00:00He said, we can talk about analytics and what could happen and what should happen if you hit the ball
00:03hard.
00:03But I don't care if you hit the ball hard.
00:05Like, I don't care if you hit it hard and you hit it to somebody.
00:08You're out.
00:08I don't care how hard you throw ball for.
00:10I don't care what your spin rate is on your breaking ball.
00:13If you bounce it three feet in front of home plate, I don't care.
00:16What I care about is do you make plays?
00:18Do you make pitches?
00:19Do you get hits when it matters?
00:20And that's what the Orioles are struggling to do with right now.
00:23They are struggling to complete ball games.
00:25They are struggling to have all phases of the game go right at the same time.
00:27That's where struggle is.
00:28So, all this nonsense is eyewash to me about this analytical stuff.
00:32You either do or you don't.
00:33And right now, the Orioles don't.
00:34They are not doing it and they're not playing well right now.
00:37That's the bottom line.
00:38He gets into them not playing consistent baseball.
00:40And we didn't get to get your thoughts on this.
00:42How do you feel about what Ben said?
00:43He's right.
00:44I mean, what has he said that was untrue?
00:47I mean, the problem is he works for the team.
00:50But I think it's completely true.
00:52Because I think, I'll tell you how I feel.
00:55I mean, analytics are important.
00:57It's good intelligence to have.
00:59But I think people rely on it too heavily and they point to it too often.
01:02Because he's right.
01:03One of the biggest frustrations is they can't put all the phases of the game together at the same time.
01:09If the pitching's good, they're not hitting.
01:11If the hitting's good, they're not fielding.
01:12It's just like, it's always something.
01:15And it doesn't matter.
01:17If you throw the ball, you know, 103 miles an hour, but you can't get near the plate, what difference
01:22does it make?
01:23Yeah.
01:23You're getting the best spin rate in baseball.
01:25This is what Nolan Ryan's issue was when he was young.
01:28He threw hard at anybody in Major League Baseball.
01:30But he was like the wild thing.
01:32He was like, you know, Charlie Sheen in Major League.
01:35He couldn't hit anything except the backslide.
01:36Winning.
01:37Sorry.
01:38Now, but look, if you're looking at what Ben is saying.
01:42So the one issue I have with what he's saying is when we start talking about analytics, we just went
01:47over it.
01:48The three most analytical teams in baseball are the Dodgers, the Yankees, and the Rays.
01:53They're all great teams.
01:54It's failing us right now, and that makes it results-driven where people are going to look at it and
01:59go, well, this is going wrong.
02:00This is going wrong.
02:00You're being too analytical.
02:02And there might be something to that.
02:03Like, I think there's something to being too analytical and just going by the book.
02:07But I've said this before.
02:08I'd rather somebody be totally analytical than to not look at this stuff at all.
02:12Joe actually had somebody call and ask the question, are there any teams in baseball that don't use analytics?
02:16No.
02:17They all do.
02:18Every single one of them.
02:20They do it in football.
02:20They do it in basketball.
02:22They do it in hockey.
02:22They use analytics for everything.
02:24All it is is information.
02:25Steve, we talked about this earlier.
02:27I mean, I think Ben has some good points here.
02:30I'm like, we need to see something happen.
02:32Hell, Will Clark went on Ryan Ripken's show and said, hey, take the team out and get them drunk.
02:35And then come back and say, boys, let's have fun the next day.
02:38What are your thoughts on what Ben said?
02:41Well, yeah, I think he showed frustration, which was, for a moment,
02:47he was talking like a fan might talk.
02:50And so, but if you watch Ben's telecast, he's got that country drawl, you know,
02:57which thinks this guy and the sharpest guy in the drawer, guess what?
03:00He is the sharpest guy in the drawer.
03:01And he knows analytics as well as anybody out there.
03:04And he mentions them on the telecast.
03:07He puts it in terms that make it easy for the average fan to understand or the average Joe or
03:13average Steve.
03:14So I think he, it was frustration.
03:18It was frustration that we keep talking about launch angle and spin rate and whiff rate and all these things.
03:25But can they play good winning baseball?
03:27And that's where they come up short.
03:29The Rays have all the data and they cut down the lead runner and they advance the runner and they
03:36bunt.
03:37Like that rally that beat the Orioles yesterday started with a bunt by a guy who earlier hit a home
03:42run.
03:43So you have to have it all.
03:46Yeah.
03:46And again, like it's, it's hard to argue some of this stuff, Ed, just because, I mean, we're seeing what
03:50the results are.
03:51Like we, I can sit here and tell you all these teams that are having success with analytics and people
03:55aren't going to care about it.
03:56They just care about the Orioles and they want them to win.
03:58They don't care how it happens.
03:59It just needs to happen.
04:00And when it's not happening, then you start to poke holes and all the things.
04:03And we know this is a very analytical front office.
04:05I mean, hell, you brought in a damn rocket scientist.
04:08And like, you know, like we have, we have incredibly intelligent people in the front office.
04:12But the one thing I'll say about like exit velo and launch angle and how important all that is,
04:16is if you're constantly swinging for the fences, we're going to see innings like we see with the Orioles all
04:21the time.
04:21The quick one, it's three up, three down.
04:24You know, the issues of getting guys on base and then all of a sudden not being able to get
04:28them in,
04:28trying to hit a fly ball or a home run, whatever's going on.
04:32And it seems like it's more situational to me than anything.
04:35That's just my thoughts.
04:36I just think it's, he is voiced what a lot of people feel because you mentioned the teams that use
04:41the most analytics
04:42and they're all the Rays, Yankees, Dodgers.
04:46But they're also executing in the field and making plays and making better decisions, I think,
04:50because this all goes into it, all of it.
04:54I just, and I think it's just, I'm happy to hear Ben say something because what, he pitched 10 years
04:59in the majors.
05:00He was in the first overall pick when he came up.
05:02He carries a lot of weight.
05:04You know, coming from him, this is not, you know, me saying this.
05:08This is Ben McDonald saying it.
05:10So I think it's something to listen to.
05:11Yeah.
05:12Let's grab a phone caller here and we're going to take some more phone calls throughout this.
05:15Eli's in Parkville.
05:16Eli, you're on the fan.
05:17Good morning, fellas.
05:18Morning.
05:20Ben said what I've been thinking for a long time.
05:22Like, yeah, we use analytics, but we might not be using the right, you know, stats when it comes to
05:28certain things.
05:29I mean, I don't really know what else they want to do because, like, it's been two years.
05:34The team's injured, and I'm not making up any excuse, but other teams are winning with injuries as well.
05:40So, I mean, we can't keep saying, like, oh, we got all these injuries, and we're trying to use analytics,
05:44and we're trying to rotate guys and put them in different positions.
05:46I mean, let's just focus on what we do best and win baseball games.
05:51I mean, I don't know what else they need to do, but I know fans are getting fed up, and
05:55I'm kind of getting fed up, too.
05:57So, y'all take it easy.
05:57Eli, Eli, before you go, how old are you?
05:59I'm 32.
06:0032.
06:01Because I'm wondering, like, wheelhouse of where – because there's a lot of younger fans that are coming in and
06:05then developing expectations and didn't live through all those very lean years in the early 2000s and on.
06:13But I know, like, people have expectations, and that's what's happened with both of these teams.
06:17And last year was such a kick in the face to fans, not only from the Orioles but from the
06:21Ravens with the underperforming teams that we had.
06:24It was just infuriating because you look at it, and you're like, both teams have so much talent.
06:29How are these the results?
06:30How are these the results we get?
06:32How do the Ravens blow so many double-digit leads in the fourth quarter?
06:35How many times can the Orioles not score when the bases are loaded or give up a late home run
06:41or make an error or do something stupid that costs them a game?
06:44And it just feels like it's been going on for two years.
06:46So, I understand the frustration from everybody.
06:48I totally understand it.
06:49Seriously.
06:51And I think Steve said he hit that on the head.
06:54I think Ben was frustrated in his comments.
06:56You can hear it in his voice because I always kid around with these guys, like Ben and Rock and
07:02things like that, when it comes to July and August.
07:04And frankly, I'm tired of talking about them because of the last two seasons because it's exhausting to say the
07:10same thing every day and try to be creative and then blue sky it.
07:13So, imagine traveling with the team and seeing it every day.
07:16It's got to just – you see things like, come on, stop, like little things, like analytics and spin rates.
07:23Okay, great.
07:24You know what?
07:25The raise the rate for a team is 3-5-7.
07:27The Yankees is low.
07:28You know what the Orioles is?
07:29It's about five.
07:30I mean, you're not getting it done.
07:33You're not getting it done.
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