We sit down with Don Helbig to talk about the upcoming Red Sox vs Reds series.
The Pesky Podcast
The Pesky Podcast episode 102 w/Don Helbig (Reds Series preview)
the entertainment network. Please subscribe. Hit that like button. And as always, leave a comment and thank you for joining the video. Shat the right slicing toward the pesky pole. Lie down the right field line toward the pesky pole. Leaping up. And that ball is gone. It's a home run. Carrot of our decent team as well. I fly down the right field line headed toward the pesky pole. That one tucked in. And that ball is going to be against the wall. And in the second base. Number retired. And I run by a devil's driver is trying to retire that baseball inside a pesky pole. Welcome to another episode of the pesky podcast. I'm your host, the RIT. I'm a little, little short handed today. Both DC and DoG George Sutherland had other things that needed to be taken care of. But we are here with episode 102 brought to you by BSEN. We're here with Don Helbig. And we are here to cover and preview the Red Sox red series. Don, what's going on, man? It's been a little while. How you doing? I'm doing great. You know, your red Sox there seem to be on a little bit of a roll. Love what they're doing on the road. I think we're 21 and 15 away from home. So things seem to be going in the right direction for the Red Sox. Otherwise, you know, when you look at the Reds, I kind of go in the opposite way. Yeah. Um, most people say there's no place like home unless you are the Boston Red Sox. So, man, it seems to me after, you know, right in the middle of the Philly series, when we were down, something clicked with this Boston Red Sox team. And next thing you know, we come back from a huge deficit and we win. Then we win the series against the Phillies. Then we play the Yankees and win the series against the Yankees. You know, and now we're also playing Toronto and we win the series with that. The final games tonight where, you know, what a little bit before we, after we record day off that we're playing Cincinnati. I just don't know. I'm hoping, I'm hoping the 500 Sox are gone and I'm hoping we got everything going. But Don, let's talk about the Reds a little bit and the opposite direction. You guys got a very exciting team led by Delacruz. So, you know, what's going on? Well, they're 35 and 39, eight and a half games out, a first place in the central division, but they get within a game of 500 and then they lose three or four again in a row. And they just haven't been able, you know, just get over the hump that way. A lot of things, we'll start with the beginning of the season and spring training, the first domino foul when their top prospect and projected every day, third baseman, Novi Marte, got the 80 game suspension, you know, D. E. D. And that was tough for them because that was, he probably would have been their best hitter. He looked like it when it came up last year. I mean, he was ready. So that was a big hit there. And then a couple weeks later in spring training, Matt McLean, he was terrific last year as a rookie. He was going to be the starting second baseman here to shoulder. And he may not play this year. He's begun throwing. He's hopeful to come back at the end of August, but not likely. And then your everyday first baseman early in the season gets hit by a pitch and has, you know, a wrist hand injury. And now he's on the 60-day ender list as Christian and Karasi on Strand. So you, you know, three of your four guys are going to be your everyday players in the infield out of the lineup. And that leaves Ellie Delacruz as the one that has been in the lineup every day. And, you know, this guy's electric. One of the most exciting players I've ever seen in all my years of watching baseball, which is more than 50. And I mean, this kid can do it all. I mean, you talk, he can hit, he can run, he can throw, you know, steel bases, changes the game, you know, if he gets on first base, you know, he can be on third base in two pitches defensively. He's erratic. He'll, he'll, a routine play, you know, he'll botch up, but then he'll make that unbelievable play that, you know, no other shortstop can really make. He's got a rocket arm, you know, he's, he's got some, you know, incredible power, but he does still strike out a lot, but he's making a lot of strides, you know, hitting, you know, somewhere between 230 to 240 most of the season, but he's really improved in terms of, you know, being a little less aggressive at the plate and working the count better, drawing more walks. So really excited about, you know, what I've seen from him this year. So he's the one every day player that's been kind of the, you know, the bright light there, Spencer Steer, consistent player, good hitter, plays all over, he's played third, he's played first, he's played left field, drives and runs. If the game was on the line and the winning or tying run is on base, he's the guy you want at the plate because he seems to come up big in those moments. But other than that, you look at their lineup and they, they definitely need another everyday bat in the outfield that hits right handed. They have a lot of mix and match players, right handed in the outfield. They have Stewart Bearchild. He can't hit left handers. I'm a feedfowl out of a boat, he still wouldn't hit water against the right hander. I mean, not the left hander, but he crushes left handed pitching, but right handers, you know, he can't do it. So, you know, they're very limited on what they can do. They have to kind of mix and match the lineup all the time out there. So a guy like Tyler O'Neill would be exactly what the Reds need. You know, I have him in left field batting. I think that would change the dynamic of the Reds lineup, but they just don't have, you know, enough offense out of the outfielders and then defensively. T.J. Friedel is a pretty good defender and center field. He's not an elite defender, but he's pretty good. But in the corners that, I mean, it's just, you know, not a great defensive outfield either. So there's some problems there. The one thing that was the question mark going in the scene, it looked like they were going to hit. You know, when you had Marte and you had Matt McLean, you're pushing that in account, you know, strand, it looked like they were going to have a team that was going to score a ton of runs, but the pitching was going to be suspect. But Hunter Green, first round pick a few years ago, he has really turned the corner and is pitching like a true number one ace right now. Nick Lidola, another number one pick, battle injuries last year, but he's back now. He's been terrific. And I would go as far to say right now, he might be the best left handed pitcher in baseball. I mean, he's been that good this year. Green ZRA 335 and 15 starts. Lidola is at 2.76. So they've been, they've been really, really good. The sheer, and Andrew Abbott, who came up last year, left hander, kind of a crafty guy, knows how to pitch for a young guy, but he's more of your fourth or fifth starter type. But he's had moments where, you know, he's looked like a potential ace, but he's more of that fourth or fifth guy, but he's got a 3.42 ERA. So starting pitching's been really, really good for them. So if they were to get in to like a wild card, I mean, I don't think there'd be a team that would want to play them if they were going to face Green Lidola and then Abbott, you know, in a short series like that. So if they get there, they got the pitching now, but they really have to improve the offense. Yeah, you know, you guys are so similar to us. We started out the season of things were looking, you know, a lot of people didn't, didn't like the team, but then injuries occurred. You know, Gio later went down. Costes went down. You know, we had multiple injuries, you know, from some, you know, Masataka Yoshida went down, but then all of a sudden, you know, the first month of the season, we had the best pitching staff ERA in baseball. No one's seen that. I didn't see it, you know, and how we have had a great picture of merge who's now, you know, our ace is Tanner Hauck, which, you know, Jonathan Papelbahn and along with us here at the pesky podcast and BSEN kind of dubbed it, Halcomania. It's absolutely crazy how, you know, he's been able to lead the staff and, you know, you talk about Delacruz being your, and I like to say he is an absolute athlete because I think he could put him in multiple positions and I still think he would be, you know, be able to handle himself there. We have someone this season that's turned around completely. Jaren Duran, and I love how the whole Twitterverse is completely disregarding him. The all star votes are getting, you know, he's probably a top four, top five outfielder in baseball now, statistically. But because of the name, because of the team he's on, he might not even get, you know, get those votes that he needs. You know, you have people like Cedric Mullins, Aruz, from Tampa that are, you know, potentially could make over him who are nowhere near statistically. And then we have, which I feel is one of the best pure athletes in baseball. We got Sedone Rafael, who plays absolute gem, defensive and center field. And then he's able to also switch right in and, you know, go in the same position as Delacruz does at shortstop and still make those phenomenal plays. So, like, yeah, and he leads our team in RBI's in the ninth spot. So that, that is something that you don't really see, especially when you got people in the lineup, batting two, three, four, like Rafael Devers, Tyler O'Neill and, you know, Jeremy Duran leading off also. Yeah, when I look at the Red Sox, and I've been, you know, watching them since the early 70s, they seem like this is the most athletic that I've ever seen them. I mean, they're stealing a base. I remember, you know, there were times of Red Sox as a team still 27 bases. That was a good year. They just didn't have those kind of guys. And it's a fun team to watch, you know, with what they can do on the bases defensively, you know, all these young guys, they've had a lot of energy there. So it's a very similar situation to what you have in Cincinnati. Yeah. And you speak about those stealing bases. I really think that it's getting more analytical because when we play the Yankees, Trevino has, I think that's a 2.9 pop. So, all of a sudden, we stole nine bags off the Yankees in a game, you know, but be our record that, you know, was held for many years. So then last night, you know, playing Toronto, they started, you know, looking at their catcher 2.1 pop. So, and they stole a couple of bases off him. So I think they're looking at the matchup, somebody like, okay, we can, we can steal off this catcher. Ooh, we better, we better time ourselves on that one because we have, if you look at it, Saddam Rafael at the nine spot, then all of a sudden, Jared Duran leads off. We have David Hamilton, who, you know, came in and he was struggling in the beginning of the year. He's able to find his footwork defensively, but also behind, at bat two at the plate, he has a lot of speed. So you have a lot of options that your catcher is going to have to be like, okay, do I, do I, you know, do I want to test them? Do I not want to test them? It's going to be a great matchup, I think. And if you look at what the Reds have behind the plate, mile, he's a pretty good backup catcher, you know, and he can throw, but he's likely only to play maybe one of those games in that series of the two that Tyler Stevenson would catch. You know, he's near the bottom and pop. You know, he's like 2.1, 2.2 or something. He's near the body. He's like one of the bottom four. So they would definitely be able to take advantage of that. So it's going to be very important for the Reds, you know, to really limit how many base runners that are in the series if they're going to have any success against the Red Sox or they're going to, you know, maybe run the Reds out of Great American ballpark because I saw what you guys are doing against the Yankees and I thought, no, that's coming to Great American ballpark in a couple of weeks there. Yeah. The one thing I really want you to talk about, you know, we're going to break down the matchups a little bit and talk about them. But I think that the Reds pitching staff is going to have to limit the walks because if you can get the bat, if you give the batter a free on base, that's a lot of trouble. You know, make them, if they have them earn it, they might have a chance. Yeah. And that's where 100 green and Nick Lindolo have really improved over their last several outings as they've limited the walks. 100 green was terrific today against the Pirates, you know, no run support. You know, he's, so he goes 6.1 innings. He gives up two hits, strikes out nine walks, nobody. And he's been, you know, dominant over his last five, six, seven starts. So he's really improved there. But you look at the other starters, you know, Andrew Abbott, you know, he's going to walk three, four guys in five or six innings. Frankie Montas has had some, a couple of really good starts, you know, solid guy. But he's had outings where, you know, command hasn't been there and he's walked five, six, you know, guys, and that cannot happen as you mentioned against the Red Sox or since I was going to be in trouble. Yeah. So, so game one, we're throwing out cutter Crawford, three, three and six, you know, because like you guys, sometimes we don't get run support, you know, the month of May was really, really bad where some of these pitchers had great outings and then they just had, you know, one run or no runs. And he's going up against Abbott and you know, we've already discussed a little bit about him. So, you know, what else can you tell us? Well, I think that, you know, Abbott's a guy that on a, you know, any particular night, I mean, he can be as good as any left hander in the game. But there's a lot of nights that, I mean, again, he's a young guy that he struggles with command. The pitch count is always incredibly high for him. It seems like through the first two innings, he's already at, you know, 45 to 60 pitches, sometimes to the first two innings. Then he settles down. But by the fifth inning, you know, he's already a, you know, 95 to 105 pitches and he got to take them out just when he gets rolling. So, for Boston, he can't, again, that series, he can't start out like that. He's going to have to have command and he's going to have to limit the pitch count, you know, so he can be around in that fifth and sixth inning or it's going to be a long night for the Reds pitching staff. Yeah. And Carter Crawford, when he has his stuff, it's great. You know, it's just, he's got to, you know, rely on his defense and then rely in hope of the offense, be able to pick up the slack a little bit. Game two, we're throwing out Nick Pavetta and his last two starts have been really good. He's been able to, you know, find control, strike out the batters. And it looks like he's back to the new Pavetta that we had at the beginning of the season before his eye Elston, you know, going up against Montas. So what can we said there expect from Montas? I think if Montas has command and isn't walking a lot of guys in the early part of the game, I think this would be a game that I would expect it to be low scoring then between the two. Montas has the potential to, and has had flashes where he looks like a true number one kind of guy and back to what he was when he was with Oakland, you know, before the Yankees kind of, you know, he's healthy, but he has those moments where he just loses. He could be cruising, you know, no hitter through four innings and then, you know, walks five guys over the next two or three innings. And now the Reds are, you know, down four to one or four to two or something because they haven't been able to score any runs. So I think if he's, if he's on, I think, you know, if you like pitching goals, Nat and today's era, which I'm, you know, you're going to go through five or six innings with starters, but if he's on, I think that one, if you like, you know, watching the pitchers, I think very low scoring, at least till you get to the bullpen. Yeah. And then game three, it shows probable pitchers to be determined. Who would you say has the possibility of going for the Reds net game? Carson Spears, he's been really good. He's only pitched in six games, has made one start, but he's been, you know, really good 3.20 ERA. Had a little bit of a rough start the other night against the Pirates game, but four runs, you know, five or six innings. But I like him. I think he's got a chance to be, you know, solid number four, big league starter. So I think if he's the guy that gets the ball, you know, he'll battle the red. So I mean, he'll, he'll compete. And he doesn't always get a ton of strike. He has a couple of games where he got, you know, seven or eight strikeouts and five or six innings. But for the most part, you know, he's one of those guys, you, there's an old guy used to pitch for the Red Sox years ago, Reggie Cleveland. It kind of reminds me of him just kind of one of those guys that can pitch and relieve. He can start for you. You know, he's going to go out. He's going to compete. He's going to find a way to, you know, give your team a chance to win. So I think that's what I like about him is he gives the reds a chance to win if he's the guy that draws a start. Yeah, I'm, I'm, if I had to guess, we're either going to be an opener because we just set Cooper Chriswell down to triple A, so we can react to be Martin. So, and he can't come back up for 15 days. So what I'm doing there and guessing is either A, we're going to have to be going with an opener, which I personally don't like, or they're going to recall Josh Winkowski who has been going down, who they sat down. He was a big long arm relief last year for us in the bullpen, but they sent him down there at the beginning of this season to kind of stretch out his arm. And he's been doing really well down there his last two starts. So you could be looking at Josh Winkowski, me personally. I hope that they don't recall him because next week I get to go to Scranton all week because the Woosocks play the rail riders and I would love to be able to, you know, talk and sit down with Josh Winkowski. But he might be the guy that gets, you know, called back up for the, for the spot start there. I can see the reds also. They haven't triple A Graham Ashcraft, who started the season as number three in the rotation, but he was really struggling. So they sent him down to work on some things in Louisville. So I would think, you know, there could be an outside chance depending on what happens between now and that game that maybe he's back up and makes that start as well. Yeah, it's always fun to see, you know, when something happens and you need a spot start, you know, where they go because we do have a guy that we got in the Verdugo trade, Dickey Fitz. And, you know, he could sit there and be called up for his first, you know, first time for us. But I really think that, you know, Winkowski has shown down there in the last two starts that he's been able to go five, the six innings. And I think that, you know, he will be the guy that you probably call up. Yeah, if the reds were to go to the, um, opener, I would say the guy that we get the ball be left handed Brent Souter. He's been in that role a couple of times this year, he can give them at least two innings to start off the game. You know, he's been one of those guys too that you like him on your ball club. You know, you like having to go like that. They can start relief. It's going to take, you know, whatever the manager wants him to do, whatever, whatever's going to help the team, no attitude, you know, even to pitch trainings relief today. Great. I'll do it. And they need to get two guys out. I'll do it. And just, you know, a really good guy to have on the team and in a situation where you're looking to do an opener. He's the perfect guy for that. Yeah. So let's sit there and talk about the lineup a little bit. Uh, you know, let's go. I'll start off with something really nice. I'll start off with the outfield. That's a point for the red stocks. But, you know, not so great out there, uh, for you guys, um, you know, we have, we have, uh, we should be getting Wilyer or Bray you back. Uh, he was on an, an I Austin. So the possibility that you guys could be seeing him. But if not, you know, we've got, uh, Tyler O'Neill, we've got Saddam Raphael, we got Jared Duran. And then, you know, we do have Rob Rebsnighter also who, uh, the OG George Sutherland, uh, he likes to call like the best fourth outfielder in baseball. So, and, and he's been able to get on base consistently against left these and righties. He used to be, you know, known as the lefty killer, but now he's been able to do, you know, both, uh, get on base with righties and left these. So, and, and then like we already mentioned, Jared Duran, Jared Duran, uh, he's been able to play every game so far for the Boston Red Sox and that I haven't heard, you know, that since Dustin Bedroya, uh, you know, one of those dirt dogs that just, you know, consistently there, consistently grinding and getting through. Uh, so what about your outfield and the only good thing I, you know, we can sit there and say so far is at least it's not a Fenway part where you have all those angles, you know, the short porch, the pesky pole, the big monster, you know. Yeah, if you look at the Reds of, you know, against right-handed pitching, most of the time, it's going to be Will Benson and left TJ Frito in center and Jake Fairley in right. Those guys are, you know, outside of, uh, Frito, Benson and Fairley are more of your, like, you know, you talked about, you have a lot of, you know, the best fourth outfielder in baseball and that, these two guys are more geared to be fifth outfielders, but they play a lot. Jake Fairley is kind of, uh, an enigma to me because in less than, you know, 400 played appearances his first two years with the Reds, he hit 12 home runs and then 15 last year. Uh, this year he's getting more playing time, he's making more contact than ever, the batting ever, just higher, the on base percentage is higher, but, uh, he's only got one home run this year. It's like he's lost his, his power for whatever reason. Uh, this guy could hit a mile when he was connecting the last couple years, but that's kind of been the mystery of, of why no power from, from Jake Fairley, but that's what you'd be looking at, you know, against, uh, the right handed pitching and then against the left hander, Friedel's still going to play in center field, uh, but you're going to have, um, Stuart Fairchild is going to play in right field and you're going to see Spencer Steer move to left field. Fairchild a pretty good defensive outfielder, uh, but Spencer Steer is competent, but he's more your, you know, your third baseman, your second baseman, your first baseman kind of guy. So defensively not ideal, you know, if you're going to have those three out there, uh, just because, uh, you know, Steer's just average at best. Yeah, and like you said there and said, you know, earlier, you would love to have someone like Tyler O'Neill, uh, man, he, he'd be the perfect guy there. I mean, he was in the Reds lineup and he was batting fourth and I saw him for, you know, years playing for the Cardinals. He always hit very well in great American ballpark too. So I'd love to have a guy like that. I don't know, you know, if the Red Sox, I mean, he seems like he's been on a little bit of a role lately. I think he had a two home run game the other day and that I don't know if they'd be willing to move him, but if they would for in like a pitching prospect, the Reds have a boatload of pitching prospects. Uh, I would do that in a heartbeat for the Reds because a bat in the outfield, you know, they're having trouble scoring runs, but that's where they need it. And if they were to get that, um, you know, they can win a series in the wildcard or two or even three, you know, and get to the, get to the World Series would not be a surprise if they can just get, you know, some offense and particularly coming from the outfield. Yeah, that is definitely one thing. Uh, you guys got plenty of pitching prospects and that's, that seems to be, uh, you know, Breslo's, uh, little sweet tooth there. You know, he's, he's trying to rebuild our farm system and depending on around the trade deadline, which Don, I'm hoping, you know, you to be part once again of our trade deadline show, uh, that we will be putting together, which it seems to me we're going to have to do a little bit differently. Uh, we might have to break it NL and, uh, AL, we might have to break it by division because since last year, uh, when you are part of our show, uh, we have got, I think almost every team covered, but like 19s. So, uh, we definitely have to figure that out, but, uh, depending on where we are at the trade deadline, you know, we might sit there and trade a Tyler O'Neill, you know, who's only here for, you know, one year for a pitching prospect. So because our, the hitters are coming, the pitching is what we got to work on. A lot of them are in double A Portland right now. Yeah, but if they were, if the Reds were to offer, I would say a guy that might get it done would be, uh, his name's Lion Richardson. We had a couple of starts last year. I mean, he's close, uh, to being, uh, you know, every day or, you know, in the rotation for most major league teams. You know, he'd be that fourth or fifth starter, uh, potential to be a three and number three. I mean, he's got really good stuff. He competes, has, you know, good mix of pitches. I think that would be a guy if you're the Red Sox. You'd be very interested in because again, like he's close. He could help you this year, uh, kind of a guy. And, uh, the other one that I would imagine would attract the Red Sox attention is Connor Phillips or electric arm, uh, but has some command issues got into some games last year, had some moments where it looked like, okay, this is going to be a guy, you know, he's going to be that, you know, number two or three types starting pitcher, uh, but just some command issues, uh, some in Louisville. And, you know, just struggles a little bit with that. But, you know, if he puts it together, you know, that arm that he's got, I mean, like I said, number two, number three starting pitcher. I mean, at the worst case scenario, you know, maybe he's a back of the bullpen kind of guy. Yeah. And, you know, look in, and these are all, you know, scenarios that, you know, possibly could be, but if you look, uh, Pavetta's on the last year of his contract. Gio Lito only has one more year coming up. Uh, Halck signed pretty well. Uh, Bayo sign, you know, we have Whitlock, but he's on the IEL right now, uh, once again. So, you know, we could use definitely one of those next man up pitchers, like you, like you stated, you know, that could help us this year, you know, next year and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. But I think that's, you know, those two teams would seem to match up. Well, if they were willing to move Tyler or Neil, because the Reds do have the pitching prospects that would probably intrigue the Red Sox. Well, let's get Brazil on the phone and get this done, because in my opinion, you know, will your brand use is going to come back? Yeah. We can't have five, uh, five outfielders in our, you know, on our major league roster, unless they plan on moving Sedon Rafaela into shortstop, you know, for the remainder of the season. Uh, you know, but five outfielders, it's kind of a, you know, a tight spot, especially when you're paying. I must talk to Yoshida to be your, you know, DH. So, uh, let's go, uh, let's go infield. You know, we normally would have Tristan Tassus, but he, you know, he's, he's having a time for being on the IEL and everything. He's having the time of his life. Did you get to check out, uh, the game the other night when he took over the broadcast a little bit for a bottom of the inning? I heard about it, but I didn't get to see it actual, but I heard that was, uh, that was interesting. Yeah. Um, me personally, sometimes the booth gets a little bland. Man, just throw them up there. You know, Justin Tassus was, was great on, on the, uh, on the field, uh, doing those interviews and stuff like that. But since, since he's on the IEL, we, we had, uh, you know, a veteran presence. We had, we had Dom Smith, uh, who's played for the, for the Mets. And he's, he's been able to do average, maybe a slightly above average for us. Uh, when he makes mistakes in the field, you know, with errors, he always brings it, he brought it, uh, and brings it back with his bat. If he's struggling at, at the plate, then all of a sudden he's having a great defensive night. So he's kind of one of those, you know, back and forth type of guys. Uh, and then a second base, you know, we've had, we have either Raphael's playing short stuff. We got David Hamilton, or we got, uh, Emmanuel Valdez, who we had gotten in the, uh, Christian Bass West trade. So, uh, who, who do you guys have covering first and second? Well, for first base, a lot of times it's going to be Spencer Steer or Jamer Candelario. It'll be one of those two at first base. Uh, Candel areas having a real solid year. There was a lot of eyebrows raised because the Reds had a glut of infielders and the Reds gave him a three or $45 million contract. Uh, that seems like a brilliant signing right now just because of the, the injuries that they've had. Uh, but he's, he's been a great leader on the team. He's on pace to have 23, 24 home runs, driving 80 something runs, uh, have 30, you know, five to 40 doubles. Now, if you put that on paper and said, would you pay $15 million for this kind of player? Everybody's going to say, yes. Yeah, we'll take that. Uh, so, uh, he's been, it's been really good for them and he's been pretty solid defensively when he's been at first base steers and outstanding defensive first base. And that's probably going to be his, uh, future position there. And like I said earlier, he's the kind of guy that if you get runners on base, he's the one you want at the plate. Uh, uh, I got to ask, you know, how hard was it to let Joey Vado go? You know, emotionally, very hard because he'd been, you know, with the Reds for 17, 18 seasons MVP years. If all the years I've watched the Reds, I would say he's the best hitter that I've seen. I would even, you know, not the best overall player, that would have been Joe Morgan. Um, Johnny Bench, you know, would have been the better overall players, but I mean, he's not top five, but in terms of, um, you know, if you're just talking hitting, you know, he's the best that I've ever seen, you know, play for the Reds. Uh, he was very, um, good as a team later emerged in that role near the end of his career with the Reds. Uh, so brought a lot to the table, but the last couple of years, you know, he was, he was really struggling, had a shoulder injury, uh, was just their shadow of what he was. Uh, but when he was healthy enough, he was still pretty much the Reds, the best hitter, you know, last year near before, especially, you know, in those key moments in that. Uh, but it was time because, you know, he's 40 years old now, uh, defensively he had slipped. Uh, the injuries had taken its toll and you just can't keep a guy, uh, you know, for nostalgia, you know, for popularity, you know, I think you have to make those hard decisions. And I really give the Reds, uh, organization credit for knowing when it was time to cut ties because in the past, they let the fans sentiment make decisions for them. Uh, they'd signed a guy who ended up, you know, being a Red Sox at one point, but they had given Brandon Phillips a big long term deal and they never should have done that. And there were some other players they had done the same thing with. And this time they took the emotion out of it and decided what makes the most sense baseball wise. So, uh, from that perspective, I understood it. I expected it. And, uh, I was, I was really glad that, um, the Reds organization this time decided to do what's, what's best for the Cincinnati Reds. And that's not what the fans are going to care about or not what's best for Joey Blatt. Let's do what's best for us. Yeah. Um, I talked to, uh, you know, a couple red, red spans. Uh, my good buddy, Michael is one of them. And he, you know, he said that the first couple, couple series, he said it was a little hard to watch, you know, especially when they announced now playing in first base and they didn't say Joey Votto's name. He goes, it's, it's hard. He goes, but it over time, you know, get used to. He said that there's, he's almost positive. The Reds organization will do Joey Votto night just for, you know, what, what all he's, you know, done for that team. Uh, and he's, he was, like you said, his, his numbers there were impeccable and, you know, the time that he played there, but age eventually catches up with you and time is undefeated. And yes, it is. That's unfortunate. But yeah, it was the right, right call to make. And, you know, and it's after we get done going around the infield, the catcher and everything, uh, there'll be one other thing that I wanted to do comparison with the Red Sox. But go ahead. I guess. Okay. Second, eight second base. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Uh, we already went and already talked about Emmanuel, uh, about this. Yeah. The Red Sea of Jonathan, India, you know, he was a rookie of the year, years ago, had a really good season, hasn't been able to get back to that level yet. He's had a lot of injuries. Still gets on base, but the batting average, I'd like to see a little bit higher, uh, defensively, uh, average of best. The metrics say he's, you know, would be one of the worst defensive second base when a baseball, but for the most part, he makes the plays when he has to, uh, he positions himself well, uh, but you know, dependable player. So, uh, you know, would not be in the lineup if Matt McLean was healthy. He'd be kind of moving all over the field in that utility role or be the designated hitter. But, um, but yeah, but he's a guy that, you know, he's going to show up. He's going to play hard. Yeah. Uh, let's go the other side. You know, we got shortstop, uh, we either play usually Hamilton or Sedon Rafaela Hamilton is the weaker of the two. Cause he's in, in my opinion, natural second baseman. You know, they have him over there cause it was athletic ability, but sometimes that does not make up for it defensively, uh, especially when up the middle is supposed to be your, you know, strongest defensive people. And then third base, you can't sit there and not know who Rafael divers is. Uh, he's having, in my opinion, a top three top four AL MVP type season. You know, he's, uh, ranked top three and all, almost all categories for third baseman. So, uh, who, who you guys got over there? Well, sure we've got, as we talked about, I think that Red Sox fans, they watched this series, just watch it from a baseball perspective, not a competing against the Reds kind of a thing. And just appreciate what you're seeing because, like I said, this guy is, uh, just incredible with what he can do. You can run hit, uh, the, the arm, just look at the arm, uh, he'll turn, um, you know, thing double plays in that. I mean, the Reds are getting, uh, extra cutting down the number around. So he goes really deep in the whole, uh, better than any short stuff I've seen in years and he's been, you know, eight, nine, 10 steps out on the outfield grass and his gun guy is down, not even close at first base, they'd have pretty decent speed. Uh, but there's going to be some other moments, you know, during the series where there's going to be some plays that look routine and in, you know, he's going to throw it away or he's going to have trouble, you know, he's going to bobble it. So he has some moments like that, but then I always have to think he's only 22 years old. You know, most guys are still in AAA in that. So, uh, you know, I'll take that with all the extra plays that he makes that other short stops, you know, simply cannot make and, uh, I think just watch it from a baseball perspective and just, you know, you'll be impressed with what you see from him. Uh, third base, it's going to be most of the time, Jamer Candelario, pretty solid defensively. We talked about offensively, you know, that he's, he's putting up those numbers where, you know, he's leading the Reds and all the key statistics, you know, the batting average, uh, he's leading in home runs. He's driving in runs. He got off to a slow start. I mean, his April and most of May was not good, but since Memorial Day, he has really turned it on and it's been one of the top four or five hitters in the National League. So, uh, he'll be there and he ends up at first base because of pitching matchups or whatever that third base would then be manned, uh, probably by, Espiano, who used to be a Blue Jay. Yeah. It doesn't get much offensively, but defensively, I mean, he's been spectacular in third base when he makes those spots starts there. When you, when you sit there and, you know, talk about just sitting back and enjoying, I always like to, like to enjoy the game, but I like to enjoy some of the matchups. I'm kind of curious who's going to win, uh, the matchup between Ella Dela Cruz, the speed on the bases and Connor Wong behind the plate, you know, because Connor Wong is able to cut down a lot of runners, but it also depends who's going to be over there at second base because he has to be in sync with the second baseman or Ellie's going to sit there and eat him up. Well, that's going to be a good match. I was not only Ellie, uh, the Reds have other guys that run, uh, Stuart Fairchild, when he's in the lineup, you know, he's got seven, eight steals already. Uh, you've got Spencer Steer, doesn't look like a base stealer, but, you know, he'll take advantage. TJ Friedle, uh, you know, he's a guy that's going to, you know, get you 25, 30 steals over the course of a season. Well, Benson can run. Jake fairly can run. So there's not really a guy in the lineup outside of the Reds to catchers that aren't a threat to go when they get on for space. So we, we didn't see him, you know, anywhere from 10 to 12 steals a game from both, you know, teams combined, which that's what MLB baseball wanted. They want to put excitement back in there. These two guys are going to sit there and bring it to you. So, and let's sit there and talk catcher now. Uh, you know, we've got Connor Wong. We've got Reese McGuire Connor Wong's actually, you know, the lone survivor of, I can't believe it's how many years later, and we're still talking about the Mookie bets trade. And, uh, it's just, he was always known as a defensive catcher. Now all of a sudden he's able to put his bat into play. He's, you know, getting extra base hits. He's driving in runs. He's a little more patient and, uh, when he's at the plate and being able to hit the ball, you know, opposite field also. Uh, Reese McGuire, he's not my favorite player on the Red Sox, I must say, but, uh, you know, he has, he has really, uh, sub defense. Uh, his bat is average at, you know, the most, but, you know, who do you, and, but we can't compare because, you know, look at your guys, you know, when you're talking about catching. Well, we got Tyler Stevenson. He was one of the Red's top prospects a few years ago. He's battled a lot of injuries. He had some concussion problems. He had, uh, a bone broken in his shoulder a couple of years ago, taking a foul ball. Uh, he was getting so banged up that they considered moving him the first base to keep his bat in the lineup. Well, now they just, you know, pretty healthy. He's improved a little bit defensively. Uh, but his offense, it's just, it hasn't been there. I mean, he's doing okay. You know, when you just take it by, you know, catchers and just put it across the board, how he's doing with that. But, you know, here's a guy that, you know, you expected to hit, you know, over two, eight, he'd get on base, you know, 34, 35% of the time, hit, you know, 20, 25 home runs, you know, driving runs. And he's just not been that, uh, power bat that they thought he was going to be and what he showed flash is that when he first came up, uh, it was still a good hitter, but he's not what, you know, the Red's were expecting. And, uh, so right there, I would say offensively, you know, he's in the lineup over Luke Maly because of the offensive thing. Luke Maly is a far better defensive catcher. And with the way the Red Sox can run, you would almost think, why not start him up three games just because of the way the Red Sox can run. So, um, but at the plate, Luke Maly, he's going to remind Red Sox fans about Montgomery. So, uh, you know, that's the reason why he's never been an everyday catcher because, you know, he's going to have that low 200, you know, anywhere 185 to 210 type batting average. Occasionally, you know, we'll hit the home run in that, but defensively, you know, he can help the Reds win games, calls a great game, uh, just outstanding, you know, blocking balls in the dirt, uh, controlling the running game. So based on what the Red Sox can do, if I'm looking at the analytics, I'm saying I'm starting Luke Maly, but that's not what the Reds will always do. And sometimes it's going to be, you know, depending on who's even starting, who gets to call behind the plate. Yeah. Um, he kind of reminds me a little bit of Austin Hedges. Yes. Yes. That great defensive, great arm, but he, he couldn't swing ahead of softball, you know, some nights because, you know, he had, I remember Austin Hedges had like a 132 batting average, you know, uh, for a season. I'm just like, how's he still in the major league? But then you look on the defensive side and it's like, that's why he's still here, you know. Yeah. Well, Luke Maly, I think you're going to see him, you know, one day as a major league manager. I mean, he's just real smart about the game of baseball, passionate about it. You know, he's a great guy to have on the roster. Uh, if he could just hit a little bit better, you know, he'd be an everyday catcher, if not with the red somewhere. So, so Don, he said you had a question. What was we wrapped up the infields? So let's shoot. Well, I mean, the Red Sox have always been known as a organization willing to spend money, you know, uh, signed guys to, you know, the big deals and stuff. The Reds have not. And you mentioned Joey Bado. So this is what kind of triggered it for me was if I'm the Cincinnati Reds, you know, they've got these guys, you know, the crews, you know, a couple of years, he's going to be that arbitration and a couple more years free agency. I'm at my claim. Um, um, Christian, uh, in Kannarcy, I understand he's going to, you know, be another guy for five years. He's up, uh, TJ Friedle. I mean, so if I'm the Reds, what I would do, they drafted well, I would have like a six year plan at each position. And even if the fans wouldn't like it, when a guy like Deli Cruz is about to enter his fifth year, you know, two years away from free agency and his values at its highest, I would trade him and then get a haul back, you know, do that with all the players and always kind of replenish a lot like the Tampa Bay Rays do and just always have somebody ready to step in and play because they're not in Cincinnati. They're not going to be able to afford to keep all these guys. You know, if they reach that potential that the Reds think they all have, that's not going to happen. We're on the other hand, you know, if he was with the Red Sox, you know, L.E. Deli Cruz, you could look at that. Let's give him a, you know, 12 year, you know, 300 million, 400 million dollar contract. He becomes that kind of player. That's what he's going to get 300, 400 million dollars. That's not happening in Cincinnati. So I think if you're a fan in Cincinnati, you just have to accept the market we're in, you know, but you can stay competitive. You can win if you make the right trades and bring in the right, you know, prospects in return. Tampa's been able to do that. But how would that kind of, I look at the line, you know, the lineup for the Red Sox. Now the roster, it's a lot younger, more athletic. There's not a ton of guys making a ton of money with the Red Sox anymore. So how would that play there if they kept turning over the roster and the way the Rays do? Uh, I honestly think that Hine Bloom tried that here and it wasn't really, uh, it wasn't really welcomed here. You know, they went and they unloaded. Once again, we're going to talk about the Mookie Betts and, you know, got a, in my opinion, it was a subpar. What was it got back? But he only had one year left on his contract where you, where you're, you know, or, uh, or you're talking about with Dela Cruz, you know, he has two years left, you know, so you get a little bit extra, extra back. Um, it's just, we, I think right now, now Hine Bloom was rebuilding the farm system. You know, we've got a pleather town, we've got Marcelle Meyer, we got Roman Anthony, we got Kyle Teal, you know, all ready to, you know, in the next year or two come up, which gives us, you know, a nice little cushion. But he really didn't evaluate pitching very well. You know, uh, there's, I think he, he evaluated him quite well. When he went and traded Christian Vazquez and we got back, uh, William Ray U and Emmanuel Valdez. But I think the days here in Boston, where we will see big contracts might be slim to none. You know, everybody was talking about Jordan Montgomery, you know, we were all in allegedly on Yamamoto. Okay. But I, I think more now, we're going to be playing and giving contracts out, like Brian Bayo, you know, his extension we gave him, uh, Sedon Raphael, the nice extension we gave him. I think we're going, you're going to see extensions for some of our key core players. But I honestly think, and this is what kills me now, I think that the days of those big contracts in Boston are slim to none. You know, we're not going to see no Carl Crawford contract, you know, coming, coming this way, the David Price contract. Um, I don't think we're going to see Chris Sale's contract. I don't think we're going to, we're going to see those anymore. I think they're, they're going to bring up this, these young talented players, you know, they're going to extend who they think, you know, will fit, uh, in their system. And the others are going to be traded away. I, I just think, you know, the, the way Henry and them do everything now, it's more of a portfolio type thing. You know, there's rumors about them wanting to dabble possibly into an NBA expansion team in Vegas. You know, with his portfolio keeps expanding. You can't concentrate and bring everything you want to Boston, but there is ways you guys do it quite well. Tampa's done it quite well for years. You know, if you look at the pirates, you know, the pirates, small market team, Kansas City Royals, small market team, but you can bring in talented players and they can still make an impact on your team that you don't need to have, uh, you know, an outrageous payroll. No, you don't. And I think the Reds, I mean, there's a couple of guys they'd probably like to sign to those longer term deals. Matt McLean would be one of them. And the crews would be another, but you can't do all of them. No. And they, they didn't sign Hunter green to an extension, but that was more to buy out the arbitration years. Yeah. So it was a deal that was good for Hunter Green because he hadn't really established himself yet. Good for the Reds because, you know, if he became what he has shown in the last five or six starts, uh, you know, the Reds are going to get a steal on that contract. So, um, you know, there's guys like that, Nick LoDolo, I'd love to see them find a way to, to keep him around because like I mentioned at the top, I think he's right now, as good as any left hand starting pitcher in baseball. So it was kind of guys, but you look at the farm system, I mean, they've got, you know, they're deep at shortstop, they're deep at corner infield, uh, they're deep in pitching, you know, what they don't have is those, uh, you know, that one young outfielders should look at and say, yeah, that guy's definitely going to be our center fielder in the future or mortar outfielders. They don't have that guy. So I think, um, but some of those other, you know, you know, players they have for when these guys they currently have are ready to move on and they'll have guys that'll be ready to step in and play. Yeah. And like you, you made mentioned, like you don't have that one center fielder, but you don't need to right now. You can always draft one a year, you know, two years and you can just plug and place, you know, oh, okay, we're signing for one year deal. We're signing for a two year deal, you know, uh, me personally, I kind of like the way the red socks are doing it now. You know, we gave divers that big contract, divers, you're the face of the red socks. We're building around you now. Okay. Now all of a sudden, you know, you see the, uh, Sedona Raphael extension. Okay. Now there's our center fielder. Okay. Uh, we'll extend the Mayo. Okay. You know, there's he's, to me, he's not a number one starter yet. He's, he's like a number two, three starter, you know, so you've got to build pieces around it. Like I would love to see, you know, the Reds have Delacruz there for the duration, you know, give him, give him that Bobby, what junior contract, you know, and boom, you know, call it call it a day, then then build around, you know, I think, yeah, they could do it with one guy, maybe like that. And if you're going to, you know, what we've seen so far, um, the best upside is going to be Delacruz. I think the other guy that you would feel you'd sleep better if you gave him that contract would have been Matt McLean. Mm hmm. Yeah. Well, we all can't sit there and, you know, pay players two million and defer, you know, the rest, like, some major league baseball teams. Right. So I just want to touch based on, on, and ask you that, what are your personal feelings on, you know, how the Dodgers work the off season? You know, do you think that more teams might do that now that the Dodgers have done that? Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a copycat league, you know, when you see somebody having success either on the field a certain way or off the field, you know, with the way they, they managed to payroll on that. So yeah, I, I can see that happening. Uh, for sure. Yeah. My, my biggest fear is in our division, if the Yankees would, would somehow figure out how to sign, uh, one Soto after this season to, to a big contract, I personally don't want to see judge and Soto, you know, every season on the same team, because that would just be outrageous. Yeah. Well, now you look at the Dodgers and the, you know, the money that they've spent and those kind of, uh, you know, other, other players that they've brought in there in trades, you know, uh, you know, getting mooky bets and that they've only got one World Series title, you know, to show for it. And that was during the, the, you know, the COVID year. So, you know, while they're spending money and they're bringing all these, you know, star, marquee, you know, players in Brady Freeman comes to mind there. Um, you know, they're not, it's not guaranteeing you anything. Arizona, you know, beating them last year, young team, very low payroll. Um, so once you get to the playoffs, anything happens. So I, I think that, you know, the Yankees could sign Soto and that, but, you know, great. That means they might win the division running away, but what's going to happen in a, in a play where, you know, matchups in a, in a wild card series, you know, so if you've got, you know, series five games against the reds, you know, the Yankees and you've got, you know, great starting pitching. Red Sox could win that, you know, they can run on the Yankees and that. So I don't, I don't really get too concerned now of certain teams like loading up like you used to. All the Yankees are going to get everybody. The Dodgers are going to get everybody. It was before the Red Sox are going to get everybody. Um, you know, I think the way the game is played now where you can win, you know, stealing bases, you can win if you're, you know, really good defensively in a short series, you've got, you know, at least two really good starting pitchers. You've got a shot in the playoffs matter. What your record was to get there. I mean, you could have won 84 games or a wild card team and you could be the team with 110 wins. Yeah. So Don, final question, three game series. What are you picking for the outcome for the series? I like the Reds, um, in at least one of those games. I think the other two, I question the game that, you know, I don't know who's on the mound, you know, the TBA on that one's a little bit of a concern. But, um, I think the Reds, I think they'll win one of two. I mean, one of three, unfortunately, I don't think they're going to, they're going to win the series. I just, the Red Sox, the way they're playing right now, the way they can run the bases, they're getting good pitching. I just, I just have to lean toward the Red Sox in this series. Well, I'm glad because, you know, we're going to sit there and agree on this. I think the Red Sox are going to win yet another series, uh, two out, two out of three. I didn't be surprised that they swept, but, uh, I will at least say two out of, out of three there. So yeah, I, I, you know, I like the Reds, you know, to win at least one of those. Uh, I think if you get to the, the game where neither team is announced to their starting pitcher, it's a bullpen game. That could go in the reds favor because they do have a pretty deep bullpen. They've got, you know, some good arms in there. Um, they've got, uh, Martinez has been good as a swing man, you know, spot starter, but, uh, long man out of the pin. Sooter's been good when he's been the opener Fernando Cruz and Justin Wilson high leverage situations. Those two have been outstanding this year. So I, I like that and know if it's a bullpen game for both teams, but if it's going to be, you know, they bring up, you know, like you said, somebody from the minors make the start or the Reds give it to, you know, Carson Spires or they give the ball to, uh, they bring up Graham Ashcraft. They not change a little bit, but just a straight bullpen game. That would give the Reds a chance, I think, to win the series. Yeah. So well done. I want to thank you for sitting there and stopping by, uh, love talking to you. The floor is yours. Let everybody know where they can find you at. Well, they can find me on Twitter, mo, or X, you know, the platform formerly known as Twitter X at, uh, it's just at Don Helbing. Um, on there quite a bit, very active. Uh, a lot of times, you know, just going through this different sports posts and things, you know, I'll certainly, you know, like or comment on things. So that's the primary place to find me or you can just search Don Helbing on Facebook and find me there as well. So that would be the two best places. Okay, Don. Well, thanks for stopping by. Uh, as for everybody else, make sure you follow us on, uh, our YouTube channel at BSCN 617. Also, you find our platform, all major platforms, our podcast, iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio. Make sure you head out over to our merchandise, uh, over at our site. BSCN 617 dot square dot site. Pick up, uh, any one of your shirts from the Human Highlight Real Sedane Rapparela to Halcomania. So, fun for Don and for myself. Thanks for checking out the Pescue Podcast.