Giants Opening Day Roster Buzz with Susan Slusser & Marty

0:00When you really need care, you need 24-7 access to a care team, not a maze of paperwork from a third party. Every day, America's hospitals and health systems show up for you. Navigating healthcare can fuel overwhelming. But you can count on real doctors, real nurses, real people, providing quality around the clock care when you need it most. They're in your corner. In communities across America, your neighbors, your lifelines, right beside you holding your hand and helping find answers. That's what putting patients first actually means. Learn more at strengthinhealthcare.org. Brought to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Health Care. All right, Marty Lurie here at the manager at Tony Vittell. A couple of quick ones here. Some players that kind of stand out. Will Brennan to me stands out every time I see him on the field. Something happens. Yeah, he's a ball player and, you know, I've got a long, long history with he and his family. So it's great. I'm getting to be side by side with him. And something to be said for a kid that just competes every day. And also knows the game very, very well. It sounds like a simple formula.

1:00But to be honest with you, it's a rare one, but it's one that works. Yeah, Eldridge is the other one. He's walking around. He looks more confident. Hey, look, it's hard for him to look more confident than this guy is, but he looks better. Yeah, I think, you know, probably part of that is he sees a home at first base for himself. And people have wondered about outfield and stuff like that. But I think first base is his home and he's really adopted a philosophy of putting in daily work with wash to, you know, to improve those skills. And believe it or not, that bleeds over into your hitting and also just how you see yourself, how you walk around the park. And I feel like he's always been confident with his hitting, you know, because he's so strong and also so capable. But even at the plate, there's a little bit of a presence in there that I think is is improved. Don, thanks. Have a great weekend. Thank you, you too. Prepping you for today's orange and black ball game, we now take you back to talk in baseball with Marty Laurie on KNBR, the sports leader. Every day, excessive delays and denials from big insurers keep patients from accessing the care they need.

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3:07We'll fund it up. It'd better be fun! Have you ever wondered how our network actually works? Well, wonder, no more! With the support of partnering businesses and individual donors, we help raise crucial funds for 170 children's hospitals across the United States and Canada. Hospitals that provide life-changing care for all kids. Visit us online at cmm.org. All right, beautiful Sunday for baseball. It's Giants and Cubs coming up today. And we're joined by Susan Schleser, who covers the Giants for the Chronicle Susan. Good morning. How are you? Hello, Marty. How are you doing? I'm doing fine. I'm glad that we just played that little Tony Vittello cut. I want to talk to you about Eldridge a little bit. Tony said he settled in at first base, a position, and it's hard for him to be more confident than he is, but the kid seems to be even more comfortable now. Yeah, he's definitely better than he was.

4:09I'm not 100% sure like he's big league average at first base, which is probably what they want. And you know what, Raphael Devers is going to be the primary first baseman. But certainly, Eldridge can play there and do an adequate job when needed. Yeah, and you know, he swings the bat. He's got a good idea of the strike zone. And I think that's the issue. Do you see a little bit of Brandon Belt in him at the plate? I have, I went up to see him gosh, two years ago now, I think in Sacramento. And that's the first thing I thought of. And I was talking to a couple different coaches, including JT Snow and everybody. The first thing they said, Dave Brandage, the first thing that was really, really reminds you of belt. Tyler, obviously much taller, but yeah, he's, you know, sort of similar. You know, like built the same. He's just bigger and the swing really is reminiscent. And a little bit though, you know, kind of big personalities, fun to talk to very confident.

5:13Like in a lot of ways, like, like Brandon Belt. Yep, absolutely, absolutely. The team is 12 and two. They sweep a double header yesterday. And they're saying to Bruce before you came on, they're playing decent baseball. When you watch the games, they're doing the little things to win. They're kind of hitting with runners in scoring position. The second, they're pitching generally is very good. And the 12 and two, I realize it's Arizona, but I think it's noteworthy. I think it's worth pointing out. Yeah, I mean, you know, we've seen the Giants have good springs before. And then it doesn't necessarily translate during the season. I never know what to make of it. Sometimes you're scoring the winning runs late in games with, you know, your lower level minor league guys against somebody else's lower level guys. But it is, I think it is especially with a new coaching staff. I think it's good to sort of set the tone and also instill some just general confidence and show that you can play good baseball.

6:18You really want that in there. You want to emphasize that we're not going to make mistakes. We're not going to make it better defensively. We heard these things last year, of course. And it didn't necessarily follow through to the regular season. So we need to see it translate. But it's certainly better than the opposite, right? If you come in saying like we need a better outfield defense. And then immediately everybody's making mistakes left and right. You go out, go back to the drawing board. So this is good. And I do, I do think that it helps just in general with setting a tone. It doesn't always necessarily translate. Yeah, and it makes Tony Patel's job easier. You know, if they're two and 12, let's face it, the questions to him would be a little different in the morning than if you're sitting there 12 and two. I think it helps. I disagree. I don't think that there's a regular baseball writer in the country that puts any stock in spring training records. Now, if they were making tons of errors every day, if they were getting guys thrown out on the basis every day.

7:20If starting pictures were being, you know, used in strange ways or really having bad results. Maybe there would be questions like that, but the actual record would not matter at all. I've covered some great teams that were just terrible in the spring. Yeah. We've seen it. Look, the best record last year and look what happened. So all right. I'll grant you that. As we were just talking about Bruce with the Hall of Fame at the Daily Cal, you got a nice honor this week too. You were honored by the AP and you're up for that. Tell us about it. Yeah. I think it's the only second time maybe with that one. And it meets a lot because it's the Associated Press Sports Centers. It's the Beat Writer Award. And I've been a Beat Writer for 30 plus years and baseball and a couple of years basketball before that. But that's, you know, I consider myself a very much Beat Writer in my bones. You know, that's what I am. I remember when I covered the A's all those years, every once in a while, Billy Bean would say, don't you want to be a sports columnist?

8:24And I'm like, no, not really. I like who cares what I think about stuff. I like to report. I like to be out there every day. And the beautiful thing about baseball is, you know, Marty and your listeners all know it's a story. The whole season is a story. And I like the fact that it's every day. And there's so many people involved in it. There's always something interesting to write in baseball. There's something, you know, that will cliche. You see something different every day. Well, maybe not quite something different. But there's always a good story, a good angle. Or somebody's, you know, really made an interesting observation or adjustment. Like, you know, we love this stuff, right? Like, in the weeds, I love that about baseball. And it's so much more so than in any other sport because there's more games. It's such a long season. There's more players. And it just, you know, I never get it. My friends who are in sports field, do I say like, don't you get tired of it? No, I really don't. I love it. So that, yeah, that, that, that, that was an honor that really meant a lot to me.

9:25And it's, you know, there's a top 10 and it's all sports. And all baseball writers are excited when baseball writers are recognized in that category. Well, you do it great. And I told you this a million times. Cooper's down one day. We'll be there for you. I firmly believe that. Well, that's kind of. I firmly believe that. All right. But you did write a good story. Good story. You write them all the time about the first base coach. How about that? That was an interesting one. Tell us about it. Yeah, Sharon Robinson is kind of, he's neat. I think most everybody knows he was Buster Posey's college teammate. But then you meet him. And I remember him playing in the big leagues. You know, I played with a Cardinals and the twins and the Yankees. I think I'm, maybe I remember him a little bit best with the Yankees. Fast, reliable. He's smaller than I would have guessed. And he was a college player of the year. The year before Buster Posey got to Florida State. So he was a big deal and a junior.

10:27And I think Buster still talks about him almost like a little bit. Like he's still a little in awe. You know, like he's that freshman coming in going like this guy is the college player of the year. Buster now has a college award named after him. So like he really was, he was actually the guy. But yeah, they go back that far. And I like it when people are promoted from within the organization, the way Shane was. And it just makes so much sense because we've talked about the smarty, the absolute biggest need to me and many others in the offseason was improving the outfield defense. And they did that by getting fader. But I think Shane Robinson is also going to have a big role in that. And he is out there with them kind of doing all the work to the point where Tony Vitale told me he looked at one day and was like, what wait, who is that fast little guy out there? Like we've, we've got a little, we got a real fine. And then he's like, oh, it's Shane. So I mean, he's literally out there with him, which the guys say it really makes it fun.

11:31And that's what he's doing. And he said he was a very obviously a very, very good player and motivated. And I think they feel like even more motivated to impress their coach when he's kind of out there doing things side by side with him. So I really, I'm impressed by him. He's also in charge of the base running. They've been running like crazy by which I mean, maybe mostly Jared Oliva has been like crazy. That dude is fast. It's like, I can't tell you the number scouts that have been asking me about all of a, by the way. So he's one who will help the team at some point, maybe not necessarily an opening day, but they are beating more aggressive on the basis. That's another thing that we see that and springs before and it has not ever happened. You know, like during the season, they completely shut that down. I hope this year they stick with it. Well, if he gets on the team, he will run Oliva. He's got six stolen bases. I think it's the most in the big leagues. And he out ran a pick off yesterday, which was pretty impressive.

12:31He did that. That was pretty good. You wrote one article this week that really I had to follow and read it a couple of times. How are they ever going to sort out this bench with the Montos and conorcione stuff? Hey, Adam Divine here. Looking for a way to make a big change for all kids in your community? Just look for the balloon. When you see the Children's Miracle Network balloon at your local store, restaurant or gas station, your donation provides crucial funds for local children's hospitals. Hospitals that provide life-changing care for all kids. Children's Miracle Network. Hospitals, partners, programs and donors. Like you. Learn more at cmn.org. The sun shining birds are singing and all feels right in the world. Until the season changes and suddenly you lose your motivation to get out of bed. In fact, one in five people experience some form of depression no matter the season or time of year.

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14:31I think they probably keep Matos at least to start the season to maximize their options because he's out of options. Right? That makes the most sense. But man, they've had some really good performances, which is what you want to see. Everybody seems like they're going for it. But I think he makes the most sense of Will Brennan. You just meant talk to Vital about him. Will Brennan's been really good. And he might be a better fit because he's a left-handed hitter. And they really, to me, need a left-handed hitting fourth outfielder. Also, when he's healthy, Drew Gilbert would be an option, a left-handed hitting option there. I don't, I think he'll be ready for the end of the spring, but I don't know if he will have played enough to award him that spot. But, you know, theoretically, depending on what they do elsewhere, you could wind up with a fifth outfielder. I think that seems unlikely at this spot. That's a little bit that depends on Eldridge, if they keep him or not. Me, I think he's on, but not everybody does, you know. So I think that's still a question mark. And then you got the at least two questions in the bullpen.

15:36And yeah, it's a lot. I think that they have some decisions to make. The good thing is like today's lineup is really interesting. It's a lot of guys who are going for places are trying to nail down like a last place. And I think this is the week with the WC going on where they're really, I think, performance will matter at some of these places when it comes to winning this spot or not. Good point. Now, I'm with you. Eldridge is the key for me to the whole deal. Very quickly, Brennan Rodriguez Eldridge, Mato Sussex Schmidt, and Kenar Sion, Harbor, and Fitzgerald. That's the line of today as Susan alluded to. Well, have a great day. Pleasure having you on and congratulations. You deserve it. And more coming up in your future, I'm sure. So thanks. Oh, that's a nice of you to say. All right, thanks. Always great to talk to you, Marty. You have a great day too. You too. All right, that is Susan Slyther. Coming up next, Adrian Howsler. What do you hear his upbringing and his story? This is going to be a big part of the Giants rotation.

16:38And he will tell us right after this. Talk in baseball with Marty Lurie on KNBR1045 and 6AV Sports Lear. Hello again, Marty Lurie here to talk about my good friends at Georgie Brothers, the largest family-owned furniture store in the entire Bay Area. Right now through March 16th, there's an amazing sale in the Stressedless Gallery at Georgie Brothers. You can save 10% on almost any Stressedless furniture like sofas, chairs, and recliners. And now on display for the first time is the brand new Adam recliner, which has a $600 savings. Also, for the first time, you can see the Stressedless dining chairs. Wow, and save $50 per chair during the sale. I personally own Stressedless furniture, and I will tell you again, it's the most comfortable seat in my house. Visit them at GeorgieBrothers.com, and it's GIO-RGI-BROS.com. Or even better, visit their 50,000 square foot showroom in South San Francisco.