Braves Country Today 2.22.24 | Atlanta Braves and MLB Spring Training Begins | MLB Postseason 2024

[Music] e [Music] what [Music] d [Music] a [Music] he [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh they're here how the hell are you Braves country the Atlanta Braves have woken from their long winter's nap little longer than we wanted last year and we are ready for spring training baseball and we're we're going to get you set today and we will be with you throughout the entire 2024 Atlanta Braves season today we're going to hear from Brian Snicker we're gonna hear from Michael Harris on the addition of Chris Sale we're going to hear from Chris Sale and got a couple other things in store here on Braves country today your pregame show for Atlanta Braves baseball for 2024 you can find find us right here on Braves country radio Braves country today will come your way just before first pitch of your Atlanta Braves just hop on YouTube best place to find us and we'll be hitting you live Braves country tonight will be the postgame show new for this year and we'll have the call-in show we'll have the phone lines open up if anybody wants to chime in or even if they just want to put put it in the chat on our YouTube channel we'll respond to those as well and we will be bringing all to you here on WQ 99.1 FM all season long it we'll be on your other Affiliates but you'll always hear us reference WQ so we will be here for all of your Braves action now let's get into what the Atlanta Braves are looking at here in 2024 looking at couple of different things that first of all I do want to go through the pakota projections for the Atlanta Braves and we're going to go go through the National League East today of your Atlanta Braves the Philadelphia Phillies the Mets the Marlins the Nationals we'll hit up a couple of the other big contenders on just where they're at on the picota rankings where they're being projected as of right now wins and losses it kind of gives you an idea kind of a barometer obviously these things are not 100% accurate but it does give you an idea that if a team stays healthy how look we all know that baseball is 1,000% all about the numbers and this is kind of it kind of gives you a breakdown gives you an idea we're going to go over the percentages of the projections on who should win each division also the playoff percent numbers those are interesting because there's some teams out there you're really going to kind of take a almost a double take you're like really they're not shoe inss but you're Atlanta brav are being projected as shoin that doesn't mean everything we've seen teams like the New York Mets last year they were supposed to be shins though we predicted and it ended up being so that they were being overvalued I don't think that's the case with the Atlanta Braves I don't think it's the case with the Los Angeles Dodgers I think they're both being highly valued because of the depth of the rosters now obviously you can't project injuries you can't project how a team is going to accept certain players but there's a lot of continuity on both of those teams and then other teams are looking back to you know to bounce back what are the St Louis Cardinals going to look like can the Cincinnati Reds take that next step has Milwaukee falling off we're going to talk about all that on Braves country today today and leading up to opening day as we will take you step by step we're going to do divisions we're going to do predictions all of that is coming up this month and I cannot wait to get it going all right first up on the docket today this is a clip of Billy Ripken and Matt vasgersian on MLB talking about the addition of Chris Sale and what that could mean for the Atlanta Braves take a listen entering his 14th season he's going to be 35 at the end of March but in his own words feeling stronger and healthier than he has in a long time in the spring and if that the chis sale that the Braves got heads up rest of the National League what I think is cool about that is because look the Braves have been throwing a lot of people out there on the bump over the past few years and we like them and then all a sudden okay one starting pitcher goes away then another starting pitcher goes away whether injury whatever it may be could it be that Chris S comes back feeling good and actually answers a lot of those problems and says give me the ball 30 times because I would love to see it I I don't think there's anybody more fun to watch than when this dude's on the bump and he's right yeah there's a uniqueness about that delivery he's slanging it he's throwing hard he's got a huge breaking ball to go with it so I think it would be really cool to see him get 30 starts I'm goinging for it totally agree uh I think he's going to be kind of rejuvenated as well not that he wasn't with good players and with the good team previously but he's walking into an All-Star team I mean Atlanta Braves are absolutely loaded its World Series are bust for this squad not just let's get one of the postseason spots and work into a wild card you know when you when you're a good player and you've won previously you could speak to this better than I I've heard great athletes say this you go to a pre-existing great system a Vanguard brand yeah and you find a different gear and I think Chris s's gonna be really good it would be nice cuz like I said when he's right I mean he's as good to watch as any pitcher ever he does it different l so there you have those two talking about look I I look obviously we have High Hopes here in Braves country and that would not Shock anybody anybody who dips in here who may not even be a Braves fan they they will understand that we have high hopes and rightfully so this has been the best team in baseball for the last few years and we only have won the one Championship to show for it and honestly the team that won the championship is the worst of the three and you can make the argument the worst of the four it's hard for me to quantify 2020 CU it really was just an outlier it's not a it wasn't a real season no one will ever look at 2020 as a real championship year other than Dodger fans and okay I get that if I was a Dodger fan I'd probably be beat that drum as well when you only have won that one since 1988 of course you're G to go whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa but it's Honest Engine the rest of of the league doesn't look at 2020 as a championship league you know we've talked about this before won't get back into it but the NFL is the only one that kind of felt like it the rest of it seemed a little uh little discombobulated because you just didn't have the fans and there wasn't the travel and whatnot but we set that aside we go into this season you look at the championship run in 2021 which was literally lightning in a bottle you look at 2022 where they ran down the Mets and they were the best team in baseball ran out of gas and then 2023 they tried everything to make sure that team wouldn't run out of gas and it didn't work the Phillies flat out beat the bra you cannot argue against that the Phillies beat us they outplayed us they weren't the better team Phillies know that and they're going to take Jabs and they're going to be talking smack but hey that's what rivalries are about and that's why it's going to feel so damn good to knock them out the box this year but you look at this team I can tell you right now mat not many teams not just in Major League Baseball not many teams in sports would trade what the Atlanta Braves have coming into 2024 no matter how you slice it we've got the talent to win it all but just like any other sport you got to step up and you got to make those plays you got to make sure when it counts you're there but before we get to any of that and I do worry about us putting car before the horse is a real worry for me because anytime you go into a season and look I I like the idea that Spencer Strider saying World Series a bus I get that the World Series or bus thing doesn't bother me at all as long as the focus is still on the regular season and then when we get to the postseason when we've punched our ticket then we stay laser focused at that point but you can be playing as well as you want to leaving September heading into October it's not could do you any good if you didn't qualify for the playoffs to begin with that's number one with the bullet you've got to have your eyes on the prize the eyes on the prize is win the division and I know that a lot of folks are gonna have this Theory you just get ready for it their theory is going to be we're better off not winning the division playing in that first round and staying sharp and I would agree with you if we were talking about a video game but boys and girls we're talking about athletes going through the grind of 162 Game season and if you get to choose you're always going to choose getting that buy it's also not a given that if you win the division you're going to get the buy two of the three division winners get the buy but the other reason why it would be imperative to win your division is because you're going to have home field advantage so even if you're in a situation let's say there's a team in the National League central that runs away with that has a ridiculous record we we'll just say the Chicago CBS right no one sees it coming holy cow they're on fire they win 104 games 105 games and they and the Dodgers have the buy meaning we would have to play the first round but you would get it home if you won the division now you would also get that situation if you were the first wild card I still think that there should be something to the receding and you're not going to convince me otherwise there's no reason why you cannot recede in the Major League Baseball postseason they don't all of a sudden I'll give you for instance let's say the division winners are I'm going to go by the pakota rankings it would be the easiest way to do it let's say the division winners are Atlanta St Louis LA and Atlanta and La get the the two buys in St Louis is going to face at home the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies are going to face the Chicago Cubs at home and that's how it plays out the winners of those two series they don't just jump to the next series so in other words if one series is swept and the other series is a three- game series then all of a sudden just start start playing the games they wait till the next round for it to begin so there's no reason why let's just say there's an upset and let's say the Chicago Cubs upset the Philadelphia Phillies but St Louis beats Arizona the team with the best record should get the team with the with the worst record and it should happen in the American League as well perfect example was last year when the Braves best record in baseball had to face the Phillies even though know the Arizona Diamondbacks had upset Milwaukee they need to change that they need to fix that and what you would have gotten is one of two things you would either have gotten the Dodgers versus the Braves because who knows how how that series plays out in a seven game series for the NLCS which would have been phenomenal or and I do believe the Braves would have beaten Arizona I don't know how in the world I watched that series I did some of that series I don't know how in the world Arizona got off the mat and fought back and basically the Philadelphia Phillies choked it away but I do believe the Braves would have taken out Arizona and so then you would have either had Braves versus the Dodgers or Braves versus the Phillies in the NLCS and that is a win-win for Major League Baseball because this the ratings would have been much better because you would have had the best team in baseball best record in baseball going up against either the Dodgers or Phillies either way it would have been phenomenal instead what you got was the best series the best matchup of the entire postseason probably was Braves Phillies and we only got a five game set that's not I'm not with that and I'll be honest with you I would like to see the nlds go to seven games I'm fine with the first round staying at three I don't feel like you can let it just drag on but you could go to seven games with the nlds seven games with the NLCS and seven games with the World Series and you could either a go back to the one game playing or B do what I've been saying to do because I really hate the G idea the one game play in because just like the five game series in the division series it's not right when you're talking about baseball to let it come down to such a small capsule when we play this sport with the depth of your starting pitching the depth of your Bullpen all that takes comes into place but once again if you're going to keep it to the five either way you need to make sure that the first round is a mother to get out of and I've said this once I'll say it again until they wake up if you do not change this you're going to have more of these goofy types of things happen because if you went to my plan which would be play a double header on the second game of the series so let's say for instance we'll just take the Philly Chicago scenario Philly and Chicago would play Tuesday night to get it kicking and then Wednesday you'd have a double header and obviously whoever won game one would have the advantage going into game two but also when you come out of Wednesday you get that one- day travel day and then you're back on it by Friday you could do the same same thing in the other league you could play Wednesday and then double header on Thursday give them the one- day travel day and then you're back at it on Saturday and the main reasoning for that not only does the intensity ramp it up because if you're watching the games and you're a fan you're like dude we got to get out of this we cannot let this go to three games but then the other thing is when you come out of there let's say if you go to three games guess what your bull pin's depleted you're starting pitching's depleted etc etc etc and the team waiting for you who earn it all year long will they have a true Advantage now okay back to the Chris Sale let's hear from him talking about coming into this season for the first time in a long time he's healthy it's been a long time so I'm again this was fun I went into the offseason I had a lot of fun this off season being able to play baseball and do things that I haven't been able to do you thr bpin here early in the offseason and uh I was supposed to throw 20 and you end up throwing you know 33 34 and it's like haven't been able to do this so I get to like 20 it's like I'm still having fun doing it so I just I want to keep doing it so um you know this is the first time I gone into an offseason without dealing with something since 2018 like that so you I appreciate where I'm at I appreciate all the people that helped me get to where I'm at just looking forward to this great opportunity ahead of us I never don't feel a myself I've always been me so um my expectations don't waver uh I expect to do what I've always done compete to the highest level so a little bit older but still got it in there I do get intense I like to compete and I hate to lose so all those things kind of slam them together with uh with high pressure situations uh sometimes you get a little off the rails but uh i' like to think I can dial it in when I need to hopefully that you know lifts guys up around me look I might be drinking the Kool-Aid but I'm telling you right now Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves is going to be a much bigger deal when we look back on this in October November of this year than what a lot of folks everyone wanted to break the internet when sh Otani went to the Dodgers he cannot pitch until 2025 everybody wanted to do back flips and go over the moon when Yamamoto went to the Dodgers as well prediction the LA Dodgers it is going to be a grind of a season because of the absolute chaos the media circus that's going to be following the Dodgers around and it's going to start on March 20th actually GNA start a few days before that because they're going to be getting over to Korea getting ready for the opening series between San Diego and the Dodgers by the way if you are up and you're at them and you're at work or whatever we are going to carry the game uh uh long story short talked to a couple of folks and they want to carry the game and we're going to get it we're going to do it it's a 605 in the morning first pitch but I'm used to getting up at that time nowadays so uh really isn't that big a deal I said yeah we'll do it happen to be off from a couple of day gigs that day so uh we're going to do it and we are we we've been expanding if you've been paying attention to the Braves country radio YouTube channel we have been expanding our upcoming broadcast schedule real quick February 28th 105 first pitch that is Wednesday Phillies Braves let's get it pitch by pitch play bypl your Atlanta Brave spring training now if more options pop out we will add to them so my best advice would be if you want to catch these games I know look a lot of folks want to listen to the spring training games when they're at work and whatnot whether they're just throwing the earbud in or they've got it on the on their uh on their desk at work we are going to add them as they become available the Atlanta bravs have been incredibly slow at adding games that they are going to broadcast personally so we're we're waiting for those to be put in stone but they're not planning on broadcasting their games on TV until late in March but what we are doing is we are grabbing games that are being broadcasted on other outlets and we're going to bring them to you that way so you'll still be able to see the games if you want to hear the Braves call come to us okay so we're going to do February 28th Wednesday Phillies a few days later March 2nd Saturday Toronto Blue Jays 105 first pitch then that following Thursday March 7th against the Red Sox 105 first pitch and like I said we're going to be adding others but as of right now those are the ones we've put in stone and then March 20th 605 first pitch opening Series of major league baseball Dodgers and Padres in Soul Korea it's one week before the Braves and the rest of Major League Baseball have their official opening day which is Thursday March 28th and yes we will bring those games to you but then the following day 5 first pitch we're going to do Dodgers Padre's again and the plan right now assuming it gets broadcasted in some fashion we're going to do a double header that day on the 21st that Thursday Yankees Braves 105 first pitch we just haven't made a card on it for YouTube because it hasn't been put in stone but I would think between Atlanta and New York Market one of them is going to carry it on video they've been really slow to add these I think a lot of it to be honest honest with you is got to do with the broadcast contract situation that's going on with balet sports Diamond Sports however you want to say it Diamond Sports was the company that's uh going into bankruptcy of course B is B is the brand that you see on your TV but it's it's all under Diamond Vision um yeah so th those are the games so far but we are planning on doing several this spring we're just waiting for them to unfold we will be back in a Flash here on Braves country radio hey Braves country this is M mcke with Braves country radio we are bringing you pitch by pitch play byplay of your Atlanta Braves all year long please like And subscribe today it's free and it helps us bring you more of the game we all love Braves country radio your home for the classic call Braves country baseball so back to the chis sale this is what I thought this was cool this is what Michael Harris had to say about the Braves being able to add someone as great as Chris Sail and then I'll get back to my point on why I think the Dodgers are in for a long season he's he's phenomenal I mean he's he's done so much in his career um I don't know how he got him but that's just Alex doing his job he's he's really good at doing that and uh he always finds a way so um yeah just just getting the guy like that and some of the other pieces we got are are huge for this team that people probably would notice but yeah uh getting a guy like can can really give us that extra Edge I think a lot of folks who probably don't watch a lot of American League Baseball don't realize how special sale is you're you're gonna fall in love with them Braves country I'm just I I guarantee it I would be shocked if you don't become enormous Chris Sale fans I've been a fan of his long before he even came to the Red Sox I've just been following his career career I play a lot of fantasy baseball so I pay attention to teams players that are not in Braves country and I've never really had him in any of my fantasy leagues but I've always admired his his ability to go to the bump and his ability for that that swing and miss and he has got a competitor's Edge he's every bit the reason without Chris S there is no 2018 World Series championship for the Boston Red Sox and I know they got caught with the with the uh the Apple phone thing it wasn't nearly as bad as the the same kind of cheating that the 2017 Astros did but the 2018 Red Sox still have their own dark clouds over that Championship but you put all that aside what happened on the field Chris Sail first of all that whole Apple phone thing that was all to do with the offense that had nothing to do with the pitching but that that Chris Sale year I mean he got the final out in the World Series he was a starting pitcher it's because you just could not hit him and you look at what he did or has done in his career and look his biggest problem has been staying healthy but when he has been healthy he has been damn near well we're not going to say unhitable but nasty very difficult to deal with obviously left-handed hitters are going to have a issue going against sale and think about the possibility if you get into October if we have a healthy Chris Sail we have a healthy Max freed that lines up really nice if you go up against the Dodgers in the NLCS there's a lot of left-handed sticks Freddy Freeman Shani and then of course if they go up against the Phillies Bryce Harper hits from the left side of the plate and that can't be an accident that we go out first of all we went out and got left ters Galore with Aaron bummer we got mat it coming back and you had Chris S you think it's an accident that we pinpointed a left-handed pitcher I don't think it is very little that Alex anthopoulos does is on accident but you look at Chris S real quick and what he's done in his career first of all overall he's 120 and 80 with a 3.1 ER he's had 1780 in pitched with 2189 strikeouts in his whip this is one of the best things about it his whip 1.04 now his numbers when he was younger obviously were better but I've got some Red Sox buddies and they watch quite a bit of his games I'm actually going back and watching Chris Sail ball games that he pitched for the Red Sox last year because I want to get an idea what what what was going on last year and yeah you can sit there and you can look at this you can look at that but Honest Engine what jumps off the page is what did he actually do and I've been impressed so far but I'm still in the middle of watching those games but you look at what he did last year yeah it didn't it didn't blow you away but remember he was coming back from yet another injury he did throw up 102 Innings pitched you like that and he did also in those 102 Innings pitched he carried a 11.0 strikeouts per nine his career is 11.1 strikeouts per nine now realize something as of right now it's that is an all-time record Major League Baseball it's a good chance it isn't stay there because for it to stay there he would have to continue to go just a tick above where he was at last year at 11 but hey he's got the stuff but you just figure as a guy ages it may not equate but if you go back to where he was pre-injury 2009 19 2018 2017 that was really his wheelhouse of of just greatness Chris S in those three years averaged over 13 strikeouts per nine I think what you got from him last year is more indicative of what you're going to get on the swing and Miss at this stage in his career but hell I'll take 11 to 12 anywhere in that neighborhood anything north of 11 the next few years strikeouts per nine are you kidding me let's go sign me up right now prior to the 2020 season where he missed because of Tommy John surgery he had that Tommy John I had to go back and look it up to make sure but he had the Tommy John it was announced in early March this is right during the pandemic beginning of the pandemic so he missed all of 20120 and then he missed a good portion of 2021 2021 he came back and he had 42 Innings pitched but that's where you've seen it fall off since since the Tommy John surgery he's average 11 7.9 in 2022 but realized he only pitched five innings the reason he pitched five innings he had some he's had some goofy injuries falling off a bicycle I mean just goofy injuries so 2023 really a season where he battled a little bit of injury but he did give you 102 Innings pitched he ends that season Once Again with 11.0 strikeouts per nine just below his career average of 11.1 and the 4.3 ER a those don't blow you away but his ER Plus was 106 meaning he's he's a little bit above average most of the numbers point to the fact including his 1.13 whip most of the numbers point to the fact that because you got to realize something and I look I've said the same thing about Aaron bummer coming over from the white socks both of these left-handers are coming from two of the worst defensive baseball teams in Major League Baseball in 2023 so when you you talk about the whip which is the walks plus hits divided by Innings pitch and you talk about the erra there's an expectation that it will drve that if he went out there and Pitch the same number that he pitched last year this year same number of pitches Innings Etc that his erra and his whip would actually be lower because the Braves defense is much better we all know Braves always have one of the top defenses in all of baseball I don't think that's going to change nothing has really changed so adding Jerry Kellick at left field and from all things that have pointed Kellick is a much better defensive option than obviously Eddie Rosario was so we look forward to seeing what Chris S can do what about Ronald aunia Jr and getting him an extension so Ronald aunia Jr he was asked about being a lifetime Brave getting an extension but just realize something he did not bring this up this is this is a well they let just about anybody in the clubhouse nowadays so this is someone down there at spring training I don't know who asked it because they didn't identify themselves during the video but the point is this could be anybody trying to get clicks you have people that get into the locker room remember the whole situation with Aria and the Phillies and all that that unfolded well that had to do with the fact that they just let anybody in the locker room nowadays so he's answering the question basically he's just getting to the point of them asking him about being a lifetime Brave also remember Ronald K Jr has five more seasons left he will be through 2028 November 2028 before any of this is even necessarily a problem now I think the Braves would like to get him extended don't get me wrong but you got five years left on a very club-friendly deal so there could be a couple of ways you look at it we'll talk about that in a second but 5 years left it's a long time to figure things out he has his contract through 26 which a lot of people are focusing on but there's two Club options 27 and 28 so five more seasons here's aunia and his interpreter on the matter it's not a secret that I want to be brave for life and uh um yeah just that's that's my hope I hope I can stay here forever and hopefully we can you know make that happen soon ronal Jr is not looking for anything other than another great season he just won the MVP he's very happy he's happy with the money that he's making per se but he's not an idiot he looks around and sees guys that are nowhere near his talent that are making a hell of a lot more money so I get that part of it couple of your beat writers always always Circle the 22 million that the Braves are trying to keep all their long-term players under Ronald Cuna Jr if we're going to keep him long term is going to be nowhere near that number I do believe just from things that you've heard over the last several months that aunia sits on a different level than all the other Braves and if he comes in and brings in much higher than a 22 million a year contract nobody in that Clubhouse is going to be complaining and they've got the advantage now too because most of these guys are locked up and when you do kick that door and I look is it going to be this year I don't know it' be it' be great to hear but realistically the Braves can't kick in the door this season and affect his money this season because they would go skyrocketing through the threshold they're trying to stay under we've talked about it before between six to 7 million is about where we're at you go any higher than that adding to the contracts that they already have for this season if you if you do that not only are you g to pay a much higher tax which obviously the brass is going to care about that but also they would lose a high draft pick and the Braves aren't about that so if a deal gets done I could see yeah I could see it happening either this pre-season spring training I could see it happening during later in the year but the money wouldn't kick in until at the very earliest 2025 I think they would try to kick that can down the road I think what they would try to do is do a deal where he's got the next five years at the rate that he's at or somewhere in that neighborhood and then the money would get much higher as it went on because once again we've talked about this in a few years maybe sooner than later the Braves are going to get out from under that terrible television contract be able to renegotiate and then at that point a lot more money's coming in and I'm telling you people look at us as some just above mid-market team not quite large Market we get out from under that we are going to be up there with the big boys because it's not just the size of Atlanta which is a very large metro area but everybody knows whoever ponies up to carry the Atlanta Braves on a season by season game after game after game they are going to back the truck up and rightfully so because they know that Braves country is Nationwide it's worldwide we get people to come into Braves country radio all the time commenting on all of the place that they're living and yes all fan bases have that realistically but to the numbers that I see Braves country radio Braves country is on a different level it just is a lot of it has to do with the fact that we grew up with TBS you didn't have to be from the southeast you didn't have to be in the Atlanta Market to grow up Braves fan I grew up in North Florida and other than trips heading to see family driving through Georgia it wasn't until I was a young man that I actually went to the state of Georgia and spent any time but I knew my Atlanta Braves and I've met people all over this great world folks that grew up watching the Braves on TBS or listening to Braves Radio way back in the day and they could pick up the am radio signal all over the southeast so when the Braves do have a chance to change their provider and it's coming to an end with the bankruptcy Atlanta Braves are going to be in good position and I think that's more likely once they get that part figured out then they're going to be able to have a clear path to getting guys like aunia locked up if it doesn't come earlier then later we may lose guys like Max free but don't worry the Braves are not going to turned into some poverty stricken franchise they've got a huge following and of course not to mention the fact hey every night truest Park that place is rocking let's listen to Brian Snicker before we jam out of here we will be back in a Flash here on Braves country radio Braves country I'm m McGee join us for pitch by pitch playby play the classic ball of Braves country Bas we're bringing you Atlanta Braves baseball all year long jump into our pregame show Braves country today just before first pitch stick around for the postgame show Braves country tonight we will open up the phone lines react to your calls or your comments all year long that's Braves country radio pitch by pitch playby play your home for the classic h of bra Brian Snicker on basically all the new toys and the old toys coming back Brian the amount of young Talent the Braves have brought in it seems like every year there's there's more and more who are you excited to see up close here this spring you know what there's a lot of them I'll tell you what um one of them is not the young ones I'm I'm kind of really excited to see some of our old ones too you know Chris sales new in Camp um see Charlie Morton again um Jared Kell Kellick is is a really interesting kid that I can't wait for games to start to watch him um and we got some of the new guys H walri that we you know took number one last year um guys really like him saw him throw a a side the other day um there there's we got a lot of nice looking young players in Camp and and a lot of depth I think which we always need with Chris S certainly watching him pitch so often over the years what do you see with him that that says he still got it and he still has a very good repertoire to get through the season well I think that was part of the the Allure I think um for us with him is how he ended the year last year and how he threw and and I say I'm watching this side and it's like man my God you know and this guy's a he's a champion he's a winner um I think he'll be great in our clubhouse because we have you know we have some young starters last year that had really really good years but you know what they're still learning and and I think guys like that and to have ch you know a guy like Charlie in there um is great for them it's it's a great sounding board for those guys I remember Charlie it was years ago when he was telling me he might he was close to considering retirement well I've checked my watch it's like 10 years later he's still here so I wonder what keeps him going do you think Brian well I don't I just I talked to him I watched him throw yesterday and I mean you look at you know how I think how driven Charlie is to do well and how he keeps himself going and takes care of himself and you look at him right now and I don't see a 40y old body that's for sure I mean um the guy is he's lean the ball still jumping out of his his hand and and Charlie you know he goes to the post I mean he doesn't miss starts he he takes the ball um and it's just it's something else I mean he just he I I got so much admiration and respect for him and just I love watching him do it and it's just it's it blows me away every time he takes that mound and I watch what he's doing it's it's just amazing to me with KCK is there a certain thought Brian that one of the reasons why you got him is that you take a player who's got that raw ability and put him in your culture and special things can happen no I I think that's you hit it right on the head I I think um and I talked to some of our guys who you know young guy our guys are still young too I mean um and to put him in our clubhouse and what our guys do how they go about it I think is going to be great for him I think it's you know because he's a young tooled guy that has great ability and and I think he'll thrive in our situation with our guys Ronald aunia Jr his history making season for him in 23 so what's what's next for him in 24 yeah you know what I mean he the kind of year that he had he might be the only guy I know that could go out and top what he did last year I I mean and um I know just seeing him at at FanFest a few weeks ago how excited he is and and uh you know and there's another driven young man that that just wants to continue to get better and and has a lot of fun playing which always say if I had that kind of ability I'd have fun playing too you know so um I'm excited to get him back in Camp because I know he's been working out he's in great shape and and um and raring to go there's a team training out in Arizona that's got a pretty good roster too and and when you saw those first images of sh Otani in a Dodger uniform as a manager and as a competitor what did you think no it's I I love last year when we played the Angels because I wanted to see him in person I hadn't seen him in person yet and he's a this unbelievable Talent um you know it's fun to play it's fun to play the best you know we consider ourselves as one of the best so um you know what it it's I just I worry about my 26 and and um and what we're doing because there's a lot of really good teams out there and a final question Brian looking into the future with Smith Scher what do you see as the last things he's worked working on this spring to round out his repertoire well I've already seen development and growth with with AJ I mean he was a young kid that came up I loved how he handled himself I think the mountain presence how he handled the situations is really good it's just about experience with this kid he's a total package got a huge uh huge ceiling and and um you know what i' I've already seen Improvement in him over the winter and what he's worked on um just watch inside so he's Another Kind one of our young guys that I can't wait till the games start to watch him go one thing we're going to have to get used to Braves country as you heard that interview the tongue bath of the Los Angeles Dodgers it's going to get to the point where non Dodger fans are going to lose their mind and I'm talking about fans of teams that live in big markets they're gonna say this is too much coverage I'm we're gonna hear Yankee fans definitely gonna hear Red Sox fans because they're in for a rough year but we're going to hear all of that in the very near future about how dude it's enough enough already it's enough I told you we're going to get into the pakota standings we're going to go and jump into it real quick not g to spend a lot of time on it uh this episode but next time with Braves country we're going to dive in and do a deep dive but I do want to hit the NL real quick before we end this today Atlanta Braves are expected right now at 100 and 100.7 wins so we we'll say 101 wins right I'm going to round these the Philadelphia Phillies 8 five wins talked about this before 16 wins in front in fact they've gained a decimal really interesting they I check them all the time the Mets 84 wins and that's being on the plus side because it's really 83.5 so really 83 I don't know if I buy that the Mets are going to be within two games or one game however you split it of the Philadelphia Phillies I really don't see that Miami 80 wins and Washington 57 one thing I'll say I think Washington could be a little better than their 5 it's 57.9 so we'll say 58 I really you look at what Washington is doing and they're building it the right way look they to tear it down because bums like Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper bailed on them guys like SoDo who started chirping and wanting out and they said you know what screw it we're gonna bust the whole thing down we just won the World Series this is 2019 heading into 20120 it really kick started because of the pandemic they honest understand that was the best time to tear it down and Washington's got some good very fun to watch Young Players the Braves are off and you want to catch a game and you're kind of bored and you're like well who should I watch just watch that Washington team they're gonna be a fun team to watch they're going to score some runs they're going to be little difficult to keep up with the pitching because you normally don't make a huge commitment to your Bullpen until to your until that's the final piece and then of course the starting pitching they've got some young guys but all in all it's it's going to be a bit of a struggle but I think there's a much better chance that Washington clears the 58 win mark than the Mets grabbed to 84 look out west for the Dodgers 102 so they have they continue to climb in these picota rankings pakota projections excuse me that's that's what they're officially called Arizona 85 San Francisco 81 watch out for the Giants watch out for the Giants they are going to be better than advertised San Diego 80 I don't know if get there San Diego's in a Cell now mode they are in a they they're one of these teams where I don't think it's going to be a full-blown rebuild it's more going to be a reshuffling in the deck and they'll probably get a really aggressive next offseason remember they just lost their owner passed away it's a long long way for them to get back to where they could be like really competitive we're talking about Championship League competitive but they've got some cornerstones that they can build on and Colorado is most likely going to be Dreadful again they just they're 57 I I just there's nothing about Colorado that Wows you their pitching is a long way away they they've got a few young pieces but all in all it's just it's not happening real quick in the NL Central and we're going to do a dive into the NL Central in very near future but Cardinals are projected to win that division Cubs Milwaukee Cincinnati and then Pittsburgh pulling up the rear I think what you could see with the NL Central is you could see it being a three- team Race three going in three wide St Louis Chicago and Cincinnati even though they're projecting Milwaukee I'm not buying it they traded off Corbin Burns I also think they're going to be sellers at the deadline but you can never totally count out the Milwaukee Brewers because much like the Tampa Bay Rays of the American League they you can't name three guys on their roster and they find a way to win 85 Plus all right we're gonna get out of here y'all great seeing you Braves country please like And subscribe Braves country radio we'll be here pitch by pitch play by play of your Atlanta Braves all season [Applause] long [Music] oh [Music] oh