So yes, I'm going with Michael Harris as the guy that if he has the monster year, there's no way the Braves don't make the playoffs and have a chance to go to the world series.
Ben Weaver: Real quick that highlight with Kyle Wright pitching kind of just breaks my heart.
Jeb Maize: Yes. ⁓ my gosh.
William Ken Anderson: Yes.
Ryan: Yep.
Jeb Maize: ⁓ Real quick, mean we got you know a couple more questions and then we can you know, can get some final thoughts and closing out What what are we expecting from this this group? What is the ultimate goal for this this hitting core of the team and I'll go first, you know, it's It's staying healthy. Number one number two. It's putting up consistent at bats number three And I think this is really the big one
Ben Weaver: you
Jeb Maize: You have guys like Riley and Olsen and Ozzy who have grand Teton high peaks, but then they've got, you know, below sea level valleys. I think if we can try to get it to, you know, an even, just kind of even or even just kind of shorten those blips, I think that is one of the big things that will help this team. Another thing, ⁓
Ben Weaver: Thank you.
Jeb Maize: hitting with runners in scoring position is also, you know, when you get a lead off triple, more than likely you want to drive that run in.
William Ken Anderson: 100%.
Ben Weaver: Yeah, I mean, I would think so. I don't think they were cheering themselves for leaving leadoff runners on third stranded.
William Ken Anderson: No, I hope not.
Ben Weaver: If they were, we got bigger problems to be completely honest with you.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah. That wise can't fix. I'll go next here. I expect the, if I had the ultimate go, if I'm Tim hires, if we have 250 home runs and 250 doubles as a team, we're going to be maybe the best second best or least top three offense in the national league. And that is a hitting group. It's a send to the playoffs. And I also would like to. get into the top five in walks. We're a team that can do that. And I want to be in the bottom half. I'm not gonna a lot of pressure on them. Bottom half of strikeouts. I think if you accomplish those four goals as a hitting group, you're not 2023 braids, but you're pretty close and that team can't be beat by most teams in baseball. And it's gonna be a lot of fun nights.
Ben Weaver: Thank
William Ken Anderson: in truison on the road. So I think that that's the what I'm expecting out of this group. As I said, I think the ceiling is great where it's always been, but I do think the floor has been raised. And so even for player has a day off, I do expect that the guys like Mariso Dubon, Ben Gamble, Eli White, if it's Don Smith, any of those should be able step in and help this ball team achieve those goals.
Ben Weaver: I'll be. I'm about to head off, so I'm going to give my final thoughts on this. ⁓ Yeah, so I agree wholeheartedly. You know, we gotta we gotta see continued improvement the last month or so of the season last year. ⁓ Tim Hyres really had these guys swinging good sticks and really selective at the plate and waiting on their pitches to drive. And I think that by the time everybody bought into what Tim Hyres was teaching, it was.
Jeb Maize: Please do, please do.
Ben Weaver: too little too late, which was very unfortunate in a sense. ⁓ And I'm not saying that these guys don't take coaching well. I'm saying these guys had certain aspects of their stances and their swings that had worked for them for years before this and were hesitant to change because they knew that they had been working well in the past. ⁓ And I think Tim Hyres finally broke through to him. I think having Chipper, you know, there's an old saying says those who can't teach, but I think Chipper might be one of the, what am I looking, what's the word I'm looking for?
William Ken Anderson: Anomaly. Anomaly.
Jeb Maize: Outliers.
Ben Weaver: Outlier to that rule. think Chipper can get in there and really talk hitting to these guys and really talk it in a way that they're going to understand and it'll click with them. And I think that with somebody like that of his stature, mean dude, first ballot Hall of Famer, you know, the accolades go on and on. I think that that will really help this team in the long run. And I don't think it'll take them until mid-May to get going like it has the past couple of years. like I said, those are my final thoughts. I appreciate it. And I got to head out. Daddy duty calls.
William Ken Anderson: Amen.
Jeb Maize: That was Ben Weaver. Weaver cards on Twitter. ⁓ Ryan, what you got?
William Ken Anderson: Let's see.
Ryan: I have one thing that I want these guys to do. I don't care about stats. I don't care about anything else. I want them to not do too much at the plate and I want them to be themselves because I think that's gonna take care of the rest of it. There's too much in the past where you can see these guys are pressing and trying to do way too much of the plate instead of just staying within themselves and what they are and who they are. I think if they do that I think everything else is gonna follow right into place fall right into place. That's it.
Jeb Maize: ⁓ how that?
Jose | @ATLHeadband: For me, I 100 % agree with Ryan. I feel like staying within themselves is one of the most important things, if not the most. However, just to say something different, ⁓ health, obviously, staying healthy, however, a little bit beyond that, longevity. We all want to see the 2023 type offense or as good of an offense as possible, but that's no good if the team kind of the fire burns out in September or injuries or whatever. And then you can't do anything in October. I want to see longevity, take a couple of days off if needed during the season whenever possible, whatever needs to be done so that if the guys are fresh, they're ready to go in October.
William Ken Anderson: Can I piggyback off of that? with Jose, I think it's excellent. know one of the questions we asked was, uh, we were talking about pregame was what's the one thing other than health that can prevent us from our goals. That's the reason why I'd like to see this team. The one thing that can bring them is a slow start. What you saw in 24 and then, and then 22 and 23, especially, I think they ran out of gas in 23 and 22 because they had to play so hard to catch up. We cannot have this catch-up thing where we blow 500 come June 1st. I want to say, I'm I'm not running, I'm not putting numbers, but if your ultimate goal is to be good and be steady, let's get off to a good start. We went as a group, we've talked about their first 50 games are not as dangerous as our first seven last year, but it's pretty, pretty tough. And if we somehow can come out of that first 50, 30 and 20, 28 and 22. Watch out, because we won't be pressing to try to get back in and that burns you out in the Atlanta sun. We know that. So I think the one thing that can prevent us from reaching our goal is if we get off to another slow start. And that's the reason why I love seeing what we're seeing this spring. The team seems focused. This team seems ready. They're playing with fire and they're pushing each other. And I think you're gonna get the A number one squad coming out when they meet Kansas City on March 27th. Be ready to play.
Jeb Maize: Yeah. Anybody have a final thought?
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I'm just ready for baseball, man.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah, let's kick them. Let's kick the Phillies and Mets ass. So I can say asked.
Jeb Maize: Me too, I am. I am, well, well, I'm ready for Team USA to kick the DR's ass, yeah. We'll have our little banter about that on here, but ⁓ yeah. Next week!
Jose | @ATLHeadband: Yeah, and your dreams, buddy.
William Ken Anderson: Yeah, yeah, go Venezuela.
Jose | @ATLHeadband: I see I'm just surrounded by haters guys. For those of you who don't know, I am a proud Dominican, born in the DR. Been here in Atlanta since I was seven. I'm a full on Team Dominican Republic baby. We're going all the way. We're going to the championship. We're gonna win the whole damn thing.
Jeb Maize: Amen. Next week, we will be going over the pitching side of things. So look out for that. If you've made it this far, please like, comment, subscribe, share it with everybody. We've got some big news coming up that we're still working a little bit behind the scenes, but we wanting to get out a little bit more and get you guys the content. that you guys deserve. yeah, yeah. So get ready to expect a big year from us this year and that's all I got. We'll catch y'all in the next one. Ryan, you're trash.