5/23/24 - The Mo Egger Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
No one covers the Bengals like ESPNfifteen to thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.
What's up, Good afternoon, It'sfive minutes after three o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you forlistening. I hope you're having an unbelievable
Thursday afternoon. We are, believeit or not, loaded with stuff.

(00:21):
The Reds are playing right now,and you know how this works. I
tried to jinx this last week whenthey were in Arizona. But this show
has a long documented history of wego on the air if the Reds are
playing a day game and whatever they'redoing at three h five ends up not
being what they do over the game. So it's for two San Diego leads.

(00:42):
It's a getaway day for the Padres. Red's trying to bounce back after
losing last night. It's four toSan Diego in the bottom of the sixth
inning. But we again, wehave a very good history of this happening
where we go on the air andthe Reds are losing and they come back
and win. We also have ahistory on this show of we go on
the air the Reds are winning andthey lose, but they're losing right now,
so we expect them to win.We will update you as to what's

(01:04):
happening at GABP throughout the afternoon,and of course bring you instant reaction from
a game between the Reds and Padresthat has already had a few interesting things
happen in it. We will discussthose. We're also going to touch in
great detail on Nick Martinez, theReds pitcher who last night didn't pitch all

(01:26):
that well. Didn't pitch terribly,I guess, but after the game said
he thinks the Reds are playing great. His definition of great is different than
mine. We've seen a desperate managertoday. We're going to get to that.
We have seen a problem that baseballhas to address today. We are
going to get to that. Andan old man yelling at cloud says something

(01:46):
stupid. We'll spend some time onthat as well. We've spent a lot
of time in recent years with theBengals kind of talking about By the way,
Nick Martiniz just hit a two runhomer. Seat see what I tell
you. We go on the airthey're losing, we would watch the game
as it unfolds and they end upwinning. It's now for four Reds Padres
bottom six. In recent years,as we've watched the Bengals on offense do

(02:12):
really really well at times and thenat times maybe do not so well,
that the constant theme has been acontinued scrutiny on Zach Taylor's play calling.
I can't tell you how many days, how many shows we've done where the
focus for a lot of folks hasbeen on Zach Taylor and his play calling.
We haven't established much doing this show, but one thing we have established

(02:36):
is we don't spend a lot oftime on play calling. Why because most
of us have no idea what goesinto play calling. To me, it's
been about the overall function of theoffense. And I think even if you're
the most optimistic and pie I Bengalsfan out there, you would agree that
there are times where, in spiteof all of the talent that they have,

(02:57):
in spite of having Joe Burrow,even when he's been healthy and at
his best, there are these longstretches of time where it feels like the
Bengals offense just spins its tires.This has been a theme for a couple
of years, even when the Bengalshave been very, very good that team
in twenty twenty two that won twelvegames, right, that won their last
eight in the regular season. Wespent a lot of time wondering why do

(03:20):
the Bengals offensively often seem to bestuck in the mud in twenty twenty one
when you know they frankly had abad offensive line. We spend a lot
of time wondering, why does thisoffense, with a great quarterback and all
this weaponry, why do they spendlarge chunks of time seemingly spinning their tires.
We did that last year, evento a different degree because Joe was

(03:42):
never really completely healthy at the beginningof the season and he missed the end
of the season because he was hurt. We spent a lot of time wondering
why does the offense just not necessarilyreach its full potential? And so for
me, that's where the play callingdiscussion comes in, because I'm less concerned
with why did they call this playon second and six, or why did

(04:03):
they call this play on first andten, or why do they call this
play on the goal line? Ijust want the offense to function better.
And if you're a coach, ahead coach is also a play caller At
some point, I do think youhave to kind of look within and go
is there a better way to dothings? Is there a better way to
run the offense? Is there abetter way to just completely tap into all

(04:24):
the talent that we have? Isthere a better way to be more productive?
I've always felt like those are fairquestions, and so my take when
it comes to Zach Taylor play callingplays has always been shouldn't they take a
look into whether or not changing thehierarchy, whether it's changing who calls the
place, changing how they game plan, changing the sideline communication, changing whether

(04:48):
or not the offensive coordinators in thepress box or down on the sideline.
Should they take a look at thingsthat, if they did them differently,
could maybe allow the offense to functiona little bit better. Why am I
bringing this up? Well, becauseI was listening to the Bengals Booth podcast
with the great Dan Horror, thevoice of the Bengals, and Bengals have

(05:09):
a new offensive coordinator this year.It's Dan Pitcher, and Zach is still
going to be the primary play caller, but I thought this was interesting.
Listen to this from Zach Taylor onthe Bengals Booth podcast. With with Dan
Hord, Tarren go ahead and hitit. I think, you know,
I think Dan's going to bring newideas. You know, when you're in
a role and you were excited foran opportunity. He interviewed for a lot

(05:30):
of OC jobs over the last twoyears and so he always had to be
thinking big picture, what am Igoing to do if I get the opportunity,
And so that's going to be goodfor him to, Hey, do
that here. You know, Hey, I'll take a step back the spring
and really let you take a lotof ownership in the direction of the offense.
And he's ready for that opportunity,and I'm excited to see how this
thing can continue to evolve at thesame time with Justin's role. Zach Taylor

(05:56):
on the Bengals Booth podcast with DanHorde, there was an important que quote
there, quote, I'll take astep back this spring again, Zach's gonna
be the primary play caller, whichis fine. They've achieved a lot with
him as the primary play caller.But I'll take a step back this spring.
That's to me two things. Onedo have a new offensive coordinator.

(06:18):
It does make sense to have himput his fingerprints on the offense, and
the best way to do that isto allow him to be maybe a little
bit more hands on. But whatI like about it, what I like
about it is this, it isperhaps a slightly different approach. It's a
slightly different approach to maybe running thesame exact offense. It's a slightly different

(06:40):
approach to running the same offense withlargely the same group of players. Obviously
some changes with Tyler Boyd no longerhere and Joe Mixon no longer here in
a new tight end, and MikeKasiki and the guys they drafted as well.
But I like that. That doesn'tmean that Dan is going to call
the plays. That doesn't mean thatZach is going to relinquish play calling.
Do I frankly expect neither of thosethings to ever happen. But I do

(07:03):
like the idea of the head coachwhose role in the offense has come under
great scrutiny. I do like theidea, and I think if you're a
Bengals fan, you should too.I do like the idea of him maybe
doing things a little bit differently andallowing the offensive coordinator to kind of be
a little bit more front facing,to have a little bit more of a

(07:27):
role, maybe not so much onSunday, but in the course of installing
the offense, getting the new guysup to speed, putting his own wrinkles
in and who knows, maybe ifif this works. And when I say
this working, I mean like theoffense hits another gear that we haven't seen
on a consistent enough basis, evenwhen the Bengals have been at their best.

(07:51):
If this works, does it maybecompel Zach Taylor to handle a little
bit more responsibility over to Dan Pitcher. A lot has been made about Dan's
role during the process of game planningand installing and teaching the third down packages.
I like this to me, itreflects something that we've wanted from Zach

(08:11):
and we've wanted from the coaching stafffor a while, which is some open
mindedness. And maybe I'm making toomuch out of a podcast quote in May,
and I'm making too much of somethingthat's happening during OTAs and stuff like
that, But I think it's oneof the central themes to the season.
On top of does Joe come backand stay healthy? On top of whatever

(08:33):
t Higgins drama you might be worriedabout. And I'm not worried about it
at all. On top of canthe defense show significant improvement from last year
more than anything else with a changein personnel, but still continuity on the
offensive line, continuity with the toptwo receivers, continuity obviously with Joe Burrow.

(08:54):
Can they achieve a level of offensiveproficiency and consistency that has been elusive
in recent years? And if theanswer ends up being yes, the guy
who's gonna get a ton of theircredit ain't gonna be Zach Taylor. It's
gonna be Dan Pitcher. If thereare things they do during the course of

(09:15):
mini camp, training camp OTAs,all the stuff that's happening right now,
all the stuff that's gonna be unfoldinghere in a couple of months, if
they can, I don't know,just find ways to hit the ground running
more at the start of the season, and then over the course of the
season, find more, find fewerlulls, find fewer stretches where it feels

(09:37):
like they're kind of running in place. Does maybe that mean you continue to
expand Dan Pitcher's role in being handson with the offense, and could that
include him calling the plays or probablygetting a little ahead of ourselves. But
I do think there's something about kindof doing things a little bit different,
and if that involves the head coachtaking a step back, that to me

(10:00):
reflects a lot. I mean,I don't think it would be all that
unexpected for the coach who's also theplay caller, who's now moving into his
sixth season in his current capacity tokind of say, look, here's what
we've done. This has worked withme doing things a certain way. Dan,
you're gonna fill the old uh BrianCallahan role, and this is kind
of how things are gonna run duringthe course of the offseason. It feels

(10:22):
like, and by Zack's own admission, things are going to be done a
little bit differently. I think that'svery encouraging, and I think what's going
to be really interesting is to seeif that can yield different and obviously,
in an ideal world, better results. It's a quarter after three on ESPN
fifteen thirty. We're broadcasting from theESPN fifteen thirty studios, powered by Greater

(10:43):
Cincinnati's roofing and exterior restoration Expertsmadewell Restorationdot com. You can freshen up your
entire exterior just make one call tothe guys that made Well check Out,
made Well Restoration dot Com. Uh, we're gonna make fun of a Red's
pitcher today who I like, andwe're gonna make fun of him because he

(11:05):
said something in the course of offeringsome pretty good and revealing answers to a
bunch of questions last night that leftme shaking my head. We are going
to spend some time on that.We also have college baseball happening today.
There's sort of a championship week collegebasketball field to what's happening with college baseball
in town. The Big East Tournament'shappening at Prasco Park. Xavier is gonna

(11:28):
play in two games today. Oneof them just concluded the Musketeers beat you
con so they'll play tonight. Uh. You see plays in the Big Twelve
Tournament in an elimination game in Arlington. So we have that to monitor Today.
We have another Reds injury to focuson, and there is a problem
that one major sport has that mustbe addressed. The problem is I don't

(11:50):
know how you address it. Perhapsyou do. Our numbers are five point
three, seven four nine, fifteen, thirty eight sixty six seven h two
three seven seven, six, youcould always fire off a tweet at moegar.
Thanks to our friends at Delta Dentalbuilding healthy, smart, vibrant communities
for all good at Delta dentalh dotcom. Uh, we may do two

(12:11):
poll questions today. I know we'regoing to do at least one. We'll
address the first when we come backat seventeen after three o'clock on mowegor.
Glad you're with us today on ESPNfifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, Cincinnati's ESPN
fifteen thirty Traffic from the UC Healthytwenty two after three. This is ESPN

(12:33):
fifteen thirty on Moegar. By theway, tomorrow is the day, you
know right, We've been doing this, talking about it for a month.
The Mouor Long Contest. The winneris announced tomorrow at four thirty three.
So if you've entered the Moyor LongContest, you might hear your name tomorrow
at four thirty three. If youhave not entered the Moyuor Long Contest,

(12:54):
I would like to think that bynow that's only because you're a procrastinator.
Because we've talked about this every dayfor about a month. Our friends at
Baxlea Tractor and Batavia have given usa brand new lawnmower to give away brand
new lawnmower, and our friends atRiverband Music Center have given us tickets to
every Riverbend show this year. AndI was asked this at the ballgame last

(13:18):
night. Well, does one personwin the lawnmower, one person win the
River Bend. No, everybody.One person wins everything, all the Riverbend
tickets every show this year, andthe lawnmower. And this is either the
best part of the worst part,depending on your perspective. I will show
up at your house if you win. I'm only not going to show up
at your house if you don't.If you win, I'm going to show

(13:39):
up at your house with the lawnmowerthanks to Backsla tractor, all the Riverbend
tickets, and I always offer tocut your grass typically as for refreshments to
be provided. Nobody has ever takenme up on this. Most people just
kind of want me to slink away, and I can't blame them for that.
So if you haven't signed up yet, you can go to the contest
page of ESPN fifteen thirty. I'vegot this all over social media. The

(14:03):
winner will be announced tomorrow at fourthirty three. We've done this for years.
It's I think the best contest wedo. Think of the value with
that a brand new lawnmower and thentickets to every Riverbend show in twenty twenty
four. Sign up today because tomorrowwe're announcing the winner. So you got
about twenty four twenty five hours ESPNfifteen thirty dot com. Go to the

(14:24):
contest page and also on my socialmedia at Moager. While you're on my
social media, we'll have the audiofor you in a bit. Tony and
Austin were making fun of this,and I frankly could not have agreed more
with Tony's take. Nick Martinez pitchesfor the Reds. He pitched started the
game last night. He's been thrustit back into a starting pitching role because

(14:45):
of the nic Lidolo injury, andhe pitched extraordinarily well against the Dodgers last
week, maybe not quite so muchlast night. In the course of chatting
with reporters, he said that theReds are playing great now. Uh,
there's still a lot of time leftin the season, and obviously they've been

(15:07):
the victims of bad luck. EmilioPagan, if you haven't heard on the
injured list. You know what,we do have the audio, Terrn,
go ahead, give me, giveme the audio. The audio is if
this is what I think it is. The audio quality isn't great, but
you'll still be able to hear Nicksay what he said. Go ahead,
play that for me. So far, I think we're playing great. I

(15:28):
think we're sticking to you know,our process, and uh, yeah,
you don't want guys getting hitting thewrist. So we've had a bunch of
that this year, and I thinkthroughout the league guys a bitch is getting
hit, you know, in abad spot. All right, said there
it is, and then he goeson and thank you for finding the better
audio. Terran. I think youhear something there. Played again for me,

(15:52):
because he says they're playing great,and then he realizes I just said
we're playing great. We haven't wonconsecutive games in a month, Arran,
go ahead and hit that. Ithink we're playing great. I think we're
sticking to our process. And rightthere, right there, did you hear
that? Right right there is whenhe's like, wait a minute, I
just said we're playing great. I'mnot playing great. So this kind of

(16:12):
went viral last night, so weare asking and look, they've had injuries.
That goes without saying Amelia pug onthe latest go in the Ange list.
They've had some bad luck. Theyhaven't won consecutive games since April twenty
third and twenty fourth. They are, as play began today, nine games
under five hundred. Great is asubjective term. I've watched this team all

(16:37):
season long. I know what playinggreat looks like, I know what it
sounds like, I know what itfeels like. But we put it to
you on X thanks to our friendsat United Heartland Insurance. Do you agree
with Nick Martinez that the Reds areplaying great? You could vote right now
at Moeger thanks to United Heartland Insurance. Let those folks save you. Mow

(17:00):
money could be your personal insurance,business insurance, auto insurance. They have
offices in Hamilton, Cincinnati, andNorthern Kentucky and regardless of where you are,
if you have internet access, youcan go to a uhi ns dot
com. They sponsor our poll questionsand as luck would have it, uh

(17:21):
they're uh. I guess being entertainedor checking out the show. I don't
know how you want to put itthere they're watching us do the show.
Today. We have Ron Whitaker,Jason Krank, and John Turner from United
Heartland and all with me here instudio. They're about to make their radio
day their respective radio debuts. Isdebuts the correct plural for debut. I
have no idea it was not anEnglish major electronic media. But nonetheless they're

(17:44):
here. Guys, get close tothe microphones. Don't be nervous, don't
be scared. This is huge.What's going on? I'll go from left
and right. Jason, what's goingon? Hey, guys, afternoon the
MO. Thanks for having us on. Of course, this is big,
This is big. Ron, what'sup? Love the show? MO?
Glad mere and very good. Well, I'm glad you're here. And John,
what's up Cincinnati? This is huge, isn't it? You got it?

(18:06):
Man? Is this everything you thoughtit would be? It's it's more,
it's more, much more. MO. All right, United Heartland Insurance.
You guys are sponsoring our pole Question, which we're very proud of.
Some days that the pole question issomewhat serious. Someday it's a little tongue
in cheek. Today I guess wouldwould be would be one of those days.
Uh, United Heartland Insurance. Soyou got offices, you got Hamilton,

(18:27):
you got Cincinnati, you got Kentuckyinsurance. It's that's an all encompassing
word. There's a lot that youguys do, lots of lots of things
in insurance. Yeah, not themost exciting business. Why not? Well,
it's uh, we're on a sportssport, We're on a sports show.
Mo. Does this look exciting rightnow? Me sitting here, does
this absolutely quite a bit more thanour daily ass Yeah? Very good,

(18:52):
very good. Well, I meanit's it's uh, it's it's exciting to
have you part of the Twitter question. That's kind of neat. I mean
for me, it is. It'sbetter when it's sponsored. Absolutely. Yeah.
So what can folks expect if theycheck out uagiants dot com. I
think you're going to get a goodview of who we are when we do
home, auto, business, insurance, and life. When people call in,

(19:14):
we treat them, you know,we kind of try to practice the
Golden rule. We treat people likeyou would want to be treated, and
sure you properly for a fair andcompetitive price. And with Rates doing what
they're doing nowadays, that could bea huge benefit. Yeah, Rates these
days. It's all over the place, right, It's kind of like everything
else with the price is hard topredict. Everything's going up, nothing's cheap
anymore. Absolutely all over the board, all over the board, and then

(19:37):
all over the board, meaning upup up. Yeah, as everybody on
the that's listening has probably seen,it's an interesting time. So I'm gonna
I'm gonna expand on what Ron said. The real reason you go to our
website is to see these guys pictureson the website. You know, that's
my favorite part of my website ismy picture. It'd be a better website
if my face wasn't on it.Yeah, I wouldn't say the same about

(20:00):
uachinas dot com though, Yeah,very good. But it's like insurances,
like everything else where the prices are, it can be not necessarily automatically high,
but a little bit hard to predictright now for sure. Yeah,
it's a challenge right now for everybody. So you know, that's why we're
glad we do what we do.We're brokers, We represent you know,
ten ten twelve different insurance companies,guys that we have options for all of

(20:23):
our clients. So we love doingwhat we do. Honestly and right now.
It's very important to do do itthe way we do it. Do
you agree with Nick Martinez that theReds are playing great? I do not
agree. I think we could alldisagree on that unanimously. Yeah. There
are certain times we throw the questionout there, the Twitter poll question out

(20:44):
there, and I know what theright now. Ninety five percent of people
say I want to know what thefolks who are voting yes or watching.
There are certain days now, thereare certain days where the results of the
poll question are right down the middle. We asked last week after Scott Shuffler's
incident in Louisville, because the cophad eighty dollars pants on, have you
ever paid eighty bucks for pants?Fifty one percent of people said no.

(21:07):
So some of these questions are quitedivisive. Some of them the answer is
pretty obvious. Ninety four point sevenpercent say no. Yeah, all right,
Yeah, United Heartland Insurance, Uh I n S dot Com.
It's awesome to have you guys withus. Appreciate it, appreciate greatly.
Thank you for supporting us and comeup any especially when we have beer.

(21:29):
Absolutely absolutely here makes the whole showbetter. Uh yeah, I say that
every day, especially if you're hostingit. All right, very good vote
now at Mullegar again. Check outuhi ns dot com United Heartland Insurance.
Could be home, could be auto, could be personal, could be business.
They're gonna save you mo money.Find out more u h i n

(21:52):
s dot com. Local sports headlinesare coming up and the Bengals have gotten
a very very good grade. Avery good grade. Some seem to disagree.
That's coming up next on ESPN fifteenthirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Sports headlines
are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet,Home of lifetime power train protection and guarantee
credit approval from their family to yoursfor life kelseyshev dot com, Reds and

(22:17):
Padres tied at four bottom seven.Nick Martini a two run homer to tie
the game in the six. Red'slooking for their first series win since they
swept the Angels over a month ago. Homestand continues tomorrow night with the first
of a three game series against theLa Dodgers. By the way, since
he three to sixty, Tomorrow isgoing to be broadcasting from the Holy Grail

(22:37):
from noon to three, So gosee Austin and Tony and TJ and tom
will be with them. Emilia Paganheads to the injured list as we feared
with Wright triceps tightness. Brett Kennedy, who pitched in a handful of games
last year for Cincinnati, He hasbeen called up to replace him. Cincinnati
has head to DFA Bubba Thompson inorder to make room for Kennedy on the

(22:59):
forty man. As Florence plays tonightagainst Gateway, Xavier beats Yukon in the
Big East Baseball Tournament at Prasco Park. So this game started last night.
Xavier and Yukon started last night.The game got suspended well, obviously we
had rough weather all throughout the triState. They restarted it in the top

(23:21):
of the sixth inning, tied attwo, and they win the ball game
three to two. So x youwill advance in the Big East Tournament to
play Saint John's this evening. Gocheck that out of Prasco Park. UC
is playing in the Big twelve Tournamentafter their win over Texas yesterday, playing
in the Rangers Ballpark against Texas Techfirst pitching that one's going to be at

(23:42):
five o'clock. The website Pro FootballFocus has given the Bengals an a for
their offseason. I think that comesas a surprise to a lot of observers
because I think usually it's very easyto look at who they've lost and who
they've lost. They've lost some verysignificant players. About that they get an
A from Pro Football Focus. It'sobviously subjective grading in an offseason where they

(24:07):
have lost DJ Reader who was terrificwhile he was here, Tyler Boyd who
was very productive while he was here, Chadobiyo Woozier who was outstanding while he
was here, and Joe Mixon whowas very productive while he was here.
Think about what has to go intothe rest of your offseason when you lose
those guys. Those sorts of playersmainstays guys who meant a lot to your

(24:29):
success, players who played in multipleAFC Championship games, players who played in
a Super Bowl, a guy inDJ Reader who when he was at his
best. For my money, youcan make the case he was the second
most valuable player after Joe Burrow.They lost those players, and yet a
respected, objective, statistically based websitewill still give the team an A for

(24:53):
their offseason. And by the way, I don't necessarily disagree. The most
important thing that has happened this offseasonis Joe Burrow is tracking towards being okay,
And maybe if the season opener weretoday, he couldn't go. But
based on where we are in thecalendar, what we've seen, he looks
like he's going to be okay.There are additions like I still believe they

(25:15):
are going to be at least alittle bit more explosive at running back.
I don't know that they're going tobe a statistically superior running team, because
when the Bengals run the football,they're doing what the other team's defensive coordinator
wants them to do. I thinkif you have to replace a player like
a Tyler Boyd, they have somepretty good options, whether it's you know,

(25:36):
strictly Jermaine Burton or andre Yoshavash.And we're talking about replacing Tyler,
who usually worked in the slot,and I just mentioned a couple of the
guys who are going to probably spendmost of the time on the outside.
But still that team at pass catcherbecause I lump Kisiki in with the wide
receivers, I think they've had agood offseason at pass catcher. Even the
two tight ends they've drafted look likethey're going to be able to help on

(26:00):
the offensive line. They've bolstered theirdepth. Who knows If a Marius Mims
is going to start Week one,many would make the case that he should
play left guard instead of Cordel Volson. I'm certainly up for that being a
bit of a training camp question.But their depth is better than we think
it was last year, even thoughtheir death really never got tested. Defensively,

(26:22):
losing DJ Reider, I'm less botheredby it than some because I look
at the age and the injury history, and I just I think DJ still
has some gas in the tank andstill has a chance to help out the
Detroit Lions. But I'm also ofthe belief that he has probably had his
best seasons, and those best seasonscame in Cincinnati, and the Bengals didn't

(26:45):
want to pay for seasons that likelyaren't going to be close to his best
seasons. They may be wrong,They've made that wager before, most famously,
so I guess with Andrew Whitworth,and they really haven't replaced what DJ
Reader does. They don't really havea replacement nose tackle. But I think
the approach on the defensive line onthe inside two early ish draft picks and

(27:07):
Sheldon Rankins. Those are good additions. They dramatically address safety. Von Belt
comes back, and in Geno Stoneit's a sending player. You know,
you'll find some who might have hadqualms with individual draft choices the Bengals made.
But if you were looking at thegrades across the board when it came

(27:30):
to the aftermath of the draft,pretty much everybody was on board with what
they did. I have talked myselfinto a Marius Mims. It's a very
good offseason. Now you might notthink it's an A. It's really kind
of pointless to assign grades. Butif I would have said to you at
the beginning of the offseason, ifI would have said to you at the

(27:51):
end of last year, the Bengalsare gonna lose mixing reader boyd Ouzia,
and we're still gonna think the Bengalshad a very good offseason and objective observers
are going to give them an A. You would have said there's absolutely no
way. And yet I think youcan make that case and do so successfully.

(28:12):
And what's interesting is I looked atthis on social media, and I
looked at this on the Pro Footballfocused website. You couldn't find much dissent.
You couldn't find many people who thought, yeah, you know what,
they had an awful offseason. Gratingthem with an a is stupid. They've
had, I think, a productivelast few months, and again, the
most significant development is it looks likeJoe Burrow's return is going to happen and

(28:32):
hopefully he can get through training camp. They've even lost a significant member of
the staff. They are changing offensivecoordinators. And yet with all that turnover
from a team that, for allof its issues, did win nine games
last season, and all of theplayers who left who were a part of
two teams that made AFC Championship games, you could still very easily, very

(28:56):
successfully make the case that the Bengalshad a very good offseason. I think
that's saying something. I think it'ssaying something about the players that they've drafted,
that they've acquired, that they've kept. And all of this is occurring
with the supposed noise surrounding t Higginsand Trey Hendrickson, which at times,
I guess if you're an outsider,has made it seem like the Bengals offseason

(29:18):
has been one filled with chaos andan actuality. I think it's been an
offseason defined by productivity, even inthe face of subtraction. How many teams
could say that, how many teamscould lose the players the Bengals lost and
be willing to lose them and stillfeel like, you know what, we
had a really good last couple ofmonths. I don't think that list is

(29:40):
very long. However long it is, it does include the Bengals. Your
phone calls are coming up at fivepoint three seven four nine, fifteen thirty
and eight six six seven h twothree seven seven six. We're also going
to discuss the possible end of aten television institution. And speaking of a

(30:03):
television institution, I used to bea big fan of Pardon the Interruption with
Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon when itcame out that show debut, I think
in two thousand and one. Thatused to be must watch television. Now
it's old men yelling at clouds,and I think it kind of bottomed out
yesterday. You'll hear why and howand my thoughts on it next on ESPN

(30:26):
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. NeatInspiration Like I'm the one guy in America
that thinks Indiana is gonna win atleast game two. Boston lost game game
two against in its first round series, lost game two and its second round
series. There you go, Isay, they make it three for three?
Do we have the Michael Wilbon audio. So one of the things you

(30:47):
often hear in baseball nowadays you hearthe term exit velocity, which is nothing
more than how hard the ball iscoming off the bat. We have tracked
the velocity of the ball coming atthe hitter for decades, and recent phenomenon
is now we hear about how fastthe ball is coming off the hitter's bat.

(31:07):
You could do whatever you want withthis information. I think most of
us who follow baseball understand that theharder you hit it, the better your
chances of getting a hit. You'renot guaranteed, of course, and yeah,
there are tons of examples of verysoftly hit balls that just land in
the right place for hits. Butas a general rule, you want to
hit the ball hard, and wehave tracking data that can tell you in

(31:33):
real time whether it be a hitor an out, how fast, how
what the velocity was when the ballcomes off the bat. It's called exit
velocity, and it's something I'm notgoing to pretend that I like latch onto
every hitter's exit velocity every time theymake contact. But I do think it's
cool to see how hard the ballcomes off the bat. I think it's

(31:56):
cool to see, you know,now we have home run tracking, which
we've had for a while. Well, I could see the ball go over
the fence, but it's sometimes coolto find out how many feet did it
travel. It's cool to watch aguy shoot a three point shot, but
sometimes it's cool to see exactly howfar away from the hoop were they.
I like knowing stuff, and ifyou don't like knowing stuff, that's okay.

(32:17):
It doesn't mean that you can't enjoythe sport. The reason I bring
this up I this went viral andthis show has become old men yelling at
clouds. Michael Wilbon hates analytics.Michael Wilbon's an extraordinarily accomplished successful television host,
NBA analyst writer, but he hatesthe fact that we have exit velocity

(32:43):
now. And he went on arant last night or I guess yesterday afternoon
on Pardon the interruption, because O'NeilCruz of the Pirates. His exit velocity
was tracked and it was a showthat he hit the ball really really hard.
And that's fine, and you mightcare about that information, you might
not have any use for that information. Either way. It made Michael wilbon

(33:04):
Man go ahead and take a listen, now is it no deal? It?
And in talking about this and thinkingabout it, and I'm glad we're
doing this topic, Tony. Solet me ask you something. The VLO,
the exit v loo. Does itmean he's a better hitter than Tony
Gwyn who might have dribbled a fewthrough the infield in his day and hit
about, you know, three pointthirty career and flirted with four hundred once,

(33:27):
meaning a better hitter than him?And so so what, so what?
He's a two sixty hitter? Sowhy do I give a damn about
the exit v loo? I don't. And so I guess people need this
Tony to become interested and more fascinatedand they go oh wow. Not only
do I not go oh wow?It has started the ruination of watching sports

(33:49):
for me. Numbers like this repeatedlyand put up on the screen day in,
day out. It has ruined itbecause people aren't concentrating on the fact
that he is two sixty instead ofEi. They're concentrating on exit Vlow.
That's just me. You're older thanme and more crossty than me, at
least you used to be. Howyou feeling about all right? So he
doesn't like exit velo. I likeknowing as a sports fan, As a

(34:13):
curious sports fan, I like knowingstuff. So I could watch an NFL
play and I could see Patrick Mahomesuse his raw arm strength to do insanely
otherworldly things and throw a dime toa dude streaking down the field and be
marveled at the peer athleticism and whatit takes to complete that pass. But

(34:35):
what I find to be even justas much fun and at times more interesting,
is the next day when somebody whohas a great amount of knowledge about
how offenses work and how they takeadvantage of defenses could explain, well,
here's why Patrick Mahomes had that openingaround localize that Joe Burrow had that opening
to make that throw. Here's whathappened with the other team's defense. Here's

(34:59):
what Joe saw before the snap.Here's the read that he made. Here's
where a defensive player maybe missed anassignment and here's why the play broke down
against the defense, and here's whyit worked for the offense. That you
might not be interested in that stuff, and that's okay, but we've had
tools available to us telestraders back inthe seventies and eighties and stuff that's far

(35:22):
more advanced now that as sports fans, help you know more and help you
understand more. I listened to JJReddick's podcast that he does and has Lebron
James on, and they do greatdeep dives into offensive strategies and it's more
than just a couple of players talkingabout which guys have that dog in them.
You could watch basketball and not haveany use for that stuff, but

(35:45):
there is an audience of us whowants to know why did this pick and
roll work? Why does this defensedo such a good job against this team
that shoots the three point shot verywell? In sports and in life,
there's always been I think a numberof us, a lot of folks who
watch something, who consume something,who are very curious about that thing.

(36:07):
We have our buddy Brandon Spinner fromChannel nine on the show Tomorrow, who
is a bourbon show. I liketo drink bourbon, he could tell you
how it's made. He could tellyou where the barrels were made, he
could tell you the specific ingredients thatgo into every that. You might not
know that stuff, and you canstill enjoy bourbon, But for a certain
type of bourbon drinker, that stuffis really really interesting. And so if

(36:30):
you can enjoy a baseball game withsomeone telling you, yeah, that ball
came off to bout one hundred andnine miles an hour, that's a you
problem. Do you need to knowthat? Of course you don't. My
daughter likes to watch baseball. Shecouldn't tell you what vlo is. She
doesn't know what miles per hour are. There are a lot of fans like
that, and it's okay, Butthere are fans like me who like to

(36:52):
know that stuff. I want toknow how far a ball traveled, if
a dude hits one out of theballpark. I want to know how fast
a guy ran returns a punt eightyyards for a touchdown. I like to
know, specifically Steph Curry, howfar behind the arc was here? How
far behind the arc was was CaitlinClark. I like to know stuff like

(37:14):
why did the defense break down?Why was Joe Burrow able to take advantage?
And there is something. Look,I promise you the late great Tony
Gwynn, one of my all timefavorite athletes. I promise you, despite
his proficiency of going the other wayand slapping hits between the shortstop and third
baseman, I guarantee you what hewanted to do every time he came to

(37:35):
the plate was hit the ball ashard as he humanly could. Right now,
we didn't measure it back then,but I promise you each of these
hitters want to hit the ball ashard as they possibly can. You could
hit the ball really hard and itdoesn't guarantee you're going to get a hit.
You could hit the ball softly andyou might get a hit. But
as a general rule, guys wantto hit the ball hard. And if
you're building a team and you wantthe best possible hitters, my guess would

(38:00):
be we would want guys who,on a consistent basis hit the ball really,
really hard. All exit velocity doesis tell us who hits the ball
really hard. What's wrong with knowingthat? And if you don't want to
know that, okay, that's fine. I like movies. I have no
real interest In filmmaking, I likemusic. I have no real interest in

(38:21):
how they arrange the music, howthe instruments get played, how it gets
produced. But in sports, Ihave a curiosity and when that curiosity gets
satisfied, it enhances my ability toenjoyment, to enjoy it. But it
shouldn't unless you just are hell benton me in a crotchety old man.
It should inhibit your ability to enjoybaseball because we're telling you how hard the

(38:44):
ball came off a bat when we'vebeen telling you for years how hard it
came out of the pitcher's hand.Four o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty Sports.
I'm Doug Brown. The Pacers nowhave a chance to do something that's only
happened once in the NBA playoffs,win three series in the same year after

(39:07):
losing Game one, Game two tonightin Boston for Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers.
And we know we can play withthese guys. I mean, that's
for y'all to say that we don't. You know, there's a lot of
people here saying we don't belong here. We don't really care. We know
we belong. The only team todo that the Bucks three years ago when
they won the title just after eightEastern time. Tonight for the Tip Pacers

(39:29):
and Celtics in Boston on ESPN Radioand TV Toronto will have the first WNBA
franchise outside the US. The teamwill start playing in twenty twenty six.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says robot homeplayed umpires are unlikely for next season.
He says there have been technical issuesin the minor leagues this year. Rafael

(39:50):
Nadal will play at the French Open. He'll face the four seed Alexander Zverev
in the first round. The numberfive player in the women's rankings, American
Jessica Pagoula, drops out with multipleinjuries. How are you, tru Resident
Super Bowl Chap christ Canny coming onFriday, Anthony Edwards and my Wolves job
j One. I'll tell you whyI'm not worried about him, Jess yet.

(40:10):
It's on sports for like six amEastern right here on ESPN Radio,
ESPN two in ESPN U this report. I just smacked myself in the face
with my headphones. HI, getad for me. I'm on Leonard.

(40:30):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thankyou for listening. Hopefully you're having a
terrific Thursday afternoons. Reds are playingthe Padres bottom of the nine. Tenny,
it's four four. Look, I'mgonna pull back the curtain. Okay.
We do what is referred to ascounter programming when the Reds are on

(40:51):
right, and it makes sense,like I'm I'm not dumb. I mean
I am, but I'm not.I'm not naive. I know, I
know how this works. There arethere are four folks who might typically be
listening to me today if the Redswere not playing, who are giving the
Reds. They're mostly undivided attention.And that's totally fine. I can I
can completely accept that. So whatwe're supposed to do is counter program And

(41:15):
there are times where counter programming isit's very easy, it's very natural.
Like if the Reds are playing agame in mid April and it's during the
day and we're on at the sametime, there's a lot of draft stuff
going on. And if it's Septemberor even August and the Reds are playing
a day game and we're on,there's a lot of Bengal stuff. To
be honest with you, there's nota ton of Bengal stuff going on.

(41:38):
I can try to make a T. Higgins topic, I don't know that
I need to. T Higgins isgoing to play for the Bengals this year
and then he's going to play foranother team in twenty twenty five, and
he's not going to come to trainingcamp on time, and the Bengals can't
do anything about that. But he'snot going to forego the chance to make

(41:58):
twenty one million dollars. And histrack record would suggest that he's going to
do everything he can to be onthe field and have a great season and
do stuff like play through pain.So there's as much as many one wanted
to seem like something is there,there's there's really not a lot there.
Let's be honest. This baseball gamethe Reds are playing today is what's happening

(42:21):
right now. It's four to four, bottom of the ninetheenny, and so
I'm not really supposed to acknowledge thatit's happening. But this game today feels
really big. It's there for whatit's worth. It's their fiftieth game of
the season. The Dodgers come herethis weekend. LA just beat the Reds
three out of four Memorial Day weekendis when the Reds kind of started to

(42:46):
kick it into gear last year.And that's before Elie de la Cruz got
called up, and it's before AndrewRabbit got called up. But they really
couldn't afford to keep floundering around muchpast Memorial Day, and so on Memorial
Day they went to Chicago, wentto Wrigley Field, swept the Cubs,
which might not have been the world'scoolest accomplishment, but they did and kind

(43:08):
of stop the bleeding. I don'tknow what analogy you want to use,
but they had a pretty successful MemorialDay weekend. This is game number fifty
for the Reds. They're closing iton the one third mark of the season.
Obviously, they have time on theirside, but not as much as

(43:30):
they did two weeks ago, andnot as much as they would if their
record was better. If the Redslose today, the game is going to
the tenth inning, so it's timefor magic Runner baseball. If if the
Reds lose the game today, theywill be twenty and thirty. Simple math
would tell you that's four hundred baseballtwenty and thirty. With the La Dodgers

(43:57):
come into town, they will havelost another series, a series in which
they won the first game. Ithas been seemingly forever since they last won
a series was when they swept theAngels back in mid April. Think about
that. The last time the Redsone a series was before the NFL Draft.

(44:21):
A lot of folks listening to thisright now have had no idea back
then who a Marius Mims was.So last time they won a series.
They haven't won consecutive games since Apriltwenty third and twenty fourth. Also,
just prior to the NFL Draft,beat the Phillies in the middle two games
of a four game series. Thoseare trends that have to get reversed.

(44:45):
They have to. I mean,I don't think it takes a math whiz
to figure out that if the Redsdon't win consecutive games for the rest of
the season, they're going to finishwith many more losses than wins. You've
got to get consecutive victories at somepoint. You have to build a winning
streak. You have to start winningseries. So this game feels pretty big,

(45:08):
and I pretty big doesn't mean mustwin. And look, here's the
deal, man. The longer theReds keep floundering around and the longer they
go without making any significant inroads inrelation to themselves and the playoff field or
themselves in first place in the NationalLeague Central. The longer this goes,

(45:34):
the more important every individual game isgoing to be. And then you add
to a context like the schedule.Also, the Reds this weekend, they've
got Abbott and Hunter Green pitching,so at the very least to have those
two guys throwing against Los Angeles.But if you lose this one, Now,
if you take two out of threeagainst LA, which let's be honest

(45:55):
is the odds are not in favorof that happening. But even if you
do that, well, you're threeand three on the loll They got to
start winning games. Like I couldcome up with all sorts of creative ways
to do this, They've got tostart winning baseball games. And we could
discuss who they don't have and who'sbeen hurt and their string of bad luck,

(46:16):
and you could do all that,and you can spend a lot of
time lamenting what's gone poorly and what'sworked against them and what's happened beyond their
control. You could do that,But if you're gonna do that while at
the same time, holding out hopethat they could still make something of the
season and spend the summer being relevant. That's less likely to happen with each

(46:37):
passing loss, with each passing seriesloss, and with each blown opportunity to
do something as simple as win consecutivegames. Let's say what. Let's be
honest, the most likely outcome ishappens this weekend and they lose this series
to the LA Dodgers. Even ifthey win the game today, which would

(47:00):
put him at twenty one and twentynine, if they lose the game to
the Dodgers, they'll come out ofMemorial Day weekend. They'll go into Memorial
Day itself on Monday, and andlet's let's let's kind of do the mat
there. They'll go into it eightunder. They go one and two,
they'll be nine under going into thelast Monday of May. Is that what

(47:21):
you want to do. It's notwhat I want to do. It's not
what they can do or should do. So this game to me feels awfully,
awfully big. They have mounted acomeback, they have given away a
bunch of outs on the base pathsyet again, Frankie Montas battled, I
guess you could say you gotta winthis. I mean, I hate to

(47:44):
make a big deal over any onebaseball game played in May. This game
feels enormous and so we're going tokeep track of what's happening at GABP.
Do you want to fall to twentyand thirty? You want to fall to
twenty and thirty? By the way, Padres have just taken the lead in
the top of the tenth inning,Fernando Tatis drives in the Magic Runner.

(48:06):
The Padres have second and third,nobody out top ten like there's also just
the aroma. The vibe doesn't feelgreat. I don't know that there's ever
been more frustration aimed at the manager, the crowds at GABP, and the
weather has not helped. The crowdsof GABP the last couple of nights I

(48:29):
was at the ballgame last night havetaken on a very two thousand and two
type feel. The hashtags that wentaway last year sell the team Bob,
and all the conversations about ownership thatdominated two years ago, they're reappearing again.
The goodwill that the Reds might havebuilt up by putting a team on

(48:49):
the field last year that was excitingand interesting that seems to have largely evaporated,
like those things are only going tobe amplified if this team can start
winning baseball games. And again,like with each passing day and each passing
opportunity, their chances become smaller andsmaller of that happening, not just winning

(49:12):
baseball games, but winning enough baseballgames to matter this summer. Like we
are at the point if you lovethose comparisons that people did make often in
the first couple of weeks of theseason, holding this team up to last
year's you really can't do that ifthey don't turn it on right about now,

(49:34):
Because right about now, late May, early June is when they turn
it on a year ago. Thedifference between then and now is a lot
of dudes got called up that helpedthis team win, help this team stay
in contention, help this team getinto contention. I don't know who those
players are supposed to be. Nowit's gonna happen, have to happen with

(49:54):
the team is currently constructed, andyou are being completely reasonable if you are
skeptical that that's going to be thecase. So uh sixty four Padres top
ten of GABP will have instant reactionfrom the ballpark the minute this game goes
final. Uh Five one three,seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty

(50:15):
is our phone number. I justI have a feeling they lose this one,
that things are going to go upanother level in terms of angst anger,
frustration, and perhaps even apathy.Hopefully that's not the case. Five
one three, seven, four,nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number.

(50:36):
Eight sixty six seven oh two threeseven seven six Brendanman and Jones on
Baseball is coming up. You cansend a tweet at moegor thanks to our
friends at Delta Dental, get toour poll question as well. We are
loaded today between now and six onESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Turn
the microphone on mo It's twenty threeminutes after four o'clock. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty eight. Anything you mighthave missed on this show. I'd like

(50:59):
to think that you're listening three hourslive every single day no matter what.
Well, maybe you do, butin the in the off chance that you
miss something or that you maybe wantto hear it again if you go to
the iHeartRadio app. We podcast everything, interviews, segments, all sorts of
stuff, Go find it. ESPNfifteen thirty. Dot COM's podcast page is

(51:22):
also good for that's a that sortof thing. Our podcasts or a service
of a Long Next Sports Grill withthree locations in northern Kentucky. There's no
better summer hangout than Long Next SportsGrill. Stay long, Come often Tomorrow
on the show, I'm excited forthis. We we sort of stumbled into
our buddy at Channel nine, BrandonSpinner. He's a weatherman's meteorologist, and

(51:47):
I accidentally discovered that he does aYouTube show about bourbon, and uh,
I like bourbon, and so Ithought, you know, what, would
it be that harmful if we spentsome time on a Friday going into a
holiday weekend having Brandon on to talkabout bourbon. So we're going to do

(52:13):
that tomorrow in the five o'clock hour, and we are looking forward to that.
Also previewing the FC Cincinnati match asthe Orange and Blue looks for its
seventh seventh consecutive victory on Saturday night, we chat with one of the commentators
from Apple TV. I've not yetbeen told which one, but we're going
to have one of them at threetwenty tomorrow twenty five after four o'clock five

(52:37):
one, three, seven, fournine, fifteen thirty and eight sixty six,
seven oh two, three seven sevensix, our phone numbers, our
poll question. Thanks to our friendsat United Heartland Insurance. Go to UCHIS
dot com for as we say,all of your insurance needs. They will
save you mo money. It isa question we are going to have to
really address perhaps once this Reds gameis over. It twenty five after four

(53:00):
and we'll have reaction from GABP assoon as it is on ESPN fifteen to
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. The pitcha little looper, It's going to go
into the glove of the shortstop Kenand that will be your ball game.
The Reds will strand too. Theytake the Padres all the way into extra

(53:22):
innings, but the visiting Padres scoretwo in the top of the tenth to
take the win and to take theseries. So the Cowboy Jeff Brantley with
the final out on the Reds radionetwork and seven hundred WLW game went final
three minutes ago. San Diego winsthe series with a six to four extra

(53:44):
innings win over the Reds. Cincinnatifalls to twenty and fifty on the season,
for what it's worth, they arenow ten and fifteen at home.
Padre scored a couple of runs inthe top of the tenth inning, aided
by the stupid magic runner rules.Sam Mall victim today. This was a
game. Frankie Montaz dug himself alittle bit of a hole early. The

(54:06):
Reds dug themselves even further of ahole because they chose at one point in
this game to have Jamer Candelario bethe front man on a double steal,
which I want to revisit that theytied the game on a Nick Martini homer.
Nick back with the club. Hehit a two run shot in the
sixth inning that tired of the gameat four. It stayed knotted at four

(54:29):
until the tenth inning, when thePadre scored a couple of runs. Fernando
Tatis with the go ahead hit,and then Jake Croninworth drove in in an
insurance run for San Diego. Redsput two on in their half of the
tenth inning. You heard how itended, boy, David bell Man.

(54:51):
He didn't do himself any favors today. Don't have any other way to put
it to you. Did not dohimself any favors today, help me with
this one. And I think Ihave a good track record of measured criticism

(55:15):
and commentary when it comes to criticizingcoaches and managers for the decisions they make.
I don't do it gratuitously, andI don't do it without legitimately waiving,
weighing all the different things that gointo their decisions. But David Bell

(55:36):
in the bottom of the ninth inningtoday, Tyler Stevenson didn't start, which,
okay, he's a catcher. Hedidn't dh, which frankly doesn't make
a lot of sense by any objectivemeasurement. Recently he has been their best
hitter. Now let's be honest,there's not a lot of competition there,

(55:57):
but he has been their best hitter. Just to use some selectives, starting
an end points, Tyler Stevenson overhis last eleven games, eight of which
have been starts, is batting threepoint fifty three with an ops of nine
thirty. Find me anybody else onthe roster who has done that over the
last ten games. I'll help you. You cannot. Maybe you don't think

(56:17):
Tyler Stevenson is that good, butrecently he's been very good at the plate
in the ninth inning tie ballgame.For a piece, the Padres had Jeremiah
Strod On the man who's the righthanded pitcher. Frankly, I don't care

(56:39):
if the guy's throwing with his righthand left hand. I don't care if
he's alternating pitchers throwing right hand lefthand in the in the bottom of the
ninth inning. Here are the hittersthe Reds sent to the plate with Tyler
Stevenson, by by all accounts availabletoday, here the batter tie ball game.

(57:02):
Here are the hitters that David Bellsent to the plate, Luke Maylee,
Will Benson, and Stuart Fairchild.Each guy struck out swinging. Now
the obvious place to use Tyler Stevensonwould have been when Luke Maylee came to
the plate. Luke Maylee is afine young man, good defensive catcher,

(57:28):
has had a really nice career.I'm glad he's a member of the Reds.
He's a CUFFCAF guy. It's alwayscool when local players play for the
Reds. Tyler Stevenson, by everyobjective measurement, is a better hitter.
That's not debatable. Sorry, LukeMaylee let off the ninth inning, overmatched,

(57:50):
struck out, and then so didWill Benson and Stuart Fairchild. For
what it's worth, Stuart Fairchild,when he came to the play, came
to the plate as a pinch hitter. Now he batted for her Tobes,
Jacob Hurdabes, the immortal Jacob Herdabeeswho led off today again. And so
all right, he's an outfielder.You want to use Fairchild on the outfield?

(58:13):
I don't know, Man, theninth inning. You know you're gonna
start the tenth inning at a disadvantagebecause the Padres are gonna have the winning
run or the go ahead run atthe plate, and they're gonna bring up
some really good hitters in the process. Don't don't don't you don't you use
your best with Ellie de la Cruzbatting second, So yeah, you could

(58:37):
have used Stevenson, and if hemakes an out, you've got to use
another body to play center field orto play the outfield. Which Fairchild?
Who would you rather have with theplate? Tyler Stevens center Stu Fairchild?
Who gives you a better chance toget the game to Ellie de la Cruz,
Tyler Stevens cent or Stu Fairchild Fairchildbatted. Fairchild struck out, So

(58:59):
all right. Now, well,they give up two runs in the tenth
inning. But because we play themagic runner baseball, you at least get
a chance to have the tying runat the plate with nobody else when you're
down by two runs. And soStuart Fairchild starts the inning as the guy

(59:19):
on second base. Ellie Delacruz struckout. Ellie Delacruz had a couple of
really bad at bats that I love. Elie Delacruz. He dug himself an
O two hole, took a pitchon the inside corner. It was a
good call, tough pitch to take. He also struck out on a sort
of an off speed pitch earlier inthe game, with the bases loaded,
right down the heart of the dish. But okay, Ellie Delacruz strikes out.

(59:39):
You want Elliott the plate. JamerCandelario then walked. So all right,
I got first and second, oneout. I can now bring the
winning run to the plate. Thewinning run to the plate. I could
use my hottest hitter, not maybebest hit or overall, but my hottest

(01:00:01):
hitter. Or I could use MikeFord, David Bell chose Mike Ford.
Mike Ford flew out weekly to leftfield, and then Spencer Steer popped out
to end the ball game. Whatare we doing? I know, I'm

(01:00:22):
diving into the minutia. I know, I know there are gonna be folks
who just gratuitously take shots at DavidBell. I have zero track record of
doing that. Somebody explained to melegitimately, Explain to me, we're gonna
get David Bell's postgame comments. Iguess we'll hear from Frankie Montass as well.

(01:00:45):
Frankie montas didn't have very good stuff. He's not been very He got
him through six innings. I don'thave any major issue with Frankie montass.
We could talk about some of thedecisions earlier in the game. We could
talk about how this team just continuesto give up runs on the or give
up outs on the bass pass.Explain that to me. Though five point
three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty, Tyler Stevenson might have

(01:01:07):
struck out fine, I'm using myhottest guy. Tyler Stevenson might have hit
into a six four to three doubleplayed in the ball game had he batted
with one out of the tenth inning. Fine, I'm using my best guy
recently. He has been your bestguy. You could have used him.
He could have stayed in the gameas the DH had the game continued.
He could have stayed in the gameas the catcher had the game continued,

(01:01:29):
and he used him for Luke Maylee. I threw this up there on Twitter
another poll question, second one ofthe day, thanks to our friends at
United at Heartland Assurance. You couldhave one of these players at the play
with the game hanging in the balance, who are you taking Tyler Stevenson,
Stu Fairchild, Luke Maylee or MikeFord. If you're among the fifteen percent
of people voting for any of thosethree guys, you're either having fun with

(01:01:51):
me, which was cool, oryou have no idea what you're talking about.
Now. If we find out afterthe game Tyler Stevenson is the latest
player to suffer some sort of injury, well maybe that changes the discussion.
And I do get him not startingbehind the plate fine day, game after
night. It happens all the time. I do not understand not using him
as a DH. I'm sorry.At some point, I know Nick Martinez

(01:02:15):
thinks his teammates are playing great Iknow he thinks this team is playing awesome.
At some point, you gotta lookat a game and go, buddy,
we got we gotta win today.We gotta attack today with some urgency.
Today would be a day to dothat. And that's when you have
Tyler Stevenson DH. But if you'renot gonna do that, can you at
least use him in a situation thatdemands you use your hottest hitter, like

(01:02:37):
in the ninth inning when Judy hitting, Luke Mayley's at the plate, or
when the immortal Stort Fairchild's the onlyguy you're bringing off the bench, or
Mike Ford is used in the tenthinning. Three weeks ago, Red's had
no room for Minke four. Nowhe's the go to option in the tenth
inning when he got the winning runat the plate, not Tyler Stevenson.

(01:03:00):
On what planet does that make sense? On what planet does that make a
link of sense? I mean,like I got the game on and here
and we're doing a show and I'mmultitasking, and like, I mean I

(01:03:20):
even like went back and looked him, like all right, Stevenson's not like
playing first base, right, orhe didn't start the game, And then
like take a foul ball off hishead or something, and they took it
like he's on the bench, he'syou're allowed to use your other catcher as
a pinch hitter. That is remarkable. And look, man, I'd stick

(01:03:45):
up for David Bell when it comesto a lot of things, not this
one. It might not be thereason they lost the game. And you
could talk all you want about,well, they've had a lot of bad
luck this year. Yeah they have. They've had a lot of injuries,
yes they have. Austin said thiswith Tony maybe today, I don't know.

(01:04:06):
But like the things the Reds cancontrol, how well they run the
bases, this team's bad at itfeels like they've been really bad at it.
Some metrics are going to say otherwise. But man, if I'm gonna
lose, I'm losing using my best. I'm not pretending that Tyler Stevenson is
Joey Vado in his prime. I'mnot pretending he's an elite offensive player.

(01:04:29):
But he is, by every measurement, a better offensive player than Luke Mayley,
even when he's not going well,but recently he has been I got
a dude who's batting three fifty threeover his last eleven games, who is
on the bench and healthy, andin multiple instances where it might have made
sense to use him to win thegame, extend the game, get the

(01:04:53):
game to Ellie, set the tablein the ninth inning, they chose not
to use him. That is thatis staggering to me. That is a
coach with a fourth and goal atthe five yard line and a great wide
receiver or the best tight end inthe sport not throwing the ball their way

(01:05:17):
like that does makes zero sense.It's Zach Taylor against the forty nine ers
in twenty twenty one taking the ballout of Joe Burrow's hands. I'm not
saying Tyler Stevenson is as good asa hitter as Joe Burrow is a playing
quarterback. But you get the point, right. If I have to lose
that game to send me to tenunder five hundred with the Dodgers coming to
town, I'm losing with my bestoption. David Bell thinks a better option

(01:05:43):
than Tyler Stevenson is Luke Mayley,and he thinks a better option than Tyler
Stevenson is Stuart Fairchild, and hethinks a better option than Tyler Stevenson is
Mike Ford. I am not thesmartest man on earth. I don't claim
to know everything about baseball. Idon't claim to know everything about anything.

(01:06:11):
But I'm going to need someone withmore intellect than me to outline that decision
making for me and to help meget why you would willingly not use your
best option when you were nine gamesunder five hundred in a close game where

(01:06:32):
one swing of the back can maybejumpstart your team or at the very least
help you win a ball game.I don't love defaulting to the David Bell
should be fired thing. I don'tthink that that's going to happen. I
don't think they're going to pay himto not work for the next two and
a half years. I don't pinevery loss on the manager. I don't.

(01:06:55):
I kind of scoff at those whodo this particular decision. I'll be
honest with you, man, I'vewatched a lot of baseball in my life.
I've watched David Bell manage a lotof games. I've seen him hit
the right buttons. I've seen himhit the wrong buttons. Oftentimes when the
wrong button gets hit, I canunderstand the decision making. I might not
agree with it, but I canunderstand what you're thinking. I have no

(01:07:18):
idea what David Bell was thinking here. I don't know that in his time
as manager of the club that I'veunderstood a decision less. Your phone calls
are welcome. I'm really interested inbecause this this game to me today and

(01:07:40):
I don't know why. Maybe it'sbecause of who comes to town. Maybe
it's because it's a nice round numberten under five hundred. This it feels
like today was kind of the Redsdigging a new low. I'm bottoming out
a little bit. So your thoughtson not using Tyler Stevenson or any number

(01:08:03):
of things. We'll we'll get toDavid Bell calling a double steal with Jamber
Candelario on third. We'll get toan umpire behind the plate, Marvin Hudson,
who uh worked a game like hewas half asleep. We'll get to
a team that's twenty and thirty throughfifty games with the LA Dodgers come in
to town. Five point three,seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty

(01:08:26):
is our phone number of voting.Our two pole questions. The other one,
Nick Martinez says is the Reds areplaying great. We'll see if you
agree with that. As well onESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station Circle K.
Few days back, yep, onThursday May third, from four to
seven pm, circle K is droppingthe price of fuel by forty cents.
In about this, we have Brendanmanand Jones on baseball coming up in just

(01:08:46):
a second. I have not hada chance to hear this Red's low sixty
four to the Padres and extra inningsat least not a one run loss.
So Tyler Stevenson on the bench inthe ninth and th innings just by multiple
opportunities to use Cincinnati's hotest titter.David Bell met with reporters his media session,

(01:09:08):
just concluded, maybe there's an explanation. I'm gonna be open minded.
I'm mister open minded. Maybe there'sa good explanation here. Maybe Tyler Stevenson
has hurt. Maybe Tyler Stevenson hadhad missed the game because of an emergency.
Maybe Tyler Stevenson has been traded.I don't know, but here is
David Bell chatting with reporters after today'ssix or four loss to the Padres.

(01:09:30):
David, where exactly did you seeSamuel struggle in the tent there? The
tatists the bat. You know,with the runners starting on second base,
not a lot of margin there.You almost kind of expect run the score
and you still have a good opportunity. But once Tattoos kind of makes he
did, he got ahead of him, and we know Tatis is a good

(01:09:51):
hitter, a tougher matchup and weended up going into the inning. But
that was that was pretty much thebunt great the great bunt by a Rias.
That's how we practiced making that play. Once the first baseman commits to
it, you kind of have noshot. So Sam just didn't come up

(01:10:14):
with it in his glove to beable to finish the play. Offensively,
you guys did tie, it justfell short. I mean, what was
your biggest takeaway from this game?Offensively? Yeah, well, Frankie,
after you know, a couple oftough innings to start the game, he
takes so much pride in, like, you know, fighting through it and
he ended up finishing really strong.So to go from four innings in the

(01:10:36):
second he did to where he gotwas a great start, and then the
bullpen was was really good after that. Offensive Offensively, we came back and
we're able to tie it and justcame up short in the end to fire

(01:10:56):
for Yeah, I'm confused play,I'm not even you know, it was
tough because, you know, Iwas just trying to get clarification on how
the call was made and the timingof it. You know, I have
I assume they got it right,but there was just a lot going on
there. So but either way,you know, it turned out okay for

(01:11:21):
us and definitely didn't impact the game. Uh nope, did anybody ask about
Tyler Stevenson? That was only theshort version of TV. That was a
short version for TV. All right, Well, perhaps a query was posed

(01:11:42):
to the manager that will dive intoand get an answer to. And I
know I'm making a lot out ofone decision in one game during a long
season, but at some point yougotta do something besides just talk about how
much time's left in the season.And at some point you have to decide

(01:12:04):
I'm gonna use my best players inthe season's most critical situations. David Bell
did not do that today. Maybehe has a reason. I've yet to
hear it. Your phone calls arecoming up as well. Five one,
three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. But first, Brenneman
and Jones on baseball Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenthirty. Traffic from the UC Health Traffic

(01:12:27):
Center. U SEE Health was theregion's first comprehensive stroke center and a leader
in rapid life saving treatment. Learnmore at UCHealth dot com. Gas League
has a couple of roads closed.Beakmont Street between Llewellyn Avenue and Elmore Street,
Dremmen Avenue between Harron Avenue and BeakmantStreet. Motors should avoid those areas.
There's a crash blocking the right laneseventy five South at Seventh Street,

(01:12:48):
and there's an accident on Witton Roadnear West North Bend Road. I'm John
Crawford with traffic. This report issponsible. No one covers the Bengals like
ESPN and fifty Cincinnati's sports station.All right, it's six after five.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Goodafternoon on mo Leger. Thank you for
listening. Hopefully you're having a justinawesome. Awesome, I said Thursday afternoon.

(01:13:17):
Not awesome if you're the Reds.Not awesome if you're a Reds fan.
Sixty four losers to the Padres todayin extra inning. Cincinnati again fails
to win a series. The Dodgersare here this weekend. Reds have now
played fifty games. They have wontwenty of them. In the immediate aftermath
of the game, which ended justabout what thirty five minutes ago, I've

(01:13:40):
wondered about a particular David Bell situation. If you weren't with us, or
weren't paying very close attention, thiswas a tie game. In the bottom
of the ninth inning, David Belldid not use Tyler Stevenson. Today.
The people who put the Reds lineuptogether did not have Tyler Stevenson in it.
That's one matter, but he hasbeen their best hitter for the last

(01:14:01):
couple of weeks. In the ninthinning, he chose against a right handed
pitcher to use Luke Mayley. Hechose to use Stuart Fairchild as a pinch
hitter. In the bottom of thetenth inning, with the team down by
two runs, he chose with atwo one and one out to leave Mike
Ford in the game. He doesn'tuse Tyler Stevenson. This doesn't make any

(01:14:23):
sense. This doesn't make any sense. If your team is nine games above
five hundred, it makes less sense. When your team is nine games under
five hundred, it makes no senseif your team has won six straight games.
It makes less sense when you haven'twon a series in over a month.
You could have the team's double Aaffiliate coming to town this weekend and

(01:14:43):
it would make no sense. Itmakes less sense when the LA Dodgers are
set to come to town unless there'sa reasonable explanation. And so I've been
waiting for David Bell's explanation. You'reabout to hear his explanation. I have
not heard this, but Tarren Blandhas and he tells it's going to make
me laugh. I'm not sure aboutthat. Here's David Bell explaining the decision

(01:15:05):
to not use his best hitter overthe last couple of weeks, Tyler Stevenson
in the ninth and tenth inning.But as you know, one of your
best hitters as yeah, I meanhe was. He was ready to hit
the whole day. You know,it's you're right, I mean, he's
been swaying the back grade. He'sone of our best hitters. You know.

(01:15:29):
To not find the opportunity to gethim in is a little tough.
There were several several times where weget one more runner on base. He's
hitting in the in the situations justnever came up. I wish you could
see my face right now, Taren, use that for the social media clip.

(01:15:54):
Can we play that again? Yeah? So again. The game was
tied in the bottom of the ninthinning, they chose to use Luke Mayley,
Will Benson, which I don't havea major problem with, and Stuie
Fairchild in the ninth and then oncethey got a couple of guys on base,

(01:16:16):
they let Mike Ford bat for hims. Mike Ford two and a half
weeks ago, not good enough tobe on the team, d aging today,
frequently batting third today, hitting withthe game hanging in the balance,
representing the the winning run. Likeat that point, you don't need any
more base runners. You are thewinning run. Tarn play that answer again

(01:16:39):
for me. I mean he wasready to hit the whole day. You
know, it's you're right. Imean he's been swinging the back grade.
He's one of our best hitters.You know. To not find the opportunity
to get it in is a littletough. There were several several times where
we get one more runner on base, he's hitting. The situations just never

(01:17:00):
came out. He's the manager ofthe team, right he didn't have to
find a situation. The situation foundhim. Taren told me I was gonna
laugh when I heard that. I'mtoo flabbergasted. I'm too stunned that that

(01:17:25):
was the explanation to laugh. Hecouldn't find a situation that were waiting for
more base runners. How about usinghim with two outs and nobody on just
to give Ellie and Ellie had somereally poor atpats today. I love Ellie
Deler Cruiz struck out four times.He had some really really poor at bats
today, including one of the tenthinning. So okay, you don't want

(01:17:50):
to use them with nobody on base. Don't agree, but fine. In
the in the tenth inning, therewere two guys on base with one out,
and the better option was Mike Ford. I mean Spencer Steer made the
last out. I like Spencer Steer. Spencer Steer did get on base three

(01:18:11):
times today. Tyler Stevenson right nowis a better hitter than Spencer Steer.
What what was David Bell waiting for? I am It's rare that something leaves
me speechless. My job is tonot be speechless. That just did Uh,

(01:18:43):
Now I can laugh. Unbelievable unbelievable. Also, in this game,
the Rats had some chances early.They had a chance in the first inning.
Uh so they Frankie Montass gave upa couple of runs in the first
inning, and the Rats got oneback. Herd Abast was hit by a
pitch, which seemingly happens on adaily basis, and then a Candelario tripled

(01:19:10):
to a right field which is good, all right, So they got a
guy in scoring position chance to tiethe ball game up. Earlier run in.
Mike Ford strikes out, so there'stwo outs and a guy on third.
But then Spencer Steer walks. NowNick Martini is at the plate.
Let's acknowledge. Nick Martini did havea good game. He hit the game
tying home run in the sixth inning. But Nick Martinis at the plate.

(01:19:35):
And So when you have a teamthat is struggling offensively, if you're a
manager, I expect you to trysome stuff. I expect you to be
aggressive. I expect you to forcethe issue. I expect you to not
sit back and wait for a badhitter to get a hit that he's probably
not going to get. So trysome stuff, be aggressive, and if
guys get thrown out. I canlive with it. As a fan,

(01:19:56):
I can live with it. Butyou you have to utilize your personnel accordingly.
You have to use your personnel correctly. So if you're gonna do something
like try a double steal first andthird double steal where you try to steal
home if the catcher throws through,fine, try it, but try it
when you have some guys on thebase pass who can run. Jamer Candelario

(01:20:21):
might still bring a lot to thetable to this team. Over the first
fifty games. That has not happened. But when I've watched him, it's
been rare that I have thought tomyself, guy, that guy can make
a difference with his legs and overthe course of his big league career.
And admittedly this is only one wayto measure something like speed and base running
acumen, but I'll use it nonetheless. Jamer Candelario, in nearly eight hundred

(01:20:45):
big league games, has fifteen stolenbases. He has exactly zero this year.
I don't know that he's the guythat I want as the runner taking
off from third as part of adouble steal. And so he was thrown
out easily. His he looked likeme trying to slide. He was out

(01:21:08):
by about ten inches. The homeplay at Umpire, who had an awful
day today. Marvin Hudson originally calledhim safe, like I don't know what
he was looking at. He hadthe proper angle on the play. I
don't know how I missed it.They go to replay, they overturn it,
and the inning's over. So Iguess we have a David Bell explanation

(01:21:29):
for that. Uh is it gonnaleave me as flabbergasted as the Tyler Stevenson
explanation. Did tarror go ahead andhit it, go ahead and hit it
double steel? They just executed allYeah, they did execute it. Close
play at that played close. Scoreruns in those situations a lot this year.

(01:21:53):
Another one we got to take acloser look at, just to make
sure we ran it properly. Andyou know, if there's a slight hesitation
there, it could make all thedifference. But still focused on the rest
of the game, but we willtake a look at it. Who knows
how the game unfolds from that point. And I want to be very very
clear about this. I want theReds to force the issue on the basis,

(01:22:15):
especially while they're struggling to hit.I want them to be aggressive even
when they are hitting. But Ihave no issue with the manager trying to
create some offense when the typical waysof going about it aren't working. So
let's get that run in in thefirst inning. But if it's if it's
Jamer Candelaria, there's a lot ofguys that you would be okay with trying

(01:22:36):
to steal home. Jamer Candelario isnot one of them, and so I
don't like that. I could forgetand forgive that there was a lot of
game left. It was the firstinning. The hitter at the plate is
Nick Martini, who, for whatit's worth, did end up leading off
the second inning with a base hitand he came around the score. I

(01:23:00):
don't like that, but fine,if you're gonna ask managers to be aggressive,
sometimes they're going to cross the line. David Bell did there. He
was the opposite of aggressive with regardto Tyler Stevenson, and I'm not sure
what I dislike more the fact thathe didn't use him. And look,
it's baseball. He could have usedTyler Stevenson in any one of those situations

(01:23:24):
and maybe he strikes out. Butremember when we used to talk about Joey
Vado batting leadoff or batting second afterhe spent the first you know whatever.
It was seven eight nine years ofhis career hitting third, and Brian Price
say which one about him tried inbatting leadoff? And I liked it.
I liked it for a couple ofdifferent reasons. Number one, high on
base percentage guy. Number two,let's lessen the possibility of him ending the

(01:23:48):
game in the on deck circle orthe ninth inning coming and going in him
not having a chance to have anythingto do with it. Right, There's
nothing more painful than your best hitterending the game in the on deck circle
because you couldn't get the game tohim, or you hit him a little
bit too low in the batting order. There's no guarantee that if in this

(01:24:10):
instance Joey Vatdo comes to the platewith two outs and a man on,
that he's gonna get a hit.He's failed a number of times in those
situations, and he's obviously succeeded anumber of the number of times in those
situations. But you could always youcan always live with like your best guy
having something to do with it.Right If if Joe Burrow throws a pass
on fourth and four that falls incomplete. Okay, fine, they called

(01:24:36):
a play where they asked Joe Burrowto do something that he's good at.
I can live with that. Ifthe Bengals don't convert because they decided to
run some sort of shovel pass ora weird play for a running back or
something that's harder to swallow, you'renot using your best assets. If I'm
as as a UC fan, mebeing the giggl names guy that I am.

(01:25:00):
If they have a possession at theend of the game and Gisel James
throws an errant pass, fine,the ball was in his hands, or
he takes a tough shot that doesn'tgo. Fine, if it's a possession
where he doesn't touch it, areyou kidding me? And so what made
the ninth inning, the ninth andtenth innings so hard to swallow? Like

(01:25:23):
this isn't Tyler Stevenson from last year. Tyler's having a good season and he's
on an unbelievable hot streak right now, and everything is relative. It has
stood out because nobody else is reallyhitting. But he has been your best
guy, and in situations that hadthe game hanging in the balance. They

(01:25:44):
couldn't find a way to use theirbest guy. That's managerial malpractice, man.
And I'm the guy who usually comesto David Bell's defense. There is
none here. You couldn't find asituation for or your best guy, And
so so many of these losses havebeen frustrating. Last night, you just

(01:26:05):
got beat Nick Martinez didn't have it. Your bats aren't very good right now,
just got beat Alexis Diaz gives upa walk off. Alexis Das hasn't
been great. But fine, he'ssupposedly your best option. I could live
with that. It's a really toughpill to swallow when you willingly don't use

(01:26:31):
a guy who has been your besthitter with the game hanging in the balance,
in multiple types of situations. Ifyou don't want to have him lead
off the ninth inning, I guessso fine. He's Tyler Stevenson is not
the kind of guy that's gonna steala base a fine, And if you
don't want to use him with twoouts and nobody on to the ninth inning,

(01:26:54):
oh okay, you're thinking, okay, we need multiple hits with two
outs. But then there's the tenthinning when you have two on, one
out, Mike Ford's at the plate, like there were legitimately three different situations
where it would have made sense touse him. If Tyler Stevenson's leading off

(01:27:15):
the ninth inning, batting for LukeMayley and he strikes out, okay,
fine, Tyler struck out. DavidBell used a better hitter. If he
flies out with two out and nobodyon in the bottle of the ninth inning
instead of Stuart Fairchild pinch hitting forJacob Hurdabes, and now you have to
use another player Fairchild to fill thespot in the outfield. Okay, fine,

(01:27:38):
you used your best. And ifTyler Stevenson hits into a double play
to end the ball game with oneout and two on in the tenth inning,
okay fine, you used your best. Multiple types of situations, and
the manager of the team says hecouldn't find one. That is David Bell's

(01:28:00):
been managing the team for five anda half years. That is the most
staggering thing he has ever said.I'm not even sure what what's behind it.
I'm not sure what that anything comesclose to to that. Absolutely staggering,
absolutely staggering, And like did anybodyelse on the bench. I mean,

(01:28:25):
he said Tyler was ready to hit. Like, if you're Tyler Stevenson,
you're you're driving home right now,are you? Are you wondering,
like really like a guy who hasbeen thought of as kind of a cornerstone
of what they're doing, who's I'msure wanted the opportunity to have something to
say about how the game ended.If you're Tyler Stevenson, are you wonder

(01:28:46):
that they forget that I'm on theteam, if you're on if you're a
bench coach, if you're I mean, are you allowed to say to David
Bell, hey, here, thismight be a spot for Tyler Stevenson.
I'm sorry that is that is beyondbelief. Phone calls are coming out five
one, three, seven, fournine, fifteen thirty five one three seven

(01:29:08):
four nine, fifteen thirty and eightsixty six seven oh two three seven seven
six. On top of all this, you might argue that what David Bell
had to say is not the mostamazing thing that has come out of the
mouth of somebody who works for theReds. You might argue that happened last
night. We'll spend some time onthat coming up in just about ten minutes

(01:29:29):
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports stationby the explanation, So if you're just
joining us redslu six Ford, TylerStevenson's been awesome recently, doesn't bad at
the ninth inning even though bad hitterswere up. Doesn't bad in the tenth
thinning even though a bad hitter andMike Ford was up with two on and
one out when he represented the winningrun. So, David Bell, we

(01:29:51):
played the explanation. Are our buddyAustin Elmore, who is going to be
broadcasting for his birthday tomorrow at theHoly Grail with Tony from a New to
three before the Red's Dodgers game,just stepped in here during the break and
said, well, what was theexplanation? And I said, he hasn't
heard this, so I'm going toplay this. Arm's gonna play this for

(01:30:11):
Austin in real time. And Idon't think I've ever been legitimately rendered speechless
on the radio. It basically justhappened. I want to see if you
are as stunned at this explanation asI was. Go ahead and hit it.
Yeah, I mean he was.He was ready to hit the whole

(01:30:32):
day. You know, it's you'reright. I mean he's been swinging the
back grade. He's one of ourbest hitters. You know. To not
find the opportunity to get him inwas a little tough. There were several
several times where we get one morerunner on base, he's hitting, and
the situations never came up. Yoursituations never came up. These situations every

(01:30:56):
to not get him in, andhe was ready to hit, and he
was ready to hit all day.Your reactions read it. My reaction is
if he was ready to hit allday should have been the damn lineup.
Yeah, first and foremost, secondof all, inexcusable, How inexcusable?
Makes no sense? Every conceivable situationwhere you would want to use a guy
who you admit is swing in theback rate, Yeah, presented itself leading

(01:31:18):
off an inning, bases, emptyguys on base, what winning run?
What else did he want? Thereare no other types of situations. You
said, one more guy gets onand then you use him in what scenario?
I've you told me out like duringthe break You're like, I I
literally don't know what to say.Yeah, you aren't. You aren't just

(01:31:39):
playing this up. You are legitimatelyflabberating. I said to you, You've
got to hear this. I don'tknow what I'm I don't know what I'm
more. I don't know what I'mmore pissed off at or just amused by
then watching the ninth and tenth inningunfold Noe Tyler Stevenson, or listening to
the explanation I was legitimately wait forlike he's a little under the weather,

(01:32:01):
or yeah, I got dinged upat a pitch hit him in the mask
last night, or so like Iwas waiting for that, like I kept
I gave him the benefit of thedoubt. There's gonna be something that makes
sense here. No nothing, I'ma David Bell guy. Likewise, I'm
running out of excuses. Likewise,I'm running out of ways to defend him.
Yes, I agreements is another oneof those I I I I don't.

(01:32:29):
I thought Nick Martinez saying the Redsare playing great last night. Yeah,
I thought like that when I whenI heard you guys play that audio
today, I'm like, there's there'sno way. I didn't know what to
say to that. I can wrapmy brain around that more than I can.
He was ready to go. He'sswinging the back gray time ball game
in the ninth, down two inthe tenth. We couldn't find the situation.
You know, we talk a lotabout culture. Oh if the culture

(01:32:53):
that is created down there is youknow, just keep playing hard and we're
playing great and the worm will turn. Yeah, nothing will change. And
it was close for for Tyler toget out there. Yeah. Yeah,
then we're screwed. It's the exactopposite of managing, not even with urgency,
with common sense. Yeah, theway you said it earlier, you
either act with it or you talkabout it. Yeah. Yeah, right,

(01:33:15):
A nice mo. I know youhave stuff to do tomorrow, Austin
and Tony Holy Grail noon to three, celebrating Austin's birthday. Then go hang
out with him at the ballpark.We have to get another break in,
I promise. Phone calls are comingup. One more thought on what you
heard David Bell say, and thenone thought on what Nick Martinez said,
and then somebody can make me feelsane again. Perhaps this is ESPN fifteen

(01:33:39):
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station Station sports Headsyou heard you the first time? Sports
Headlines or a service A Kelsey ChevroletHome of Lifetime power Train Protection and Guarantee
Credit Approval from their family to yoursfor life at Kelseyshove dot com. Red's
lose to the Padres six four andten innings. The Rads law Tyler Stevenson

(01:34:01):
didn't lose because he didn't play becauseDavid Bell couldn't find room for him.
Dodgers here for a three game MemorialDay weekend set that starts tomorrow evening.
College baseball a couple of conference tournamentgames, one of them happening right now.
You see in Texas Tech elimination gamein the Big Twelve Tournament. They

(01:34:23):
are just getting underway. In Arlington. Xavier won it's resumed game in the
Big East Tournament at Prasco Park.By the way, that's a cool event.
That's a great place to watch.If you're looking for some of the
do tonight love baseball, go checkout the Big East Tournament. They beat
Yukon in three to two, beatthe top seeded Huskies an extra innings.

(01:34:44):
So x You will play Saint John'sthis evening and the Florency Ows will take
on Gateway. I think that's allI got for your local sports headlines.
I think it's all I got.Just a couple of things really quick.
One more on the David Bell thing. Many have wondered, is he on
the hot seat? Should he beon the hot seat? Is his seat

(01:35:08):
getting warm? He doesn't sound andtoday he didn't manage like someone whose seat
is warm. Number two, Terren, do you have the Nick Martinez audio
from last night? All right?Nick Martinez, to be completely fair,

(01:35:30):
after his outing last night, waspretty insightful into his approach and Luisa eyes
and giving up the leadoff homer tohim last night. But then there was
well this I'm waiting, Taren dumSorry did you not have it ready?

(01:35:50):
That's my fault. All Right,Taren is gonna pull up this audio.
I will not take very long.It's not the longest quote in the world
world, but it made the roundson social media. Go ahead, Taron,
give me that. Sorry about that, Give it to me. I
think we're playing great. I thinkwe're sticking to you know, our process,

(01:36:11):
and yeah, you don't want guysgetting hitting the wrist of either.
They're playing great. They haven't wonconsecutive games in a month. They're playing
great. They're winning percentage on theseason is four hundred. They just came
off a three and seven road trip. They got worked by the that was

(01:36:35):
after last night's game. They're playinggreat? First of all, I know
what playing great looks like this,ain't it. Second, if the culture
truly is the organizational culture truly isone of urgency, impatience, feeling like

(01:37:00):
we got to kick things in thegear, is anybody talking about how great
they're playing? By the way,Nick Martinez is not some young pop who's
just been here for a couple ofmonths. It's an established big leaguer playing
great. We do have two polequestions. One of them is do you

(01:37:23):
think the Reds are playing great?Ninety seven point two percent of you say
no. The other is, ifyou could have one of these players at
the play with the game hanging inthe balance, who you're taking Stevenson,
Fairchild, Melee or Ford. Stevensonis running away with it. Fairchild's in
second place. Vote at Moeger Thanksto our friends at United Heartland Insurance.
Go to UHI and S dot com. Mike, go ahead, you're on

(01:37:48):
ESPN fifteen thirty. Hey, thankyou. Hope you're having that good day.
I know you've bummed out now,but I think, yeah, this
is my opinion. Obviously, Ithink I wish they they got somebody a
little more heavy duty on the startingpitching. If you're relying on Frankie Montas

(01:38:11):
to be study had four good yearswith ope one Other than that, his
career has not been that great.Uh No. But I mean the starting
pitching hasn't been the problem. Imean, if Frankie Mantas hasn't been hasn't
been great. If Frankie Montas,I think what the hope was was that
there would be enough improvement from theyoung guys that Frankie Montas would settle somewhere

(01:38:34):
in the middle of the rotation.And that's that's kind of happened. I
mean, I don't I don't thinkthey. I don't believe they signed him
thinking he was going to have anall star season or be a bona fide
staff ace. They were hoping thathe could provide some veterans steadiness. Obviously,
suffering that injury interrupted that a littlebit. But they're starting pitching top

(01:38:56):
to bottom even today. He gotthrough it, He gave him some length
him in the game. He putthem in a position where they could at
least tie the game. I don'thave an issue with Frankie Montoss. I
don't have an issue really with anyof their starting pitching. I think the
issue is, you know, wecould talk about the players they don't have,
but there are a lot of guyson this team who are pseudo established

(01:39:16):
or fully established. Jonathan India isa big part of this organization. He's
having a bad offensive year. SpencerSteer got off to a killer start top
to bottom. Bad offensive year.Players like that Will Benson, you know,
maybe not a fully established big leagueplayer, but a guy that you
thought was gonna make elite this season. Bad offensive year that gets compounded when

(01:39:43):
you're using the likes of I know, he hit a home run today,
but Nick Martini and Connor Caple andMike Ford and Jacob Hurdibies and for a
while Bubba Thompson like. But thoseguys aren't supposed to be any good.
The players who are supposed to begood have no and yes a bunch of
them have gotten hurt. Let's behonest, Christian and Karnassi on Strand was

(01:40:04):
not lighting the world on fire whenhe got hurt. TJ. Friedel,
granted in a very small sample size, didn't come back and make the immediate
difference that a lot of people thoughthe might when he was actually playing.
It's a lot of guys that youthought could do enough offensively to put this
team in a position to at leastbe in contention, and they've not done

(01:40:25):
it. And then when you addto it the one guy you have who's
actually hitting right now, and youhave different scenarios where it would make sense
to use them in a game likethis and you don't. Then the ire,
understandably so gets aimed at the manager, absolutely, and that's a head
scratcher. I don't know what Davidthough is thinking about. Maybe it's just

(01:40:46):
something we don't know, But don'tyou think they could have spent a little
more money. I know, andit doesn't matter past tense, but it
grinds on me that they couldn't havespent a little more money and got a
better v the Candelaria, Yes,Jamer Candelario. Look, let's be honest.
If if the team went through noinjury, right, no suspension,

(01:41:10):
no injury during spring training, JamerCandelario was not going to be earmarked in
all likelihood to play one hundred andfifty games. He's not a valueless player.
He's not someone that I'm opposed tobeing on the team, But sure,
if you look at what they spenton him and then look at what
some of the other options could havebeen. I think wondering if they should
have spent more to find a betteroffensive player is a completely fair thing to

(01:41:34):
discuss. Okay, And now,I guess it's because of the end.
Do you think it's because the leaguethe pitchers have caught up with some of
these young guys, or that wardthat we just don't have enough guys in
the minors because we brought them allup. Basically, Yes, I think
the answer is both. I thinkthe answer is it's more than one thing.

(01:41:58):
There have been some guys that theleague has figured out. They haven't
adjusted to how the league has figuredout figured them out quickly enough until they
do. You're being reasonable if youwonder are some of these guys as good
as we thought that they would beor that the Reds need them to be?
And number three, how much arethey going to be hurt by this

(01:42:18):
gap between the players they called uplast season and wherever the reinforcements are going
to be down the road, whereverthe replacements are going to be down the
road in the farm system. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you. More.
Okay, go ahead, let's fuckDodgers real quick. So it's pretty
good pitching matchups. You got Ashbourneand Green and Abbot. Those are your

(01:42:42):
three best starters right now. Andthen they're they're playing packs and pitching packs
and who's five and oh, Ican't believe it was under three points and
then bueller and they haven't faced Yamamotoyet. And since the disaster he had
at the beginning of the year inKorea, I think it was Korea,
he's been lights out for the lastsince that first series. Basically, yeah,

(01:43:04):
so it's some good pitching mashups.No, really good. Yeah.
I mean, I think it's coolthat Hunter Green and Andrew Arabbitt are going
to pitch in this series. GrahamAshcraft recently has pitched like just another guy,
Mike, thank you. Let's behonest, it frankly doesn't feel like
it matters which pitchers any team usesagainst this bunch. Offensively, they're just

(01:43:30):
right now a bad offensive team.There's there might be reasons for that.
This might be an untrue statement.If I make it in two and a
half months. This is a badoffensive team right now. I can live
with that. I can live withthe injuries. I can live with players

(01:43:51):
underperforming. I could live with theteam dealing with the inherent struggles that come
with having young players. I candeal with all of that. What you
cannot deal with is a decision makernot utilizing his best option in situations that

(01:44:12):
demand it. You cannot and that'sreally frustrating to me. You can control,
you might not be able to controlthe outcome if you use your best.
Guy, I'm sorry man. AsAustin said, I've been a pretty
vocal David Bell proponent defender, somemight say apologist. This defies explanation,

(01:44:40):
and it's the sort of thing thatyou could skate by with if you have
a winning track record, or ifyour team is playing well. When you're
ten under five hundred going into MemorialDay weekend and the track record is very,
very limited, it's the sort ofthing that could dramatically turn people against
you staggering. Hey, don't forgetTony and Austin are broadcasting from the Holy

(01:45:03):
Grail tomorrow from noon to three,and then we take over our guy,
Brandon Spider's coming up. We're gonnatalk. You want me to talk about
Tyler Stevenson more in the five o'clockhour tomorrow or bourbon I know the answer.
Thanks to United Heartland Insurance for sponsoringour poll questions. Thanks to Mick
Ultra for sponsoring the five o'clock HappyHour, Thanks to Tarren Bland for producing,

(01:45:24):
and of course, most importantly,thanks to you for listening. Have
an awesome night. We'll talk toyou tomorrow on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station

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