Giants Talk: Why mess of a season ‘can't get worse' after another series loss
"Giants Talk" hosts Cole Kuiper and Alex Pavlovic point out the positives in San Francisco's disappointing series loss to San Diego.
Giants Talk: Why mess of a season 'can't get worse' after another series loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Hey, what's up Giants fans?
Welcome to another episode of Giants Talk.
I'm Cole Kuiper here with Giants insider Alex Pavlovic.
Despite the big call-ups, the Giants dropped the series versus San Diego.
We'll dive into what went wrong and try to figure out what could start going right.
But more importantly, Alex and Kylan sat down with Buster Posey, Giants legend, currently in charge of this ship.
I'm excited to hear what he had to say.
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All right, Alex, what a series.
obviously not as bad as the road trip, but we, talked about the big changes made, the call-ups, and despite that, the offense, cold.
The walks, non-existent.
The defense, shabby.
Bullpen, not great.
Not a lot went right.
The walks, man.
It's like, how do you just not walk at all?
Yeah.
I don't There's not a lot going right.
I mean, offensively, they're basically last in everything.
They're officially on pace for 100 losses.
Mm-hmm.
They're percentage points ahead of the New York Mets at the bottom of the big league standings.
So I That's, like, a positive, I guess that, like, the Mets are also doing this and have a higher payroll and maybe higher expectations.
Would you say this is a positive or a negative?
They're healthy.
Well, that You know, it should be a negative, but I don't Like, it- Like, it's a negative in the sense that it could get worse.
Like, their second best player for the last three- But, like, positive in that it hasn't gone wrong.
Yeah.
I mean, their second best player for the last three days was Jess Rodrguez, who showed up on Monday.
So- Yes yeah, it can't get worse.
I think the negative, the downside to that is, like, at some point there will be starting pitcher injuries.
Mm-hmm.
Just because there always are.
and, you know, they've had two guys pitch pretty well.
Landon Roof's been unbelievable.
And, you know, I, I guess that would be the injury downside is y- it could get worse from that perspective.
Yeah.
and then, like, you lose Miller on, on Monday to a lower back strain, and he's been pretty important, so those things can impact them.
But I don't Like, overall, I don't know how much, how you can get much lower than, uh- You- where they're at right now.
You mentioned they have had two guys pitching well.
You mentioned Landon Roop.
Was your other one Logan Webb or Trevor McDonald?
Robbie Ray?
Oh, all right.
That's strong.
Yeah.
I just wanted to g- take a moment- You should- find out it's Trevor McDonald.
We should.
Do you wanna start with the positive?
Do you want I'm, I'm Y- you know what, you called Buster the captain.
You're the captain here.
You- Yeah take me in any direction you want.
Let's start out with the good things.
otherwise I'm gonna lose my mind and I, you know, we'll, we'll let our listeners, ease into this before we really go back into what's been going wrong.
And let's start with Trevor McDonald.
Yeah.
He's It- it's such an interesting career arc to me because- Yeah.
like, he People forget, last year was not his first cameo.
He also came up the year before at the end of the season.
Like, the very end of the season.
So two straight years he comes up at the way end.
You and I have This is, like, kind of a joke, but also not really a joke.
Like, where the hell was this guy for, like, six weeks before he came up last year?
Yes.
Why did we see so much of other guys?
but then, like, you watch him this year and it's like, you know, everything I heard, like, "Triple-A, he's fine.
Like, he's, it's a tough league.
He's, he's not blowing the doors off people down there."
And, and he comes up and he looks like the best pitcher in, in the rotation.
So every single time he comes up, he looks absolutely dominant, and then you look at kind of his And this is not taking away from Triple-A at all or his time in the minors.
Just, like, when he comes up, you think, like, is this, like, Nolan McLain joining the, the Giants rotation?
And then you, he goes back and it's fine.
He's a, you know, decent pitching- Yeah prospect.
But it's hilarious, and we've also, like, barely seen him, but every time we've seen him it's, it's awesome.
His Baseball Reference page is great, 'cause all of his big league stints are, like, zero ERA or sub two ERA.
Yeah.
And then his Triple-As are five plus.
Yeah.
It's And I, you know, I do think there also is something to, like, the Giants last year where, like, he didn't ever look to anybody like he needed to be in the rotation in August or September.
Mm-hmm.
And then he comes up at the end and goes to Dodger Stadium and looks like a natural and strikes out 10 Rockies and- it's a very strange career arc.
but I will say for as much as in, you know, I appreciate you last episode deciding to dig up all my bold predictions.
Um- but the one thing I think I've been nails on, going back to spring, was I have pretty consistently said he's one of their 13 best pitchers and should be on this pitching staff somewhere.
Yeah.
And so he has shown that over and over again.
and I think in the spring he looked great, too.
So I don't You know, he's back in Sacramento.
we'll see when he comes back here, but I'd like to get another couple looks sometime soon.
Well, okay.
That was- It'd be pretty good that was essentially gonna be my follow-up question here about Trevor McDonald, is, like, what can we expect to see, whether it's this year or is it gonna be like next year we see two rock solid starts out of him and then that's it?
Like, what is, what is the trajectory here?
Three starts a year in the big leagues- Yeah.
for until he hits, arbitration.
No, I Look, they're gonna use him at some point.
Okay.
They At some point.
And I, I know it's really, really frustrating for people, and I think there's a spot for him.
I also You know, you kind of have to take a step back, and I think even for Tony, he had to do this the other day.
He's like, "I like this kid.
I think he can, he's tough.
He's fearless.
I think he can get outs in the bullpen.
"We also know that we need him stretched out to 80, 90 pitches because we're gonna need him in the rotation at some point.
Mm-hmm.
And the counter from Giants fans on Twitter would be Adrian Houser.
I th- we've seen enough.
But then Houser goes out and pitches very well on Wednesday, and it's a two-year deal, and they're not gonna make that move anytime soon.
and you know, at, at some point, like we saw Seymour start a few games last year, Tang start a few games.
Like I think like eight or 10 guys started at least three games last year.
At some point they are going to need a sixth starter and a seventh starter and an eighth starter.
So- Yeah it's McDonald, it's Wisenhunt, it's Blake Tidwell.
They're s- they're getting stretched out, staying stretched out in Sacramento, which is technically the right thing to do.
I also think we'll talk a lot about what's next for the Giants and we've, we're already getting so many, like trade deadline questions and all of that.
Like one way or another, there's gonna be a pretty meaty s- part of the schedule here, I think, where they can throw Trevor out there and just see like, "What do we got?"
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So whether it's injuries, whether it's someone gets traded, whether it's someone gets moved out of the rotation, like he'll get a shot.
But a, a very funny thing that he just comes up as a spot starter and just goes like- He's fearless "Hey, I look like your best guy."
Yeah.
And then Sacramento's like, "Where's that for us?"
Yeah.
Where Exactly.
So- So- funny career arc McDonald taking the only pitcher win of the, series for the Giants.
Went seven innings.
Of the one out of two days.
One earned run, eight hits, five strikeouts.
Yeah, it was great.
Yeah.
We'll talk about, you r- you mentioned Houser.
We'll talk about Logan Webb later on.
But as promised, we'll keep on going with the positives.
and the next positive would obviously be Casey Schmitt, who Just what a, what a career arc over the last few years.
How many times it's just been like, does he fit into this team in any, like way to get him innings?
Yeah.
And they just can't get rid of him because he's played his way into staying a San Francisco Giant.
It's funny because this is a week and I think a couple weeks where Someone asked me this today, like, "When does the attention start to turn to Buster Posey?"
And I was like- Mm-hmm my sense is that it has.
Yeah.
Like I, I think, you know, like a lot of the questions I get asked, a lot of the conversation I see online, you and I talk about it, there's a lot about the way this team's put together and the way they spent their money and, you know, the big moves he has made that right now don't look great.
I- His best move in the off season was Luis Arias, and I think our whole thing that whole time was, "You have Casey Schmitt, you'll be fine."
Yeah.
And it turns out Casey Schmitt's more than fine.
So- Buster's coming up.
I thought his juiciest quote when he sat down with me and Kaiwan on Monday was, about Casey and about this lineup, and basically said, "We don't wanna punish Casey because other guys aren't hitting."
Yeah.
So I, I think they did the right thing in this series.
they sit Matt Chapman on Monday.
Arias has a little thumb thing, which is real.
also gives him a chance to play Casey at second base a couple days.
And it's been, you know, for me, like you start looking at things to, to do over the next First and foremost they'll try to, like stop the bleeding.
But if it keeps going this way and you get into like June and July and you start thinking like, "Okay, what's this season about?"
One of them for me is like, Casey plays every day.
Yeah.
Can you figure out where this is going?
And you know, remember, he's a former second round pick.
Like this isn't a guy who showed up out of no- Like remember his first week in the big leagues?
We see the long home run in Arizona.
We see the defense.
Mm-hmm.
There's some good sprint speeds there too.
I thought his second plate appearance on Monday, a 10 pitch walk for a guy who, when he got called up, it used to be a running joke online when he would draw a walk.
Like people would celebrate.
Yeah.
Wasn't it like his, the first three games that he got walked in, the Giants won in spectacular fashion.
I think so.
And it happened so rarely that it was like- I need to go back.
Yeah I need to go back and find it.
Like teammates were even making jokes about, "Casey drew a walk today."
Yeah.
So he's really come a long way and I think he does a really good job of handling that inside pitch and he's laying off the, the sliders and the curve balls outside and yeah.
It, it's been, him and Orlando Aroop have been the biggest positives as you look for, for guys who, you know, they're pre-arb.
They could be here for a while.
Mm-hmm.
They could be, could be part of this mix for a while.
It's- And for, with safety, it's just a matter of finding how to get him in the lineup every day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I honestly, it kinda feels like with everyone except Arias struggling in the infield, they're just gonna have to start rotating who sits.
Yeah.
You know?
Casey, you're playing first today, second tomorrow, third the next day, and then we start going around the horn again.
'cause he has to be playing as often as possible.
And I think the- And I don't wanna see him in the outfield.
I really don't wanna see that move get attempted.
I don't really wanna see that either.
I, I think there's Yeah.
You know, Drew's been pretty good.
Luis been fine.
Ramos has had his ups and downs, but I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know that I need to see him in the outfield.
Yeah.
That doesn't feel I, I, I don't think it's unfair to him to ask him to play four infield positions.
I don't think it's necessarily fair to ask him to also then we're in right field.
Now, if they were to just tell, tell us upfront, "We thought it'd be a fun goal to have Casey play all nine positions this year," then I'm in.
But if we're doing it as an actual contending, bit, no.
Pitched in college, so.
Pitched in Exactly.
Yeah.
Exactly.
No, I, I think it's, it's gonna get awkward and it's gonna be Tony's toughest job.
And I think the veterans have said the right thing so far.
It, we talked to Chapman about this today and he's like, "Look, I understand we're trying to win games right now.
We're trying to put our best hitters out there."
He was the first one to wear it on Monday.
Adames probably gets a little lucky that he doesn't have to take a day off in this series because- Mm-hmm Arias couldn't play, but that's coming for him at some pointUm, I think where it gets awkward is, like, the third time it happens.
Like- Yeah where if, if you're a Matt Chapman or a, a Willy Adames or, or Rafael Devers, it happens once, you go like, "Okay, we're trying to win games right now."
Once it starts happening more regularly to keep Casey in the lineup, you probably don't love it as much behind the scenes.
But- Can we just reframe it as load management?
I mean, do you remember 2021?
You could.
Where they babied all of the veterans and gave them all the days off they could dream for, and each of those guys had career years.
Yeah.
I mean, Buster sat every third day for- Exactly about five and three quarters months.
Matt, they're sitting every third day.
Yeah.
I think, y- you know what?
I don't think I asked a lot of questions about this today.
I don't think it's been a problem yet, because there's- Yeah a real, like It's like, what are you gonna do?
You went 0-6 on the road trip.
And- Yeah you know.
Some of you guys have a, a batting average that starts with a one and an OPS that starts with a three and things like that.
So, but it, it could get awkward in a few weeks.
Yeah.
We'll keep an eye on that.
I mean, I, I'm sure Tony has it handled, but that's extra awkward being a, a rookie manager coming in, benching longtime veterans who are making a whole lot of money.
Yeah.
And it's, you know Yeah.
It's, it's just not gonna be an easy part of his job.
Yeah.
But it's the job.
It's why he gets paid big b- big bucks.
We've got a mail bag question here early before our dedicated section from Tim.
Tim says, "You guys always answer All-Star questions.
So Casey Schmitt, All-Star?"
It is funny.
Like, a guy has two good weeks and it's like- Yeah All-Star?
All-Star.
I looked this, I looked into it today.
Casey, as of Wednesday morning, was 25th in the National League in F4, ninth in WRC+.
I think he's, like, sixth or seventh in slugging.
He's tied for 19th in home runs.
So he has been the Giants' best player.
He's not When you, when you look around, you, you take the full scope of the league, isn't as much of a slam dunk.
And I think the important thing is Casey is currently a man who can play every position, but is also a man without a position when it comes to stuff like All Stars.
And we know he's not gonna be a DH for the National League All-Star team.
Yeah.
That's what I was gonna say.
I mean, that's, that's a nightmare position- Yeah to try to get in the All-Star Game as.
Yeah.
So, so you, you'd have to And I don't This actually does come down to a little bit, like, they're listed on the ballot somewhere.
So- Mm-hmm he's probably gonna be listed as the DH on the ballot.
Now, I think if you wanna make the optimistic case, you keep doing this, you, you put up good numbers and, maybe as guys start dropping out and guys get injured, he, he's gear looks really good.
But it's, it's tough to be a DH in the National League and, and make that argument.
If you had to guess without looking it up, what of hi- which position has he played this year that he had the best offensive stats during?
Third base?
Third base, nailed it.
Mm-hmm.
But he's only done it, like, three times, right?
Twice?
Eight plate appearances, two games.
Yeah.
But slugging, like, one and two thirds.
That's an All-Star.
So.
That's an All-Star.
Yeah.
And it's a t- I mean, third base I guess.
It's a tough s- it's a tough spot for him to be on.
'Cause when that ballot comes out he's gonna be in a category with Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
We'll see if he gets more reps at a, a more designated position that makes him All-Star friendly, but yeah, it's a, it's a tough one to get voted into or even really placed into with the stats of the other guys you just mentioned.
I guess the other solid topic before we get to the negatives is, Jesus Rodriguez.
I mean, that ties itself into a negative, being that he's replacing a guy who the Giants really need to start performing.
But he was one of the call-ups along with Bryce Eldridge.
He played all three games and he was hitting well.
We got to see the, the classic family celebration.
Yeah.
Uncle was here with his family.
I, you know, I've, I've always been just, I think really intrigued, and we've had this conversation a ton on this podcast about three catchers.
And- Mm-hmm for me this is a, a Rodriguez conversation and it's, more than that it's a Giants catchers conversation.
Because Patrick Bailey sat for three straight days.
He did a lot of early BP.
he did some early strength work, which is like Like, on Monday they had him out there with, with their strength people, like, doing a little bit of extra stuff, just get the body right.
and then he goes out there Wednesday and he strikes out twice and hits a slow roller.
So the numbers continue to not be there for him.
Daniel Sun-Zaak will start a rehab assignment on Thursday.
Okay.
I think probably ready by the start of that Dodger series.
So it, it's a good question, who shows up Monday at Dodger Stadium and, you know, are there three catchers, and who's starting that first game?
And, it's not a comfortable time to be Patrick Bailey.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
S- pff, almost considered to be one of the faces of the team right now, and just cannot get the offense going.
And it's not an offense, as we've discussed, that we expect a lot of, but they just need more from him.
Nope.
Yeah.
It's, you know, there's a line and we make a lot of jokes about the MVP thing, like, the bold prediction.
And my whole point in that was that he is so valuable defensively that if he just hits 220 with nine home runs, like- Mm-hmm his advanced stuff is gonna be off the charts in terms of the value he brings to your team.
now the flip side of that is there's a, there's a line on the other side where if you're hitting 140, like, at some point there's just, you can't stomach the defensive value anymore.
So it's- Yeah he, he's- It wasn't, we're just It's like having Matt Cain in the nine spot, you know?
Yeah.
I mean, he's kind of been hanging out in the middle the last few years and, and he's been able to, to kind of get away with it because his defense was, was so good.
And, you know, I think also because they didn't have anybody really behind him.
But there's two 24-year-olds behind him now and-Rodriguez, I did, I did think you saw a couple times, like i- it's gonna be There's gonna be growing pains defensively, but he can really hit.
And, you know, as, as long as you're not, like a I, I don't.
What's a comparison?
Like, h- he's a better defender than Blake Sable was, you know?
Yeah.
So, like another guy where we're like, "Well, the bat's intriguing."
Um- Bat's intriguing.
He can, he can play non-catcher roles if needed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I don't think they They asked a lot of him on Wednesday to go play right field.
Yeah.
With catching last night, and obviously it doesn't work out.
But he can move all over the place.
Yeah.
I'm gonna tie this into another mailbag question from Ehsan.
"Let me know if this is totally out of pocket, but is there ever a world where the Giants send Patrick Bailey back down to the minors to work on his hitting?
I love watching him catch as much as the next guy, but his WRC+ is 20, and he's been worth negative fWAR.
The Yankees just sent their former starting shortstop back to the minors.
Could the Giants do the same to Bailey?"
I believe I mentioned this on the last podcast because for the first time really in his career, I think it's, like, not just a stupid question.
Mm-hmm.
Like, it's And I don't think it's likely.
I asked some people this week.
I ne- you know, didn't really hear from anybody who thought it was likely.
but I, I think Y- you know, and the one thing about Patrick, we did see Monday, like, when they had the lead, he came in defensively in the eighth inning.
Like, it was, it was like, "Here's our defensive closer as well."
Like, "Here, here's the guy that we trust back there for the final two innings."
So there, there is some of that, and there's some value.
and there's things about that, that Tony likes.
And I do think carrying three catchers when one of them's so versatile does allow them to use Patrick for his defense.
Um- Mm-hmm.
It allows them to use Susac as a pinch hitter.
I keep going back to, like, how excited Tony gets when he talks about the one time when Jung-hoo Lee was on the bench, and he, he had- like, an actual, like, option back there.
So I think carrying three catchers and having the two right-handed guys who can hit a little bit gives them some better options late in games.
But yeah, you know, it's gonna If, if it does turn into a thing where, where Bailey's not even starting that much, like, you start to wonder, like, what's, what's best for his future?
What's best for- for the future of the catcher position in San Francisco.
I, I don't think it's likely, but I do think for the first time really since he got called up, you can have a real conversation about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I, I feel like we're gonna be having the conversation doubly after this series just because we get a, a Joey Bart reunion, and things aren't going too well for him over there either.
So if anyone's looking for a topic, that's the one.
I don't think it's gone very well for him this year.
No, it hasn't.
It's been trending sometimes.
Fans are clamoring for Joey unfortunately.
Yeah.
Yeah.
all right, let's move on to the negatives of this series.
We don't need to dwell on this one a ton because at the end of the day it wasn't a debut, and it was just one series.
But Bryce Eldridge, one for nine on the series after getting brought up with, I don't know, the, the mighty task of righting a sinking ship foisted upon his shoulders.
He broke three bats, which is I, I hope he brought a lot, 'cause he- right away broke three bats in his first two games.
yeah, I mean, look, this is gonna be, with Bryce, this is gonna be part of it.
Like, there's He's, he's super talented, and there's He's gonna get going.
He's gonna hit home runs.
He's gonna draw walks, which will help a team that does not walk at all.
But he's 21.
He's learning.
And- Yeah you know, it's the one thing we always say when you look at, look at those guys in Triple-A, and people send those numbers to us, and goes, s- s- and say, "So-and-so's doing this," and, it's just completely different.
Like, it's a different universe.
And even someone like, like Matt Waldron on Wednesday, who comes in with a nine ERA, it just doesn't It's just, he's gonna face much better stuff.
So he's gonna be challenged a lot.
I think that's good.
the other thing I think is really positive, he's, he's doing a lot of pre-game work defensively.
Yeah.
So I know people want him to start at first base, but he's kind of getting just a gradual level course here from Wash and Ron Wotus, and- Love that every, every single day, all three of these days, even Wednesday for a long time, he was doing that.
So I think there's a lot of growth that's gonna happen here no matter what goes on during those games.
But- Mm-hmm yeah, not, not maybe the series he wanted.
Yeah.
And then obviously we have to talk Logan Webb.
another rough outing for Logan.
Is this the roughest of the year for him?
It's the weirdest because it was, even when he's had some other rough ones, you still kind of look up and is in the sixth.
Yeah.
And this time 62 pitches, his fewest in three years.
Tony says afterwards, like, "Hey, the training staff kind of said the knee's a little sore."
so it's the first time I, I, I know Logan's played through a lot the last few years.
it doesn't generally get out.
it doesn't generally become something he has to answer questions about.
Yeah.
So now we do know that, that right now specifically there's some knee s- knee soreness for him, and he said it goes back a little bit.
Like, he didn't want to talk too much about it.
But yeah, maybe that explains part of this.
I thought the previous two were really promising, and then has this one where it goes in the wrong direction.
And the Padres tend to do this to him sometimes too, but- Yeah but, it, it's been You start getting into, like, mid-May here and just going, like, you're waiting for it to, to, to jumpstart things.
And it's asking a lot of him, but also he's the face of the franchise and the ace, and I think that's the bummer of a, of a night like Tuesday is, like, they have some momentum coming off Monday, and he just wasn't able.
Like, you know, you don't want to say, like, "Hey, go out and give us eight innings, one run," but, like, that's what he's done a lot in the past.
Yeah.
And that's honestly what they need out of him right now.
Yeah.
Even if the bullpen could get through it.
Yeah.
Those are the kind of games that kind of reset the momentum, reset the energy at the stadium.Yeah, I, they really needed it on Tuesday.
Like, keep it going and then, you know, maybe Wednesday turns out different if there's a little mo- momentum coming into that third game and, maybe the bullpens are used differently or- Mm-hmm whatnot.
But yeah, it's just not there for them right now.
What are we more worried about?
Logan Webb this season or any Giant being allowed to participate in the WBC ever again?
I'd say the latter.
Honestly.
I was having this conversation with someone the other day and they made the point how, you know, I, I think, I think Buster's on this train of, like, he'd love to see guys do a late in their career.
Mm-hmm.
And I do wonder going forward how much for Team USA in particular, how much it's just gonna be like, hey, starting pitchers, like, you gotta be, like, 34.
Like, on the back end here.
Not- Justin Verlander is starting.
Yeah.
No one's aces are saying yes to this.
Yeah.
so I do wonder about that.
And I think for the Giants in particular, I mean, th- they, they were very clear and, and very open about it at the winter meetings that, that Buster did not want him to do this.
And he did it, and I don't know how related it is.
I don't, I don't know what the answer is here, but you have pretty good evidence if, if you want to, whatever, three years, four years from now.
I don't know what they're doing with the Olympics.
But you have pr- you have a pretty good thing to throw at, like, Landon Rupp or whoever, Trevor McDonald, the next time if a young guy wants to try this.
Yeah, it's gonna start getting written into contracts, you know?
You, here's your mega deal and don't even think about not being in Scottsdale in the spring.
It might be an unofficial, like, you know, I remember, having this conversation with Brandon Belt after he signed his extension and I was like, "You know you're never gonna pitch now, right?"
And- he's like, "Yeah, I know."
Yeah.
So it might be an unofficial like, hey, the extension, but, WBC is coming up next year and we don't- Yeah we just wanna make sure we're on the same page here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So.
Totally.
Yeah.
Um- I'm curious to see the next one what those pitching staffs look like.
Anything else overall on the series we wanna talk about?
I mean, there's a lot, lot to dislike.
We talked about- Yeah some things we like.
You hit on a lot of it here.
We went through a lot of it.
couple things I do I, I just wanna again bring up, like, and I'm gonna write a story about this on Thursday if people wanna dig into it more, but these games with zero walks are unbelievable.
They did it- Yeah six times the last Oh, they did it 10 times all of last year.
They're at six already on May 6th, and, like, back to back games with no walks.
it's just, to your point earlier in the podcast, like, they're just going right at them.
Just right at them.
Mm-hmm.
There's no fear of almost anybody in this lineup.
so that was one thing I just, just watching this series really stood out.
I, the seventh inning on Wednesday, just two first year managers and the whole thing was just weird.
I, you know, I don't- I don't understand really sending Hauser out for the seventh if you're gonna Managers do this a lot.
Like, "I'll send you out.
You're batter, batter by batter."
You can't be batter by batter if you get a ground ball to third and your third baseman boots it.
Like- Yeah, that's, that's not Hauser's fault.
Yeah.
And what's Yeah, if, if it was gonna be like we were doing someone else for Tatis anyways, then why send Hauser out in the first place?
Yeah, it's either like you send me out there and then you realize that I did my job and I got the first out and it wasn't an out, or you just cut it off after six and say it's bullpen time.
So- Yeah I, I didn't love that, that move.
And then the, the whole inning was just the Padres screwed it up even worse.
I mean, the Giants bring in Gage and they have a lefty due up to hit.
He walks to the plate and then gets a, pitch clock violation 'cause they're trying to find a pinch hitter for him.
So the whole thing was very strange and just a reminder that, I guess, you know, two managers who haven't done this before and sometimes those innings are, you're still gonna see some weird things.
But- Yeah yeah.
It was a And I, you know, a small thing, I don't know that this, this is more of a coin flip for me.
But it was asking a lot of Rodriguez to play right field at Oracle Park.
Like- I was shocked.
You can't put him in left and just say, you know, "Sorry Ramos-" Yeah "it, it, you're playing the hard one today."
I mean, Tony said he didn't wanna move too many guys around, but I thought originally in the morning it was asking a lot of him.
And he looked o- he looked pretty comfortable early in the game, but there's that tough play.
It's peeling away from him.
He's played left field in the minors this year.
Mm-hmm.
and that's the biggest play of the game.
And- Yeah you know, it makes, makes him look bad, and I think it was asking a lot originally.
And then I also think they got to a point where he had hit, like a, I think a third time.
Like, you could, you could bring Drew Gilbert in at that point and say it's a tie game and, and let's, let's count our You know, let's, let's take the win here.
Like, he's gotten through however six innings out there.
Yeah.
you know, Tony's response was it was a tie game, but, yeah, I just felt like they, they didn't put him in a great spot.
Yeah.
100% agree.
it's- One positive, I have a positive for you too.
All right.
Let's hear it.
very, very big lettering of who's warming up on the scoreboard.
Wow.
I'm gonna be honest, Alex.
I am less excited about this being, like, useful at the ballpark as I am this being just a flex of the clout of Giants Talk Podcast.
I just feel like we- It was I think it's very helpful to people watching the games.
And- Yes, it is.
It is legitimately helpful.
I still maintain I'd love to see it somewhere small where you can just look up and see who's still warming up.
But like, yeah, it's very, very, very clear who's warming up now in the- They put it in the biggest font possible- Uh-huh so to be like, "Alex, can you see this?
We did it."
I, I did.
We're happy about it.
And-Furthermore, I think people who come to the games are happy about it.
Yes.
So.
Yes.
That's excellent.
I mean, I, I can recognize everyone by body language out there, but not 34,000 people can.
So- Yeah.
Totally great work everybody, whoever did that.
I virtually handshake you.
That was well done.
Tip of the cap.
all right.
Let's talk about some roster moves that were made as part of the, the, the call-ups and more, plus we have mailbag questions, the Pirate Series, and you and Kylan sat down with Buster Posey.
roster moves.
Gerard Encarnacion- Yes DFA'd.
Do you think this was because of the challenge?
I'm kidding.
It wasn't But it was like, it was just not a I think for a guy who wasn't hitting, there was a lot of other, like, you know, forgetting the, the glove and, like- Mm-hmm losing track of outs one time.
There was a lot of other things that made it hard to, like, keep banging that drum- Yeah for him, if anybody was.
You don't wanna have guys keep showing up on those social media- Yeah bottom 10 kind of- Yeah highlight reels if they're not performing offensively.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, we've, w- we've talked a lot about him the last couple years.
I mean, there were some real flashes, including last year, I think, in Pittsburgh.
Where, what was it?
Where he, he starts to show the power and, and you could see what they like, and he was very well-liked in the clubhouse.
But ultimately, it comes down to production, and just wasn't a fit.
And I think we also saw a lot of times Tony just didn't feel like, "This is my big card to play right now."
Like, "Here's-" Yeah "here's this guy."
Like, and if that's the case, then, like, you, you can find a better way to put this roster together.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right.
So we'll keep an eye out to see where, where he ends up.
crazy.
M- Matos and En- Encarnacion, neither of them worked out.
Yeah.
It was You know, sometimes we, we use a lot of oxygen on the equates to it.
just- We do a lot of episodes, Alex yeah.
Yeah, you look up a few months later and you're like, there was a lot of conversation about, you know, Matos, Encarnacion, Oliva, Barracodo.
Mm-hmm.
And, and here we are and, and, Jesus Rodriguez is playing right field.
Yep.
So.
Who would've thought?
yeah.
Just briefly, other things, Harrison Bader started a rehab assignment.
I think he's gonna take a little bit, 'cause he, he wanted to get, make up for some of the bats he lost when he got hurt in the spring.
Sam Hentges is getting close.
Probably in the next week he should be up here.
That would We'll see whose spot that is, but, he's a lefty.
They got him in the off-season.
They really like him.
He's been extended rehab.
And then, Peguero called up on his birthday, and he's back.
Oh, good.
So, yeah.
Fantastic.
can I bring up another injury-related, not real roster move, but, like, parallel universe roster move?
Yeah.
Would you, I got many a fan question about the Carlos Correa injury.
Carlos Correa felt a pop in his ankle.
Looks like it's a torn tendon, and he's out for, I don't know, close to a year.
yeah.
I think he said, like, eight months of rehab.
Yeah.
Something like that.
So this is, this is exactly what the Giants, staff saw in the, in his future, and it, it sucks that it happened, but yeah.
But wrong foot, so.
Oh, really?
Okay.
Yeah.
Different ankle.
So.
So, so there's another ticking time bomb.
We're s- I- yeah.
It's, I, I think we had long ago figured out that they were vindicated by making a really, really tough decision.
And- Yes he is the last person in the world who would ever take a victory lap or even let anyone take a victory lap for him.
Mm-hmm.
But Dave Greshner and his people made a really difficult call, and they made the correct call.
Yeah.
And this was the other leg, but it was still the correct Like, you look at his history the last few years and where this is all headed for him, like, they made the right call.
Yeah.
All right.
With that, let's get to some mailbag questions, Buster Posey, and more.
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Okay, Alex.
Our first mailbag question of the day is, it's kind of a heady one, and it's from AJ.
AJ says, "What do you guys think it is about baseball that makes us keep coming back despite our favorite teams going as bad as our Giants are right now?
I'm admittedly an extremely optimistic person, so even during this awful road trip, I was still psyched the next day when lineups were posted for a new day of Giants baseball.
What is it about this game that keeps us coming back like it does?"
This is deep.
This is really, really deep.
I mean- You want, you wanna take it first?
'Cause I have things- Yeah, I was gonna say, is, is, is your answer, the paycheck?
I it's my job.
So, yeah.
No.
I actually dove into a few articles on, like, Psychology Today and mental health websites.
Oh.
The extreme focus of, of research into, like, fandom seems to be about, like, the dark side, the, the, the real depressive stuff or the people getting into fights.
But it r- I think it really just comes down to being a member of a community.
Like, you, when you're a sports fan, and it's not just baseball.
As much as, as much as I agree with AJ that baseball keeps us coming back, think of all the awful football teams that, like, don't win a game, and their fans keep coming back.
You know?
They, fans wearing, wearing paper bags in the stands- Yeah during bad runs.
Um-I don't know, part of it is the, it is the chance that things could turn around.
I mean, how long were the Knicks like a laughing stock of the NBA?
And, and all of a sudden they're, they're cool.
They're trendy again.
They're in the playoffs.
now the turning around for how bad the Giants have been for about a decade now seems like it's still as far away as it was a decade ago.
but still, we're a member of the Giants fandom community.
It's almost like we're by proxy members of the Giants, just community wise and, and as bad as it gets, I'm a Giants fan.
I was born a Giants fan, I'm gonna die a Giants fan.
And even, even in the seasons where you start to feel a little apathetic, you're still a fan.
What a speech.
Did you say trendy because Shalom is a Knicks fan and like they're all over the place?
Shalom, Tracy, Morgan- Yeah and, Tina Fey lined up.
It was good.
no, I think you hit on one thing there that's really important.
You, you basically get born into it.
Yes.
So you, you get born into it, and if you You know, what, what was cool during the title years was a lot of people who got born into it and lived through a lot of BS and then got to go- Mm-hmm and, and watch a team parade down Market.
So I think there's that.
From my perspective as someone who's, you know, more flat lined like during games, 'cause it is It might be weird to some people.
It is just my job, like good or bad, to be there, and not get, ever get too high or low or ever think about that stuff.
I There's two things I love about a season.
One is that every day's, even when they're losing, like every day's different.
And- Yeah and it's, it's different in, you know, you have all sorts of different Like a day like today, I just found that seventh inning fascinating and was just like, "What is everyone doing here?"
But it's just a different way to even lose today.
and the main thing, which is I've always loved, is Matt Cain's perfect game was either a Tuesday or a Wednesday.
I, it was like midweek and you go to the ballpark- Yeah and it's a random night and you watch perfect game.
Yes.
And it's like, it, you can't replicate that anywhere else.
Like you can't You know, I guess like the, the comparison would be like Bam scoring 83 points out of nowhere at the end of the NBA season.
Like, but that ha- this happens regularly in baseball and like a smaller example of that would be this year.
Like i- it's what, a Tuesday night and Patrick Bailey hits a three run homer and- Mm-hmm in the eighth inning off, off, the Dodgers.
So you live through a lot, you go through a lot, and then you have those moments like that where it's, it's just really, really fascinating.
That's a great point, is that any game you tune into can be a game that you never forget because the things that, that, I don't know, make those memories, the things that are so unique and excellent about baseball really can happen to anyone.
You mentioned Matt Cain's perfect game, but what about like a no-hitter?
What about, Chris Heston- Yeah just throwing a no-hitter and then barely being mentioned again?
And people who were at that game will never forget that.
I mention Chris Heston all the time.
Still.
Yeah.
No, you know what?
A much smaller example of this is like, like Jesus Rodriguez putting one in the arcade on Tuesday night.
Yeah.
Like it's not, you're not gonna remember that for the rest of your life, but as like a, just a sports fan, like that's just a really cool moment in the middle of, of, a really rough season.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Focusing on those little moments, it's- Yeah it's great.
I don't know.
It is bad right now, but it's, it's darkest before dawn.
The sun's gonna come back up.
We're gonna The win streak will happen eventually this year.
They cannot be worst in everything forever.
This cannot be a 100 loss team.
It can't.
But we keep doing this podcast twice a week and we'll see.
Yeah.
We'll see.
I guess that is an excellent segue to this next question- Yeah from Kate.
Kate says, "Do you guys feel some of the Giants scapegoats over the last few years are feeling a little vindicated by how this season is going?
Pat Burrell, Bob Melvin, Farhan Zaidi."
I thought the Pat Burrell shout was, was int- obviously to answer, I'm not gonna put words in any of their mouths, but I thought the Pat Burrell shout was interesting because of how rabidly he was getting his head called for towards the end of last season and, you know, we're third batting coach in how many years now, and it's just as bad as ever?
Worse than ever?
I've lost track.
I love this question.
I have not talked to any of these guys, in a while.
I just, I think human nature you probably have to like- Even though you would never say it, you- Yeah some part of you on the inside is chuckling.
You gotta be sitting there a little bit going like, "Huh, I..." You know.
Yeah.
"Not my fault."
and y- yeah, I think there's gotta be there's gotta be a fair amount of that, uh- Yeah for not just those three, but like other people who were pushed out over the years.
Yeah.
Guys who you might have sat down and had a casual conversation with over the last week.
Yeah.
I think, you know, I, I haven't talked to him about this, but like, I don't know, in a quiet moment does Gabe look at the last 10 years and go like, "Look what I did in '21."
Exactly.
So.
Exactly.
Um- No one's come close wasn't my fault.
Yeah, I, I would just have to think human nature would, would think, you probably, there's probably some people around the game who just look at the standings and don't, don't feel too bad for the San Francisco Giants.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's interesting.
all right.
Chris says, Christopher says, "Thinking back to spring training, there was a lot of talk on this podcast about this being a lineup of regulars.
Do you think Tony keeps with his regulars and doesn't mix and match a lot because he's still trying to earn respect at the big league level?"
You know, I, I think it was, I think there were some days early where he, he tried to talk some guys into time off.
Um-I think maybe Adames in particular is one guy he tried to give a little bit of a breather, and that's been a, a difficult part of this.
I, I do think what you saw on Monday was Buster kind of coming down from the clouds and saying, "Well, there is no choice now."
Right.
Because Bryce Halper is here and is here to play.
Jesus Rodriguez is here and is here to play.
So i- there's That's very helpful for Tony that he has, he has this there's no choice now.
So, yeah, I, I think that's been a tricky part of this.
And look, it is, like when we We'll see where this all goes.
When we sit down maybe in the off-season and do 30,000 square foot view, I, I think one thing that's become really clear and one thing that was really a, a big overreaction was there was a stretch there where even we talked about it a lot, and I know it really bothered fans, where it's like whose jersey do you buy?
Mm-hmm.
And who's, who, who can you latch onto for the next six years?
And there was a real effort to make sure that there were guys here who you could latch onto.
And I'm curious, like after 162 games do we look up and go like, "There's too many of those guys."
Yeah.
'Cause it's, it's You can go out and buy a bunch of these jerseys now and become, be comfortable with the fact that the guy's gonna be here in three years, but there's not a lot of options in terms of moving guys around, in terms of who you can sit.
you know, they've been able to sit guy It's just like you're not talking about like a, a guy who's gonna play 120 games.
Like, all these guys are still gonna play 150, 155, something like that.
Mm-hmm.
So, they've gone really far in the opposite direction.
And to the previous question, like that might be one thing where a former president of baseball operations looks at it and goes like, "Need a little bit more optionality on this roster."
Yep.
Yep.
Ever heard of a platoon?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's, you know Even if, if you look at just even from a simple point of view of like let's say Suzak comes back and he's hitting again, and you want him to play him, like, and you know, where do you play Rodriguez?
Yeah.
So, um- Probably not right field.
Proba- yeah, probably not.
But even like Drew Gilbert's been good.
Yeah.
He deserves to be back in the lineup on Friday.
So, it's good to have good players and guys forcing the issue, but they do have a lot of guys who, who are, are everyday guys.
Yeah.
All right.
One more question from Travis.
Travis says, "Mailbag topic.
I recently saw the San Andreas movie where the rock parachutes into Oracle Park.
Do you have a favorite movie featuring the Giants?"
That's a good, that's a good Giants, Giants related movie.
w- we've talked about Caught Stealing a thousand times.
Yeah.
Like- I think we have to rule Caught Stealing out automatically.
Just because of how funny it is.
I actually hate this movie, but it's older and I think a lot of people maybe don't know about The Fan.
I see.
That, that was honestly gonna be the one I brought up this while.
Yeah.
I- 'Cause it's, it's so like, it's basically what if, what i- what if a fan murdered Jeff Kent 'cause he wanted Barry Bonds to get more at bats?
It's been a long time since I watched it.
I remember just like a really weird scene in the rain and just all sort of- It's very dark and like everything's dark.
And, but it, if you are a younger Giants fan who has never seen that movie, like that is very Giants centric.
Yes.
Oh, it's like, it is a j- it's about the Giants.
Yeah.
It's about Giants players.
Yeah.
And it's about- Yeah.
Yeah.
It's fabulous.
So that was the first one that came to mind.
Yeah.
Well, you pulled The Fan.
This isn't a movie, but I wanna give this a shout-out 'cause it's kinda like the San Andreas one.
But I, I played a video game a while back that takes place like 1,000 years in the future, and you can explore a half underwater decrepit Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Huh.
It was very cool.
That's coming at some point.
Yeah.
Like- Yeah hope this podcast might still be around.
I love the San Andreas thing.
It's like just such a- Well, I really like it because it kind of solidifies Oracle Park being a integral part of just the San Francisco landscape.
You see these movies in New York and Yankee Stadium gets destroyed or I've even seen like the Phillies ballpark- Yeah or the Mets ballpark get blown up in movies or aliens attack it or whatever.
And Oracle Park getting its moments just like, yeah, 'cause that's a big part of the San Francisco energy.
Yeah.
It's like here's the Golden Gate Bridge, here's Oracle.
nothing else about that movie makes sense, but- that scene is, that scene's good.
The, the Rock's like a helicopter dude and he ca- can barely fit into the helicopter.
The boat like basic- the boat thing just, you know.
You have tankers turning over and The Rock's like, "Here I go."
Just completely incredible.
Incredible.
Yeah.
Incredible.
I also want to mention, Alex, there is a Giants related Tom Hanks movie in production called The Comebacker starring Tom Hanks and Bad Bunny.
The, the book it's based on, here's a quick synopsis.
"A jaded San Francisco Giants beat reporter, Lionel, finds his passion for baseball reignited by a new pitcher."
Do I count as a jaded San Francisco Giants beat reporter?
Maybe.
If you are, then you're getting played by Tom Hanks.
This is I love him, but, I think like is this about Henry?
So it's like- however.
He's, I love Henry.
He's one of my friends.
I, you know, non-zero chance we can get Tom Hanks on the pod now.
Yeah.
Now I do, I, I saw- Zero rumors that they might change the team.
The book is- based on the, is the Giants.
I really hope they don't and we can get Tom on.
Colin's a huge Giants fan.
Another Jedi.
Like, so it, it, I, you know, his son's a huge fan.
He was at spring training.
Yeah.
I, they gotta stick with the Giants.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
All right.
We're going long.
We've got Buster Posey interview queued up for you guys.
Let's real quick, Alex, talk Giants versus Pirates.
When I looked, we had no announced starters.
Do you know anything better?
It is I got this here.
It's Robbie Ray versus-A guy named Carmen Magginski All right that's his name.
Nailed it.
He's actually been in the big leagues for four years, so I shouldn't say a guy named.
But I, I think he's, he's supposed to be We still have TBA, so I'm pulling this up off of, off of the probables.
Okay.
and then Landon Roop versus Ashcroft, Braxton Ashcroft, not Graham, on Saturday.
And then Bubba Chanware versus Tyler Malley on Sunday.
Paul Skeens is pitching as we record, I think, so- Great take this chance.
We don't have to worry about that.
So the two biggest wins for the Giants this week are Paul Skeens pitching today and the Giants being off Thursday.
Pirates are, man, as we just said, game in progress right now, but at the bottom or towards the bottom of the NL Central.
But that division overall is, has been strong this year.
I think they all have winning records.
Yeah, they're two games over.
Yeah.
So they're it has been, they've been fine.
It's just their division.
Yes.
Very strong division.
We already mentioned Joey Bart earlier.
I did a, a quick dive into seeing what people are saying about him.
He's, he's not hitting, although I, I saw one article about him just crushing it in the ABS world.
So maybe that's one place- Oh, wow he gets to drag it out.
Yeah, I think it's, he was hitting 196 when I checked earlier today.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
yeah.
Not But- Any other, familiar faces or shout-outs to the Pirates before we head on to Buster Posey?
You know, it's not as Giant-centric as it used to be.
Yeah, there were Ryan Reynolds is there.
Oh, the guy I found, I was looking at it, their assistant hitting coach is Christian Marrero, who's the brother of Chris Marrera- Marrero, who came up recently, I believe, when you put together your list of guys who went crazy at spring training.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
He was an all-timer.
Okay.
Great.
Well, if you run into Christian Marrero, give him that shout-out.
We'll never forget that spring.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
With that, here's Alex and Kylan sitting down with Giants president of baseball operations, future Hall of Famer, all of the above.
All of the above.
I will say we s- it was Monday before the first game of the series, so.
Okay.
you know, three days dated, but I think still pretty important and evergreen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
With that, here's Buster.
Buster, appreciate the time as always.
unfortunately, we're sitting down after what was a tough road trip for the team.
You've been through some moments like that as a player, but now from your vantage point in the front office, like, what's the most frustrating part about having to sit back and watch what just transpired during the last six games?
I mean, I think the biggest difference for me is you still, as a player, felt like you could impact the game- Mm-hmm and you could get, you go the next day even if it was a tough game and, have a chance to help the team win.
And now, you know, like everybody else, just kind of watching.
obviously, there's some different things we can do, which we have done, with, changing the roster up, and, you know, mixing some things up, try to jumpstart the offense a little bit.
But yeah, it's not, it's not the same amount of control as a player.
Yeah.
Is there anything specifically that stuck out to you about some of the issues with the play that, that you want to address first and foremost?
I mean, you know, offense is, is obviously the one that we're all pointing to and, and rightfully so.
you know, the biggest thing for me, and I've said it, been saying it for a while now, it feels like our guys are trying to go get everything back in one swing or one at bat.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm just a firm believer that you really just have to compartmentalize and try your best to chip away.
Um- Nope, yeah and, and hopefully that's a place that we're gonna get.
And look, in all, all reality, we're going to need our veteran players, that hit in the middle of our order to, to help lead us out of this.
I mean- Yeah we're going to have to have them be productive for us to get out of this funk that we're in.
Mm-hmm.
on the bright side, at least to some degree, a lot of people are really excited about seeing Bryce Eldridge make his 2026, debut with the Big League club.
When did you decide it was time for him to come up?
Was that as a result of the team play?
Or, like, was there anything building up for him to where you felt like this was really a good time, where he's been playing really well?
I think it's a little bit of both.
Sure.
first and foremost, it was, watching his at bats and watching him continue to- Yeah to really play good baseball.
I mean, talk about the offense, but I think what I've been most impressed about with him, you know, watching him closely the last year and a half, is how hard he's worked his defense.
Not nec- We'll, we'll see how much defensive time that he gets out there, but, put up some good numbers in Triple-A and, and hopefully, again, one of those guys that can, can be productive and, and kind of give us a dif- a boost offensively.
Buster, I know if Tony makes the lineup, but for you, when you add Bryce to this mix, when your best hitter has been your DH, Casey Schmidt, yeah, how do you envision this going, and is it gonna be something where some of the veterans maybe have to take a little bit of a step back?
Yeah, that's how, that's how we envision it.
you know, Casey has been playing well, and I don't think he should be punished, because others have not played well.
So yeah, it's, it's gonna be a little bit of mixing and matching and, and trying to, you know, get some, matchups that are favorable for us, with Casey in there.
And, you know, he's shown in the past that he can move around the field and play some different positions.
So right now, that's how I see it transpiring.
I heard a story in the spring about the trade deadline last year when you were looking at Jesus Rodriguez for the first time, and it's a really interesting swing.
And you were kind of like, "This is maybe a little different," and pretty quickly you, you fell in love with the bat.
Do you remember the first time you saw him and, and what you liked about him last year?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I just, I watched a ton of video, and what stood out to me is, I mean, he just sprayed the ball all over the field.
pretty poised at the plate.
Had the ability to adjust.
You know, you'll see him sometimes be fooled, but- Yeah he'll, he can keep his hands back enough to hook the ball down the left field line.
Then he'll shoot a ball the other way.
Think there's a chance that power maybe comes as he gets a little bit older.
But, had a chance to talk to him briefly today when he got here, and main message was just keep, keep doing what you're doing.
You know, I think he's a, he's a pretty smart and savvy guy, and understands I mean, if you go and look at his minor league numbers throughout the course of his career- Yeah he's always hit.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
And he's working on, you know, stuff behind the plate more and more.
So a guy that, a guy that I'm really excited to see.
Again, can he provide us a little bit of a, a spark?
You have him here now.
I know Suzak's anxious to get back out there.
What does this mean for Patrick Bailey, and, and does he need to pick it up a little bit more now w- with where he's at offensively?Well, I mean, I, I think I'll, I'll answer it in a way that's similar to how I think about our offensive players need to go about, their job right now.
I think for us, we're, we're really just gonna have to go day to day and, and, and evaluate day to day.
And so- Really I think Patty would tell you that he knows that there's more in there, more capability in there, with the bat.
Unfortunately, we haven't seen it, so we're gonna have to, you know, get some different looks right now.
When it comes to managing that lineup day to day, like you mentioned- Yeah do you consider giving some of those veterans that you kind of pointed out wanting to lead the group, like Willie Adames and Rafael Devers, or maybe the guys who haven't hit the way you hoped they would, an extra day off here and there, or how do you attack that lineup with some of those vets who haven't maybe reached what you guys know they're capable of?
It's, it's challenging, 'cause you appreciate they all wanna be in there every day.
Of course.
but at the same time, I got to live it, and sometimes when you're off, a little bit of a reset is a good thing.
so yeah, it's a consideration.
I think that we have to be considerate about being strategic, like can you give a guy a day off before an off day, and now maybe he's getting two.
so yeah, we're taking all that into consideration.
What do you think in general about the lack of walks and kind of the walk rate being down across the board?
That is usually something that stabilizes a little bit earlier in a season.
I, I guess how concerned are you about what you're seeing in that department?
Well, when you're missing pitches in the heart of the plate, I think it's gonna go hand-in-hand with the walk rate being down.
If, if, if a staff's not fearing you and not f- not fearful of missing in the heart of the plate, I think naturally walk rates are gonna be lower.
Mm-hmm.
flipping over to the pitching staff, Buster, you know, obviously there was a lot of frustration about a couple blown saves against Philadelphia.
A closer has not officially been named.
Ryan Walker's had some opportunities.
We just saw Keaton Wynn get one, and unfortunately didn't go the way he hoped.
What's your philosophy in, in, you know, evaluating that closer role?
Do you feel like you're any closer?
Do you feel like there's a guy in this bullpen who can really take ownership of that?
Yeah, I mean, my philosophy as much as anything, of course you wanna look at results, but you wanna look at body language on the mound.
You wanna under- you wanna look and see how a guy handles the success.
You wanna see how he handles the failures.
the bullpen's been a bright spot for us.
You know, as you, as you mentioned, it was a tough, couple of tough ones, two or three tough ones on the road.
Yeah.
but yeah, I, I, I also would say I, I trust Tony and I trust his staff as far as what they're seeing, what they're hearing in the dugout, what kind of work guys are getting in before games, after games, and, you know, trust their ability as coaches to make the right decisions there.
Yeah.
Bullpen's been great overall.
You know, one thing we saw from the bullpen on that trip a couple times, just guys were throwing the same pitch over and over and over again.
As a former catcher in this role, I, I know you've tried not to be involved in the clubhouse that much.
do you have to get involved with something like that, or how do you handle that when you see that?
no, I mean, our, our staff's on that, so it's not something that, that I have to, to jump in on.
And, yeah, it's a, it's a, it is a tricky one.
I, I have played that position as well, and I try not to, not to overanalyze too much.
but yeah, I think that's probably some sequences there that, that we wish we had back.
I'll finish with this.
You started with a Bryce question.
I'm, I'm gonna finish with one, we just talked to him about the pressure, and you said, "I'm not feeling it."
But I, I know you probably didn't want him to come up at a time when he maybe has to feel like he has to be a savior.
Did you tell him anything about that and, you know, just go out and play your game, don't worry about trying to fix the lineup by yourself or...?
I mean, for being 21 years old, I, I believe if he told you that, I, I kinda believe him.
I mean, is he feeling some pressure?
Yeah, I mean, he's, he's feeling natural pressure that everybody feels when they get to the big leagues.
But, he seems to have a really mature way about him.
And, you know, we'll see.
We'll see how it shakes out for him, but I'm excited, I think, like everybody else, to watch him.
And, and, look, I mean, this, this is a team sport.
You gotta have 26 guys out there that are playing good baseball.
The reality is you are gonna need your, your productive players to, to step up and play good baseball, and we have those guys on this roster.
We just haven't gotten it yet, and hopefully Bryce will understand as well.
It's like he's just gonna hopefully be a big piece of, the productive offense moving forward.
All right.
Thank you, Buster.
You got it.
Thanks so much.
Appreciate it.
You got it.
