00:00Wellesie, that's Craig Albernaz.
00:02Albie, we like to call him, talking about Tyler Wells,
00:05who is now officially slated to head to the bullpen with the injury to Andrew Kittredge.
00:08I do love, it's one of those baseball things that is fun.
00:10Everybody gets a nickname.
00:12Brandon Hyde used to do that, too.
00:14Hyder.
00:14Hyder was called, like, he'd have nicknames.
00:16Westy and, I don't know, Rush.
00:19Like, everybody had a nickname.
00:21Gun.
00:22Yeah, Gunner's kind of a nickname.
00:24It's his name.
00:25Yeah, that's true.
00:26Hazy.
00:26Hazy, yeah.
00:27That's a good one.
00:27Thank you, that way, Ben.
00:28Hazy.
00:29Hazy.
00:29Hazy, but Wellesie.
00:30Sadie.
00:30Sadie.
00:31Wellesie ticketed for the bullpen.
00:34Yeah.
00:36How big a role is he going to have now?
00:40I think he's going to have a massive role in this bullpen,
00:43especially with the Andrew Kittredge news.
00:46And I'm very curious to see how they're going to use him,
00:51where he's looked really good in the spring so far.
00:56He's thrown five scoreless.
00:58He threw a couple of scoreless innings yesterday.
01:01He's only allowed one hit, zero walks, eight strikeouts.
01:04And when you look at his career splits in the 49 games in which he's appeared as a reliever,
01:12he's been dominant.
01:13Opposing batters, just a 531 OPS off of him.
01:18The whip is less than a 0.8.
01:21Like, that's really impressive stuff.
01:25And Welles just seems like a gamer.
01:27And when he talked, I believe, yesterday about the news, him officially being in the bullpen,
01:35he was all for it.
01:36Like, I think he just really wants to help the club in any way possible.
01:40But he also is looking forward to those high leverage situations where he kind of relishes being in those tough
01:48spots.
01:48And this is a guy way back in 2021 that was closing out games for this team.
01:54Yeah, I, well, I've been on the Tyler Welles should be in the bullpen train for a long time,
01:59even though he did lead the league in whip for half a season as a starter.
02:04But it just didn't seem like he could last a whole season as a starter.
02:07So you're sort of saving him from himself.
02:09And I do like his stuff.
02:10Yeah.
02:11In high leverage situations.
02:12So you had a built-in guy.
02:15I still wanted them to acquire somebody.
02:17And I wanted Welles in the bullpen.
02:19But I guess we're halfway there now.
02:21Yeah, I am still wondering if they're going to make a move.
02:26And I think that they have to.
02:28But I do have confidence in Welles.
02:31But you mentioned the fact that he has broken down.
02:35Seemingly, every year he's had some stints on the IL with oblique, a sore shoulder.
02:42Obviously, he underwent the elbow procedure in 2024.
02:47You just, you can't afford to lose him to an injury right now.
02:52Because with no Kittredge to start the year, there just aren't many guys in that bullpen
02:58that you feel really good about.
03:00I do feel really good about Welles.
03:02Yeah, it feels like leverage guys are going to be, don't shoot the messenger,
03:08but it's going to be Welles and Suarez and Cano.
03:13Like, that's who, I mean, Housley's the closer, obviously.
03:17But, like, who else is there?
03:18Well, I wonder.
03:19Wilfram?
03:20I wonder, when it comes to Suarez, though, is he just going to be used as that long man?
03:26Maybe he's a guy that you kind of piggyback off of Kyle Braddish to save him some innings
03:32at points.
03:33I think Suarez is definitely in this bullpen now, at least to start opening day with a
03:40Kittredge injury.
03:41Same with Cano.
03:42Well, but here's the funny thing.
03:44Now, Cano was whether he makes the team or not, obviously.
03:47But I think that Suarez was going to be in the bullpen before Kittredge got hurt.
03:51Oh, for sure.
03:52For sure.
03:52No, I'm with you as well.
03:54They just had the option because they signed him to the minor league deal to where, you
03:59know, it wasn't a sure thing.
04:01When you didn't go out, like, the only moves they went from the outside, and correct me
04:05if I'm wrong, because there might have been some minor moves, but the real moves they made
04:08to buttress the bullpen were Helsley, yeah, thank you, Helsley and Kittredge.
04:14That's it, right?
04:15Did I miss something?
04:16Did they, like, there were minor league deals or picking guys off waivers?
04:20I'm not counting that.
04:21I'm talking about real either trades or free agent signings to help with the bullpen.
04:25Well, a lot of the guys were guys that we saw in the last two months of the season after
04:31they completely blew up the bullpen at the trade deadline.
04:35Dietrich Enns was pitching innings for this team.
04:37Rico Garcia was pitching.
04:39Grant Wolfram was pitching for this club.
04:41Like, it's those guys that the pressure really falls on.
04:45Beltway, Ben, are you making this unanimous?
04:47Are you happy that Tyler Wells is officially ticketed to the bullpen?
04:51Yeah, it's always made sense, and you can go back to the first save you had.
04:54But in Yankee Stadium, he struck Judge out.
04:58No, Tim said he's a gamer.
04:59He's a guy that wants it.
05:01And I do think this role and preparing for this role will help him stay on the mound,
05:05get a few more outings from him than you would, of course, as the starter.
05:09Because we know until June, he's going to be really, really good,
05:12and you're going to deal with some injuries.
05:13Hopefully, this can be more of a, you know, all-year thing for him.
05:17And to that also, you made the point about not having Kittredge.
05:20Like, right now, he's the eighth inning guy.
05:23I think so, too.
05:24And that's why I thought that it was kind of interesting hearing Albert as,
05:29I guess, this morning, talking about, yeah, it'd be cool.
05:33We could use him in the fifth inning.
05:34We can use him in the eighth inning.
05:35Like, maybe he could eat multiple innings one day.
05:38He's the setup guy the next day.
05:40And, heck, with Kittredge on the I.L.,
05:43if Helsley is closing out games back-to-back days,
05:46he might be that next closer.
05:49For sure.
05:50For sure.
05:50Let's hear more from Albie talking about Wells.
05:53In Cut 15, he talks about Wells' previous experience as a closer,
05:56helping him transition back to the pit.
05:58Yeah, that's why we brought it up to him, you know,
06:02and Wells usually was for it.
06:04And that speaks to the type of person he is in player,
06:08putting the team first.
06:09And he can do a variety of different things for us,
06:12and that's what makes this role very enticing.
06:14That's the other way you know a guy's got a locked spot on the team
06:17is he has a nickname.
06:19That's a good point.
06:20Yeah.
06:21Yeah, you're not giving,
06:22you're not throwing around nicknames for someone that's getting options.
06:25I didn't hear Chase McDermott have a nickname.
06:27I didn't hear Vance Honeycutt,
06:29who was the greatest baseball player of all time.
06:31I had a buddy of mine actually call me today,
06:32and he said,
06:33is he going to make the team?
06:35I said, slow down.
06:36I was like, dude, you've got to slow down.
06:40He's had four bats.
06:41He's not even on a major league camp.
06:43He's been an extra bat at some games.
06:46He said, no, it's great.
06:47He's had four bats.
06:48He's had four homers.
06:48They've been at the end of games.
06:50He couldn't get out of high A a year ago.
06:52Dude, he struck out at a 40% clip.
06:55He had five home runs the whole year.
06:57Like, is he making the team?
06:59He's going to start the year in high A.
07:02Now it's Frederick.
07:03Yeah, yeah.
07:04So for the nickname thing,
07:06does that mean Wolfman's going to?
07:08Oh, the Wolfman's there.
07:10Wolfman.
07:11Yeah, that's a good point.
07:11They were doing segments during games.
07:13On Massive.
07:14Well, at that point, though,
07:16like the roster was.
07:18I would rather have that during a free delay
07:20than Keegan Aiken against.
07:21Keegan Aiken legacy game?
07:23Empty stadium?
07:24Yep.
07:24Come on.
07:25Keegan Aiken was dealing that.
07:26I could tell you every stat in that game.
07:29One more from Albie.
07:30How about we here?
07:31Because he's fun to listen to.
07:33Wells' versatility coming out of the pen.
07:35To me, that's the biggest value with him
07:37is between the fifth and ninth inning.
07:39Like, he can pitch leverage.
07:41He has the stuff for it.
07:42He has the makeup.
07:43But also, he can pitch early in the game, too.
07:46And that's, to me, where a high-function bullpen
07:50can stop the form is where you have guys
07:52that are Swiss omnibus that can do a lot of stuff,
07:54and Wells fits that mold.
07:55So, I agree.
07:58I do think, though, and granted,
07:59you've got to get there first,
08:01and I think Ben will be with me on this,
08:02but if you get to the postseason
08:04and the outs are more important,
08:06at that point, I can see,
08:08if Tyler Wells has been a leverage guy all year,
08:09but their big outs might be in the fifth inning,
08:11you bring him in the fifth inning.
08:12But in a game in June,
08:14I'm not bringing Tyler Wells in the fifth inning
08:16if this is the way the bullpen's set up.
08:18No, absolutely not.
08:19And I think, like, the Albert Suarez of it all,
08:22that might make a little bit more sense
08:24with how they build it,
08:25especially now that you have Kittcher's dealing with the injury.
08:27It opens up another roster spot.
08:29Yes.
08:30But even, like, speaking of then,
08:33the way the playoff baseball goes,
08:35like, again, I'm looking way too far ahead.
08:37I think Bassett's probably going to be in the pen.
08:39This is also given if this rotation's as good
08:41as we're being sold,
08:42if Shane Biles is what we're told he is,
08:43if guys stay healthy,
08:45that top three,
08:46I think you're going to have Bassett, Eflin,
08:48those guys be ready to come out of the pen.
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