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00:00Let's go to the Make It Right, Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:02We welcome on Jason Benetti.
00:03He's going to be on the play-by-play for the Guardians and Atlanta Braves
00:06down in Atlanta on NBC's broadcast network debut a Sunday night baseball.
00:117 p.m. this weekend, NBC and Peacock.
00:15He's going to be joined in the booth by Corey Kluber,
00:18Cy Young winner for your Cleveland Guardians,
00:19Andrew Jones, and inside pitch commentator C.C. Sabathia.
00:25Also, Cy Young winner for your Cleveland Indians, if I'm not mistaken.
00:29Well, Corey won it for the Indians, too.
00:31All right, Jason Benetti joins us on the show.
00:33Jason, good morning to you.
00:35Gentlemen, how are you?
00:36We're doing wonderful.
00:37This is an absolute treat.
00:39Hopefully, you'll feel the same way after, but we'll see how it goes.
00:42First night I met my wife, I said the same thing.
00:44All right, Jason, you're on this broadcast for these two teams,
00:48both first-place teams.
00:50What are some of the big things that you know that you're going to be doing
00:52on this broadcast on Sunday between these two teams
00:56and the stakes for the season, not just for the series.
00:59The series is the series.
01:00It's April, but for the entire season for both these clubs.
01:03Yeah, I mean, I think the fun part is we don't always know what it's going to be
01:07when we sit down to do these games because we've never been together before,
01:13which is the fun part of it.
01:15I mean, Corey Kluber, Andrew Jones, C.C. Sabathia, and I,
01:18it sounds like an auction item with at least three of us.
01:21But, you know, I think for Atlanta, this is a team that would like to fulfill
01:27what they had been hoping to be over the past couple of years
01:32and obviously some injury troubles last year.
01:35They were 76 and 86 or whatever it was.
01:38And, you know, I think it seems like I might have seen the worst Guardian game
01:43of the year so far that Sunday on Peacock against the Mariners.
01:49But this team, I mean, if I would have said to you 8-5 with one home run
01:55for Jose Ramirez, I think everybody in your listening audience would be like,
01:58I don't know what, you know, they give to him in Detroit, but he's crazy.
02:02So, you know, it's Cleveland at its best again.
02:05They have the second-best starter ERA in all of Major League Baseball,
02:09again, developing pitchers.
02:11And, you know, the Lauderfest has been brilliant so far.
02:16So I think it's two teams that are kind of right where they want to be.
02:20Well, I wanted to ask you, Jason, just constructing some storylines for America,
02:24for a team like the Guardians that obviously get overlooked because of the payroll,
02:29but they do have a star on their team in Jose Ramirez.
02:32And while he's off to a slow start, and that's not that atypical for Jose
02:37throughout his career, do you feel like the nation needs to be introduced
02:43time and time again to somebody like Jose Ramirez?
02:46I think the more people can see him for the first time,
02:49the more people are going to fall in love with him.
02:52That's how I feel about how he plays.
02:54And you guys know I do the Tigers games during the week,
02:56and then I go do Sunday night baseball.
02:58And, you know, I'm supposed to not like Jose Ramirez,
03:02according to the Tigers fan base or something.
03:04You know what I mean?
03:05He's a great player to watch.
03:06I love watching him run the bases.
03:08I love that he wanted to stay in Cleveland and sign the extension
03:12and be a part of an anchor of this franchise.
03:15I think he's a phenomenal talent, and I think a lot of managers around baseball
03:19would love to have nine Jose Ramirez's, let alone one of them.
03:24But, you know, I think he deserves to be a bigger star than he is nationally,
03:29and I really enjoy spotlighting him.
03:33We had the stat, and, you know, it's obviously changed over the past couple weeks.
03:36But he is one of the best sluggers late in at bats.
03:41It's one of my favorite stats about Jose Ramirez is the later you get in at bat
03:45with him, pitch by pitch by pitch, he gets better at slugging your brains out.
03:50And I just think, like, his level of focus and doggedness
03:55and everything that he brings to the table is a joy to watch.
04:00Jason Benetti joining us on the show.
04:02I'm going to ask you about the Tigers here in a moment
04:03because I felt the same way about Tarek Skubel when they asked him
04:07what his favorite sports movement was growing up,
04:09and he said the 2016 Cavs championship.
04:10I'm going, how can I hate a guy like that?
04:12I know that he's a confident person, but how can I hate a person like that?
04:18When it comes to Chase DeLauter,
04:21what tells me that he might not be a, quote, flash in the pan?
04:25And the reason I ask that is because you saw Connor Griffin get the big deal
04:30from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
04:32He's five years younger.
04:33We got a nice young player here, and there were plenty of people going,
04:36whoa, Kenny, it's been like a dozen games.
04:39Could he be injured?
04:40Could he be a flash in the pan?
04:41Give me some reasons why this guy is going to be a bopper for the Guardians
04:44for a long time.
04:46Yeah, I mean, you know, the thing about baseball is
04:50the ebbs and flows are massive.
04:53So is he going to have a downturn at some point?
04:55I'm sure.
04:56Is he going to have an upswing counter to that?
04:58I'm sure.
04:59The thing that I think is most intriguing that makes you feel best about him
05:04is that his swing is so unorthodox, and the pitches that he can get to
05:10are so unorthodox.
05:12That ball he hit on Saturday night in the opening series against Seattle,
05:17where he just kind of flicked the ball the opposite way.
05:20I mean, I ran into three pitchers over the course of a week who brought that up
05:24to me separately of, like, how in the world did he get to that baseball
05:30and hit it out of the ballpark?
05:32So I think he really knows who he is in the batter's box.
05:36And I think, you know, regardless of age, regardless of experience,
05:40that's important.
05:41But his power that he generates, there was a story on the Baseball Savant website
05:46from David Adler at MLB.com about, like, the power he generates from his back foot.
05:53I'm not a hitter, but I am persuaded by the fact that his swing is so unique
05:58and he has such plate coverage, at least so far,
06:02that it feels like something that's going to be able to last.
06:05But, again, I mean, we have seen ups and downs of everybody in this league
06:11because the amount of studying teams do about one guy once he breaks out
06:19is otherworldly.
06:21It's, like, obscene how much Major League Baseball teams can attack your weaknesses
06:26once they identify them.
06:28Is that the same guy who said, because I saw a study yesterday where somebody
06:32had posted that he has the most back foot movement of anybody in Major League Baseball?
06:36That's the one.
06:37That's the story I'm talking about.
06:38Yeah.
06:39Okay.
06:39I want to make sure.
06:40Go ahead, Tony.
06:41You mentioned the rotation.
06:44It's tough from game to game to figure out, like,
06:46who's really going to be the ace of this?
06:48And we're not talking because we don't have an ace
06:50because it seems like there are multiple viable candidates.
06:54What have you noticed so far from that rotation?
06:57Yeah, I mean, I think, like, Tanner Bybee hasn't even been, like,
07:01the best version of Tanner Bybee yet, and that's scary for the rest of the league.
07:07But what I always gather about Cleveland is judge their rotation negatively
07:15at your own peril because that team's ability to develop pitchers
07:21into what they want to be.
07:23And we were talking to Stephen Vogt about this on Sunday a couple weeks ago,
07:27and I'm sure he's said it to people before, but I think it's important that
07:31they kind of let people be what they want to be with their own arsenals,
07:36and they develop around the edges.
07:38But they've always had success getting pitchers to come out of nowhere.
07:43So even, you know, even if somebody has a struggle of a couple weeks,
07:48I believe in that organization's ability to develop pitchers.
07:52I mean, I just, you know, Slade Ciccone was the guy that said it last year
07:57when they were, like, 15-and-a-half down or whatever the number was,
08:00and he was like, yeah, we're going to make the playoffs.
08:01It was during that losing streak.
08:03I mean, I just think there's sheer abundant confidence in building the rotation.
08:08And, like, you know, it doesn't have to be an ace and the pips.
08:14And, you know, like, Parker Messick's been pretty good, right?
08:17And Gavin Williams obviously has been nailed, so I just, I think it's always a solid rotation.
08:24And even if they're struggling, I say judge them at their own peril, at your own peril.
08:30The ABS system and how it's been deployed so far this year, Jason,
08:35how do you think it's going?
08:36Is there a way to improve on it?
08:38Or is this how it's going to look even five years from now?
08:42Oh, that, you know, that's a tough one.
08:45But I would say the thing that's most intriguing to me is batter instincts
08:50and also the league's reaction to it.
08:53You know, we had Minnesota with the Tigers the past four days,
08:57and the Twins have out-challenged everybody.
08:59They were, like, plus 11 in challenge numbers compared to the rest of the league as of yesterday.
09:04And then everybody else kind of pools behind them.
09:07I think the league is under-challenging at this point.
09:11I think at some point people are going to realize you shouldn't leave a game with a challenge remaining
09:17because they're usable, and it's not a zero-sum game.
09:20Like, you keep getting them back.
09:21If you're right on every call, you get them back, which we know.
09:25But the other part of it is if you watch closely, there are still some batters
09:30who are leaning on previous tendencies of, like, they'll sort of glare back at the umpire,
09:36like, was that a strike?
09:37Like, and the umpire, I mean, I don't know that any umpires said it,
09:41but the reaction back is, like, well, challenge it if you want to.
09:44But batters generally, I think, are not challenging as many as they would like to in the long run.
09:54But I do think there are some hitters that need to remember that your first instinct
09:58isn't like a grimace or a look back at the umpire.
10:01Challenge it if you don't like it.
10:03If you're really sure, challenge it.
10:05And I've heard that from a couple managers so far.
10:08It's like, they're trying to get their players to be a little bit more aggressive.
10:11But, you know, we'll see how the league reacts.
10:14All right.
10:15Jason Benetti joining us on the hotline.
10:17Go ahead, Kenny.
10:18I had to sneeze.
10:19I apologize.
10:20Jason Benetti joining us on the show.
10:22What can you explain to us for the Tigers' slow start?
10:25I do have to pay attention to the division, and I can't just,
10:28I can't let the elephant be in the corner of the room over here.
10:31No, I get it.
10:33You need to tell the safari people that you have an elephant in the studio,
10:37I think, and they'll help usher it out.
10:39You know, they got swept by the Twins.
10:41Nobody expected that.
10:42And the offense has been, like, kind of, like, dormant for early in the game
10:47and then, like, come back against the bullpen somewhat.
10:50I do think the lack of home runs is very surprising.
10:55We felt like this team would have more power in it,
10:58but seven home runs through 13 games when you don't have a ton of team speed
11:04just isn't a recipe for success.
11:08And the bullpen has walked more guys than I think anybody around the Tigers
11:13would have expected as well.
11:15So those are two pieces.
11:18Like, if they start hitting home runs, like they did that Saturday
11:20against St. Louis, hit four home runs.
11:23Everybody had fun.
11:24It was a party at Comerica Park.
11:25They scored 11 times, and it looked like the offense had busted out.
11:30It's an offense that needs to slug the ball.
11:32And you guys know, like, if you have that kind of offense
11:36and you're not hitting home runs, it feels a little bit dead.
11:41And I don't think that's the way this team is.
11:44I think they're going to play better baseball.
11:46But I also think that when the home runs aren't happening,
11:50you're going to have pockets of time like this.
11:53They've played 13 games.
11:56But I have to ask, you know, three days ago I'm reading about adding arms
12:01to the rotation, and then I'm reading about maybe Tarek Skubel
12:05could be on his way out.
12:06What would have to happen to necessitate a trade of Tarek Skubel?
12:13Yeah, I just, like, it's funny because it's just way too early.
12:18The reason that there are stories that are three days apart that are 180s
12:24from each other is that it's just so early.
12:28I mean, the Tigers are the best team in baseball for the first couple months
12:32of last year, and then they weren't.
12:35And it's not magic.
12:37I think they just kind of found their level, and they were a playoff team,
12:40and they were a win away from going to the CS.
12:44So, you know, I just think it's way too early,
12:47but I also think there are things that they have to iron out.
12:50I mean, the Twins are a great example.
12:53The Twins opened 13-20 last year and then won 13 in a row to get to 26-20,
13:00and everybody in Minneapolis was like, oh, man, this is going to be a crazy season.
13:06And then they went south again, and they sold at the deadline.
13:09So they lived three lives, basically, in the first four months of last season.
13:16So, you know, I don't – I'm not trying to dismiss because that's not what it is.
13:22I just – I've seen too many baseball seasons now to react to 4-9 in any large-scale way.
13:30But if you don't fix the underlying problems, you're going to then have to react.
13:37Jason, obviously, you wear a lot of hats,
13:39but you doing the Tigers games means you come into contact with all the divisional rivals
13:45and their respected play-by-play voices on TV.
13:51We do something called Power Rank.
13:54I know you guys have a lot of ego.
13:55Would you like to Power Rank in the division between Matt Underwood and, of course, Schriften?
14:00We talk a lot of John Schriften here.
14:02I'll play a lot of his clips here on the radio here in Cleveland.
14:05Would you like to play a game and Power Rank the AL Central divisional play-by-play TV voices?
14:13Oh, what an invitation.
14:18I mean, now that there's music, I'm supposed to say yes.
14:22But, boy, oh, boy, that sounds like a game where either people delete my number or spam my number.
14:29So I'm probably going to go no on this.
14:31All right, how about you instead –
14:32I'm sorry to say.
14:33How about you instead – we were talking earlier in the show how much we –
14:37There's music, though.
14:37How much we hate some of the ego-driven Syracuse broadcasters.
14:43Oh, that's a good one.
14:44Danny Parkins, Nick Wright, Philip Pony.
14:46Yeah, Pony.
14:46We despise Philip Pony.
14:48Do you have a Power Rank?
14:49Hate him.
14:49Hate him dearly.
14:50Oh, wow, there's music again.
14:52So, again, the inclination is yes.
14:56But, boy, it seems like I'd be jumping off a bridge.
15:00So, you know, I'm probably going to say no, but you guys do know how to reel somebody in with
15:05a good stinger.
15:06I feel like Dick Wolf's going to show up and Jerry Orbach.
15:10Is this an episode of Law & Order?
15:12Top three primetime dramas go.
15:16You can do this one.
15:17Yeah, okay.
15:18Law & Order, Murder, She Wrote, and is there a CSI Columbus?
15:26Does Matlock with Kathy Bates count?
15:29I don't know.
15:30Oh, Kathy Bates, Matlock.
15:31How could I not?
15:33Oh, man.
15:34I'm now Power Rank, you're Matlock.
15:35Oh, my God.
15:36There's only two?
15:38There's only two?
15:39I do love the music stinger, to be honest.
15:41It's a heck of a bit.
15:44Jason, thank you so much for the time.
15:47Sorry to put you through that.
15:48Yeah, it was.
15:49No, you're not.
15:50Don't be sorry.
15:51I had a blast debating whether or not I should play.
15:55You know, people talk about, like, cognitive dissonance all the time and what it does to your mind and how,
16:00like, grating it can be.
16:01I had a wonderful time with that cognitive dissonance.
16:04That was great.
16:05Hey, can I ask you a question?
16:06This is way offbeat.
16:08Don't play the music.
16:09What's the better?
16:09Yeah, don't play the music.
16:10What's the better movie?
16:12Is it The Natural or is it Major League?
16:15I think it's Major League.
16:17I'm always for comedy.
16:18I think Major League's the answer.
16:20Sorry.
16:21No, thank you.
16:22Baseball movies.
16:23Thank you for backing me.
16:24Baseball movies, go.
16:25Oh, my God.
16:26Summer catch?
16:26What if we ranked music stingers?
16:29The babe.
16:30Music stingers.
16:30The fair use ones.
16:32There's a reason why I had to ask you that question.
16:34Thank you so much, Jason.
16:35Thank you for playing.
16:37Jason will be on the call for the NBC and Peacock broadcast Sunday night baseball, 7 p.m.
16:42Jason, thank you so much for the time.
16:44All the best.
16:45That is my favorite stinger.
16:46Thanks, guys.
16:47Thank you, Jason Benetti.
16:49On the Make It Right Call Call Call Right Hotline.
16:51I wanted to ask him how to rank the guys he's doing the game with between CC and Corey
16:56Kluber.
16:57No.
16:58No.
16:59Andrew Jones.
17:00My God.
17:02Jason's going to be on the play-by-play for the Guardians and Atlanta Braves, the NBC broadcast
17:06network debut of Sunday night baseball, which now I kind of want to sound like John Miller
17:10when I'm doing it.
17:117 p.m.
17:12This weekend, NBC and Peacock going to be joined in the booth by Corey Kluber, Andrew Jones,
17:16and inside pitch commentator CC Sabath.
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