Good times.

I think, and then looking at it too, I may, it now makes me wonder what is Milwaukee kind of going through.

'Cause you win the four and you're on a heater, and the other, the other team goes through, like, a longer series.

And so, you know, what does it look like when they show up on Friday night? Because I wouldn't say that we weren't sharp.

It's just I, looking back on it now, Kansas City, at least in relation to where I was for the World Series, like, had made this choice in spring training after losing game seven the previous year-

Okay.

He decides to throw a curveball.

Not only a curveball, he throws it in the other batter's box, an uncompetitive curveball that William Contreras takes immediately as he throws it.

[laughs] Yeah.

We just did, we just did, did the team don't get on base last night.

Yes.

Yeah.

But I will say this, and I've watched a lot of postseason baseball, and I've been frustrated watching the best for 30 years mow down my team.

I don't know if I've ever felt less confident with my guy at the plate than that Yamamoto throwing last night.

Mm.

[laughs]

Coach matters that

much? Yeah, I think so.

My example would be we got an assistant coach into JU.

Our first two years, we stunk something bad.

And then Tim Montez was brought in from Fresno State, and we ended up going to a regional and winning 40 games.

And it was more.

kind of the process and how we went about our fall and our preparation that seemed to change that prepared us for the spring.

Appreciate Murph in for the Murphy Power Hour Golden Moment when we return.

Maybe they just got beat

yeah when jeff's talking about the trenches like i i heard y'all talking about tooting with what broken tackles and i think what yards after contact i think that his yards before contact is not a good stat right now i don't think he's getting like a run up you know what i mean i think the the line of scrimmage the o-line isn't quite getting the push we want and then we saw you know tread was just under pressure oh and you know makes the the throw that's like you Probably his worst throw, probably one of his worst decisions.

It's not his third down when he's trying to make a play, but it kind of felt like if we're able to punt there, maybe we're not quite as much on the back

Oh, we had golden moments.

Galore.

Galore here today.

I got one of those.

As always.

mean, Sandy, like you got to

love Sandy because like Sandy's so smart.

Like a lawyer, like a military, like just really smart.

And like, first off, I would say that, Like on this one, it's already a W.

Like you let Pete go.

You stunk.

He was good.

officially they'll say we're locking you out, and then there'll be no off-season stuff? The

Sure.

But you start thinking, "Skipper, you might have to run somebody else out there," 'cause when you, you're able to hand your closer a lead after eight and a half innings and they give it up, like, it takes a little piece of your soul from you.

And then you do it a couple times in a row and it's like, it just, it's deflating.

And they're not, Trey's not trying to do it, but he just not, might not be suited for the ninth inning right now.

Mm-hmm.

And it's like, all you can really control, it really is, like, they're putting in the reps right now to understand their responsibilities.

But it's like, be present, honestly.

That's what I tell the boys.

that batting title that year? No,

second.

D.A. LeMayhew, DJ.

Yeah.

Close.

It was.

So at the end of the year, I was banged up.

You lost that

And then really, so the only constant would be Hainsey at center i- in terms of some of the same names, but different positions, and it looks like perhaps Pregnon is on target to start against the Browns.

Well, and, and, and again here, this, this draft that was panned four months ago, we still haven't played any games, and you got to take years of in the league before you can officially say, but we got the two rookie receivers we just talked about that at least at first glance look like awful good six-round picks.

I don't see a difference in them and a guy you grab in round four.

Um, uh, Pregnon looks like he's gonna be a starter as a rookie.

He came in round three.

And so we'll t- we'll see about the, the ti- but, uh, uh, Wesley Williams is fl- oh, pl- these guys are pretty much gonna all make the team it looks like.

So it'll, you know, it's l- some stuff like that will be interesting to see.

I think what I took most out of yesterday, it's very easy to get caught up in the propaganda of wh- whatever team you're following and what their media is seeing.

Sounds great, actually.

Yeah, plenty of reasons to be excited, uh, for sure.

And, and here in Jacksonville, we have a number of reasons to be excited.

The joint practices, Fred, look like they're the wave of the future.

Could you see a future in the NFL where you play the 18 regular season games, you do joint practices, and maybe we don't play preseason games? Or is there always gonna be a need for at least the logistics of having a, a practice game?

Go ahead.

Yeah.

I'll just stomp right on you.

but there's a there's a real vibe to it there's a

commonality for sure you know practice it it kind of ended the guys were coming off the field and so we were all going to eat lunch today together and um you know baseli's there and uh so is jimmy uh and so tony looks at him he goes hey let's uh let's go watch this film And then we'd lunch with them.

It's like, you know, let's go do this.

And then they end up meeting us.

And then got to talk to Liam for probably, you know, he hung with us for 10 minutes after practice and then went and sorted a couple things out and came, sat right down, gave us like a kind of little play sheet.

We're supposed to pick a play out.

And he goes, why don't you just pick two? Because my oldest, Noah, was like, let's get it to Brenton Strange.

anything like do you It's an awful interesting comparison, but is there anything from spring training and an NFL training camp that are similar? Yeah, similar, compare, contrast.

Yeah.

And you're coming off of a previous year where you feel really good, you had a bunch of positive signs.

I heard the skipper, you know, Coach Cohen say, felt like they left a little meat on the bone.

I'd say unless you win it all, just about every organization feels that way.

But to feel this excited, at the same time, you know, I think, what, Executive VP, Mr. Pacelli, Tony, was on here, it's a new year.

And so you have an- enough new faces, probably enough coaching turnover, enough player turnover, and personnel turnover that you have to, you have to pick, like, the same goal, but a different way to get there.

[laughs]

... for a player perspective, like, the first day of spring training is a ton of fun.

... you know, he's not having a great year this year.

Some of it takes a little bit for granted, and maybe this is what the expanded playoff format does.

But some of it takes for granted how many opportunities you actually get to go to the postseason and have a real chance to win the World Series.

And I'm glad they end up winning the World Series, even though I wasn't there selfishly.

But, like, the Washington Nationals with Mike Rizzo and their organization, where they shut down Stephen Strasburg the year after he had his Tommy John surgery.

I think it, I don't know if it was 2015 or not, but-

Yes.

So I only had a couple skippers, so y'all can maybe try to figure out yourself.

Okay.

And I think it was, his investment, and then knowing the game, and then me feeling like I was voluntarily moving into it with him.

It was like this partnership.

And then we play the Nationals.

I crack a homer, like one of the first couple swings I take due.

And I was like, oh, yeah, let's get down.

This is good stuff.

I mean, he struggled.

The disgraceful display by the infield the other day was just.

Here's one for you because you know they put a stat up.

You know the last time they've made six errors was.

September 1st, 2014.

Right in my wheelhouse.

So I'm watching the ball game with my wife and my dear son.

And I'm a good sport.

Not this year.

I bring this up because I'm getting a very real sense uh despite any cynicism that would have existed even a year ago Trevor's kind of that

guy here similar type of leaders in my in in my you know interactions with Trevor too like Trevor I don't see not that he's unwilling to get in your face but it's not going to be how he is not going to be how he starts it's like can we we'll almost ease into that it's almost like let me bring you aside a little bit or I may call you out but in a joking way in the locker room but of something you're doing like You know, one of David's, I said, it's being late.

And so like a little story that came out was like, we had a little cattle prod.

And so if you were late, you'd get something put over your head and you'd have to like show one of your, you know, the back, the back yourself and like get cattle product.

So a cheek.

Yep.

Give us a cheek.

Or is it a situation where Major League teams kind of know who's going to go pro and who's going to go to college, and that affects things as

Oh, did they have your – is your display still in Clemson? Yeah, it's

still a part of the Mets one.

So I wasn't familiar with the setup was, but I guess – Did you take a picture of it? Yeah, with my son, with Noah.

So each team has their own locker.

And so they keep moving stuff around.

They said they were telling us there's only 10% of their collection is ever on display.

Right, they have a – They have a vault.

I think

So your thoughts on what you've seen from them and, you know, the basics of if teams are challenging you and beating you with a fastball, then what do you do?

Man, maybe go look for a curve, you know, but you probably won't get it since they're beating you with fastballs.

Yeah, I saw that.

They're, like, last in the league, and they're kinda just getting beat in the zone with fastballs, um, you know, more than the rest of the league is.

So it's just a...

That's such a tough spot because, like, the way, I just can speak for myself, that if I felt like there was an area of the plate that you could throw your best punch to in the zone and I couldn't get there, then I needed to cheat.

And so then at the point that I have to cheat to your fastball, now I'm susceptible to your change-up, to your curveball, to your sliders, because I'm having to sell out and make contact a little bit more out front.

Can that affect your offense?

How does that, how does that feel for the young man that first opening day?

Well, I think part of it is just a real, like you can't say enough about Carson and the camp he had.

Like, it's something to be given an opportunity, it's another thing entirely to take full advantage of that opportunity.

So, you know, I think David Stearns in the off-season kinda laid out the, uh, laid the groundwork that, that Carson was gonna get a chance to make this club.

But when he comes in, um, puts together the at-bats that he does, um, I'm really a big fan of, like, how accurate he is, how he adjusts his swing, um, and kind of his approach with the scoreboard and how many strikes he has.

I think that will give him the confidence to try to get to his power, you know what I mean? As he gains these at-bats earlier in the account.

Um, figuring out, "How do I get to second base?" 'Cause I think as accurate as he is, and as much as he's gonna, at-bats, he's gonna have the platoon advantage, I think he should be okay getting base hits.

But, like, what is the manager actually doing? Like, how much of an impact is there? Is it that important? That's kind of a take I feel like is going around baseball right now, is that the manager is kind of replaceable as long as you have the players.