00:00So let's expand on that on ABS, in your opinion.
00:03You think it's been great for the sport?
00:05You think it's elevated more talking points?
00:08Because you just mentioned it.
00:10I think one of the things that helps the NFL out so much is the water cooler talk Monday through
00:15Saturday.
00:15And that's what keeps fans engaged because, again, you know, you usually don't have a game until, like, what?
00:21You know, Thursday night, then on Sunday, then Monday night.
00:24So you've got water cooler talk.
00:26So first, ABS, and do you think it's been good for that, creating these storylines?
00:32Well, 100%, because there's any time you introduce something like this to the sport, it creates a whole new meta,
00:38right?
00:39Like, when do you challenge?
00:40What's the risk analysis there?
00:42And also, Jazz Chisholm, I don't know if you're looking into these numbers, but this guy gets ABS wrong every
00:49single time.
00:49He's challenging pitches that are fully catching the middle of the plate.
00:52And so from that standpoint, it's also creating this kind of comical angle of, like, hey, this dude has no
00:58idea what's going on up there.
00:59It's really putting that into light.
01:01And I think it's also kind of correcting the disastrous ending-ending strikeouts that we've seen from the umpires over
01:07the years with runners in scoring positions.
01:09So I think it's been a home run, and even the process of itself, kind of seeing the pitch go
01:14in the strike zone or out of the strike zone on the ABS replay screen, it's fast and fluid.
01:18And I think that's what it needed to be to not really inhibit the game.
01:23Do you think ABS will help the TV ratings?
01:26I really, really do, because I think it's also going to speed up the games for getting the calls right.
01:31And I think even just from the element of, hey, this can happen, the challenges at play, it's an intrigue
01:37that wasn't ever there.
01:38And I think it's adding an element for sure on the entertainment side.
01:43You know, I mentioned the Phillies.
01:45It's April 25th, okay?
01:48Rob, and they're 10 and a half back.
01:50Well, the battle for the basement right now with the Mets is like one of the storylines going on.
01:56What's wrong with the Mets?
01:59Shoot, a lot's wrong with the Mets.
02:00And I think a lot of it came down to, you know, they made a lot of different moves in
02:06the offseason,
02:06but it felt like lateral moves to get guys who could maybe fill the same role but just provide something
02:13different.
02:14That's kind of what it felt like with everything that they did with Marcus Simeon, Luis Robert, Brandon Nimmo getting
02:19dealt.
02:20All these kind of moves felt like they were adding lateral pieces, just trying to get a change of something.
02:25But in the mix there, they also lost a guy in Pete Alonso who's been mashing for them for years
02:29because they didn't want to give them that long-term deal.
02:32And so I think there's a conglomeration of things where they added a bunch of older players
02:36and a lot of guys who really haven't, you know, have been themselves over the last couple years,
02:42even Luis Robert, who's young and exciting, has kind of been going through a plateau, Marcus Simeon as well.
02:48And it kind of feels like it's a conglomeration of a lot of those types of players
02:51just not showing up for the back of the baseball card.
02:54And I don't really look at this team as like a team that I'm optimistic about really, really turning it
03:00around.
03:01I think they're potentially going to get back in the playoff mix.
03:03But as far as a contender role, I'm not buying this, even if the rotation gets bolstered up
03:08and even if the lineup starts showing up.
03:11Rob, let me go back to the ABS here.
03:14In your opinion, who do you think has struggled more with this new system, the umpires or the players here?
03:20Because, you know, I said this a couple of weeks ago, you know, they were taught letters high to knees.
03:26That was their strike zone and the human element.
03:29You know, we're starting to see and really go after the umpires here because that's what they were schooled on.
03:35In your opinion, who do you think has struggled more with it, the players or the umpires?
03:40Yeah, you know, I think what's kind of interesting about it is like if you if you waste two challenges
03:46and now it's the umpires strike zone the rest of the way, like you were already wrong twice, right?
03:51Like that's on the players for getting two challenges incorrect because you retain it if you get it correct.
03:56And so the fact that we haven't seen many teams kind of waste through their challenges,
04:00I kind of feel like it's a really good balance.
04:03I think the umpires aren't going for the crazy sort of, you know, moving sliders,
04:08calling it a strike even though it's wild out of the zone because they know that the hitter can challenge
04:12and kind of vice versa with the players.
04:15They're not calling they're not challenging the pitches on the black.
04:18They're waiting for the obvious ones that are way out of the zone or, you know, vice versa
04:21if you're talking about the pitching element side.
04:23So I think from that standpoint, both the players and the umpires,
04:27I think have truly embraced it really, really well.
04:30And it's just correcting the things that already should have been kind of humanly corrected,
04:34but just couldn't because of the lack of the replay system.
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