00:00Look, it was a late one last night for the Braves, but it was a good one.
00:04They absolutely crushed the Diamondbacks last night, 17-2.
00:07Matt Olsen, Dom Smith, Mauricio Dubon all had solo homers in the fifth.
00:12Braves sent 12 up to bat, scored eight runs.
00:14Everybody got an RBI last night.
00:17Everybody eats.
00:19You get an RBI.
00:20You get an RBI.
00:21No, this is like, this is the chronological,
00:24like you have to do like a BC and an AD like you do years
00:27because you had to figure out which one of these stats came
00:29before it got out of hand and after it got out of hand.
00:32You're like, all right, yeah, that was a double.
00:34That was a home run.
00:35Was McCann pitching at this point?
00:37What was going on?
00:38But it was nice.
00:39I thought the highlight of the night for me was Matt Olsen
00:43and the contact he was making, getting some balls airborne,
00:47not being on the ground and getting that first home run out of the way.
00:51That's a big one.
00:51I'm actually glad you brought up Matt Olsen
00:53because I was just looking at some stuff for him.
00:55And he, of course, now everything freezes on me.
00:59But, dude, he's actually off to a really, really good start.
01:03Dude's already, he's hitting .321 and his own base is like .367 already.
01:08He's got nine hits.
01:10The only problem is, is like, he's got 10 strikeouts.
01:14So he's either, he's basically getting on,
01:17he's getting a hit or striking out
01:18because he's only got like 28 at bats
01:23and 19 of them have either been a hit or a strikeout.
01:26So, I mean, obviously, you know,
01:29my point is about putting the ball in play.
01:32But he is, he is absolutely, you know,
01:35we talked about those guys that were hot late in spring
01:39and it was Riley and Olsen.
01:41And Olsen's actually carried it over.
01:43He just hasn't been hitting for the power that we think he should.
01:46But last night, he did hit that one to dead center.
01:51But he had another one.
01:52And it just, just missed that yellow line that they had.
01:56I hate their ballpark and that center field thing
01:58where if it's over the yellow line and hits that wall,
02:01it's a home run and it's under.
02:02It's just kind of silly.
02:03Don't make the wall so tall.
02:05But he really was just yoking it last night.
02:09Yeah, I think that last night was like the first foolproof thing that I've seen.
02:15I mean, I think that there's like, even two days ago,
02:17he gets a single, goes one for four.
02:18And like, it was a seeing eye, like ground ball, you know,
02:21that was kind of perfectly placed.
02:23And I just thought his contact was really, really good yesterday.
02:27As were a number of people, obviously.
02:28I mean, you look at that eight spot in that inning,
02:30like you just brought up.
02:31And it's hard not to be excited about that.
02:33That single you're talking about was one,
02:35you're talking about the one he punched on the third baseline?
02:37No, no, no.
02:38The one that was like towards the second base,
02:40just inside the second base one.
02:42Oh, because I was going to say,
02:43I love the fact that he was able to get that Chipper Jones,
02:47Freddie Freeman swing.
02:49Yeah, a little flick of the wrist.
02:50Yeah, it was inside on him.
02:52And he just like, he's like, oh, I'm just going to.
02:54And it's so, I don't think people,
02:57I don't think people realize how hard it is to do that.
03:00To make, to go oppo on that inside pitch.
03:03It jams you.
03:04That's tough.
03:05That is tough.
03:05But last night might be the most encouraged I've been about them since the Saturday.
03:14This is a Dom Smith Grand Slam game.
03:15And Dom Smith hit one another one last night.
03:17Holy hell.
03:18Did you see that ball he hit?
03:19It just looked effortless for him.
03:21He just goes up, he's like, boink.
03:22And you know what's great about him?
03:23I'll be so curious to see where this all goes with Dom Smith,
03:26because I think that we would have all kind of suspected that he would be a roster target
03:30when Sean Murphy and some of the, you know, when you get Hasan Kim and his at-bats,
03:36even when he hasn't gotten hits, have been really good at-bats.
03:40And I think he just brings a presence that's so much needed right now
03:43that I don't think we expected to look at Dom Smith, of all people,
03:46a week into the season and go, ooh, got to have him.
03:48But, I mean, that's where we're at.
03:49Do you think Dubon and Mateo are fighting for a spot now?
03:52Well, and I think because with, because of Dom Smith, I think Dom Smith,
03:57you're on tonight, I think he stays.
04:00Like I said yesterday, he's going to be really,
04:02it's going to be really cool to have him off the bench and a depth piece.
04:05I'm not shocked.
04:07I think you're right.
04:08I think Dubon is far and away the better option there.
04:11Absolutely.
04:12But I wonder if Jonah Heim is not the guy that becomes the odd man out.
04:15I actually, I go back to what we were talking about yesterday.
04:19I think Jonah Heim will be on it because you, look,
04:25there is no way to keep Drake Baldwin out of the lineup right now.
04:30No.
04:31There's no way.
04:32And so when Sean comes back, Murphy, I should say his full name, I guess.
04:37I don't think anybody else doesn't say Sean.
04:39You know, it could be talking about anybody if you just tuned in.
04:41But we're talking Braves here.
04:43When Sean Murphy comes back, you can really do the platoon at catcher
04:48and rest those guys' knees.
04:50And depending on how Sean Murphy is hitting,
04:52he's your DH on days that Drake catches.
04:56But if he's not hitting and Dom Smith is not cooled off.
04:59I was going to say, if Sean Murphy, yeah.
05:02I just think that Jonah Heim.
05:03But I think when you do that, though, you have both those in.
05:07You want another guy that can catch.
05:09You need an emergency catcher.
05:11That's why I think Heim could stay.
05:13But you're right, you need to score runs the way your team is built.
05:19You're not going to go off that.
05:21And can we talk about the bullpen again real quick before we move on?
05:24Like, another ā look, you got a big lead.
05:27I love the fact that Walt Weiss says, I'm not going to push these guys.
05:30Go five innings, get out of there.
05:33And is it Bido?
05:35I believe they pronounce it.
05:36He gets a save last night in a 17-2 game because he went three.
05:40The bullpen usage has been really good as far as you're not overusing guys
05:46and able to get that many innings off somebody.
05:48Like, I just have ā I've been thoroughly pleased with the management
05:54of the roster through, what, seven games?
05:58I mean, it's only seven games.
05:59But it's been good to me.
06:03I feel like Walt Weiss is really just ā he's not falling into the old,
06:09it's got to be this way no matter what.
06:11There's a different aura going on, for sure, with Walt Weiss.
06:14Grant Holmes will face Eduardo Rodriguez tonight, second game of the series,
06:19and first pitch is at 945.
06:20I do want to bring up, before we go any further, if you are not a fan of ā
06:25well, first and foremost, instant replay, but also the ABS system,
06:28and you're a Braves fan last night, you probably became a fan of it.
06:30When you look on that eight-run inning, so you start off with the challenge.
06:36I think it was Ozzie that gets called out.
06:38Do you think he showed the umpire up a little bit?
06:40He tapped his head and walked to first base.
06:44He was very confident, which I don't mind.
06:47But then you get the overturn on the double play,
06:48which Drake Baldwin is busting it out of the box.
06:51I mean, those are two huge, huge overturns in that inning
06:57that go the Braves' direction and could have ended things
06:59before they even got started.
06:59And shout-out to Drake Baldwin for busting it down the line the way he does, man.
07:03He's still got them young catcher knees.
07:05He's got that early biggio.
07:08He's the best player on the team right now as far as performance-wise.
07:12Like, I don't know, man.
07:16Drake Baldwin has been one of the biggest surprises
07:19that the Braves have had come out in a few years
07:21because it just kind of felt...
07:25It was like he had a Schwellenbach-type rise.
07:29I remember when Schwellenbach came in, he struggled,
07:34and then Snickers was like,
07:35I didn't even know who the hell he was.
07:36Yeah.
07:37I didn't even know he was in our farm system.
07:39Nobody knew Drake Baldwin, really, until, you know...
07:43I mean, it's a circumstance,
07:45but what Sean Murphy got injured last year in spring training,
07:48which seems to be a spring injury for Sean Murphy,
07:52is like, you know, pollen falling in Georgia.
07:54Well, and Sean was in Rome this week,
07:57so I'm curious to see when his rehab stint will start.
07:59There's been some mystery around their celebration
08:02when they get on the base of scratching the head.
08:03Yeah.
08:03I've got my best guy on it.
08:05No information.
08:06Wow.
08:07I have a theory.
08:08Okay.
08:08Two.
08:08Two different theories.
08:10All right.
08:10It's got to be either like,
08:11am I going to do the ABS system?
08:13Am I going to challenge?
08:14Like, I don't know, something like that.
08:16Or they're in support of Punch the Monkey,
08:18and that's something monkeys do.
08:21No?
08:21Scratch their head?
08:22No.
08:23No.
08:23Punch the Monkey.
08:24Punch the Monkey might be a reason.
08:25Because Punch the Monkey.
08:26Because Punch is having his moment,
08:29or is having a bigger moment when they're down in Florida.
08:31I will say this.
08:32When I first saw it,
08:33it did remind me of a thing monkeys do.
08:35Exactly.
08:35So I will give you credit on that.
08:38Hey, did you see the big tomahawk Olsen had last night?
08:41That was cool.
08:42That was cool.
Comments