00:00All right, let's talk parade for a second.
00:03I have never really thought this was going to happen, for the record.
00:07When we started throwing it out there as a bit when the Nats were four under 500
00:10or whatever it was three weeks ago, there was not a single moment
00:14where I thought legitimately they would get over 500
00:17until they had the opportunity last Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles
00:21on this homestand, and we would have had a parade on Monday.
00:24And when they lost that game, and then especially losing the subsequent game
00:28after that, I thought, well, there went the chance.
00:31And then I found out that you were going to be out tomorrow,
00:35that you will not only not be on the show, that you will not be in this time zone,
00:39that you will barely be in this country, that you will be all the way out on the West.
00:43And then I realized this is probably going to happen.
00:46This is the setup.
00:47So you get an opportunity to do the walk-off interview with a win.
00:52It was like immovable object, unstoppable force or whatever.
00:57Like, something's got to give here.
00:58And last night, the Nats get another win, swinging for the fences again.
01:03Eight more runs on ten more hits.
01:05The number one offense in this sport.
01:07So for all of the haters out there that said when we had the hitting coach on yesterday
01:11we were going to jinx the Nationals,
01:14yeah, we jinxed them all the way into another ten hits and eight runs.
01:16How about that for Borg Schulte's bunch?
01:19Jacob Young now has six home runs this season.
01:23He has three in his last 11 at-bats.
01:26And last night in the eighth inning, for the third time on this homestand,
01:30he hit a ball over the fence.
01:31Here's Jacob Young.
01:32Six-four Nationals.
01:33Big insurance run out there.
01:35Here's the pitch.
01:37Swing a fly ball.
01:38Left center field deep for Young.
01:40Soto going back to the warning track.
01:42He leaps at the wall.
01:43He can't get it.
01:44It's gone.
01:45It's into the bullpen.
01:49Swagging Jacob Young has another home run.
01:53Jacob Judge.
01:55I bring him up because he is the embodiment of what is happening.
02:01Last year they hit the ball at a very hard rate.
02:04One of the hardest rates of any team in the league.
02:06And they hit it on the ground.
02:07This year they're hitting the ball hard and they're hitting it in the air about 8% more of the
02:12time.
02:12Which from a team perspective at this juncture, 50 games in.
02:15Is a turnaround.
02:16That's a massive spike.
02:17Like Jacob Young's sweet spot, launch angle.
02:21Which is how we track basically the ability to get the ball in the air at the degrees you're looking
02:25for.
02:27Last year was in the third percentile in baseball.
02:30This year it's in the 77th percentile.
02:32So third, to give you an idea, is what pregame if you show up and watch guys take infield practice.
02:37That's what those coaches are doing.
02:38They're in the third percentile of hitting ground balls.
02:40Every once in a while you pepper a line drive.
02:42But for the most part, it's three hoppers to the second baseman.
02:44Just assassinating worms.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Just left, right, and center.
02:49The RIP worm situation.
02:50Not anymore for Jacob Young.
02:52And after the game, I caught up with him on the field at Nats Park.
02:57Yeah, a lot's changed in 48 hours.
02:59Healthy and hitting home runs again.
03:01Jacob Young, let's just start with being back to .500.
03:03A seventh home win in ten tries for this team.
03:07How's this ball club feeling?
03:08Yeah, you know, we brought some of that momentum we had on the road and we brought it home.
03:12In front of our fans, we started winning some ball games.
03:13Playing better baseball.
03:14And, you know, it's always good to, you know, try to win series in division.
03:18And now we have a chance to do that tomorrow.
03:19Put the exclamation point on the game with a nice running catch.
03:21Still a little winded right now.
03:23Did you know off the bat you were going to track that one down?
03:25I might have to lay out.
03:27You know, I didn't know if it was going to stay up.
03:28But I stayed up long enough to let myself run under it and get out of that first save.
03:33It was a pretty cool moment for him, so I'm happy he got it.
03:34Your eighth inning home run was your third in 11 games.
03:37You had five home runs in your first 900 at bats.
03:40In 160 ABs this year, you've got six already.
03:43What's changed?
03:44Yeah, you know, hitting the ball in the air a little more.
03:47A little more bat speed on there, too.
03:49And it's swinging at the right pitches.
03:51You know, it's all just going right right now.
03:53So, you know, try to keep myself kind of in that spot and that sweet spot and just let it
03:56go.
03:57We had the hitting coach, Borgs, on our show today on the flagship,
04:01and he talked about wanting you to get in the air.
04:03You're in a 77th percentile on launch angle, a single-digit percentile last year.
04:07How much work did you put in to get there?
04:09Yeah, a lot.
04:09You know, a lot of shout-out to Travis in the offseason, who's with Rochester right now,
04:13and then shout-out to these guys here.
04:14All three of them, you know, we have the common goal, which is nice,
04:17and we all want the same thing.
04:19And, you know, our work every day kind of goes into that,
04:22and it's nice for it to show up in the game.
04:23J.Y., you lead the league right now, I don't know if you know this,
04:26in hit-by-pitches that look like it's going to end really badly for you,
04:29but then you're back in the lineup the next day.
04:31You played last night.
04:32Ribs feeling okay?
04:33Yeah, it's good enough, man.
04:34You know, we're out here now.
04:35It feels good.
04:36You know, my little college buddy got me, but, you know, we're doing all right,
04:39and I'm just happy we won that game.
04:40How quick was the text to him after that?
04:42Before he got off the mound, he got a text.
04:45Thanks, Jacob.
04:46Yeah, thank you, guys.
04:47Guys, we go to Toby Altizer now for the scoreboard on post-game interviews.
04:51Oh, this is ugly.
04:53Yeah, we've got a runaway right now.
04:54Grant's now up to six post-game interviews.
04:57Let's go.
04:58I'm on the board with three.
05:00Danny, at least you're on the board.
05:02I am on the board.
05:03You have one.
05:04One.
05:04Now, impressively, we still have not repeated an interview yet.
05:08I don't even know how that's possible.
05:11We've done ten interviews, and we haven't talked to the same guy twice.
05:14That's crazy.
05:15That is crazy.
05:16That's going to change very soon.
05:17That also is indicative, if I could get a little nerdy and wax poetic,
05:22it's a different guy every night on this team, man.
05:24That's part of what makes the group special.
05:26Right?
05:27Yeah.
05:27No, it is.
05:28It is true.
05:29The only time we talked to a guy who it had nothing to do with his performance,
05:33and it was the right thing to do, was when you got Dylan Cruz on the day
05:36he came back up to the big league.
05:37Yeah, it went one for four, caught a couple balls in the outfield.
05:39That wasn't that special.
05:41But mostly, we get one of the stars of the game.
05:43And the fact that we have done ten interviews now, collectively,
05:46as a triumvirate on the Grant & Danny Radio postgame program.
05:50It doesn't matter who's done more, right?
05:51We've all done it together.
05:52It reminds me of my buddy Bear and I, throwing together our money.
05:55He had $97.
05:56I had $2.
05:57We were like 11 years old.
05:59Together, we have $99.
06:00And we put our money into a pot, and we just said, like,
06:02we have $99 to spend.
06:03It was the coolest thing for me.
06:05Not as great for him.
06:06Right, I was going to say.
06:07But that's the way it works.
06:08Sure, yeah.
06:09We all have $99.
06:11But anyway, Toby, ten interviews.
06:16Who have we not interviewed yet that we could to keep the streak alive?
06:20I feel like we've gotten all the stars on the team now.
06:23Yeah, I'm trying to think.
06:24Kay Barrett potentially has not been interviewed.
06:27He's rolling.
06:27And then you're going to start getting into pitchers.
06:31Love Lady would be an interesting one.
06:32I want Dickie.
06:34I want Dick Love Lady post-game after beating the Mets today.
06:38That's what I'm looking for.
06:39The next frontier, though, for us is to be able to do an interview in Spanish.
06:43Do it on the radio.
06:45Because a couple of the Latin guys.
06:46Do you hablo a little bit?
06:47I mean, not.
06:49No.
06:49Well, Mauricio on the PR staff is the translator.
06:52That's what we would do.
06:53I think that could be the play.
06:54We're like, hey, bring Mauricio down here.
06:56Get him out of his cushy chair in the press box.
06:58He's so comfortable up there.
06:59He's so handsome, that guy.
07:00He is handsome.
07:00And by the way, low body fat percentage.
07:02Isn't that annoying?
07:03Yeah, it is to me.
07:04Like, in shape and handsome?
07:05Great hair and handsome.
07:06What's that all about?
07:06Bring him down to the field, and let's have him help me interview Jose Tenner.
07:13By the way, interesting fact about Mauricio.
07:16I don't know if he, I hope he doesn't care that I'm sharing this.
07:18Do it right now.
07:19He's been to the last couple World Cups.
07:21He said he went to the one that was in Russia and just went for three weeks.
07:25Just found places to sleep.
07:27Wasn't necessarily like booking hotels.
07:29Just hanging out, going to different games.
07:31Like on benches?
07:32What do you mean?
07:32Just finding different spots.
07:33Whether it was like an open door somewhere he could sneak in or whatever.
07:37That's amazing.
07:39He's a soccer mark, I guess.
07:40I suppose.
07:41Pretty good.
07:41One must be to be a vagabond in Mother Russia to go to games.
07:46Well, the Nats on the precipice of getting over .500 with a win today.
07:52They will have done it.
07:53And then we got a parade to throw back end of the show tomorrow.
07:57So just so everybody knows, it would be likely in our final segment at 6 o'clock, we'll walk
08:01on down Half Street with some music playing or some instruments or signs or whatever it
08:05is that we're going to do.
08:06We don't know yet.
08:07We'll figure it out when we have to figure it out.
08:09We're going to call it a parade.
08:10And then we're going to end up at a sports bar.
08:12We'll watch the Nats as they take on the Atlanta Braves tomorrow over at Walters, maybe.
08:16I will check in poolside Vegas.
08:19I'll miss it with pangs of regret, my friend.
08:21Because, of course, this is how it's happened.
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