Tomahawk'd 52 - Braves Need Another Big June

our beloved 8% hard AF Seltzer is now live in over 1,200 locations across the United States we're now available in Florida Georgia Alabama Tennessee North Carolina Ohio and Texas go to harder. comom today click on the store locator enter your city or zip and find the nearest location closest to you [Applause] welcome to drinking Bros presented by ghostbed.com what is up welcome back to Tomahawk I am your host Rob Fox joined as always by Dan Holloway we're coming at you recording on a Wednesday dropping on a Friday so the gambling pics will be for the weekend but I was going to say we're coming at you after kind of an annoying loss last night uh Braves dropped one late to the Cubs on uh I guess I just do National broadcast on TBS now on Tuesdays um I don't know I watched it on uh MLB TV yeah that was like flipping through the channels I was like what the Braves are on why are the Braves on cable and then I was like all right Frank H was the uh callor guy uh I don't remember the I didn't watch that one I watched the Braes broadcast it was on M I should have watched the other one I mean I like the Braes broadcast I like it when Fran K's on there with Brian or whatever his name is but the new guy Nick kowsky he's terrible he's just it sounds like I could be listening to anyone's broadcast yeah I don't like it I don't like it not a huge fan I still like Goden uh yeah he's good uh yeah God's great I mean he's no chip but he's he's good yeah he's he's perfectly fine speaking of which I think any day now let me look it up it's not Braves news but uh chip Cary and Joe Buck are doing a Cardinals broadcast together oh that's cool like their dad and Grandpa respectively did way back in the day uh I mean they've done playoff games before together I think maybe first round on Fox I think back in the day yeah maybe a long time ago yeah Buck's been too big for that for a while Joe Buck uh I think it's this Friday so today when this show drops today Joe Buck and Chip car will be calling a a game together if you don't know you're if you're Cardinal fan you probably know but if you don't know Joe Buck and Harry krey used to both be Cardinals announcers uh then Harry krey banged an the an uh Auggie Bush's wife in like 1958 or something like that when it wasn't you didn't cash bang rich people's wives back then now it's like uh most of these CEOs these days look like they spend a little time in the cuck chair you know what I mean but that was the case back then yeah so uh that's what if you ever want to know why har how Harry Carrey got his job in Chicago uh he banged Auggie Bush the thirds third fourth one of the auggies yeah banged his wife uh but yeah so they'll be doing that'll be pretty sweet I'll probably uh tune into that that'll be fun uh I enjoy I miss like sarcasm in the booth uh chip Cary Brandon Go's pretty good about being alcoholism as well yes uh yeah he's Brandon talks more [ __ ] than any he's like right on the line sometimes I'm like oh you're going to go full Brenham in here you're got to calm the [ __ ] down yeah dude you made a a jerking off joke the other day I mean when the [ __ ] uh what do they call it um when the sweeper last year when the sweeper first came out when everybody started calling it that the first they were seeing slutter for a while yeah at the beginning and it took like two weeks for people to realize that was not going to work they would abbreviate the pitch on the scoreboard and they would just say [ __ ] yeah 67 mph [ __ ] 82 mil an hour whatever how many people can throw the gyro ball what the [ __ ] is a gyro ball it's a dice K's special pitch that was supposed to just obliterate American batters did it work it was okay he never threw it I think uh sing's ghost Fork is probably better I think it's that his ghost Fork is the most swung and missed on pitch in baseball right I believe I'd have to check on that I think it is well the for the splitter is definitely the most uh swung and missed pitch in baseball but I think his particular okay in particular is like 60% or something like that what team is he on the Mets the Mets okay why you haven't heard of him what's weird is uh there's two Japanese pitchers who have been better than Yamamoto so far this year yeah uh the guy from the Cubs is the best pitcher in baseball right now Singa or whatever and then um kuche of the Blue Jays has also been incredibly good so far this the guy in the Cubs is ISA Emma something hold on or it's uh Emma imaga imaga yeah he's he's leading the league in [ __ ] pretty much whip erra I don't I haven't seen the guy from uh Toronto yet but uh he's Sol he's like a good number two yeah I like a good number two yeah don't we all but yeah chip chip and Joe in the booth that'll be fun I'll probably watch that uh instead of the Braves just because not that I not that I'm angry about the season so far or anything like that I just I just that's a fun throwback uh but getting into the season not necessarily something made me angry but Annoying uh let's get to some injury updates cuz oh my [ __ ] god everyone is still hurt obviously Strider out for the year blah blah blah on that uh Riley Austin Riley's been out he just kind of left one day and people were like what's going on it's I think it's an oblique yeah which is not a great injury for a big powerful dude like that like you got to it's going to take him a minute to and and who cares let him heal up right there's no [ __ ] Rush it's a nagging thing that you don't want to rush and then make worse or whatever he has been cleared to swing but who knows you know how many more weeks that could be like three more days or three more weeks depending on how he feels or whatever the only reason I bring that up is cuz uh his backup probably lost us the game last night with uh his little Drop pop fly uh yeah right out of the [ __ ] glove I mean I mean he's been pretty good yeah but that was not very good that was not ideal I think RCA might be waving him off some more balls in the in the future but who knows uh good news on the injury front though I'll reverse this real quick Pierce Johnson off the IL he's back one of our best relievers thank [ __ ] god pitching has been the Saving Grace this team so far and Shawn Murphy has begun his rehab assignment he hit a 400 400 foot bomb to dead center 110 off the bat uh in the minor leagues he's expect to be back next week yeah he also threw a runner out nice um which is not surprising I think the league average is 22% and he was was like 32% last year he's got a hose that dude how what do you think he's going to add to the lineup coming back cuz it's not like darno has been a slouch but it does feel like I don't know maybe Murphy's a little if people forget he kind of fell off the end of last year but he was an animal in the first half of last year yeah it's a good question I mean I think it's going to take him a minute to get his timing and readjust to Major League pitching probably to be honest he'll probably be full on like every other day for a while yeah yeah I mean at the very least it it comes it it's a huge boost for uh Day games right because now I don't have anything against chadrick Trump I like him but uh you know now it's it's your uh Trump is out and so darno would be the guy doing like a Wednesday Day game or a Sunday Day game instead of a a sort of batles catch yeah yeah yeah yeah um it's just one less hole in the lineup for one out of every six to eight days or whatever I guess and he's uh I mean legit 20 to 30 home run guy yeah he's got power it's good to have both of those guys um rocking at the same time for sure um we'll see I don't know I mean that's not the that's not what we're missing right now darno has been okay he's been good I mean I think it mostly helps with the pitching staff right like Mo like relievers especially who um you know it's they there it's the first six Innings of a game are what they are but the last three are high stress no matter what the situation is typically unless it's a blowout one way or the other so I think having you know I mean look we have the luxury to have two veterans out there at the same time yeah it's huge you know what I uh they said during the broadcast last night that I didn't realize is that I don't know if it's for the full season but maybe for the last like month at least something like that Atlanta has the fewest uh Bullpen Innings pitched uh that's not surprising considering I mean other than Elder which we'll get to later um starting pitching has been pretty great yeah yeah I mean even in games even in games we lose like last night I mean Charlie Morton gave you everything you could possibly want and he wasn't necessarily like exceedingly sharp but he only gave up probably two earned runs I would imagine uh considering the third guy got to second base on an error got reach base on an error or whatever um but Morton was great obviously freed and sale have been just lights out uh especially after Freed's first two starts and then I don't know who the [ __ ] Ronaldo Lopez is still but uh he's getting it done holy [ __ ] I don't give a [ __ ] who he is he's an alien um people have tried to here and there start him before and they've given up too quickly um coming onto the Braves is definitely a different situation right than he was in before because the look everybody in Major League Baseball is a professional there's there's not a whole lot of Knuckleheads around you just can't exist at that level if you're a knucklehead but there are levels of stuff right and the Braves front office and coaching aside from their managers like they've had like Elite coaches and shitty managers ever since we were kids basically right pretty much yeah I mean Leo Mazon look I love Bobby Cox and the number of wins speaks for itself to an extent and actually I'll give Cox extra credit too since he was because he got kicked out of a full season's worth of games 162 goddamn games yeah that's [ __ ] insane uh I mean he built that 90s Braves team too right like he was a GM from 86 to 90 and then hired himself as manager and [ __ ] hire John shertz to replace him as general manager which is I mean yeah you can't you can't beat that yeah um but yeah it's it's we've always had great coaches which is nice you know I mean it's it's just a it's an advantage that you don't think about that much in baseball you think because we don't talk about it that much in football we talk about the OC and DC all the time yeah like ah this guy's got it coach is good but the DC sucks we get a new guy we never think about that for managers and now now the Braves have it isn't it isn't like other places a lot of places have some they have some mix of these things but T typically the guy the kind of guy that ends up being a coach on your team is like a a former uh a bullpen catcher or something like that right somebody that didn't quite make it Bobby Cox was a bullpen catcher for the most part he had he had some cups of coffee like Macho me and Randy Savage but he wasn't like it wasn't like Joe Tory Joe Tory was an elite [ __ ] Allstar yes for years Bobby Cox was just okay no yeah he was he did get to play uh I think he was on the mantle Yankees but yeah didn't didn't do anything uh no he didn't but then you look down the roster for the Braves uh uh uh coaches and it's like Walt Weiss and Eddie like say what you want about Eddie Perez people don't know that I guess people in the broader Major League Baseball fan base don't know that Greg Maddox selected him personally to do his catching right which is like that's like I don't know Gordon Ramsay asking you to be a sue Chef B it's like okay cool this guy knows [ __ ] baseball yeah like he's the kind of guy that can get on the level with a guy like madx who's thinking three to five moves ahead right sometimes games ahead sometimes all the way to the play I'm not going to show this guy this pitch right now because I might have to throw with him in the playoffs that's Eddie Perez that's our bench coach right so it's really important to have guys like that sticker is like a [ __ ] he's like moss on a log I don't know why he even exists to be honest I [ __ ] hate him finally the rest of Braves kingdom is starting to come around on that and hate him too but it's too late uh for you guys to jump on that train with me should he's going to have to [ __ ] something up royally to to not be the manager yeah he's been in the organization for 50 [ __ ] years they're not going to get rid of him yeah um but at any rate um the Braves have been going through it lately lot of injuries um the offense has been in nemic to say the least just uh a little lost looks like it just feels like they're not seeing the pitches or there's not a I mean you know like I was talking with like coo it's like do you have a plan bro but it feels like that way with a lot of the guys now and then you've just got Riley's out now um Olsen's cold although I I mentioned at the beginning of the year Olsen has this weird like every other year situation uh I don't know if it's even year odd I guess it's odd year odd Year good even year bad or not bad but even year down and uh yeah I mean it's been the the whole [ __ ] offense has basically been booed by Marcel Ozuna and I don't know whoever the [ __ ] else wants to contribute yeah it's been kind of random I mean last season the Braves scored 900 [ __ ] runs 950 actually yeah they were about 40 ahead of the next closest person and this year they're in the middle of the pack like right in the middle um they've scored 206 runs and the leader is 60 ahead of them so um night and day difference I mean the results aren't terribly different I to be frank I think we're one of only four teams in the National League with a uh winning percentage 600 or better yeah we're right at 600 right now six six games back of the Phillies which who cares about that that doesn't mean anything winning that division is probably the worst thing that could happen to the Braves to be honest um but I think they're in good shape they've been bad on the road the offense has been bad but the pitching has been incredible I mean they're they've got let's see I think I think only the Yankees have had better pitching this year yeah that's right and by two runs and and the Gap after that is is pretty wide so the pitch in terms of runs allowed yeah runs allowed wow um so Yankees have allowed 165 and the Braves have allowed 167 I think the next closest is like 178 yeah uh at any rate no it's it's 172 um there've been a lot of problems so far and there're still I mean I think the other day they were saying we had a better record than we did at this point last year I mean 60 UH 60 600 winning percentage is 97 wins right what like how can you complain about that and look yeah the Phillies right now are six games up but that ain't going to last let's talk about the cowards that are the Philadelphia I mean they don't make their own schedule but they they still are cowards they the only team they've played all season that has a record above 500 is us yes and they lost literally well no we lost oh no they did yeah we two three we took that one yeah we took two three in that Series yeah so they've played Cincinnati Washington St Louis and and Cincinnati Washington last place team St Louis I don't close I think they're second to last in that division Pittsburgh's third to last also under 500 Colorado's last place Cincinnati again San Diego is like four games under 500 I think they're right in the middle of the division but yeah yeah um the Angels who we don't have to [ __ ] expand on that uh the Giants who are they're decent but under 500 they're three games under 500 as well um and then Toronto which they're terrible [ __ ] the Blue Jays forever yeah Miami's bad the Mets are bad and then Washington again now they're playing Texas which is the second team they've played all year now granted uh that Texas is actually 500 right now that one game yeah yeah so not after today they're a talented team so it's cuz we beat them well they weren't over 500 before you beat them they were 500 yeah you have to be over 500 yeah you [ __ ] [ __ ] you guys are just you know this is It's a shame it's a shame that Braves fans have fallen so low that they have to attack the best team in baseball it's crazy um you're not comfortable in your own skin I get it yeah that's probably it yeah that's probably it fortunately for us uh the Phillies have only Built a poultry six-game lead uh it's sad really um to be that to to do so little with so much uh but it's the Braves turn I actually don't know what the Philly schedule looks like coming up I did not check on that but Atlanta's turn on the [ __ ] children's like kid children's Jeopardy is is coming up where actually don't team over 500 all year so what we don't play a team over 500 all year so I mean so after this Texas series they'll play Colorado and then the Giants again the Cardinals again then they Milwaukee is a good team uh but then they play the Mets and they play Boston then they then at Baltimore and then San Diego and Arizona Detroit Miami God damn it man good Lord you guys have the easiest first half I think I may have ever seen now you do play at Chicago which is tough then then at Atlanta and then Dodgers at home so that's a that's [ __ ] nine games that are going to suck for you guys tough yeah the Brewers yeah I said the Brewers are good Brewers are good Arizona's good Baltimore's good so you got some it's a rough you got a couple in there but for the most part this is a super friendly first half you really got to stack wins you guys you guys should try to [ __ ] push it to 10 games uh over the Braves I think and you probably will frankly because I don't think the Braves are going to stop struggling I well so that's where I'm saying remember we talked about this last year and in 2022 we were like okay we've been whatever so far but look at at this portion of the schedule right here this is the portion where it's like in a horse race right it's like if he's going to make his move it's going to be at this length or whatever the [ __ ] they call it uh in uh in horse racing but and that is that is where the Braves are about to hit after the series uh in Chicago which hopefully we can take it we [ __ ] away the first game but hopefully we can take the next two and get a series win against a second place team that is fighting for that division title I mean tonight's a good matchup it's Max freed Justin steel we'll see how that goes I mean obviously this will come out after these games have been played but starting today as we're broadcasting at Pittsburgh that's good Washington at home that's good then Oakland then at Boston at Washington that's a pretty good stretch I mean even about 15 games Tampa Detroit well at Baltimore is a tough series but yeah Tampa and Detroit uh the Yankees are that depending on the pitching match up that could be good or bad for you it's the back of their rotation and the back of our rotation we win those games cuz their back of rotation is [ __ ] terrible yeah uh and we'll talk about the fifth spot in ours here in a minute uh and then St Louis a makeup game with the white socks Pittsburg again San Francisco again they suck then we play Philly so that's so basically we have two series over 500 in that in this stretch that's coming up from May 24th to July 4th yeah uh the Orioles and the Yankees hopefully uh I mean but the back of the Orioles rotation it's better than the back of the Yankees rotation but it's you know it's still pretty weak yeah but they they've got um their offense is super consistent yes so far this year so big fan of that team I like the Orioles a lot I agreed however this is our this is our chance to make a move and if we can it's the type of thing where you just want to be uh even at the half if it's like a basketball and algae right you just want to be tied at half type of I mean we'll we'll look when you say even we we'll we'll be I think we'll actually be a little bit higher than 600 I think it'll be like 615 620 winning percentage Yeah by by the end of the first half again that's going to be 100 win Pace mhm um and I think it'll it'll it'll in the second half things will start to come back uh the Braven Phillies will get quite a bit closer probably but still I would prefer it if the Phillies win the goddamn division for The Bu yeah I've had enough of this [ __ ] the buy is driving me [ __ ] insane uh but yeah as of today we played 18 games uh against teams over 500 which is about middle of the pack for um good teams obviously like last place teams they have a games against teams over 500 cuz they can't play themselves yeah uh but yeah uh this is the stretch after this Cub series and and again obviously hopefully we win this Cub series but this is the point in the season where we can get to yeah back to 100 win Pace uh close that Gap we don't need to be tied with the Phillies but maybe within three to five games uh against the Phillies going into the series yeah I guess I mean I don't really even care about that I just we need to be we need to be quite a bit ahead of the Cubs at that point that that's the that to me is what we should be concerned about you know I'm not it doesn't really matter who wins the who wins the [ __ ] division it doesn't matter it's it's we've seen over the last 10 years that it doesn't matter actually the last 20 years that it doesn't matter yeah unless it's your only way to get into the playoffs sure yeah if you're in the central you got to win right for sure but well the Braves when we won the World Series right there was the NL East was for whatever reason was ass that year and we could won it with 88 games yeah yeah but um that's that's not going to be the case this year no um cuz the the bottom three and the NL East are [ __ ] terrible those are easy wins so the Phillies and brazers is going to stack a wins in those two I think it's the Cubs that we got to keep an eye out for uh which is you know whatever but we we'll see how that goes the West has been kind of I don't know how to get a read on it the Giants are about as middling as I expected they were intriguing but uh I don't know they're to do anything um although I still do like their pitching and I I like that they had pieces maybe you know they got plenty of time obviously yeah and then [ __ ] Arizona's got like the fourth worst erra in baseball as a team which is crazy because you added you had everybody come back and you added Jordan Montgomery and you still can't [ __ ] get it together that's not great um maybe it's I I don't know fatigue or something maybe people are hurt maybe there's no leadership who knows or maybe maybe that's just baseball who who knows um we got our own problems to worry about [ __ ] those guys um and one of our problems right now is Bryce Elder like the number five spot in our rotation has been pretty much an auto loss this year yeah which is you can't look you don't need a [ __ ] sub three erra and a one whip out of your fifth starter you need more than what we're getting yeah I mean you can you can easily get by with a fifth starter who's got a low four er and a one three whip you know what I mean you can make that work but Elder keeps getting shelled and I just kind of wonder how much time is left for him for the Braves to be like okay this guy's well he got sent down he did I know well I know he did but in between two games of a double header which is not that's never a good thing yeah and they brought up Darius Vines uh who's going to get the next start it looks like but I don't know that he's a solution either yeah um Smith Scher still in the minor leagues yeah and he's not looked great yeah in the minors um Hurston walr is also in daa right now he's not looked particularly great um I don't think this is the year to bring walr up personally well I mean here's so I I read an article from the Constitution the other day and it was like the year the Braves mounted that big comeback was largely on the back of Strider and Harris right who had performed well in the minor leagues but they weren't like going crazy or anything they just brought them up because they needed them really yeah so sometimes you know wal jum's a big Prospect right he's one of the biggest prospects I think the Braves have had since aunia to be honest and then uh Poma will be the next one that comes up in two years or so or whatever because he's what he's 17 right now but he's gon he's the next Andrew Jones and I don't mean that he's going to reach that level I just mean young guy signed from the from Latin America who's going to make it in early probably at 19 or 20 years old at any rate there's a lot of discussion about how to handle this I think maybe you throw you you could throw walr in there and see if pressure makes diamonds right cuz he's he's an older guy who's a 23 like he went to college yeah he's got some seasoning um and he's he's got plenty of talent uh another possibility I've heard is that the Braves might trade for Zack effin from the Rays because the rays are not in it anymore but he's been hurt twice this year he's gone on the DL now once uh for his back not his arm or anything but and he's not looked particularly good this year either no I think I dropped him from my fantasy team I mean yeah four 412 ra let's check the whip cuz but if you're talking about 117 which is not bad that is good yes um yeah so I mean on the on the Braves a 117 whip probably translates into a better erra and one loss record frankly yeah his his so his uh expected ER is a very respectable 355 and xfip is 377 so I mean he better than he doesn't strike people out he's six six per nine right now this year uh rolls around looks between eight and nine in the last three years uh yeah I mean effin's a fine fifth starter certainly uh have is that the main name you've heard so far as far as trades go yes but good pitchers on bad teams right now um there aren't a lot of them right I right and the ones that are there are like skin for the [ __ ] Pirates they're not there's no way they're getting rid of him but they have a couple of other dudes on the pirates that are pretty good um there were a couple guys on the Indians that we were looking into but they are [ __ ] winning that division right now so they're obviously not going to [ __ ] sell anything yeah um and then there's some internal options we mentioned uh I mean maybe Darius Vines does something I don't know I doubt it uh he he seems like more of a long relever to me but I don't think Smith Scher like if we to be honest trading Smith schaver for effin right now would make sense it sucks but it would make sense yeah um and then if freed were to leave next year then you just have Strider coming back into that spot and you still have a full rotation if you bring back board and stuff uh and then sales on a one-year deal uh three-year deal threee deal okay so we still he's around for two more years yeah um and then there's the other option that I've heard and this is from uh this is from people familiar with anthopoulos uh is Ray Kerr you know this guy it's like the a skinny black left-hander that's been pitching for us a little bit here and there uh I don't recall him off top my head he's he weighs like uh he's 63 185 PBS uh listed at 185 which means he's less than that because they're trying not to make him look like a a little child uh he's 29 he's bounced around a little bit he's pitched well in the past um for San Diego the last two years actually pitch in relief um uh but there's talk of stretching him out into a into a fifth starter right now interesting because they really like his peripherals I mean right now he's got a 096 whip um 289 strikes out uh a batter per inning uh doesn't really walk that many people uh one every three Innings so three three a game in a nine in game that's not bad yeah um that'd be a two to1 strike out the walk ratio so that's pretty good um yeah I don't know what they see in the guy he's looked really good for us in pretty much every game he's pitched except for one I I think so he's looked really good I'm not sure what they see in him but there I have heard people talking about stretching him out into a fifth starter but that takes three months right that's not an immediate solution maybe that's what they're thinking that we'll bring up Vines for a bit we'll bring up Smith shaer for a bit we'll bring up waldrip for a bit and let him I mean we kind of did that with Strider I guess yeah he started as a long reliever and even remember his first couple starts he didn't even get to five innings really it was more like all right you just throw until you're out of gas and we'll we'll stretch you out on the mound live action and uh it fine but um yeah I it seems like this is the end of the Rope for for Bryce Elder yeah I mean I think he probably gets packaged with somebody and goes like I think he gets traded this deadline yeah and look we like Bryce Elder you know he's a gamer blah blah blah but like the numbers are just ER is over six he's walking four guys per nine uh his hard hit percentage is almost 50% so when they when people are making contact 50% of the time they're ripping it and the batting average on balls in play against him to that point is 400 so if you make contact and put it in play against Bryce Elder you're hitting 400 that's not [ __ ] Tai cob not okay yeah it's not not what you want I love I liked Bryce Elder a lot um kind of thought he was sort of like an Ian Anderson type of dude but yeah he just has not doesn't seem like it's working out for the Braves unfortunately um do you think we there probably won't be any splashes in terms of rotation stuff just patchwor for now yeah but I mean I could see it at the deadline certainly it depends on how we come out at the break playing MH because look you don't need five starters to make to win in the playoffs no um so do you want to give up do you want to mortgage your future for a just for a fifth starter I don't know that I would do that but certainly not if it's if somebody becomes available that looks and this is you know this is how [ __ ] uh how anopolis operates it looks like he's going to be an option for the next couple of years as well right like what effin would be frankly he would be a guy that might be somewhere between three and five in the rotation and not just a solid fifth starter um he has in his best years he has been I'd say as good as a third starter yeah C so I mean that that is an option if if they wanted to package um maybe a position player or send Elder and uh one of Smith Sher over to Tampa Bay that might be too much for just effin cuz I'm not sure what kind of contract he's on but yeah I could see them making that move for sure but we don't know what other pitchers are going to become available I mean Jordan Hicks is lighting it up for San Francisco right now but they [ __ ] suck uh and they have no chance of winning that Division and they need they need like a a real rebuild at some point I think yeah they are really uh just trying to plug gaps with interesting projects and Veteran and stuff like that and it worked that one time uh when they beat the Dodgers for the division in 2021 when the bra won World Ser when they even though the Dodgers won like what like 108 games or 107 games something like that they beat him by one [ __ ] game to win the division Dodgers ended up beating them in the DS which is brutal but is what is yeah Hicks uh Hicks has been electric and he is on a fouryear $44 million contract right now he is just now a starter for the first time what's interesting about Hicks though diving into his numbers real quick I mean people begged he personally begged the Cardinals to make him a starter for years yeah and they're like no we need you over here like you throw 103 miles per hour we want you for the bullpen yeah and then he finally got out of there became a St one goddamn season it took to figure it out best year now what's interesting about that looking at his numbers real quick cuz you're like you said he's a hard thrower he throw throws he was at one point he was the hardest throw in the league he was like 102 or something like that um strikeouts per nine this year is 6.79 he's not striking people out but are you looking at his fan grass what's his average fast ball mile per hour I bet it's under 100 now I would yeah I'll check but I mean he that's clearly purposeful right like he's pitching differently to because he's doing a different thing uh let's see I don't know where velocity is here oh here we go for SE fast velocity uh here I'll read it by year for SE fast velocity for Jordan Hicks 2018 101 2019 101 21 101 2022 98 2023 100 this year 96.7 there it is folks he's also uh command is just as important as speed and if you don't believe me the best pitcher in the goddamn league right now is a little Japanese left-hander who throws like [ __ ] 85 miles per hour he's like Jamie Moyer 2.0 I think I think uh ima's average fast ball is like 91 or something like that and he's still and he pitches up in the zone too I mean it you don't have to throw 100 miles hour to be a good baseball player most of the people most of the pitchers in the Hall of Fame didn't throw 100 miles hour there's a couple Bob Gibson Nolan Ryan right but they're and Walter Johnson but then I'm thinking like uh uh uh Tom glavin Greg Maddox uh uh uh uh Smoltz through 97 yeah I mean he was that was definitely like what you would call heat for SM but I mean there's yeah there's a million but Pedro threw in the [ __ ] low 90s yeah he he had he could hit mid to high sometimes he racked up strikeouts yeah uh Schilling well he's not in the Hall of Fame I guess but Shilling was one of those guys that was mid99s at best other than Andrew Jones the big the most egregious non Hall of Famer is Kurt Schilling for [ __ ] sake man I know he's a an [ __ ] but goddamn taop stab people and said RAC your [ __ ] can we just move past it for [ __ ] ran up into the stands and beat up or a [ __ ] crippled person disable person [ __ ] he didn't have hands well I mean maybe if he had hands he wouldn't got his ass K yeah and he beat the [ __ ] out of him because he called him black so I'm just say it [ __ ] it wasn't that different at the time I mean it was a different time well certainly a different time it was pretty Civil Rights Act but not I I don't think by any measurable standard it was okay to beat up a [ __ ] oh man but I could see U Back to the point here I could see them I mean the Braves do this [ __ ] they find Diamonds in the Rough quite a bit there's a couple of teams that are really good at that uh the Braves are definitely one of them um and I could see them turning Ray Kerr into a starter he's got the stuff for it um the question is what does he look like the second third time through the order because he's never done that in his career yeah like he averages about three Innings per outing typically so I don't know that three Innings per outing that means maybe one and a half times at most through the lineup oh man and then um is this the year Ian Anderson comes back uh he he might be back in August I think I so this article from February 20th says June or July I don't know what the update is on that but uh I mean I would I would put him and Elder in a package together and get effin in I would I would be more than happy to give both of them up for effin for three or four years yeah uh yeah wri and Soka are gone man it's crazy that Wright won 20 games for us and he's already [ __ ] gone uh Smith schau W I mean I would be interested to at least see what Ian Anderson has uh but cuz I he's another guy that I really liked but he does also strike me as an elder type where it's like if you're not doing exactly what you need to do and that's what madx always talked about too he's like I got away with more when I was younger because I had more velocity yeah I mean he's got a um I I don't know but the difference is well not the difference the similarity between the two and the struggles they had were lack of command but also lack of command in the strike zone was a bigger deal for Ian Anderson so he would walk people but he would also throw he would hang a change up you know what I mean yeah like Elder is not that bad at at missing inside the Zone his problem is [ __ ] walking people yeah and then giving up soft contact because he can't [ __ ] strike people out you know what I mean or a hard contact rather because he can't strike people out that's his issue so we'll see I mean there's options um bringing in bringing somebody in from outside like effin would be really nice it's always good to have fresh blood and a penet race um as we saw in 2021 and then then in the playoffs as well and it also insulates us a little bit from whatever may or may not happen with Max freed in the offseason um yeah which is which is also nice and then you you got to think bringing in even if we sign Max freed again is Charlie Morton going to retire after this year he's 40 he's going to be 41 next year yeah how many years I mean look I he's probably having a very good time making $20 million on oneyear contracts playing baseball and he's doing pretty well too it's hard to argue with the results of that um so yeah we'll see I mean I think I think uh they'll probably go outside I mean that's what I I would I would probably package Elder and somebody else and get e if it were me but TBD time will tell I it I'm not a snitker fan but uh anopolis can do whatever he wants I have no qualms with any moov he makes maybe some of them don't work but so many of them have worked already that's like I mean you can you can miss sometimes I mean it's I I'll say it's a little too early to call just because he needs to be healthy all season but the most recent one is to point to is Chris Sale yeah and honestly even Kellick uh obviously Kel start hot has cooled off but I mean even just his [ __ ] defense in left field has been uh great the we have the best outfield for arms in baseball if not the best Outfield defense in baseball yeah well I mean when aun aun decides to play baseball yeah yeah yeah uh real quick I'm going get to the ads before we get to this week's gambling picks obviously we gamble at mybookie.com you go to mybookie.com use the promo code drink and Bros to double your first deposit up to $1,000 you put in $1,000 they will give you $1,000 you put in $50 they'll give you $50 you get the point whatever you put in they'll match all the way up to $1,000 you can bet on baseball you can do like me and Dan reester do Delco Dan uh play Blackjack at their Live casino it's real dealers it's real human being so you're not you know you're not getting ripped off by a computer that's just like magically getting blackjack every three hands uh even though sometimes the dealers will do that and you'll scream at them and and accuse them of cheating and they can't hear you so it's fun you can say whatever you want to them uh in a way it's like those women screaming in the forest but it's me screaming at my in my computer atan woman uh but yeah the casino's dope uh a lot of college football week one lines are out already I think all the NFL week one lines are out already don't bet those yet but when you do bet them bet them on my bookie uh but there's baseball there's golf uh I believe there's still the third of the Triple Crown horse races if you want to bet that uh the pness already happened what what's the third one Belmont Belmont we also got Indie 500 this week yeah Indie 500's this week we'll do that on on uh actually you guys should cover that on golf shove that in there yeah just shoved that in there and then uh Jake Paul Mike Tyson fight there's a ton of stuff to bet uh so go to mybookie.com to do it they got great live lines too and if you bet parlays like we do in baseball which we are about to talk about what's cool is if most of them hit you can cash out mhm uh so mybookie.com promo code drink and Bros double your first deposit up to $1,000 let's get into this week's gambling picks there are some really good series to bet on this week yeah especially the weekend I mean mine are on Saturday I don't know what day you picked I took Friday okay so will you go first okay so uh I got and again these are a lot of just like I a lot of matchups I like uh Dodgers over the Reds uh let me pick actually go to that day real quick just so I can see the pitching matchups to uh further justify what will ultimately be a failed parlay but uh the Dodgers Reds I like because the Reds by the way what the [ __ ] is going on with the red RS I am uh just very disappointed in them so far this year yeah they've there's way too much talent on that team for them to be performing the way they are um somebody's got to step up and be a leader at some point and you would think maybe start with the manager probably but the manager maybe they should have kept vad around for one more year not that he's exactly raah ring the Blue Jays to success but uh so the Dodgers playing the Reds it's at Cincinnati uh so you'll probably get a little bit better odds uh but the Dodgers have a advantage in the pitching match up for sure Paxton's 5-0 with a 284 ra Ashcraft been pretty mediocre this year and the Dodgers lineup is uh [ __ ] insane uh Orioles over the white socks Corbin Burns going against the white socks I will not explain further uh Cubs over the Cardinal same situation uh obviously the Cardinals [ __ ] suck the Cubs are very good uh in second place but threatening for the division lead imaga 5-0 with a84 ER going against miles micholas who is maybe one of the five worst pitchers in baseball this year uh Phillies against the Rockies not going to bother to go beyond that the Phillies are going to continue beating the [ __ ] out of triaa teams like the cowards they are uh and then I got the Diamondbacks over the Marlins gallon is going against a Marlins pitcher with an erra in the 10 so that feels good uh if you want to I might get crazy and just do a really big one and slap on maybe um there's two other matchups I kind of liked oh uh the Royals with Lugo are at the Rays Rays pitcher has not been announced yet uh it is at the Rays but lugo's 7-1 with a 179 y looks great and um you know there's a couple other interesting ones uh what was I looking at oh Guardians against the Angels the pitching neither pitcher very good in that game but the Guardians are obviously the better team um and then this one little more of a gamble you might actually get really good odds on it though and it would be the last leg of your parlay is uh Yankees at the Padres you darish is going for the Padres he's been great so far this year but redone is going for the Yankees on the road so uh it'll it'll be good odds I imagine maybe even plus odds yeah I'm got so I'm I'm going on uh Saturday and and starting off afternoon games with the Braves um Ronaldo Lopez against the Pirates I'll take that um Mitch Keller's pitching for the Pirates he's their best guy but well maybe we'll see about skaines but um yeah I think the brav will win that game next up Royals who are on [ __ ] fire uh not so much on the road but the Rays sucked this year and Aaron cavali is got a six erra he's going against um uh uh Brady singer who's [ __ ] lighten it up this year he's pitch great Royals like I don't know what's gotten into him they're fun yeah they they look great um so I'll take that one um next one is uh Giants over Mets Jordan Hicks is pitching against uh lisis saino is actually the one bright spot for the Mets rotation this year yeah but still it's the Mets they'll find a way to lose um because they're [ __ ] terrible and [ __ ] um next is uh you know I I skipped over this Orioles at White Sox game because uh fety has been good for the white sock he's pitched really well he's the only pitcher on that team that doesn't suck yeah and he's going against Kramer who's not been great for Baltimore he's been okay uh so I'm skipping to the Rangers over the twins Lorenzen is going to light the twins up uh twins are middling at best um then Astros over the Athletics no need to say more uh this might be a game where fber Valdez can get his [ __ ] together a little bit because he's had some ups and downs yeah I mean it's a good Park to do it in it is for sure yeah uh next up is Cubs at this is a bit of a rivalry game but lior for St Louis is the only guy that's been worse on that team is uh makaka laka whatever the [ __ ] his name is yeah theek and James talion going for U Talon's going for uh the Cubs he's been good this year I'm surprised he's uh the Yankees didn't trade him right uh he must have been a free agent because I don't know what trade would have gone on he solid for the Yankees yeah he was a solid three four guy um and then Philly's Over the Rockies obviously Aaron Nola is going going for the Rockies uh it's in Colorado so it might [ __ ] his ER up a little bit but Hudson is 1 and seven for the Rockies and he's going to get shell the Phillies might [ __ ] score 25 runs on this [ __ ] um and then last but not least uh Yankees Marcus strowman going against Dylan C Dylan CE has been good but I I I got to think something big is going to and again this is the last one on your parl so if you've won all the other ones before this you don't feel good about it go ahead and cash out but I added it because I think I think stto is gonna go into San Diego and [ __ ] somebody up um that like he he's a he's a big time game performer this is a one of the bigger games of the year for them so far so I think we uh I I wonder who the prohibitive uh favorite for the World Series is right now because it feels like the Yankees which is weird to say because they're the Yankees but are kind of like sneakily should be the favorite to win the World Series um I would assume it's the Dodgers right now let's see see right now as of Dodgers are very a short favorite too the Yankees are third the Braves still number two it's a lot of confidence in a team that can't [ __ ] score runs but yeah actually the the Yankees are third but barely that we're tied on some this lists like every single one like uh every single um book and we have the same odds on some and better odds on others so yeah Dodgers number one by a pretty good amount though I don't like that I would take the Yankees and I know the Dodgers just clowned us but if uh if if all three teams are operating at pink Peak or near Peak functionality I would I would take both the Yankees and Braves over the Dodgers yeah I would take the Phillies over the Dodgers too for that um so yeah I don't know but uh those are uh yeah those are baseball bets obviously kind of keep an eye on it cuz once those first call let's say call it three legs once the first three legs hit you can start like small hedging you know what I mean if leg four doesn't look good put 20 bucks on on just just to get your money back and then just kind of build from there that's what I do uh my parlay missed by one leg last night because the um Blue Jays decided to get no hit by the white socks through like six Innings uh even though they had kuch whatever his name is going for them he's a great pitcher uh so yeah that I was able to get my money back but uh just by betting on the white socks live but [ __ ] man like what do you yeah you can't beat the [ __ ] white socks yeah I mean the the Blue Jays are a [ __ ] loser organization they are um getting dangerously close to uh uh the white socks of three years ago territory right I mean people forget the White Soxs were supposed to be the next big [ __ ] thing like they had all the talent pitching and hitting and it just never happened and now they're at the bottom and and S they're going to sell off what little they have left they've already some of it became worthless like Tim Anderson he couldn't even do anything but Dylan CE is gone uh do they still have that closer Liam Hendricks is he still there um I don't know if Hendricks is still there or not but a Bro went to [ __ ] the Astros BR who won the MVP in 2020 and they they still have their other outfielder and uh aloy Jimenez yeah but he's been banged up aloy heenez and Luis Robert both Robert yeah but yon Maka monata is still there uh they still got a couple of those pieces but yeah it fell apart and that's what I'm that's what it starts to feel like the Blue Jays right like they were the same way uh gsman they obviously added via free agency or whatever yeah but they've added people before they added strowman at some point um gsman came over who was the other who's the other pitcher they added a couple years ago baros yeah from uh he came from Cleveland right it's like yeah they've brought over good pieces they just that organization just a bunch of [ __ ] losers but then they grew up grew good pieces out of their Farm too all babies two of them yeah but it was supposed to be more yeah cin bigio is not a major league baseball player no um no and honestly where the [ __ ] has Vlad Jr been I know he's hitting like uh [ __ ] 230 or something I think right now the last time I looked uh yeah it's not good uh I do not do not know what his deal is the blue jay's kind of falling apart you kind of wonder how much left is how much is left with them I mean he's 279 but he's slugging 385 he's only got got four home runs uh I mean he's it looks like uh these numbers are parallel to [ __ ] aunia to be honest yeah except he doesn't have speed to offer although he is he has a much better WRC plus right now than aunia does mean cin B was hitting 198 yeah yeah that's a team that absolutely just kind of fell apart Co by the way is a great pitcher too like they have a good one two3 in the rotation it is very odd why they are not doing better with baros Gosman I mean it's yeah weird anyway yeah that those are our bets like I said watch you you got to kind of pay attention so you can if the first three legs hit especially you can start hedging out uh just to keep your money keep yourself from losing um but yeah once you get to that last or second to last leg uh yeah my bookie will let you cash out I wouldn't really cash out to the last leg Yeah because that's where you max out your value but you do you um it's fun man it's fun to bet these games it's fun to watch it's fun for me to get angry at a Marlin's Diamondbacks game late at night yeah yeah yeah well I mean having your entire parlay rest on it will do that for sure yeah uh but yeah that uh that those are our bets for this weekend we'll drop them in the drink and Bros Sports Facebook group join that if you have not already that is where Dan puts his golf picks that's where we all put our our college football picks NFL picks baseball picks uh which we make on my bookie.com uh for Dan Holloway I'm Rob Fox it's all I've got see you