Listen: Austin Riley, Pete Alonso, William Contreras discussed on Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney
"We've got 5 confirmations for the home run Derby and you could shut it down now and it would be a great Pete Alonso defend two time defending champion Ronald lacuna junior Albert pools Juan Soto Kyle schwarber were waiting for official confirmation on Giancarlo Stanton. We're waiting for official confirmation on Julio Rodriguez, who you mentioned before, he's an exciting player. You know, we'll see if Will Smith has added the all star team. There's been talk that maybe he would be the guy who would represent the Dodgers and Dodger stadiums home run Derby. What do you think? Yeah. You know, I was asked the other day on a radio hit about Pujols doing the home run Derby. Why would you not want to see Albert Pujols in the home run Derby? I get it. He's going to win probably not, but let's see how he does. One of the greatest hitters of all time, you know, doing the home run Derby at what 43, 42 years old. Yeah, I'm pumped. And the fact that Soto and Acuna are doing it again, that's great for the sport. Because we see a lot of these young guys. They do it once, and that's it. And it's easy. Look, it's tough competition. There's always the risk of somebody getting hurt, which we think what happened to Aaron judge back in 2017 when he heard his shoulder. So I love the fact that those guys don't have to do it and they're coming back to do it again. Yeah, look, I'm not going to pick our pools to win the event. Right. I'm probably going to wind up picking Juan Soto because I just saw last year. I mean, that guy was motivated. He really wants to win, you know, you got Pete Alonso's experience. But I would say this, what is Albert Pujols struggles now at is a player in his early 40s. It's not hitting the ball far. He's problem is catching up with velocity. And that's not an issue in this event. I could easily see him being the guy who gets into a groove and just rips out a bunch of home runs and shocks everybody. And yeah, his swing more than ever is tailored for fly balls. That's kind of all he hits when he does connect. So yeah, you know, the raw power means maybe he doesn't, that's what makes a Lonzo so good. Alonso doesn't have to work hard to hit home runs because he's so strong. And that fits pool. So yeah, maybe he'll shock us here. All right, I know something about the all star selections has gotten new to your skin. We'll start with this. They tweeted out yesterday after some additions were made to the all star roster JD Martinez among the three players added yesterday. I tweeted out this morning that, hey, who's the guy who's not on the team who's now most worthy, some of the candidates that I threw out there, Josh bell, Austin Riley, Freddie Freeman, Daniel Bard, ty France, of your Mariners. Some of the tweets followed that with mention Zach Wheeler, Dylan cease. There's Kyle Wright, there's Spencer strider. There's tummy Edmond. What about you? If you were to pick one guy, I'd like to see added. Well, my one guy, well, there's two. Can I say to go Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman? And here's my rant. All right, Bryce Harper voted in as the DH in the national league injured camp play. Why do we need to put two other DHS on that roster? William Contreras. It's a nice story. The guy has a 140 at bats. You know, he's really OPS over 900. He's been great, but he's not at all star. And then they added Garrett Cooper of the Marlins. Great for him. You know, kind of one of those vets that just hangs around and a nice player, but Fred, why are you picking Garrett Cooper and William Contreras over Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman? The goal should be to get the best players to the All-Star Game and these last two fill ins are not good choices. No, I completely agree with you. I think that as I talked about with Tim on Monday, you should use the DH for some flexibility for adding guys who from other spots who haven't been able to fit in, maybe because there's a position saturated with great players. You know, third base, for example, this year it's nationally first base, has a lot of guys. So you can squeeze those in. Shoot, if you walked up the William Contreras today and said, what's your position? He's not going to tell you he's a DH. So the idea that he's on the all star team, as you said with a 143 plate appearances, is kind of silly. And it's funny in the way braves fans who give them credit, they hit the ballot box, but in a way, they screwed Austin Riley, who's a great player and was great last year. Out of a roster or by voting for William Contreras. And yeah, look, I remember years ago, the American League had Derek Jeter, nomar Garcia Parra, Alex Rodriguez, and Omar vizquel. And they found a way to put all four of those shortstops on the roster. So yeah, you're right. If a position is loaded, who cares? Find a way to get the best players there. Yeah. And hopefully that'll happen. I mentioned that, yeah, I think the question about Will Smith is whether or not there's going to be a spot on the roster for him, and if there is and maybe he becomes the 8th guy in the home run Derby. Our old friend and colleague, Jason stark Hall of Famer, reported this week about the pie slice experiment with defensive shifts that there's going to be this area behind and around second base where defenders are not going to be allowed to stand because baseball wants to restore the good old fashioned single through the middle of the field. When you read this, what did you think? Well, I get it. I think what they're finding out is Jason pointed out and his article is that limiting the shift in the minor leagues actually isn't adding all that many base hits. You know, 'cause you can still stand a guy right behind the second base and cut off those hits up the middle. So yeah, this will add more hits, no doubt, I'm torn on the whole thing, you know, in the end though it gets to, what do you want to reward? That's why the second baseman plane in shallow rape field always bothers me because if you hit a 110 mile an hour laser and there's this guy playing there, you did your job and you're getting you're not getting rewarded, you know, but at 8 hopper up the middle, do we want to reward that? You know, I guess that's what we're debating. So I don't know, I'm okay if it gets a few more hits in the game, I guess maybe that's good. As we've done all these rule changes in recent years, putting the runner at second base in X three innings, et cetera. I've got to the point on it where it's to me. It's all like plastic surgery. You want to create what you want to create."
Austin Riley, Pete Alonso, William Contreras discussed on Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney
7 months ago |
Austin Riley Pete Alonso William Contreras Freddie Freeman Ronald Lacuna Albert Pools Juan Soto Kyle Schwarber Garrett Cooper Giancarlo Stanton Julio Rodriguez Albert Pujols Acuna Juan Soto Jd Martinez Will Smith Zach Wheeler Kyle Wright Spencer Strider Dodger Pujols Soto
We've got 5 confirmations for the home run Derby and you could shut it down now and it would be a great Pete Alonso defend two time defending champion Ronald lacuna junior Albert pools Juan Soto Kyle schwarber were waiting for official confirmation on Giancarlo Stanton. We're waiting for official confirmation on Julio Rodriguez, who you mentioned before, he's an exciting player. You know, we'll see if Will Smith has added the all star team. There's been talk that maybe he would be the guy who would represent the Dodgers and Dodger stadiums home run Derby. What do you think? Yeah. You know, I was asked the other day on a radio hit about Pujols doing the home run Derby. Why would you not want to see Albert Pujols in the home run Derby? I get it. He's going to win probably not, but let's see how he does. One of the greatest hitters of all time, you know, doing the home run Derby at what 43, 42 years old. Yeah, I'm pumped. And the fact that Soto and Acuna are doing it again, that's great for the sport. Because we see a lot of these young guys. They do it once, and that's it. And it's easy. Look, it's tough competition. There's always the risk of somebody getting hurt, which we think what happened to Aaron judge back in 2017 when he heard his shoulder. So I love the fact that those guys don't have to do it and they're coming back to do it again. Yeah, look, I'm not going to pick our pools to win the event. Right. I'm probably going to wind up picking Juan Soto because I just saw last year. I mean, that guy was motivated. He really wants to win, you know, you got Pete Alonso's experience. But I would say this, what is Albert Pujols struggles now at is a player in his early 40s. It's not hitting the ball far. He's problem is catching up with velocity. And that's not an issue in this event. I could easily see him being the guy who gets into a groove and just rips out a bunch of home runs and shocks everybody. And yeah, his swing more than ever is tailored for fly balls. That's kind of all he hits when he does connect. So yeah, you know, the raw power means maybe he doesn't, that's what makes a Lonzo so good. Alonso doesn't have to work hard to hit home runs because he's so strong. And that fits pool. So yeah, maybe he'll shock us here. All right, I know something about the all star selections has gotten new to your skin. We'll start with this. They tweeted out yesterday after some additions were made to the all star roster JD Martinez among the three players added yesterday. I tweeted out this morning that, hey, who's the guy who's not on the team who's now most worthy, some of the candidates that I threw out there, Josh bell, Austin Riley, Freddie Freeman, Daniel Bard, ty France, of your Mariners. Some of the tweets followed that with mention Zach Wheeler, Dylan cease. There's Kyle Wright, there's Spencer strider. There's tummy Edmond. What about you? If you were to pick one guy, I'd like to see added. Well, my one guy, well, there's two. Can I say to go Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman? And here's my rant. All right, Bryce Harper voted in as the DH in the national league injured camp play. Why do we need to put two other DHS on that roster? William Contreras. It's a nice story. The guy has a 140 at bats. You know, he's really OPS over 900. He's been great, but he's not at all star. And then they added Garrett Cooper of the Marlins. Great for him. You know, kind of one of those vets that just hangs around and a nice player, but Fred, why are you picking Garrett Cooper and William Contreras over Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman? The goal should be to get the best players to the All-Star Game and these last two fill ins are not good choices. No, I completely agree with you. I think that as I talked about with Tim on Monday, you should use the DH for some flexibility for adding guys who from other spots who haven't been able to fit in, maybe because there's a position saturated with great players. You know, third base, for example, this year it's nationally first base, has a lot of guys. So you can squeeze those in. Shoot, if you walked up the William Contreras today and said, what's your position? He's not going to tell you he's a DH. So the idea that he's on the all star team, as you said with a 143 plate appearances, is kind of silly. And it's funny in the way braves fans who give them credit, they hit the ballot box, but in a way, they screwed Austin Riley, who's a great player and was great last year. Out of a roster or by voting for William Contreras. And yeah, look, I remember years ago, the American League had Derek Jeter, nomar Garcia Parra, Alex Rodriguez, and Omar vizquel. And they found a way to put all four of those shortstops on the roster. So yeah, you're right. If a position is loaded, who cares? Find a way to get the best players there. Yeah. And hopefully that'll happen. I mentioned that, yeah, I think the question about Will Smith is whether or not there's going to be a spot on the roster for him, and if there is and maybe he becomes the 8th guy in the home run Derby. Our old friend and colleague, Jason stark Hall of Famer, reported this week about the pie slice experiment with defensive shifts that there's going to be this area behind and around second base where defenders are not going to be allowed to stand because baseball wants to restore the good old fashioned single through the middle of the field. When you read this, what did you think? Well, I get it. I think what they're finding out is Jason pointed out and his article is that limiting the shift in the minor leagues actually isn't adding all that many base hits. You know, 'cause you can still stand a guy right behind the second base and cut off those hits up the middle. So yeah, this will add more hits, no doubt, I'm torn on the whole thing, you know, in the end though it gets to, what do you want to reward? That's why the second baseman plane in shallow rape field always bothers me because if you hit a 110 mile an hour laser and there's this guy playing there, you did your job and you're getting you're not getting rewarded, you know, but at 8 hopper up the middle, do we want to reward that? You know, I guess that's what we're debating. So I don't know, I'm okay if it gets a few more hits in the game, I guess maybe that's good. As we've done all these rule changes in recent years, putting the runner at second base in X three innings, et cetera. I've got to the point on it where it's to me. It's all like plastic surgery. You want to create what you want to create.