Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman
What should the Orioles do with Craig Kimbrel?
In the first hour of Inside Access, the guys discuss their concern with Craig Kimbrel and why they think he could be left off the postseason roster. They also listen to some Ravens sound and are joined by Todd Karpovich to talk some Ravens and O's.
- Duration:
- 42m
- Broadcast on:
- 13 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection. It combines gel flex grid with coils and the rejuvenate lux collection, the height of luxury. With over 112,000 to 5-star reviews to prove it, visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast10 to get 10% off. 1-1 pitch in the air to center field, sending Mullens back onto the track and the wall's gone! Pro-fire with his second home run of the night! Two rough shots, put some Padres on top 6-4! Add a fly ball back into right, Santander, going to make the catch. The tag loud third hits to the plate, he's going to score. And over to third goes Burrell and the race. Get that run home to take a 2-1 lead! He's going to be writing the thick of things. This is one of the best ever to do it. He's at an age and experience level in his career, he's not 24 years old anymore, but he's still one of the leaders and saves in all the baseball. He's got an extended run of excellence this season. He's got another one right around the corner. Players have ups and downs throughout the year. And he could turn the corner starting the day, so he's our closer. Well that's well and good, and of course you heard from Padres TV and then Valley Sports covering the race. And then you heard from Mike Elias and he could be one of the best ever. And he does among the league leaders and saves, but he also has an 8-3-1 ERA since July 14th. Craig Kimbrell is a bit of a problem and they brought him into a tie game in the eighth inning on Sunday. And he immediately walked the lead off man who came around to score because Craig Kimbrell can't hold runners. So of course he was immediately at second base. He gave up that home run in the Padres game. To me, he's not their closure right now. It's Sir Anthony Dominguez or maybe a little of you and your canola. But it's not Craig Kimbrell, and we got to talk about this yesterday. By the way, Inside Access Live from Pickles will be here all week. Jason on vacation this week, he'll be back Monday, but I just can't unless something changes drastically. In the next 40 games, whatever they have left, 43 games, like he's not on the postseason roster. Like they cannot carry him because he's more he's more a hindrance than he is a help at the moment. Yeah, part of it's going to be how the Orioles try to thread this needle with some of their injured relievers with the Danny Coulomb and now a Jacob Webb. And we'll see what happens with Grayson Rodriguez and we'll touch on that later on. But with how he has been pitching, you can't and his last nine games can. Eight and two-thirds innings. He's given up nine hits, 11 walks in eight and two-thirds innings. I mean, a eater and runs, it's completely unacceptable and you go back to Sunday's game. And yes, we can have the conversation about how the offense needs to score more than one run off a solo shot by Anthony Santander. But the reality is you're going to have those type of situations in October where you're tied or it's close and laid in a game in high leverage situations where Craig Kimbrel, he's going to have to deliver in those situations or else he's not going to be on the October roster where you walk the lead off guy, you get the strikeout. The foul ends up stealing second, but it's the morale at that. For me, Ken, four pitches, four balls, a walk and really none of those pitches were competitive at all. Well, the one that kills me is the lead-off man that he had him one too and then did throw him another strike and didn't throw him really anything close to get him to swing at anything. Well, you get ahead. What he does well is he uses the upper quadrant of the zone and he gets you to chase, but it's got to be close to get him to chase. These pitches he's throwing are non-competitive. And you look at his baseball savant page, he doesn't get any ground balls. He's in the bottom first percentile and chase percentage, bottom third percentile in walk percentage. I mean, he's getting barreled up consistently and what's so frustrating is it's almost like a tale of three seasons where Craig Kimbrel, where started strong and then tailed, then he had the reset and then he had that 22 game stretch where he gave up just one earn run. He had 31 strikeouts and 21 innings pitched and then he's on the stretch that I just detailed. You can't have these wild variances for a high leverage guy in October. And there's another factor here. Athletic mortality strikes at different types of different people. And Michael Iis is right in that he's one of the greatest ever to do this, but everybody has to retire at some point and everybody loses that at some point. And to me, like I give Kimbrel credit. The beginning of the year we had that period of time where he wasn't good. You talked about a tale of three seasons. They had that great stretch. You're like, okay, maybe his control is so good. And that's the key for him. He has to have pinpoint control because the stuffing is good as what he used to be. But now the control is gone and the stuff is not as good or it's not good enough to get by if his control is not pinpoint. And now you've got an aging closer who is not what he used to be. And now he seems to get in trouble. And if you walk the leadoff, man, your job is to get three outs and you walk the first guy and you can't hold runners at all. That's a double. Unless it's the catcher, it's a double. And so you can't put him into games. And you have the raise, you know, pull off that double steel, which is completely unacceptable. And it's night and day when you look at his numbers with no one on base and then when there's men on. I mean, you almost can determine how Craig Kimbrel's outing is going to go after the first batter because if that leadoff guy gets on, like we saw on Sunday, then it's off to the track meet. And OPS against Craig Kimbrel with nobody on 4.71 compared to a 7.60 with men on and 8.17 with runners in scoring position. So let's live in a world and we're going to play a hypothetical game here, Bond. Love that. Jacob Webb is back for the postseason. Danny Coulomb is back for the postseason. Craig Kimbrel's not on the roster. No, you can't carry him. Now, if both of those guys do not come back, maybe you carry Kimbrel, but if they're healthy and it wouldn't shock me if there's one more waiver claim up there up there. You know, in their bag of tricks or if they bring a guy up from AAA to be part of things. And think about this time last year, maybe even a week or two from now. That was when they brought in Jacob Webb. So, I mean, that absolutely could be in a back pocket. Yeah. So, like, I just, I don't see a world assuming health were unless, again, something drastically changes in the next 40 games that he's on the postseason roster. Yeah, there's, there's still that batch of games like you're saying he'd have to turn it around in a big, big way, but can even if he does, you can't tell me it's not going to be in the back of our mind. Every Orioles fan's mind come October if he was on the roster because fingers thinking, Oh geez, here we go again because we all know what happened last year in Philadelphia. Yes. And the Orioles in their infinite wisdom have taken the ring Wreck bullpen from last year in Philly and said, This is where we're going to the World Series with these guys. Let's get some Soto Dominguez Kimbrel. We got them all. We have a huge show. Again, we're live at Pickles Orioles day off yesterday. Yankees get blown up by the White Sox. So the Orioles are a half game up in first places. They head into action tonight. Guess why is our buddy Todd Carpovich, his weekly chat covers the Ravens for Baltimore Sports.com. The Orioles for press box. That's a 230 at 330. Our weekly chat talking Orioles and Ravens with our friend Rita Hubbard at 430 Jacob Calvin Meyer covers the O's for the Baltimore. Some will ask Kim about Craig Kimbrel being on the postseason roster and we'll talk some football. It's a week late. So bone did not get it done. But Buckapalooza. Yeah, continues sort of little way. Bucky Brooks NFL Network at five. Yeah. And also just a day remove. We let things kind of marinate from what ultimate football guy Bobby DePaul had to say. Four hours of Bobby D in Ocean City yesterday was a blast. They had a lot of interesting insight and we're going to kind of work in some of those quotes and and thoughts from Bobby D throughout this week. So we are going to hit that at three o'clock. But coming up next Orioles first place in the alleys Orioles. They have the most wins in baseball as we sit here right now. Are they a team that we think can still make noise despite all these injuries? Can they make noise in the playoffs? We'll discuss next here on the fan. This season Instacart has your back to school. As in they've got your back to school lunch favorites like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back to school supplies like backpacks binders and pencils. And they've got your back. When your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow. Let's face it we were all that kid. So first call your parents to say I'm sorry. And then download the Instacart app to get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes all school year long. Get a zero dollar delivery fee for your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 per order additional terms apply. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives well better. Despite all this we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With all trails you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. Nothing is more important than getting a good night's sleep and when you don't get the rest you need your whole day is thrown off. That's why it's so important to choose the right mattress. Sleeping on a purple mattress is truly a unique experience because purple mattresses are made with a gel flex grid. The gel flex grid is an innovative material that moves with your body to relieve pressure in areas like knees and hips and support in others like your back. It feels soft where you want it and supports where you need it. Purple mattresses instantly adapt when you move. You don't sink in and get stuck like with memory foam. And thanks to over 1,400 air chambers in the gel flex grid you will sleep cooler on a purple mattress. Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection that combines gel flex grid with coils and the rejuvenate lux collection, the height of luxury. With over 112,000 to five star reviews to prove it. Visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast 10 to get 10% off. Nice! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. NerdWallet's experts will set future you up for success. With dependable fact-based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Hey, fantasy football fans. Do you want to be the owner who was doing a crime session the night before the draft? I didn't think so. You need to start your prep now. This is Faraz from Upper Hand Fantasy. Zach and I are here to get you ready for your fantasy football drafts with insights and advice from sleepers to bust. We've got you covered and give it the upper hand on your friends. Today is the day to start getting ready for the draft. So, join us and stay ahead of the competition. Follow and listen to Upper Hand Fantasy on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Orioles and Nationals tonight at Oreo Park in Camden Yards, two game series and the Red Sox for four. We're live at Pickles across the street. Tomorrow Park in Camden Yards where it's a 5.30, then it is Baltimore Baseball tonight. That's the bone and Ryan Ripken coming up at 5.30. Orioles enter play tonight. There's a hundred and what? 23 games done. So, that makes it what? 39 games left. Is that right? I think it's 39 games. No, no, no, 70 and 40 is 110, 119, 120 would be 40. The 43 games left. With 43 games left, the Orioles are tied for the Major League lead and wins. They are a half game up in the division and yet we are not confident in this team at all. So, then I asked the question, can this team still make noise in the postseason? Jacob Calvin Meyer who's going to be joining us at 4.30 covers the O's for the Baltimore Sun. He had a tweet yesterday and I think it's just so important to put it all in perspective because Yankees fans are pissed at their team. The Guardians are pissed at Philly's fan. No one seems to be happy in what is, quite frankly, a very mediocre MLB this year. And Jacob Calvin Meyer had this in his column on Monday. Last time, no MLB team had a winning percentage of 600 or better after play on August 11th was 1991. Entering Sunday, no MLB team was projected by fan graphs to win 95 or more games, not 100. Not 100, 95. If that happens, it would be the first time in a full season since 1959, Ken, and fan graphs is also giving no team. A better than a one in six chance to win the World Series. Entering Sunday, the leader in Championship odds, Dodgers, 16.2 percent. First time since 2014 that there was no clear front runner with a percentage of at least 16.6 percent. Entering August 1st. So I bring this all up. We know the deficiencies of this club. But every team has deficiencies. Exactly. So it almost seems like it's cliche, but oh my gosh, it's so wide open this year, but Ken really is. I mean, this could be one of those years where a team just gets hot and hell, we saw that with the Rangers last year. I was just about to say, I mean, we're a team get and the Diamondbacks, no one saw them. Like, we could see that again in this postseason. Two teams that entering October, we didn't, we weren't really thinking highly of and they make it to the World Series. And I guess that's where I go back. Why not the O's? Yeah. Am I confident they're going to make a run? No. Can I see them making a run? Absolutely. If their bats get hot, they get Westbrook back, Grayson comes back for the playoffs. You've got a good one, two, even with Efland, you got a one, two, three, you get three quality starts. You got a shot. Do I think they have the best pitching? No. Do I love their bullpen? No. But I look around baseball and I'm just like, what? Like, who are you confident in that? That's my question. Seattle's got great starting pitching, but are they even going to get into the playoffs? San Francisco's got great starting pitching. Are they going to get into the playoffs? Everyone has warts. Everyone has warts and right now entering tonight, Orioles, first and home runs, second and OPS, third and run scored, all of those in the majors. And offensively, I mean, if guys can continue to, you know, cows are in gunner, there's so much talent in this lineup, a part of it for me, and it's going to be hard for all of these guys to come back and be as impactful as they want. But it's how these injured guys come back in September, assuming they do come back, you know, what would Jordan Westbrook mean for this lineup? You mentioned Grayson Rodriguez that way you have the one, two, three, and with how the ALDS schedule lines up this year, can you don't need a fourth starting pitcher? So you just need those three guys and, you know, can the defense sure things up and cool on what he could do to the back end of this pen? Well, here's the crazy part, Coulomb was probably their best relief pitcher before he got hurt. Absolutely. Jacob Webb was their best relief pitcher when he got hurt. If they can get those guys back, and again, it's ifs, but as Tim did a very good job of documenting, every team's got ifs. Like the Dodgers are having problems, the Braves are having problems, the Phillies, since making all those trades, they have not been playing great baseball. They started the second half losing six in a row. So if these things can happen, if they get Coulomb and Jacob Webb back, if the Mingus keeps pitching the way, frankly, I think he's pitched really well as an Oreo. You know, he got beat by Jose Ramirez. That happens. Beyond that, I think he's been really good. Like, they got a shot, but again, it's going to have to come down to the bats in the playoffs, which look at the Rangers. Evan Carter was incredible for them the entire postseason run. He started slow, got hurt, and he's never come back this year. Like, baseball's weird in those ways sometimes. And I think what frustrates Oreo's fans right now, and you have a right to be frustrated, is they got off to such a great start. And then since that point, it's been a lot of starts and stops. And this ball club, since the All-Star break, has not won three consecutive games. We have yet to see them really go on a run in the unofficial second half. And I look at, and we'll probably do a segment on this later in the week, where you get through this Nat series, and then you're kind of facing a bunch of teams in contention, where it's the Red Sox. It's the Mets. It's the Astros. It's the Dodgers. And then September, it softens up a bit. But we're going to find out a lot about this club in that stretch, where you're going to have to keep up because we know that the Yankees, and they just lost by 10 runs to the White Sox. That happened. That was baseball. But you're going to have to keep pace with them. Yeah, it is a really funny year in Major League Baseball. No team has more than 70 wins. The Dodgers, the Orioles, the Yankees, and the Guardians, all have 70 wins. No team has more than that. I mean, Ken, that stat that Jacob had from fan graphs, where no one's projected to win 95 games, not 195. I mean, that's remarkable. Yeah, the Orioles, you would think you win more than 90 games, you get in. Oh, yeah, with 43 games left, you don't have to play 500 baseball to get to 90 games, but I think they'll be better than that. At least I expect it to be better. And Ken, what was it? The O's, the Dodgers, and the Braves. Oh, 100 games. No team. None of those teams won a series. Crazy. We are live at Pickles until 5.30. You can come on by and say hi. The bone is here. So ladies come prepared. Coming up next, though. We're going to talk some Ravens. They played their first preseason game, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night. Orioles, of course, down the stretch. We'll get Todd Karpovich's thoughts on all of this. He covers the Ravens for BaltimoreSports.com. He covers the ocean press box, and he joins us next year on the fan. Pre-season game one in the books for the Ravens. They lose to the Eagles 16 to 13. They take on the Falcon Saturday afternoon. M&T Bank Stadium. Training camp practices continue at one winning drive. It's a perfect time to bring on our friend, Todd Karpovich, who covers the Ravens for BaltimoreSports.com. And the O's for press box. And Karp, thank you as always for joining us. So let's start with the broad Eagles Ravens Friday. Any main takeaways you got out of that extravaganza? Well, I mean, the offense, I was going to second game off. That was not a fun game to watch. You know, and the Ravens, they keep saying, you know, Josh Johnson is going to be the guy. You know, as a second straight quarterback. But if, you know, if he gets hurt, and he can even get a guy, you know, Lamar can come back up Lamar and win games. So, you know, that was one issue. I thought the defense played really well. I thought the secondary net wakens was the highlight when there's three passes. You know, he broke up in the first quarter of the fourth win with injury. Hubbell said he should be okay, but we'd want to get the Chiefs. The offensive line is going to be a work in progress. You know, Hubbell said, you know, he might be able to name the stars. If he was preaching the game to Saturday against the Falcons, it might take two weeks. I think they still have a lot of evaluation to do before they get an offensive line set. All in all, though, you know, we saw a lot of backups, basically. It was a kind of game we saw. Todd, and under the radar position battle, is it third running back? What did you think of Owen Wright and Rashina Ali? I thought, oh, right, I played Ali. Remember, even this side of play, running back today, you know, a better guy. John Kelly, you played last three season with the Browns. You know, he hasn't had an overly stellar career, but, you know, it's going to fit. Neither did the third one back. Not going to get many carries with Derek Henry, Justice Hill. So the key for them is going to be able to make the female special teams. So that's really where they need to stand out. And right now, I see that. I see that pretty even battle, Rashina Ali's out today because of his finger. He missed practice yesterday. So I don't know if that'll hurt him. He might be a practice one guy. But we'll have to see him move him forward. But again, that's sort of one of those spots that come down to special teams. We're talking to Todd Carp if it's inside access here on the fan. Carp, they look between the game Friday and practice yesterday or Sunday. Excuse me. It feels like they've dodged a couple of bullets. Sounds like Nate Wiggins going to be okay. Maybe you should be able to be back by the start of the season. And Kyle Hamilton already back on the practice field. Yeah. I mean, Chad Damon also a little more active today. So that's a good side. Yeah. Awesome. Well, that's a guy who's probably not going to be ready. But, you know, obviously, the variables are probably going to be careful with these guys until, you know, September 5th when they played Chiefs. It's an absolutely huge game. You want all your playmakers available for that game. So yeah, we're going to eat these guys back into it. But yeah, it's a good sign that these guys are making their parents and back on the practice field. Especially Hamilton. I mean, Hamilton, it could be an effort set. It could be a season in the injury if it was long term. So it's good to see him back out there. Todd, Friday was the first time you were able to see the new kickoff in person. I guess what was your impression of it? I thought, you know, I was very underwhelmed. You know, I really don't see how, you know, the red. I felt want to be a dynamic change for the game. I didn't see it. And also, you know, I think there were some, uh, there were several penalties that referees missed. I know because there's, there's still making adjustments. So I think my biggest concern with these new kickoff roles is, is there going to be more injuries because of this? Because they don't have any handle what's going on. So this could be a one year deal with this thing. Another run by it. I think they did. They have a lot of wrinkles to work out before the regular season starts right now. I think it's a little bit of a concern. It's amazing how the team was four starting teachers. First place in 170 games. It's amazing to me. You know, it's, it's, it's a parody around the league. Now, it's amazing to me. I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's a parody around the league. Now, it's, it's, it's amazing. I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing. I mean, it's, it's amazing. It's amazing. I mean, it's, it's amazing. It's amazing. How do the team was four starting teachers? First place. It went 70 games. It's amazing to me. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's a parody around the league. Now, the Orioles are going to, they hopefully will get some guys back. You know, the web, you know, grades from the end of the year, getting cloned by end of the year at even at Jordan Westbrook. Um, so they have reinforcements coming, but, um, you know, the, you know, they had to have two game series of nationals and a big four game series of the Red Sox. But, uh, I guess, you know, every time you count the Orioles down, they seem to stay in it. You know, Yankees had a really bad loss yesterday to the White Sox. They're getting a little social media for that. Um, so we'll have to see if they're coming out of the wire. I think, you know, I think the Orioles have to be careful with the Red Sox because they didn't come here with three out of four games. It could be an issue as far as them, they're making a surge here. You mentioned it just with the injuries and the ups and downs of this Orioles season, but despite it all, they're, they have 70 wins. And Ken and I, we were just talking about this year just seems so wide open, where this could be the first year since 1959, where no team wins 95 games. I mean, despite all of the issues surrounding this club, could you see them possibly still going on a run in October? I do. I mean, there's no way to separate themselves. We were kind of good team. They got 70 wins, but the rest of the American League sort of watered down. And you got this, you know, you got these more playoff teams. So, you know, I keep cooking hot, you know, I had nowhere. And when the proceeds started, and I think the Orioles right now, you know, it was good chance anybody to make it a run and play off. And if they get these players back, some of their key players, they could be a dangerous team. I mean, I think the Yankees every time they come back, they sort of take a step back. So, yeah, I mean, the Red Sox are a team to watch. And then Cleveland's also played well against the Orioles. That'd be a good match. You got to watch Houston now. The Astros are playing better. So, yeah, but there's a lot of parity around baseball. Even the Phillies were so red hot and they barely taken a step back. You know, the Braves are seven games back because they make a run at them. So, we'll see. Oh, but yeah, you said that there's a lot of parity around the league day. It's really up for grabs. Karp, we opened the show with a conversation about Craig Kimbrell. And assuming they get Coulomb and Webback, which Michael Elias thinks they can, can you see a world where Craig Kimbrell is not on the postseason roster? I do. I think it'll be your sparingly when those guys get back. And I think, you know, who has tough decisions? Can you trust them? Can you trust them in both seasons? No, they got to ask themselves. So, yeah, I do see a scenario where they leave them off. They leave them off the roster. And then another, you know, sort of guy who's the middle reliever case. Stars get in trouble. Todd, is Sir Anthony Dominguez? Is he the closer for you or do you see kind of a combo platter with him and you near Cano? I see a combo platter. You know, I think you've got to be up. If one of these guys doesn't get high, there's no running here as far as closing games. I can see how I stay with the hot hands. But right now, you know, how much can you trust these guys? The way the bullpen's going to throw in Mayley. So, yeah, I think it's going to be committee until high gets coupled with one guy. We're talking to Todd Carpovich inside access here on the fan carp. We've seen it before. We saw what Jackson Holiday at the beginning of the year really struggled offensively. Coby Mayo yet to have a base hit as a Major League Baseball player. Any concern with Coby Mayo? No, I think he's got give us that bat. So come around. We'll make the adjustments. You know, it's a big, it's a big transition from AAA pitching to Major League pitching. And they don't, they have splits on. They don't have to throw at them. So, I think he just stick with them. Let it let us give him some of the bats and see what he can do. You know, if it gets, you know, we get to, we get further into it where he's not hitting. Then he has to go back. But again, give the kid a chance, give him the bat. Let me get some actually pitching to see what he can do. He showed he has a pedigree to be hit or he just has to figure things out here. Todd, of course, Sunday, the back end of the bullpen, blew the game. Orioles offense. They didn't score any runs in that one. But one of the shining spots of that game, Albert Suarez. I mean, six and two thirds. Where would they be without him? That's my question. Yeah, where would they be without Albert Suarez? That's what I wrote about today. You know, he's been a savior for this game. You know, he can't be huge. And he's also, you know, thinking his role. And he's the only, he's flying at four, 3.390 or eight, which is really good for a guy. For sure, though, you never had a consistent majorly career. So, yeah, he's sort of a lifesaver right now. That's, you know, deep home with that guy. He's really relying on the back end of the rotation. It's really, it's really sort of a sort of a race. It's worse. He could be, you know, next to burn, he could be their ace right now. As far as what kind of way he's pitching. Amazing. You're a Todd Carpovich covers the Orioles for press box. He covers the Ravens for Baltimore Sports.com. Carp, enjoy the sun out there. A one winning drive. And thank you as always for your time. We'll chat next week. Thanks, guys. Head back to practice. Thanks, buddy. Hey, Ravens and, well, the Ravens and the Falcons play Saturday at noon. Ravens back on the practice field today. Orioles start a two game series against the Nats tonight. Baltimore baseball tonight coming up at 5.30. That's the bone and cut from the same cloth. Ryan Ripken coming up next year on the program inside acts. Remember, Jason is on vacation. We'll hear from some some sound from yesterday. A little Covanoi and a little Chuck Smith. The only time we really get to hear from Chuck Smith during the year. What did he have to say about some of his pass rushers? You'll find out next year on the fan. I know the playbook helps. No teammates. And then just. Yeah, a lot of different things. Just expectation standard and. People on staff just kind of just come in and flow. And it's been awesome. It's fun getting to see young guys compete and. Myself being young, competing out there with them. It's been good. It's Calvin. Oi, who remember last year didn't come in until what? October talks about the difference between having a full year with the team. Compared to coming in late and Calvin. Oi gets to hit the ground running and be part of a Ravens training camp. But then you have two sacks in his first game. Like he really didn't need training camp a year ago. Now and look, he's 33 years old now. He's a veteran old hat to him. And he had a career high in sacks last year. And we've seen several veterans come through Baltimore have a career resurgence. But with fan noise and similar to some of those veterans. It seems like he's really taken to this organization and taken to the culture. And John Harbaugh and also. Heading in the last off season. We talked a lot about. You couldn't let both. Clowney and Van Noy walk had to bring back one of them because. This is a really, really young edge group camp. Absolutely is. Many guys. Let's face it. Guys like at these eyes. They can David a job. Oh, I haven't done anything at the NFL level yet. No. I think it's a big draw right now because not many teams have somebody that's like him. That is has played in the NFL long time and was successful and is a high level coach. That is teaching technique. A lot of places worry about scheme. This place worries about scheme and technique and he's a pass rush technician. And he's very, very good. And he's helped me a lot in my career and he's helped other players. And I'm excited to get back to work with him again. Chuck Smith. We thought a year ago this was kind of a coup. He's a guy who had that like pass rush camp and then they hire him as a coach. We saw they led the league in sacks a year ago. I don't know if they're going to do that again. But you got all these young pass rushers. He's got to help. Absolutely. And some of them had already worked with Chuck Smith. Like Justin Matabique had been working with Chuck Smith prior to him coming on to the staff. But when you hear a Kyle Van Noy who's been in a league for a while now say that Chuck Smith has helped him out and given him some tips. I mean that kind of just tells you the type of knowledge and the guru that Chuck Smith is. And I don't think it's coincidental that you saw a lot of guys take a step under him last year. Matabique taking the biggest one. But even in a Daffy Oway he didn't get the sack numbers per se. But that was definitely his best year. Yes the metrics were way up on Daffy Oway. Let's hear from Chuck Smith. And Chuck Smith discusses coaching interior players versus edge players. The first thing is making the inside guys understand that they're more than just big guys. You know letting them know beaks know that understanding that you're more than just a two gapper. In the modern era now pass rush the big guys are getting double digit sacks. If you look around the NFL so the mindset of the traditional 3-4 team was that the big guys got to be what? Space eaters. Now as you see from a guy like Matabique and some more other guys that can really rush to pass around the league. You know you try to explain to them it's a mindset initially about you know how do I see myself. Because if you pigeonhole yourself into I'm just a big guy too gapper then you always be that way. So in giving the player a lot of credit. Beak putting a lot of work of training. He continues to be on the same regimen and he works hard and he believes in himself. High praise for Justin Matabique but interesting the way he talks about the game changing. It used to be 3-4. That guy in the middle was just a runstopper not anymore. I mean you think of the 2000 Ravens with Sarah Goose and Sam Abs. I mean those are big guys that are clogging the middle that could help. Are you young to talk about that? I was a young lad. But that could help a young Ray Lewis run free. But I mean you think of the Aaron Donalds of the world where I mean he's just a freak. I mean he was built in a lab. Chris Jones. Chris Jones and all of these guys were. Yeah if you want to get paid paid like Justin Matabique Aaron Donald. Chris Jones you got to have sack production. You got to have those double digit sack numbers that were quite frankly unheard of 20 years ago out of an interior guy. More from Chuck Smith and let's hear his thoughts on a guy that Bobby DePaul had some high praise for yesterday. Tavius Robinson. He's a glass eater. He's never turned down one rep since he's been here. That's the best way to describe this dude. Every play and I'm not exaggerating. He has given effort. Every day Tavius Robinson listens to the coach. Every day he works out hard. He's early. Every day when he gets in those drills he puts hands on people in the run. He continues to work hard to continue to develop as a pass rusher and his main responsibility for us. Because remember Tavius played last year. I mean Tavius was in big games early on. He's not like a second year guy has never played. He went out there and smashed with some of the great teams that we faced. But I really can't say enough about him as far as who he is and how physical he is. And he shows no mercy. Tavius Robinson is everything you look for. And what coach Harbaugh says. Raven. Tavius. And all his member here. I'm going to tell you he's never turned down a rep. He's never not run to the ball. He's been a lot about a player. I mean it's all the truth. I'm just telling you who he really is. Everybody here will say that. Bobby DePaul said on Friday night the tape showed a guy that was playing his rear end off. I've never heard the term glass heater used for a football player. Basketball player. Big rebounder. He's eating glass. But Bobby DePaul had high praise for him yesterday. And Chuck Smith praising him as well. Really high praise for Tavius Robinson. And something that Chuck Smith said that is a good point is you look at the Raven's draft class from last year. And you really think oh it was just Zae Flowers was the only starter which he was. But the other guy that got some decent run as a rotational guy was Tavius Robinson. And there were some games like Chuck Smith was mentioning early on in the season last year like the Colts game for example. He played 55 defensive snaps in that one. 39 the following week against the Browns. So he had some games where he got valuable reps in and Bobby De thanks. He's ready to take the next step. Let's hear one more from Chuck Smith. Benla cut 24. It's a guy we wonder if we're ever going to see him flash in a NFL football game. David Ajaba. What's Chuck Smith have to say about him? Well you know you want number one I'm sure Harbs has talked about it. I can't get into the medical stuff but I know he's working hard. Had a good spend today. I know he's running to the ball. I know he's striking blocks. I know he's showing signs that you know he's improving. I've had a torn ACL and anybody has ever had one. I know it takes time to come back. But he's out there fighting. He's out there scraping. And I just think that if he continues the way he's going he's going to have success. Because he knows how to, he's got moves. Now we just got to give him the opportunity for him to be healthy to be able to execute those moves. A year ago Chuck Smith was raving about David Ajaba. More you know he was positive but not as glowing as a year ago. We're just at the point with David Ajaba where we need to see it. We just haven't seen it. And he has not played much football at all. Entering his third year where it was a big disappointment that he wasn't able to play in that game last week because he hasn't been cleared for game action. Of course he's been out there every day during practice but you're hoping that he can get some run in this weekend's game against the Falcons and next weekend's game against the Packers. Because every single live rep that David Ajaba can get at this point is massive. Coming up next year on the program we will take a look back to yesterday. Bobby DePaul joined us for four hours live from the angler at the sea there in Ocean City. And man did he have a lot to say. We'll take a look at some of the highlights. What he said about Tavius Robinson, what he said about Trenton Simpson. And much more looking back to Bobby DePaul yesterday here on the fan. Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd wallets experts will set future you up for success. With dependable, fact-based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With north sides and bullion as you're not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive-through and do dinner at home. 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