- 17 minutes ago
929 The Game Braves Insider Grant McAuley joins The Midday Show to talk all things Braves Opening Day. After multiple injuries to key arms including Spencer Strider just days ago, hear how new manager Walt Weiss is thinking about setting up the team for success during a busy 13-game opening stretch.
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00:00And AMA to wrap things up here.
00:01Hump Day.
00:02Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
00:03Midday show with Andy and Randy.
00:05The phone number to call, 404-726-0929.
00:09We'll answer any question you've got.
00:11Our Braves insider, Grant McCauley, joins us on Wednesdays at 1.20.
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00:25What's going on over there?
00:26Dude, that hashtag, man.
00:27It's just got to be tickled over here, dude.
00:29Which hashtag?
00:29You know, I can't say it on the air.
00:31No, you can't.
00:33Boy, it's funny as hell, man.
00:35It is.
00:36Goodness gracious.
00:37It's good to have a laugh as we get ready to talk Braves,
00:40because unfortunately the spring for the Braves has been no laughing matter.
00:44A lot of injuries, certainly to the pitching staff.
00:46I think obviously the expectations are still up there
00:49because there's so much talent on the roster.
00:50But, Grant, we haven't talked since the Spencer Strider news came out
00:55earlier in the week,
00:57and it sounds like at least there's some optimism that the timeline will be short,
01:01but what's your reaction to the Strider injury kind of in conjunction
01:06with everything else that's happened this spring?
01:09Well, it's just kind of one of those things that you can't afford,
01:12but everybody knew that with regard to pitching injuries when you rolled into the spring
01:16and weren't really able to check that box in the offseason of bringing in another starting pitcher,
01:21whether it was a playoff caliber starter or just a proven arm,
01:24that would be able to kind of bolster your starting rotation.
01:27And then you turn around, you lose Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrop immediately,
01:30the Joey Wentz injury on top of that,
01:33and you really felt like you were stretched about as thin as it could possibly be,
01:36and now Spencer Strider is going to miss time.
01:39And you're right, there's some optimism it might only be a start or two.
01:42However, with obliques, it's just one of those injuries that it's just hard to predict,
01:47and the only way to really heal it is to rest it.
01:49And if you're going to rest it for an extended period of time,
01:51all of a sudden you've wiped down all the work a starting pitcher did getting ready for the season,
01:55building his pitch count and all those things.
01:56So hopefully that's not the case, and hopefully he's able to bounce back quickly.
02:01But, you know, if it's a one- or two-week oblique injury,
02:04then that would be one of the best-case scenarios I have ever heard as far as obliques are concerned.
02:09Hey, G-Mac, because I know, I remember actually this last year,
02:12because the lineup's coming out, obviously it's big boy ball,
02:14and all our guys are going to be playing.
02:16How do you see this order going, and who do you think is going to be the DH?
02:19I know the rumors out there, it was put out there who the DH would be,
02:23but do you think it's more or less right and lefty, or is it earn the spot?
02:28Where do you think they go with that?
02:30No, it's going to be, I think, a position of flexibility for the club
02:33in that they can give the at-bats to guys who, you know,
02:37are not in the lineup playing a position that given day,
02:40which is kind of the point of the DH, I guess,
02:42if you feel like you've got a hitter that can help you there.
02:44Or you can utilize it to get other guys off their feet, so to speak,
02:48and have their bat in the lineup,
02:50but not put the wear and tear of standing on the field
02:52and, you know, be able to kind of manage their workload,
02:56if you will, a little bit throughout the course of the season.
02:58And that would obviously be beneficial for a guy like Ronald Acuna Jr.,
03:01maybe a guy like Austin Riley or Matt Olsen,
03:03if you could talk him off the field.
03:04I don't know if he can, but, you know, maybe Walt Weiss will give that a try.
03:08But either way, you could kind of rotate some of those guys through,
03:10and then you've got the catching situation,
03:12which is Drake Baldwin is one of the best hitters on this club.
03:15I think that's been evidenced by the fact that they've installed him
03:17in the number two spot of the batting order.
03:19That's where I expect him to be more times than not,
03:21especially to start the year, and I think that's an earned spot.
03:24But he plays a very demanding position.
03:26You might not want to run him into the ground behind the plate,
03:28but what if he could keep his bat in the lineup an extra couple of days a week?
03:32That sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
03:34I think they've got a capable backup right now in Jonah Haim,
03:36and then obviously we know Sean Murphy is going to be back in this equation
03:39at some point.
03:40And if he is pain-free and the power is there
03:42and you feel comfortable having Sean Murphy get some of those DH at bats
03:45while also, you know, he can handle a pitching staff,
03:48being able to manage to do it that way, that's kind of where I see the DH going.
03:53If you were to ask me the one position that benefits from this the most,
03:56it's the catching situation between Baldwin and Murphy,
03:59and to a lesser extent perhaps Jonah Haim here,
04:02but ultimately it could give you that 30, 40, 50 games to play with other guys
04:08not having to be in the lineup and in the field every single night.
04:12Remind people, Grant, because, I mean, unfortunately there's a lot of different injuries
04:16in the offseason and even before that these guys are dealing with.
04:20But Sean Murphy had a surgery on something that he said had been hurting him for a while,
04:26and he's recovering from that.
04:27When do you expect him back, and what did he have done?
04:32Well, he had his hip repaired, and I believe it was a labral issue,
04:35if I'm not mistaken, and it was something that was going to keep him out,
04:39obviously off the field for the remainder of last year and into this year.
04:43Now, does that mean middle of May? Potentially.
04:46I think he said he checked all the boxes and was beginning to do some of the regular work
04:50that he needs to do over the course of spring training,
04:52but clearly not going to be ready for opening day,
04:54already going to be on the injured list and work his way back from there.
04:58But this was one of those things that I felt like,
05:00and he caught some flack for not maybe talking about this sooner or revealing it sooner,
05:04but you have to understand, I mean, catcher is a demanding position.
05:08Guys want to go out there and compete,
05:09and sometimes they feel like, you know, there's a certain pain threshold
05:13or a difference between being injured and playing hurt,
05:15and I think that Sean Murphy felt like he could play through it
05:18until he finally, I believe, could not get through that,
05:21and there was no real therapeutic value that was going to keep him on the field.
05:24So, you know, that's a frustration that was kind of piled into the 2025 season,
05:28which was described by the word injury.
05:31I think if there was one thing to talk about last year, that was certainly it.
05:34It's carried over into 2026,
05:35but I do think we could see Sean Murphy in May exactly when that timetable is.
05:40I don't think that the Braves are really comfortable giving one out
05:43because it's going to take what it's going to take as far as time,
05:45and they don't necessarily want people to start thinking,
05:47oh, well, now Sean Murphy's behind schedule.
05:49He's not back yet.
05:50I think they just understand that this is kind of a touch-and-go situation,
05:53and he's going to need the time that he needs,
05:55and they hope to have him back in the first half.
05:56We know that Chris Hill's going to start out on Friday.
05:59Who do you think goes Saturday?
06:03I think that's – and I don't have the probable pitchers in front of me,
06:07so you kind of caught me flat-footed there.
06:09I didn't want to hear it.
06:11Well, I mean, well, I'm flat-footed, but the Braves aren't necessarily.
06:16Well, they might be.
06:19Well, I mean, they're short-staffed, if you will,
06:22but I think it's Ronaldo Lopez that they were looking at in the second spot,
06:25but really it's after that Sunday, you know, where do you expect it to go?
06:29So is that going to be a Grant Holmes or a Bryce Elder?
06:32Who gets the fifth spot of the order?
06:34Is it Jose Suarez, as they were talking about at the end of spring?
06:37But, you know, ultimately, you know, there is going to be some mix and match,
06:41if you will, with 13 straight games to start the year.
06:44Didier Fuentes could factor in starting.
06:46Clearly he had a good spring and made the club two,
06:48so they've got six guys who can start.
06:50But I think when you look at Jose Suarez and you look at Didier Fuentes,
06:54there's different expectations for them than obviously a Chris Sale or Ronaldo Lopez
06:58or a Bryce Elder, for that matter,
07:01in terms of how exactly they're going to expect these innings to be covered.
07:05You may just need to kind of manage it in that you've got a long guy available
07:09just in case somebody has a bad night, because that's on the table, too.
07:12And you kind of were getting there with this, but I know it's so dependent on
07:19starting pitching, how deep they go into games, how often they can go deep into games,
07:23what the bullpen will look like and how taxed they'll be.
07:26But just, like, as it stands right now, when you look at the pitchers that are in the bullpen
07:30to start the season, guys that they've added, guys that they've brought back,
07:34what are your expectations for the bullpen?
07:37I think it's a very good bullpen.
07:38And I think that when you bring in a guy as good as Robert Suarez
07:42and team him with somebody in Rysel Iglesias, who has been,
07:46and I know he struggled in the first half of last year.
07:48Look, nobody has to tell me that he didn't look like himself.
07:51I think he knew that.
07:52But the way he closed the year pretty much erased all of my doubts about,
07:56you know, is Rysel Iglesias able to be the guy that they need him to be?
08:00I think that he can be.
08:01And I also think that having someone else who can close for you
08:04and take some of those ops and not have to, you know, run through your closer
08:09over and over and over again and then have him down for a period of time,
08:11you now have two really good closing options.
08:14I think that Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer from the left side is advantageous for the Braves.
08:19Jose Suarez and Didier Fuentes, you can kind of look at that long man.
08:22And they brought back Tyler Kinley as well, who I think showed a lot last year
08:26in terms of a potential to get some leverage out in the middle of the game.
08:31So you've got some pretty good arms in that it's just how much can you manage
08:36how much they have to work by what you get out of the starting rotation
08:39because you can build a good bullpen, but that whole thing can go completely sideways
08:43if your rotation's not able to cover its innings.
08:46And I think that was a major contributing factor to why the Braves had so many
08:49bullpen problems last year.
08:51Hey, Grant, I want to have one more question on Fuentes.
08:54Now, I know they said they were going to ring him up.
08:56He's going to be in kind of a long relief type situation.
08:58How long do you think he stays up?
09:01Because if he's playing well, because I know they want to get him in the minor
09:03to get some starts, but if he's playing well, do you just leave him up
09:05or is it one of those things where you want to see if you can get him those starts?
09:09I think it really depends on the position, and at some point it's going to depend
09:12on the performance, I should say.
09:14I mean, if he's able to come out and continue to show you the kind of things
09:17you saw in spring training and you believe that he's your best chance
09:21and that he is, in fact, capable of getting big league hitters out
09:24and maybe more responsibility is warranted, why would you close the door
09:28to that possibility, particularly if you have another starting pitcher
09:31who's either struggling or if you have to deal with somebody else going down
09:35for an unforeseen reason for some amount of time,
09:40Didier Fuentes is a guy that could get that battlefield commission pretty quick.
09:43Where is your general mindset about expectations for these guys
09:50in the early part of the season, knowing that some players are going to come back,
09:54hopefully some of the pitchers are going to come back and be healthy
09:57as the season goes on, maybe there's a move, but as the season gets ready
10:01to start on Friday and knowing how talented the lineup can be
10:06but also how injured the rotation is, where's your head at just as far
10:10as expectations for the early part of the year?
10:14I think the expectations are just to get off to a solid start.
10:18Do you have to win every single series, win two out of three,
10:21or go on a 13-game winning streak to start the year?
10:23No, but would it make you feel a lot better if they did?
10:26Yes, but I think that the offense, kind of the point that you're asking
10:30in regards to the pitching staff not being where it needs to be,
10:33the offense could alleviate a lot of problems by kind of being able to score
10:37a whole bunch of runs and feel a lot more like itself than it has
10:40the last couple of years, at least from a consistency standpoint.
10:43You had so many struggles with the offense last year.
10:46We could talk about pitching injuries all day, but that offense was a big part
10:50of why the Braves found themselves in the hole they were in
10:53by the time you got into July and at the All-Star break.
10:55So a faster start, offensively speaking, could really help them out.
11:00They're going to be tested immediately here with 13 consecutive games in as many days.
11:04That doesn't leave you a lot of room for error in resetting your bullpen,
11:07resetting your rotation, and certainly you can't afford any more injuries.
11:10But the offense could go a long way towards setting the tone for the Braves.
11:14You've got a healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. who looks extremely, extremely good
11:18and very motivated coming out of that WBC win.
11:21Among other things, I think Austin Riley looked terrific in the spring.
11:24I saw some things I liked out of Michael Harris as well.
11:26And when you start to add in the Drake Baldwins and the Matt Olsons
11:29and the Ozzie Albies and a host of other names that you really like there,
11:33this is a lineup that should be able to do a lot more than it's done
11:36the last couple of years.
11:37The key is not just health, but consistency for this team.
11:41Because if they're scoring runs, I think they're going to have a pretty good chance
11:44to, at the very least, tread water and look to get some of these guys back.
11:47And maybe all of a sudden, as you start to look at the middle portion of the season,
11:51there is a trade that you can make, and you've got a little bit of extra financial
11:55power to swing that kind of trade and maybe get an impact player in as well.
11:59But there are a lot of things that have to happen between now and the trade deadline.
12:03Grant, we appreciate it.
12:04As always, we obviously look forward to Friday and our Wednesday conversations
12:08throughout the summer.
12:09Appreciate it, G-Mac.
12:10Thanks, guys.
12:11Grant McCauley there, 92.9 The Game, Braves insider.
12:14I like he put a positive spin on the profile thing.
12:18They've got a little extra money to play with as the season goes.
12:21Where'd that money come from?
12:22Man, they're going to sit on that thing just like the Hawks said on that John Collins.
12:26Yeah.
12:26Hey, here's a fun fact.
12:28This is the first time Bryce Elder's ever made the opening day roster.
12:32Really?
12:32Yeah.
12:33For as many starts as he's made.
12:34And he made the All-Star team a couple years ago.
12:37Started the season in the minors.
12:38But he's an opening day starter for the first time.
12:41Opening day starter?
12:42Not starter.
12:42Opening day roster.
12:44Oh, okay, dude.
12:44I thought something happened for Chris Sale.
12:46I'm sorry.
12:47Oh.
12:47Oh, God.
12:48Sorry.
12:49Okay.
12:49Not to alarm everyone.
12:51He's on the opening day roster.
12:53Sorry.
12:53For the first time ever.
12:54All right.
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