ST G17 - Reds 8, Rockies 1 (John Sadak Interview)

0:00Well, hey, what's going on? Happy Wednesday, Nick Kirby here. Welcome to Chatterbox Reds. Thank you for joining us today on your daily home for Cincinnati Reds content all spring training long coming up. Just a bit great. Cuffner talked with Cincinnati Reds broadcaster John Saydak. I think you're really going to enjoy this interview coming up. But first, as we always do, let's recap some cactus league baseball. The Reds beat up on the Rockies eight to one to get back to 500 this spring at eight and eight. We'll start with the pitching. How about Brandon Williamson? He was fantastic. Williamson only allowed one bass runner over three innings, a single.

1:01Williamson struck out three batters. He now has a 2.570 array so far this spring. Velocity look good for Williamson needs fastball hit 95. Not a ton of whips. Got four on 22 swings, but have to be very impressive. Brandon Williamson has done so far this spring. And here's what he had to say after the game. Oh, good. First inning for us a little bit. I felt like I threw a lot of strikes. They had a lot of good good age where they beat off a lot of pitches. Yeah, second and second and third just kind of went to pitches that would get early contact. And that kind of kind of made the game go along with quick. Yeah, yeah, through a lot of strikes. I mean, that's the goal in spring training. I haven't pitched in a long time consistently. So I just feel like I want to get out there and throw my stuff out of his own. See how it plays. See, honestly, what gets hit and what doesn't just kind of gain point from that. Yeah, I feel like I've understood kind of where things are add up to each outing.

2:04And it's a good results and bad and able to adapt really well. Help has been a great part of that where I've physically been able to just kind of keep the wheel moving and to make the adaptions come to it. Pierce Johnson threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout and no walks. Luis May threw a perfect inning actually threw eight of his 13 pitches for strikes. That's now back to back. Squirrels appearances for May really had been struggling before that. Lion Richardson gave him an unearned run in his inning of work, but the strikeout too didn't walk anyone. And how about Red's prospect Trevor Consul? He retired both batters he faced. He has a lot of a run over three innings this spring, only one hit, one walk with three strikeouts. Right now in the offensive side, good day all around. TJ Friddle three for three with a homer. Actually, the single that he hit and this game was actually the hardest at ball of the day for Friddle at 106 off the bat. Will Benson at another big day, two for four with a home run and a double Benson's OPS now over 1200?

3:10Benson's only now he's tied with that McLean and a couple other players for the most home runs and Major League Baseball this spring with four. South Stewart and JG able to day were each one for four. Bladed to have a single at 112 off the bat. Was it your Vino two for three? L.A.D. other crews O for four and I only did hit about 400 feet 104 off the bat. Actually would have been a home run in 17 out of 30 ball parks. Resigns who had been rolling had a rough day. He was over three with three strikeouts. Alfredo Duno off the bench was one for two. Duno one of several players of interesting note that got into this game. Duno joined by Steel Hall, Kindview, Tyson Lewis and Kyle Henley. You're the confidant the only Reds prospect to reach base. He had a single. The news of the day on Tuesday was that Hunter Green is officially out 14 to 16 weeks. So basically until July as he was going to have surgery to remove bone chips and loose bodies from his right elbow.

4:18Green's UCL is completely fine. We've already talked that length about this and this timeline that was expected. But if you don't have been following it all you don't know the timeline that's run through it real quick. So Green had bone chips in his elbow last year. The doctor recommended a PRP injection and they thought that the rest would kind of clear up on its own during the off season with some rest. Green felt good all off season but as he was ramping up he felt discomfort. Still at 101 on the gun in his first spring and only spring training start. But now they kind of have to go with surgery. So a couple of points on this and start kind of here in order. Number one, I heard so many people saying he's just got the surgery earlier. What is the Reds medical staff doing? Reds medical staff is the worst. You can't make a player get surgery especially for something where rest is literally a recommended treatment. You can't force the player to get surgery especially they don't want to.

5:22From Green's perspective, I don't really blame him either for wanting to avoid surgery. He was told that this is a viable treatment option to just rest. So yeah, I don't really have any issue with that at all. Sometimes injuries just suck. Like there's really just no way around it. There's no one to blame for this. It's part of the game when you throw over 100 miles per hour. It's going to continue to be part of the game. I just don't really get the whole finger pointing on this. Kind of is what it is. Reds will certainly miss on a green. All right, so the glass half full from this. Well, going to the spring training. Someone was on the outside looking in that either that would be right louder or chase burns. Now that's obviously not the case. We know that those guys weren't going to pitch a full season. So now you can just kind of use them from the rip as much as you need to. And kind of maybe maximize your use with that. Now the glass half empty is, well, you're losing 100 green. One of the best pictures on playing on Earth.

6:23But you're also now just starting injury, starting pitching injury or two starting pitching injuries. From what's your major strength to not being a strength at all. So that is the biggest concern is that. All right, well, this happens so early. There can still be another pitching injury, which could really kind of compound things. Before we get to Greg Kufner with John Sadak, we want to remind you that you can call or text 98 anytime day or night. The 98 suicide and crisis lifeline is a place to get support for anything related to mental health. Whether it's an immediate crisis, simply wanted to find out how to connect with care or anything in between. It's a 100% secure and anonymous way to reach out for help when you don't know where else to turn to connect. Call or text 98 if it's a man therapy dot org. Do you help? It's okay. Not to be okay. All right. Well, here is Greg Kufner, cigarette the end. I'll run through the reds pictures that are scheduled to appear on Wednesday. Welcome back to Chatterbox Reds. Everybody, we have a special episode for you today in a very special guest.

7:23It's Cincinnati Reds play by play announcer John Sadak. John, I'm worrying your broadcast partner Barry Larkin's jersey today just for you. Thank you for coming on. I'm pumped to do this with you. I'm glad to be here. Thank you for having me. And I love the large jerseys. It's a city connect version of it. It is. Yes, it is. Yes. Very nice. So first question out of the gate. Have you had the chance to meet Gina Suarez yet? Well, I met him some indirectly more my first year because he was still with the team back then. Although, you know, you bring up a good point that year we weren't allowed in the clubhouse at any point. It wasn't until the late stage of that season we could see guys on the pregame field. So most of my interactions with Gina were entirely over zoom. And then, you know, that next year he was gone during the course of spring before the year got underway. We had that shortened spring training as it was the lockout going into that season. So no, on this go round, I happen.

8:25And I don't know that I've ever had a very extended in person because of what the COVID rules were like that first year. Yeah, I completely forgot you were. You were here when he was still back there for his last year there. I was thinking I was thinking he was already gone, but. All right. So how's how's kind of the offseason been. It feels like every other night I'm watching CBS sports network or something. And I see your face on the on the TV calling some random college basketball game. So how's how's the offseason been treating you? Oh, fantastic. It's a. I've been very lucky to be able to do a lot of other work. Got to call a lot of football in the fall between college and NFL. And I've had a fairly robust basketball season that's still ongoing. Yeah, I'm speaking to you right now from the family room in my house. I got here last night. I had been gone for almost two weeks. Was it spring training most of that time at a couple of hoops games? I'll be back out to cover the Mount West tournament for most of this week. Home for a few days and then down to Tampa to be with Tom Crane on the Westwood one radio call.

9:25So it's been great. I had a little low in December, which was welcome. I got some extended family time and a little low. The back half of February outside of the game at Miami, which was also welcome. Yeah, that's great. Well, obviously, let's get let's get to the reds, which is the reason we're here. A big change for you. Obviously this offseason, big change, big change for the network. Kind of the reds will now be broadcast on reds TV, which is owned by major league baseball. I've been impressed so far with the games on TV. You guys have done some cool things with interviews. I know like TJ Friedle mic'd up the other day while he was warming up. Kind of fun thing to see that we haven't seen in years past. First, I guess was there any uncertainty with you at any point in the offseason, were you like worried about the changes? And then are you excited about kind of all the changes that major league baseball has provided for you guys for the upcoming season? Well, so I knew a little bit about what the MLB model was like. I mean, in fact, that we were switching to MLB entering last season. I have extended talks with the man who is now my TV side boss who was going to be then.

10:28I mean, I already had basic terms agreed to before the team decided to pivot back and return to, you know, what was called the and I know the quality of the product. And I know they're the quality of their production people. In fact, the man who runs major league baseball's local TV arm got his early start in production at old Fox Sports Ohio before my time there. So our game producer interned for him. That was part of his entree into the TV sphere in this region. So that he was a known commodity to others that I knew he had also run the national Roku package when that was going on. And I had done a few Roku games. So I interacted with him in the past. But I knew on a production level I'm friendly with folks in production through college football basketball. The man who runs the Padres. I do multiple games a year with the man who runs the Rockies. I had done a handful of games within the past. And they had all said when we first nearly went, oh my gosh, you're going to love it.

11:29Oh, the added value of production, the toys, the bells and whistles, the feedback. And then it didn't happen. So I am on the whole like thrilled. There's always uncertainty, right? Like anything that's new. I'm still kind of feeling that out. But I love that there is a push for access. I love that I think we're going to get even more feedback on how to just be better. How to present Red's baseball in the best possible way. Yeah, it like I said, I've been impressed so far. So I'm excited to see what happens during the season. You recently got to call just this past weekend, I believe. You usually got to call Wil Benson inside the park home run. I wanted to ask, where would you rank? That's obviously a very exciting play. Where would you rank and inside the park home run on your, on your ranks of like favorite plays to call across sports? I mean, it's, it's a lead. It's right up there. I mean, when I, I hear inside the parker because Wil's was weird, right? I mean, it bounces over first base and it's in the spring training game. But it's cool no matter what. It was a little, little leaky.

12:29You know, I think of the T.J. Freedom one against the pirates from those what three years ago or so. Wound up being kind of an outlier play because the reds actually blew a giant lead in that game and lost. But that T.J. Freedle inside the park, Homer. It was the spring training after they, there was a series of days where they had it on loop in the clubhouse. And like, and it was sound full with like the call and the, and the, the, the sound of the crowd and everything. And the whole point was like, this is what still can do. Like this guy busted it out of the box and wound up coming all the way around. But it is right up there because it's the greatest joy of life sport of calling sports. It's the last, the only realm of unscripted drama that really exists in today's world. And that's about as, as hard to anticipate as possible. The other one I always think of is, is Ellie is, I think it was his first career to home run game. Both sides of the plate, he had one against the brewers.

13:29Great American, which is a hard place to hit it inside the park home run. So that was really cool. Yeah, well, usually you're right. It was fluky. Like, I don't think I've ever seen a inside the park home run go down the line like that. Usually it's like the Ellie one where a center fielders diving and he misses it. And it goes all the way to the wall. And then you just like around on the basis. So that was a lot different for sure. Just a follow up on that. Do you, do you have a favorite like moment to call out of like every sport like buzzer beater or walk off Homer on or anything? I think every moment is its own kind of thing. No, I don't know that I can define it in that way because I think it's what leads up to it. You know, like what the background story is about player of that team of that moment. I think it's more about that than necessarily the action. But I mean, great moments, great moments like it's they're all terrific. And you just hope for as many of them as you can possibly get. Yeah, for sure. Well, I think I can speak for all Reds fans. I think we love your calls in the big moments. They're very fun for sure.

14:30All right, let's talk about Hunter Green. Some news. I think about 30 minutes ago the Reds just came out and said he is likely going to be out until July. So I plan to talk to you about him anyway. Just see kind of where you think the registration is. But obviously that's a blow. Obviously, Hunter Green is an ace when he's healthy, but health has kind of been an issue for him. Do you feel kind of just any general thoughts about Hunter Green and what he's been through and being able to stay healthy? And then do you just feel the Reds have the depth in the starting rotation to kind of survive that? I definitely do think they have that's one of the things that is stood out about this team. I was, I mean, you know, by my nature, I tend to be a little more optimistic and pumped up a lot of things. And I was high on this team going to spring training. After being there for a week and a half, I feel even higher. I mean, because I think the red louder is looking nasty, terrific, branded Williams coming back from a major arm injury has been very impressive.

15:31So I feel this is as deep as the team has been. I think they're going to actually have some really hard cuts at multiple positions. Before Hunter's injury, the fifth starter spot was going to be one of the toughest competitions on the team. And then the question of whoever loses or isn't chosen, do you put that guy in the bullpen? Or do you try to piggyback in some way? Can you do that in the big leagues today? How do you then arrange everything? I mean, I feel terrible for Hunter. It's part of the game. You know, guys are going to get hurt. There's no team in Major League Baseball that's going to break camp with everyone whole the way that they would want to be. And it's part of the reality of pitching throughout the sport, you know, more than any other position. And this red group is an example of that. I mean, we have not seen any of these talented younger starters go through an entire season making every start. The only red that did it last year was Brady Singer, you know, who was a traded four player who's far more veteran.

16:32But it's just very, very hard to do. The reds are better with Hunter Green. With that question, like he's when he is on, he is one of the elite starters in the sport. But I also kind of think not to smurge him or anyone else. I think it's just true of the game. You kind of expect some span of time missed for a lot of pitchers in today's sport. The outliers that actually make that start 32, 33 times a year. It's just very, very hard to do in today's game. But yeah, I think that that fifth spot is now probably coming down to red louder. Chase Burns, Brandon Williamson, are really competing for the fourth and fifth role. You feel great about Abbott, despite what ESPN may say about his luck. I mean, I watch the guy every fifth day. I don't necessarily see that. I understand how the stats can be interpreted in some way, but I love the stats. You know that. But I also think when you watch a guy pitch, you know, Nick Lidolo. Nick Lidolo is something to prove in that regard too, right? And he wants to.

17:32He wants to be able to make it through an entire year. I mean, voice on the air several times this spring that he thinks he's an all star. If you can say healthy, if you can avoid the blister issue and be able to make a start. I agree with him. So I mean, it's, it's, it's a tough spot for one of the games. Super talented pitchers who when he is on can be the ace of the staff. But I think there's a lot of starting talent with this Reds team. Julie and Aggie are also could be part of that conversation. Jose Franco could be maybe a relief option. We're starting option. He's really impressed on the miners in this had a good spring. So I think the Reds are enough as good a space as you can be where you never really have enough depth. The Reds have the Reds have strong death. Yeah, and I think that's why the Reds obviously have come out or came out all off season instead. We don't really want to trade starting pitching for a bat as mentioned as people wanted that. Because guys like Brady Singer like he makes all 32 starts and like he's just solid. And I think that's huge. And the Andrew I want to touch on the Andrew Abbott part you touched on.

18:32I'm totally with you. Like I'm as big of an analytics guy as anybody. But at some point after after three seasons of like continually getting better. Clearly something he does is like telling those, you know, whatever it is. The batters have a hard time seeing the ball out of his hand because at some point you have to be like there's something. There's an outlier here, you know, so I'm completely with you on that part. But you kind of transitioned into my next question with about the Reds having some tough decisions to make. Like you said, I think everyone going into camp said the fifth starter battle is going to be the biggest battle. I think most people assume it's probably going to be louder and burns now. But like you said Williams and obviously his pitch well this spring. But now it's almost like I look at this. The last roster spot for the positional guys and you're looking at J. J. Louis. Reese Hines has had an unbelievable spring. Will Benson. Nathaniel Lowe just seems like a Terry Francona guy. And then I'm even saying with the way no well be Marta has looked this all season.

19:33I'm wondering if he is as much of a lock as we think. I kind of think he is. But with the way those other guys are playing, I'm not sure. But just wanted to get your thoughts on kind of that battle because it feels like the Reds have more positional depth than they've had in a long time. I totally agree with you. And I think the biggest wrinkle to it beyond the obvious nature of just performance is the Reds could wind up being a little more prone to left handed pitching depending upon how the roster is constructed. You got Nathaniel Lowe. You have J. J. Bladei who I think has made a strong case to be on this club. Will Benson. You know, Fredal is is a known commodity and he handles lefties well. No, well be Marta though. The other oddity with Noelby is he hits righties very well. He just not hit lefties very well. That's odd. If there were biggest need for this Reds team to me this past off season, it was you wanted the power bet. Ideally a right handed power bet and probably perfect world to me a corner outfield right handed bat.

20:34They got you know, Suarez who's a great ad. He's one of the elite power hitters, you know, these last few years of the game. But that's that's also part of the reality for this Reds team. And then you have a little redundancy at first base. You know Spencer steer can kind of do a bit of everything. He has said he wants to be the Reds main backup second baseman to McLean. You know, he obviously can play corner outfield. He's traditionally been in left. He's going to get some looks and right and he's been an elite defensive first baseman. But then South Stewart is really a first baseman mostly and at the age. And then the thing you'll know is essentially only a first baseman and DH. So how do you handle that? It's going to be some tough choices low. I can tell you my brief interaction with him actually came as he was talking with the media. Sharing the news that his mom had passed the end you can see that it had impacted him. He is already beloved in that clubhouse. I mean, it's something that Tito's brought up and multiple players have brought up that he is connected with the guys in that room.

21:37And I think the Reds benefit from some veteran guys. I think it's where Geno can help this team a lot. I think low even beyond his power bat. And he's got a lot of pop that could profile great at GAPP can help this team as well. I mean, as of right now it's hard to handicap because I think the positional versatility has a lot of value. That's where blood A and Dane Myers, you know, is a right handed option where you could you could platoon a little bit has a lot of value. But more than likely somebody often gets hurt. I mean, the Reds have been very healthy to this point. Not going to move. That's great. The math over the years with not just the Reds with baseball says somebody else is probably going to get nicked up. Yeah, for sure. And like you said, we got a little over two weeks before. Before opening day and the Reds have been healthy. Outside of the honey green Blake Dunn's gotten dinged up a couple times, but pretty minor stuff for the most part. So on another big battle, I think has come down to the bullpen.

22:37It feels like, you know, the Reds really thought maybe someone like Luis May or Zach Maxwell would, you know, take one of those spots. Those guys have really struggled this spring. They obviously just traded for Kyle Nicholas, who seems like he's probably going to get a spot. But we haven't really got to see him because he's pitching for team Italy in the world baseball classic. There's guys like Sam Moll and TJ Antone and Connor Phillips, who are all going for that spot. It feels like between all those names I just listed, there's probably two spots available. Just what are your thoughts kind of on the bullpen battle? Yeah, I think that's actually the biggest competition right now. And beyond performance and projection, I think another major key will be, are they on the 40 or not? And what's the 40 man flexibility of the Reds? So if there are guys that have options and aren't on the 40 or I'm sorry, that have options and the guys that aren't on the 40 that might wind up in a straight minor league situation, that could severely impact things. It's a good thing that the Reds have more guys than they do spots.

23:40To me, the star of spring so far in that regard has been Pierce Johnson, who I liked a lot as an ad. He has looked excellent and I think that could, I wonder how that's going to influence Terry Francona and his later game bullpen strategy, because last year it was pretty clear. Any time the Reds were up four or less, even a non-save, the Gans coming into the final inning. And the bridge is Santeon, but not always in the eighth. Like, could be in the sixth with a man on and then pitch into the seventh. And then Graham Ashcraft could be that other multi-ending guy maybe earlier in the game if the starter goes short. I don't know if it has to be that way. I think if you have Pierce Johnson, M Brock Burke, who has been excellent and does pretty well against lefties and righties, you can feel confident putting him in even if they're going to pinch it. You have two other options that could serve that fireman role. And maybe you can manage Tony's outings and innings and Emilio's outings and innings if Fagan is more true safe situation, less for run, and Tony could be a true eighth inning guy.

24:41Or, you know, not deal as much with men on base, but just be a clean anywhere ever that is. I think Tito's going to be able to mix and match better. And I also think that's going to influence that battle is how does he see using each of those arms, you know. And also what kind of length can he get out of them? Because the other asterisk to this is that when you're looking at the three men competing for the last two spots, Red Louder, Chase Burns and Brandon Williamson. For their own respective reasons, they've all missed time at some point or have had other youth related innings, ceilings or lack of innings to this point. They probably all of innings caps, right? The reds are never going to announce that and it probably is a floating target when Nick Crawl says the quality of the innings matter. It's not lying, like that's true. But 140 innings with high stress, 180 innings with low stress might be kind of similar. But are they going to be able to make every start any one of them that would win a spot throughout the entire year and give you five to six every time?

25:44Probably not. So that's where hunter coming in in July can be a great boon. You know, that can be a great help to maybe assume one of those roles, maybe one or two of those guys goes to the bullpen after starting. They also think what you're talking about the position battle in the pen, that's going to be a giant part of it. And the reality is as many of these reds as they can keep, because I think mall is one of the guys who's out of options at this point. So that's going to complicate things too. As many of them as they can retain, they're probably all going to be part of it at some point. That's the other reality. Whoever's on the team in March, that doesn't mean who's going to be possibly bigger levered spots in August and September. Yeah, for sure. And I think I've kind of been saying all spring, I'm with you on the roster, like on the who's on the 40 man and who's out of options. Like that's kind of why I've been saying I think Sam mall, especially with how he's looked this spring. It feels like it feels like they're not going to want to have to DFA and because he's a guy that's going to get picked up instantly. Of course. And if you're, it doesn't feel like you want to lose a guy if you have guys with minorly options remaining.

26:49And so I'm kind of with you. And Anton is a guy that's like not on the 40 man roster. So they'd have to make quite a few moves to make that happen when it's almost like for him. It feels like you could just put him in triple way, get him facing, you know, get him in more live games. And then like you said, we'll probably see these guys at some point throughout the regular season. But one, a couple guys I wanted to ask you specifically about. And obviously this guy's been the talk of spring. I wanted to talk about Matt McClain. Obviously you needed, we all need to take spring training stats with a grain of salt. They don't always tell the whole story a lot of times they could be polar opposite of what happens in the season. But I always say like confidence is an amazing thing. Regardless of who you're facing, whatever. And he clearly has confidence at the plate this spring. He's looked fantastic. I know he's using a longer bat. You guys had a story about that on one of your broadcast. Actually a lighter bat as well to reach some of those, you know, low and away pitches. But what have you seen from Matt McClain? And what do you think a good Matt McClain does for this lineup? He's noticeably bigger.

27:50He's added some muscle, which he told me he had trouble doing in the past. And I think part of it, just the metabolism. You know, he's like, yeah, there years before I tried, I would eat a ton and lift. And he would just get to a certain ceiling and kind of stay there. This is the first time that he avidly lifted and did bulk even more. He's always been a pop I arm strong dude, but he's gotten to another level with that. It's almost like that. He and Ellie both there, their boyish quality of their appearance is kind of eroded. And they both look like they've gone to man status over the course of this past year. I think he's keeping that inside that that front shoulder rather closed very consciously. He's trying to stay closed as late as long as possible. And his focus is to drive the ball to right. He can he told me he could still turn on that ball. Then when he sees, especially something soft in the tangling to some extent, he could pull that ball down the left field line, left left center. And that's what has stood out about his contact. We're seeing a lot of right right center contact.

28:52But when there are the mistakes in the right spot is too home or game. He went to both fields. I think you're seeing, I think the confidence you're talking about is exactly right. That's a giant part of it. I asked him about the length of the bat. And he said, yeah, I have used it before. It's not the first time ever. And I said, do you think it's just like a mental thing? And he just chuckled like, yeah, probably. Like it's, you know, baseball players know that they can kind of confess that. Something else that he had mentioned that when I was with him at Reds Fest, a fan had asked, is there anything you plan to do differently in 2026? And he said when he self scouted with the Reds at where he had struggled, he thought one of his bigger mistakes was taking too many hittable strikes first second pitch last year. So he does plan to selectively ambush more. And at some point, the league will adjust and he'll have to adjust to that. But I think we've seen that spike a little bit as well. And of course, you're exactly right.

29:52I mean, the spring training stats are spring training stats. The ball is not totally breaking. You know, you can see some lower level arms in certain spots. There are many pitchers who are just working on something not really attacking the hitter. And the who cares? Like, that's all he can do. He's facing, he's leading baseball the other day in average on base. Like, he's leading the sport. Like, that's pretty good. That everybody else is facing the same caliber of competition. What can he do? He could be the the fulcrum for the Reds. I mean, a full end mat McLean if all of this like actually translates. If he's 23 mat McLean plus, he could be the reds best player. I mean, I thought he was their best hitter in 2023. And especially batting second. I think that's the biggest thing in the short term at the season start. I think there's enough body work already this spring that he has demonstrated. He deserves the chance to begin the year back batting second again. And I think that changes the whole dynamic of this reds lineup.

30:52I think the domino effect of of multiple bats having success of Ellie having Geno batting behind him most of the time and having Matt in front of him this version of him. Now the the guy probably profiles the Reds most talented hitter has real protection. You know, there's something more tangible there. And that's where I just feel so good about this team. And McLean is a giant, giant part of that. Yeah, spring training stats. They they always crack me out because as a fan it's so hard to navigate. You're like the second, the second a pitch of struggles. You're like, ah, it's just spring training. But then Matt McLean's going crazy and you're like, oh, he's so back. He's so back. But another guy and who's another guy is having a huge spring. But it's, it's an interesting, it's just an interesting, I guess, conversation. But Reese Hines, I just wanted to get your thoughts on Reese Hines. Obviously yesterday he hit a ball like 119.4 mile per hour or something, which I think is the hardest ball ever hit by a red in the stat cast era. What, what intrigues me about someone like Reese Hines is like last year he went to

31:53AAA the whole year and he didn't just keep doing what he's always done. He, he cut his strikeout rate by 12%, which I think something like that is massive. Because every time he's come up to the bigs, he's kind of chased pitches outside the zone and major league pitchers have kind of taken advantage of that. But also if you look at Hines over the years, he's never really gotten the chance to play like a bunch of days in a row. Obviously had that stretch two years ago where he did. Even after he had that big stretch where he was hitting home run every at bat, I think he went over 16 in his next four games and the red sent him back down. So I just wanted to get your thought on Reese Hines. And do you think he actually has a little bit of a legitimate shot to make the team out come opening day? I love what he's done. His power is obvious. I mean, the reds have a lot of pretty legit power bats. He is number one and it's not close what he is able to do when he is on. But I'm with you. It wasn't a blip. It was an extended stretch of adjustment at AAA. I think the same for Blake Dunn. I mean, these are two talented young players who are demonstrating some of the extra depth.

32:57Hines has also made a few very nice defensive plays in the outfield this spring, which is stood out. And he has an excellent arm that at times can be inaccurate. We've seen more accurate throws in his limited chances this spring. Ultimately, though, he's going to have to prove in the big leagues, breaking ball away that he can lay off and take the obvious balls. He hasn't demonstrated that yet. So it's really, it would be hard for me to see what the veteran competition they have that he would be on the team, because I also think to your point, he needs it that's. So if he's going to be the last outfielder and only, you know, get a handful, that doesn't help him in any way. Could he be part of the reds at some point this year? Yes, yes, he could. And I could see a scenario where, especially if there are injuries or, or at some point if they have to make a trade of some sort. I mean, I think the other good future forecast of this reds team is we may not know now what the area of weakness could be in season, particularly close to the all-star break.

34:00And you hope and think that this reds team is going to be in the thick of a playoff chase. And I would imagine, in my short time, this would be as aggressive as the reds would be at the deadline to address a position of need, whatever that may be. And they probably trade from whatever their position of strength. And I think that's where his ability could come in even more, whether that's, he gets dealt or one of his teammates or, but the adjustments, I spoke with Pat Kelly for probably about 10 minutes one morning doing some stretches. And I asked him about Heinz and Dunn. And he echoed the idea of the amount of work that they did, the substantial changes that they made, and how it sustained for a long time, several months of production. Big Astor is a trip light. You know, neither has done it in regular season games against big league competition. But there are two young in-house options that have some higher endability that very much could help this team.

35:00Yeah, I was listening to a reds hot stove episode earlier this all season. And Nick Crock, he kind of went out of his way to talk about both those guys. I'm Reese Hines and Blake Dunn of just how much they did last year, which I thought was interesting because obviously it shows what they think of those guys. But, and I think one other thing, I don't think a lot of people realize Reese Hines speed. He's one of the faster guys, which is incredible with the power that he has. But an interesting topic, I'm with you. I don't think he'll make the opening day roster, but I do think we'll see him at some point. And I hope when we see him, he can kind of find some success more often. But all right, last question I have for you. And then I'll let you go. I know you're traveling later today out to Vegas. So that'll be great. But I, first of all, I just appreciate you always coming on. This has been awesome. I know you're, like I said, going out to call some college basketball. But I wanted to talk about a little bit more just this last question about the, the new reds TV stuff.

36:00So what will the pre and post game coverage look like with the switch from Fandall to kind of major league baseball? Is a lot of that stuff the same? Are there changes in the pre and post game? What will that kind of look like this coming year? That's a great question. So the, the reds are going to be like when I, as I understand it, how all the other teams are. So the home games, you won't notice the difference. It'll be exactly the same. It'll be the set. It'll be BG and Sammy 99.9% of the games. You know, they'll be their post game with the fans, especially if there's when fans rock in the rail. So that, that will be just about identical to what it's always been. The road will be different. The way I understand it, there won't be a pre while we're on the road. We're going to come up as the, as the game broadcast starts in the booth. And then the post game will be a combination of me and our road analyst who will overwhelmingly be cowboy. And then Jim Day down in the clubhouse grabbing Tito and players. And there could be times that Jim might be hosting it from that area or down in the field.

37:03There could be times where it's us up in the booth taking a look back, doing some highlights and some breakdown. But you'll, you'll get sound still from the clubhouse every day. Ideally, we're going to hear from Tito every day and one or two stars. And we will go through some of the big moments. But it'll be in the booth on the road with a combination of me, cowboy, Chris will do some road stuff as well and Jim Day. Okay, cool. So yeah, home stuff, exactly the same in a way that they're keeping you keeping your working a little longer on those on those games. John, as always, we really appreciate you taking the time to join us today. I'm always great to hear from you. And thank you so much for coming on today. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm pumped for this year. Can't wait for the campaign to begin. Yeah, you and me both. And thank you everyone to watching Shatterbox Reds. We appreciate you guys tuning in. We'll see you next time. Go Reds. All right, the Reds back at it on Wednesday. Reds taking on the Milwaukee Brewers and good year for O5 PM start time.

38:03That'll be on 1360 WSAI, no TV for this one. Reds going with Andrew Abbott, Emilio Pagan, Tony Santheon, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Mulan, Zach Maxwell. So we're going to see a lot of interesting pictures of note. So Quick World Baseball Classic updates. Edwin O'Warrior was 0 for 2 against Canada. Away Newswara's in Team Venezuela. They actually wrap up pool play on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. against the Dominican Republic on FS1. All right, well, thanks so much for listening today. It's episode of Shatterbox Reds. We really do appreciate all your support. Can I subscribe to Shatterbox Reds? Remember this is spot gas. Make sure you do that right now. We also have all kinds of other great content here on Shatterbox ports. One thing we got is the Stone Shield show. Stone's going to have my Amy Redhawks coach Travis Steele on Wednesday morning. Normally, Stone's show is at 11 a.m. to be able to live a little bit earlier around 10 or so with Travis Steele. So look forward to that. Shatterbox Bearcats.

39:03Those guys do post game shows that ever you see game. They have one from yesterday's big tournament game. Another big day for you see today. All right, well, thanks so much for listening. We really do appreciate our support. We will talk again soon. Go Reds. Go Reds.