00:00Because Joe Mack just made his debut on Monday night.
00:03Joe Mack is up.
00:05He is a top 40 prospect in baseball, according to Just Baseball.
00:0920 walks in 24 games in AAA.
00:12And he is going to catch, in all likelihood, a new arm to the starting rotation
00:16because Chris Paddock was reportedly designated for assignment on Tuesday morning.
00:20So Mack is going to deal with a new battery mate and a battery mate
00:24that in all likelihood he was catching for the front month of the year
00:27with AAA Jacksonville.
00:29Is it going to be Braxton Garrett?
00:31Is it going to be Robbie Snelling?
00:32No idea what fills that Paddock spot in the rotation.
00:36But let's start with Mack and then let's get to the rotation.
00:40What are you looking forward to with Joe Mack?
00:42And kind of shocker, the corresponding move was Augustine Ramirez
00:45getting optioned at AAA.
00:47Yeah, I mean, that was the thing that we were talking about a little bit,
00:50I think, at the end of the last episode.
00:53Is that how the timing lined up?
00:54I'm trying to remember.
00:55Or that was on the call-up maybe that we were able to discuss it.
00:57But the Marlins specifically, as good as even Liam Hicks has been,
01:03have been so bad at limiting the running game at this point that we just had
01:10Daniel Moskis on the podcast.
01:11He talked about the Marlins pitching coach about how they're always trying
01:14to find edges and create value in the margins.
01:17And a place where they were hemorrhaging value on the margins was the cot stealing
01:22department and really catching nobody.
01:24So, I mean, Joe Mack is one of the best catch-and-throw guys in the minor leagues
01:27and immediately, I think, will become one of the best catch-and-throw guys
01:30in the major leagues.
01:31So, yes, there may be some growing pains in terms of, like, the swing and miss.
01:35But with Mack showing some improvements in the early going this year in AAA
01:39and showing some improvements in the plate discipline,
01:42and you know he's going to run into his homers,
01:44I think with what the Marlins need right now, yes, they need a little bit of offense, too.
01:49But at the same time, they really need somebody that I think can help limit the running game
01:53and give them more value defensively behind the dish.
01:55And I think that's exactly what Mack's going to bring is, you know,
01:58you send down Augustine, who's been one of the worst defensive catchers in the sport,
02:01and you bring up a guy that is the best defensive catcher in the minor leagues.
02:05I think you're going to create value right away and make the team better.
02:08You know, in the short term, and I think for Augustine,
02:11I felt like he was caught between two challenges right now,
02:13where you're fighting so hard to improve defensively,
02:16but he also had things that he needed to improve on offensively,
02:20and both of them were kind of falling to the wayside.
02:22So I think in AAA in a more controlled environment,
02:25he can really focus on trying to rectify both his batted ball angles
02:29and, you know, the defensive side of things as well.
02:32And with Mack, again, I think the Marlins pitching staff is going to be better off with him,
02:37and that's more of just a credit to Mack.
02:40He's an elite communicator with a pitching staff.
02:42He is a very good framer and blocker,
02:44but to your point with the catch-and-throw,
02:47not only does he become one of the better catch-and-throw men
02:49behind a plate in Major League Baseball,
02:51I think he just becomes one of the better defensive catchers
02:53in Major League Baseball right away.
02:55Like, when you watch a ball game in a vacuum,
02:57you could say,
02:58I don't think there are five guys better than Joe Mack
03:00behind the plate defensively.
03:02So we'll see how the offense progresses.
03:04And with Augustine, don't get it twisted.
03:05There is a world that those two coexist on that Marlins roster,
03:09where there is a kind of short platoon catching opportunity
03:12for Augustine Ramirez, and that bat can be special
03:15when the batted ball angles are right to your point.
03:18So we'll see who Mack is catching.
03:21What you got?
03:22I just had one more note.
03:24Yeah.
03:25Base stealers are 42 for 45 against the Marlins this year.
03:31Attempted base stealers.
03:32And Mack will correct that, no doubt.
03:34That's the worst percentage in the league.
03:37Yeah.
03:37And Mack will put a serious dent in that.
03:40There is, again, no doubt.
03:42But Joe Mack is going to be catching a different guy every fifth day.
03:44And it seems like there are four solidified parts in that rotation, right?
03:49Sandy and Uri up top.
03:50Max Meyer has looked the part.
03:51Jansen Junk has been outstanding through seven starts.
03:54He's like a 2.8 ERA.
03:56But now Paddock, again, reportedly being designated for assignment.
04:00You've got depth on the 40-man roster.
04:01Braxton Garrett seems like the shoe-in of 40-man.
04:05You could also go with, like, a Ryan Gusto or a Blalock.
04:07But if you were to select a contract, it seems like Robbie Snelling is next up.
04:13Snelling is last time out five no-hit innings with nine punch-outs.
04:16This guy is throwing to a sub-2 ERA and has had a sub-2 ERA so far in his
04:21AAA career getting back to the back half of last year.
04:24What do you make of Snelling and Garrett, like, that conversation to possibly backfill that open space vacated by Paddock?
04:32Yeah, I was also just a quick note.
04:34I think you're seeing urgency from the Marlins here.
04:36I think they see a division that, you know, everyone other than the Braves is struggling.
04:41And at least how I feel in the last couple years, I think you would have seen the Marlins, a
04:46$4 million free agent, you know, signing.
04:48Maybe see it through a little bit more.
04:51But with the options that they have, just knowing that, you know, they have better arms potentially to help them
04:58right now every fifth day.
04:59I think it was unfortunate, obviously, to see Paddock get DFA'd.
05:03But I think for Marlins fans, just seeing that level of urgency, I think consistently now through this team, even
05:08with the call-up of Mack, with these moves that they're making,
05:10I think should be, you know, encouraging to Marlins fans that this is a team that's going to really still
05:15try to win now.
05:16And it's not always going to be about, you know, the development of guys.
05:19I think that was a big part of the conversation the last couple years.
05:21But it seems like they're transitioning to trying to, you know, push things forward a little bit more this year.
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