00:00It feels official when you go out to Guardians TV play-by-play announcer Matt Underwood.
00:05Matt, welcome to the show.
00:07Well, thanks for having me.
00:09Happy opening day.
00:10Happy opening day.
00:12Do you have, I feel like I ask you this question every year.
00:14I don't care.
00:15I'll do it again.
00:16Do you have a favorite opening day memory, whether it's from your time with the team
00:20or even kind of growing up watching baseball?
00:23You know, they all kind of blend together for me as far as like, you know, specific memories.
00:28I think the first game I ever played at Progressive Field is probably the one that will stick with me
00:35just because, you know, the brand-new ballpark was such a departure from the old stadium
00:39and there was so much energy and excitement.
00:42The president was there throwing out the first pitch, and then you have the walk-out win and extra innings,
00:47and it was just a preview of what was to come in the Jacobs Field era.
00:51So that was a lot of fun.
00:52That's probably the one that will always stick with me.
00:54But there's just so much excitement around this day.
00:57There's really nothing like it, I think, in sports.
00:59All right.
01:00Well, there's so much excitement around this Guardians team as well, on certain spots at least.
01:03What gives you the most excitement for this team?
01:05I think the fact that there's, you know, the pitching is strong.
01:10The starting rotation, I think, if they can build on what they did down the stretch last year,
01:14that's going to carry them deep into this season and keep them competitive.
01:18But I think there's also, you know, reason to believe this offense is going to be even more productive.
01:25Look, it's no secret they have relied heavily on Jose Ramirez.
01:30I mean, last year he provided, you know, he accounted for basically 25% of the offense
01:35when you combine runs and runs batted in.
01:37And they just can't continue to lean on him solely.
01:40And I think the addition of Reese Hoskins is going to be a big help, right-handed bat, you know,
01:46with some power to slot in the middle of things.
01:49You know, if Kyle Manzardo continues to build on what he did last year,
01:52and I think I personally am hopeful that we see the real Bo Naylor emerge offensively.
02:00We know what he can do behind the plate.
02:02I think there's a good hitter in there, and hopefully we're going to see that emerge.
02:05And, of course, the guy that took spring training by storm this year, Chase DeLauter,
02:10there's so many reasons to be excited about him.
02:13Keeping him healthy is going to be paramount for not only his success but the team's success.
02:19But if that happens, you know, we've seen what he can do with the bat,
02:22and there's athleticism defensively in the field.
02:25So a lot to be excited about with this team.
02:27Matt, I'm also pretty excited about Bo Naylor this year.
02:30I think he teased you a little bit at the end of the year
02:32of who we thought he was going to be when he came up.
02:35Does the team have a working theory on why Bo just hasn't been able to put together
02:40that perfect mix of the defensive impact and the offensive impact at this point in his career?
02:46Well, I think you kind of hit on it right there.
02:49There's probably a bigger reason why you don't see catchers league-wide
02:56having, you know, seasons that match their offense, that match their defense.
03:00There's just so much now in the game that's on their plate from a defensive standpoint,
03:05from a game-calling standpoint, dealing with all the various pitchers,
03:08that I think it definitely has an impact on their offensive output.
03:13But I think with Bo, aside from that, because now he's, you know, he has enough games under his belt.
03:18I think he knows how to handle both and how to make sure he's sharp on both sides of the
03:22plate.
03:22But I think they made a mechanical adjustment with Bo.
03:26Seems like a simple thing.
03:27But he had a leg kick before.
03:29They've eliminated the leg kick.
03:30It's a toe tap.
03:31He's more on time.
03:33And hopefully that translates to him driving the ball and driving it to the opposite field.
03:37Because when he's at his best, you know, he's a really good gap-to-gap hitter.
03:41Now, I want to make sure Bo went from about 6'1 to about 5'9 this year.
03:46I just want to make sure you have not dropped about 4 inches in height this year.
03:50Yeah, you know, not only that, but I mean, I stood there in the clubhouse talking to him the other
03:54day.
03:54He's still bigger than I am.
03:56I might be 5'11".
03:58That might have been high school numbers inflating a little bit.
04:00But he's not shrunk to the – I mean, his shrinking has been greatly exaggerated.
04:05Let's put it that way.
04:06So what's interesting, though, you kind of mentioned the idea that, you know,
04:09a lot more of these catchers are now – I mean, they're way more defensive than they are offensive.
04:13That's been forever.
04:15You know, but I'm thinking about, like, a guy like even like a Ben Rice, for instance,
04:19that he's just shifted so much of that in the offensive side instead of the defensive side.
04:24And I wonder, though, and this might be something for Bo to think about as well,
04:28with ABS and this coming into play, the catch framing and what makes that job so valuable,
04:34I do wonder if that will become less valuable now that you have an auditing system attached to it all,
04:39where you do get to have challenges.
04:41And I wonder if catchers on the defensive side,
04:43if you're just going to see them not sell out as much to pitch frame
04:46and to try to get away with maybe getting some calls from the umps.
04:49And so the time spent there will then instead be spent offensively,
04:53and we might see more of an offensive uptick with hitters in the catching spot.
04:57I don't know how much I buy it.
04:59I mean, I've heard this theory.
05:01It's been out there.
05:02I understand.
05:03Yes, it makes perfect sense what you're saying.
05:05I don't know how much of an impact that's – you know,
05:09I think framing is still going to be a big part of the game.
05:11Remember, there are only two challenges per team per game.
05:15Obviously, if you win the challenge, you retain it.
05:18So certainly if a guy's having a bad day behind the plate,
05:21you could have a lot of challenges if you are correct.
05:25But I don't think you're going to see, you know, challenges, you know, in abundance.
05:30So that's still going to be an important part of the game,
05:33especially on those borderline pitches.
05:35I think what we have learned in the early going – and, again, it's only spring training,
05:39but umpires are pretty doggone good.
05:41As difficult a job as it is to call balls and strikes, you know,
05:46there have been a lot of cases where we've seen guys challenge,
05:48and it was upheld because that was in the strike zone
05:51or it was off the plate when it was called.
05:53So I don't know how much of that really is going to come into play,
05:57and we may need a full season or two of data to really get a better feel on,
06:03you know, what kind of an impact ABS actually has on the game.
06:08Matt, Tanner Bybee getting the opening day slash night nod today.
06:13He was supposed to last year and had some bad Chipotle happens to all of us.
06:17I thought it was interesting, though, because, you know,
06:19I think Gavin really took a step forward last year.
06:22I think Tanner kind of treaded a little bit of water overall.
06:26Still very good, but maybe not what we had hoped ace-wise.
06:29So the big long roundabout way here of asking,
06:32why did Tanner Bybee get the nod over Gavin Williams for opening day?
06:37I think he's just – I think the fact that, you know, Bybee –
06:40look, Bybee and Gavin were dominant down the stretch last year,
06:44but you go back to last September when the team made that incredible charge.
06:49Tanner was – he had four starts in September.
06:51He went 3-0 with a 130 ERA.
06:54So even despite the up-and-down nature of the season he had last year,
06:58when they needed him to be at his best, he pitched like an ace.
07:01And I think, you know, look, as you said, he was the opening day starter a year ago.
07:07Food illness knocked him out.
07:09I think all things being equal, nothing really happened to take that away from him.
07:17And I think these two guys, both Gavin and Tanner, as competitive as they are,
07:21both probably want to be that opening day starter.
07:24But after one game, nobody cares.
07:26I mean, it's a huge honor to be the opening day starter.
07:29If you're not that guy, it doesn't matter because whenever you're pitching, it's your day.
07:34And so, you know, it's Tanner tonight, but when Gavin gets the ball tomorrow night,
07:38it's going to be his night.
07:39And I think those two guys obviously lead the charge for the starting rotation.
07:44And if they pitch this year like they did down the stretch,
07:48this team's going to be right where they want to be.
07:50Being out in spring training, what was your interpretation of how Stephen Kwan looked in center field?
07:56And then what do you think the usage will be of him in center field strictly versus left field this
08:00upcoming season?
08:03You know, he looked fine.
08:04And as he told me, he felt like if I can play center field out here in Arizona with the
08:10high sky
08:11and, you know, there's no third deck and, you know, it's a little more difficult dealing with fly balls.
08:16And he felt like if he could handle it there, he should be fine once the regular season starts.
08:19And I think he will be.
08:21I don't think there is a set number for Stephen Vogt as far as how many times he puts Stephen
08:27Kwan in center field.
08:28It literally will come down to who's the starting pitcher, what's the best starting lineup to beat that starting pitcher,
08:35and where does Stephen Kwan figure into that?
08:37Is it him in center field on a given night?
08:40Then that's where he's going to be.
08:41If it's Stephen in left field and somebody else in center field, like I think, you know, tonight you get
08:46the big dog right-hander Logan Gilbert on the mound for Seattle.
08:50So I think Kwan will probably be in his usual left field starting position.
08:57And, you know, again, it's going to change on a day-to-day basis.
09:01But I don't think anybody should be under the impression that he is abandoning left field.
09:07He'll still get his reps there, but, you know, he's going to play some center field.
09:10They don't have a true center fielder, and that was the whole genesis of this decision.
09:15He went to Stephen Vogt early in spring training and said, look, I see the roster.
09:19We've got a lot of guys who basically make their money on the corners.
09:22If you need me to move to center, I am willing to do that.
09:25And for a guy that won four straight gold gloves on left field, that shows you how he team-first
09:30Stephen Kwan truly is.
09:32Matt, we did see the first use of the ABS system last night, and it was on a 0-0
09:40count, which is still weird to me.
09:41I do want to know, though, from a broadcasting perspective, you know, how much work, how much is this added
09:47to your plate to kind of try and explain this new thing at the start of the season?
09:51You know what?
09:52It's actually been pretty easy because of how quickly the system works.
09:58You know, there's not a lot of downtime.
10:00Once the tap of the helmet or, you know, on either side, the challenge is initiated, the umpire turns around,
10:05says they've challenged, and I mean, boom, it's up on the scoreboard, and it'll be on our screen.
10:10I mean, usually within seconds.
10:12It's not a lengthy delay like a replay normally would be.
10:17So I think it's going to be pretty innocent.
10:20I mean, I'm not trying to make light of it.
10:22It's pretty much dummy proof.
10:23If it's in the box, it's a strike.
10:25If it's not in the box, it's a ball.
10:26I mean, even if you don't know anything about baseball, you could watch the graphic that's kind of come up
10:31on your screen.
10:31It's pretty self-explanatory.
10:33So that part of it is probably going to be great for the viewer and hopefully good for the game
10:39because it will, again, what was the whole point of replay in general?
10:44Correct the egregious mistakes.
10:46So if a guy's, again, having a bad night back there and he misses some blatant ones, now you have
10:51a way to challenge that and get yourself back into account.
10:54Those borderline ones are always going to be a toss of the coin, and that's where I think it's going
10:59to be interesting to see as the season unfolds
11:01how often hitters and catchers, because those are primarily guys that are going to be initiating the challenge,
11:08how aggressive do they want to be on those borderline?
11:11And you've got to check your emotions, right?
11:12You really want that pitch, but was it close enough to challenge?
11:16That's what it's going to come down to.
11:18Matt, it's great to hear your voice, not just because we're a fan of Matt Underwood, the person,
11:22but because it means baseball's back and we're damn happy for it.
11:25So great to have you back.
11:26Can't wait to kind of hear you on the call tonight, and welcome back.
11:30Appreciate the kind words, Nick.
11:32You guys have a great day and night, and I can't wait to get started, baby.
11:35Very excited for it.
11:36Matt Underwood there on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright, Hotline Guardians TV play-by-play announcer.
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