NHL conference finals review, Leo Chenal overview, and Nationals weekly talk

This week I do a quick review on the NHL conference finals, talk about some tape I watched on Leo Chenal along with other Commanders talk, and have a weekly talk about the Nats thus far this season.

Questions? Comments? Let me know at carl.lanore1@gmail.com

Transcript

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Yo, what's up? It's the DC Die Hard Podcast, and I am recording for Saturday, May 30th, and I am your host, Carla Norm, just another overweight white guy with a mic, talking about some sports here. Uh today we'll be talking about some NHL playoffs. Uh I went through and I watched every tackle from Leo Chennault. I didn't I I guess you could say I only looked at the good, I didn't really look at the bad, but I got a little excited about uh this linebacker room, and then I'll be talking about the Nats and their journey through this season, which has continued to be a pleasant surprise. I can't believe I'm gonna be talking about what I'm gonna be talking about today, as far as the Nationals go. So here we go. The NHL playoffs. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong on the finalists. Uh I did not see the abs getting swept at all, especially like they did. I mean, it was wow. Like it just felt like they just kind of just rolled over and just kind of just let uh let let Vegas do do what they were gonna do, man. I that I couldn't I couldn't really fathom. Like, if you were to tell me that they were gonna get swept, uh I mean I would have told you you were crazy. Like they were just way too good all season, which leads me to say um that president's trophy curse is real. And as a Caps fan, I think I know about that president's trophy curse all too well. I don't think I can name the years off the top of my head, but there's been I think you know, two to three years where we were president's trophy, best team in hockey, and we uh I well there was one there was one year I know we got bounced in the first round, and I know I was like that felt real bad. So, you know, is what it is, man. You know, kudos to the to the Vegas Golden Knights. I'm excited to see uh Nick Dowd, former cap, uh playing playing in the NHL uh Stanley Cup final. So uh that'll be fun to watch. Um I uh I always thought it was gonna be the Canes being in the finals, um, which it was. Uh and um I just I just thought you know Montreal gave it a good run. I just I thought they got pretty freaking lucky almost the whole way through. I just didn't think the low amount of shots on goal that they got per game was sustained, bold, you know, to keep winning in the playoffs, let alone make a run for the cup. Um there they I mean I've I watched a couple games. There was that Tampa Bay game where they put, you know, I think they put less than 10 shots on goal and somehow won that game. That game was absolutely botched by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Um they somehow got past Buffalo, also just, you know, putting low shots on goal, and then they took one away from the Canes. Um, but then the Canes went and you know, did the rest. You know, I I just didn't think, you know, getting less than 15 shots on goal, I'd there's no way that uh there's there's no way that that uh team can make that happen. And and they didn't, you know, hopefully they'll uh you know maybe maybe they'll come back next year with with a little more a little more firepower, we'll see. Um but I I hate to say it, but the NHL playoffs after like the first round has been kind of fucking boring. Like the Canes have just kind of swept or took in five, whoever they put in front of them. Uh the Minnesota Aves series was fun there for a second, as long as it could. The uh the Penguins Flyers, that one was fun. Um, you know, there there's definitely been some fun series. The the Bruins and in Buffalo, that was a fun series. Um, what else? Uh and and Buffalo and and Montreal was fun too. You know, there's definitely been some fun series, but after about middle of round two, man, it just it just kind of fell off. Like guys are just, you know, Avs got swept and then Canes took it in five. It was just kind of conference finals was kind of a freaking snooze fest in in the terms that I think I'm just salty as a fan that we didn't get like game sixes and sevens. Um it just feels like, you know, the uh the playoffs have just they're just gonna be kind of cut short, and I'm not gonna get to watch some pretty good hockey because of it, you know. It is what it is, but it's been fun uh for the you know for the first couple rounds, but but the last few have been kind of snooze vest. I hope I hope we get seven games for a final. Um I think we will. I think both of those teams are way too good not uh for one of them to you know get swept or or for it to go in five. I mean, I d if if you if you ask me like a prediction right now I dude, I don't know. I I really don't know who takes it. I feel like it's a coin flip. But it's gonna I I'm gonna predict six or seven games. I'm probably a little bit biased because I know I want to see a seven game series. Um but we'll uh I I guess uh I I just I I just hope we don't get what we've been getting in the uh in the conference finals, that's for sure. Um so yeah, that's uh that's how I feel about that's how I feel about NHL playoffs, man. I I just uh hopefully hopefully we get a good good uh good final series and um and we get to we get to see some freaking good hockey and we get to see seven seven games of it. Please give me seven games of it. So alright, on to uh the Leo Chennault tape. I will say just like on the surface, after I watch this tape, I'm excited to watch this linebacker room now with Sonny Styles and Leo Chenal. Um don't forget about Jordan McGee. I feel like Jordan McGee will definitely have a role to play and uh Frankie Louvu. Um I I'm gonna have a lot I think I I don't know. I feel like Durante Jones has to be licking his chops. I mean, uh at just the idea of you know those three to four guys being out there, you know, because um I didn't realize what Leo Chenal was capable of. I don't know how um he he was kind of under under the radar for me anyways, like on I guess I guess more of a casual level. Um I th I think it's hard to keep up with with names sometimes and and know about everybody, but I I thought for sure. Well, I didn't think for sure, I was hoping for during free agency um Lloyd or uh Um Tremaine Edmonds, like like I've said in in past cut podcasts, you know. I was I was excited to see if we could get one of those two guys. I can't remember where did freaking Lloyd go. He went I know he's not with Jacksonville anymore. I know Jacksonville didn't re-sign him, but he he went somewhere. And then Edmonds went to the Giants, which kind of sucks, but um it is what it is. Uh but then but then we signed this Leo Chenal guy, and I was like, well, who the hell is this? And boy, did I find out when I went back and watched the tape this past week. Um I heard a bunch of great things about him from you know other podcasts, other media, um, that that this guy's a dog and he's a good player. Uh for he was and he was a good player for the Chiefs last year. But I was really but I I didn't know until until I really watched him. Um I think you know, he was always it always seemed like he knew his assignment really well, and he was always where he needed where he needs to be when he needed to be there. And um that was just really good to see, you know, whether it was like in a B gap or in coverage or whatever it was, like he just seemed to like have a really good feel for where he needs to go, where he needs to be. Um he's he's a good tackler. Uh it seemed like whenever he got it, he put his paws on somebody, they at least slowed up and and and went to the went to the ground, man. Uh we really struggled with tackling last year. Um that that was one thing that really kind of pissed me off. Felt like we just kind of like threw our bodies at at people and just didn't really wrap up and tackle. And that's what this guy brings. This guy definitely has a lot more of like a fundamentally sound tackling. So I'll I'll be pretty excited to watch him, to watch him that way. Um, he shows a lot of ability to shed blocks. I watched him, it was when he played the Ravens, when when the Chiefs played the Ravens last year, they they line him up everywhere. They line him up on an edge, they line him up, you know, over the guard, they line him up um in the middle, they put him in cover. Like they they they did a lot of different things with him. He's definitely a very uh versatile player, is that the right word? Um, but but you can do a lot with him. Um very very flexible in the assignments that you can give him. Um, anyways, the Ravens game, they put him, they lined him up over the guard, and he took on the guard in the center and ended up making a tap tackle for for uh for little for little yards. It was uh I was absolutely blown away because he doesn't look at at least compared to offensive linemen, right? Like he doesn't look like that big of a guy, but he looks strong, and and there were definitely some areas in the tape where he looks slippery too. Like kind of it was either it kind of seemed like they couldn't really like get his hands on him, and he was able to kind of shed some blocks and and make some tackles, and that was that was really promising to see. Um, I was really uh happy to see that. Um I yeah, I was just talking about he can line up every anywhere. Um he he's relentless, he does not give up on the play, just like I was talking about with the Daffey OA. Definitely got a guy out there that finishes every single play. Um I think there was one play where they rushed him and then he ended up running back like 10 yards to make it to to make a tackle. Um so yeah, he's he's definitely um definitely a guy that that doesn't give up on a play and and has a motor. Uh he's he seems pretty fast and he can he like I was saying before, you they they'll drop the Chiefs dropped him into coverage or or they rushed him. Uh so um yeah, good that way. Um it didn't seem like he let uh any any kind of plays that did kind of you know end up in like a chunk, it didn't seem like he when he was in the in the play, it it didn't seem like he would let you know five to seven yards turn into like 15 to 20. Like he would wrap up, make a tackle, or he would wrap up and and slow slow whoever he had his hands on down, and uh he would uh definitely um definitely kind of stops the bleeding that way. Um let's see. Uh yeah, and and overall, man, he just seems like a really smart sound player that plays within himself. Uh he definitely like can make some big plays. Uh I you know, I I can see that, but it doesn't seem like he plays kind of like outside of himself. He didn't really like give me like a hero ball kind of vibe, which I think is good. Um he just kind of he always did his assignment and and did it really well. Um so I'm really excited to watch this guy in the Burgundy and Gold now, man. Uh if if you haven't had a chance to go back and watch like some of his highlights, some of his tape, I highly recommend he it was fun to watch. Um he uh and and it'll be I like I said it'll be definitely fun to watch that linebacker room. I'm I'm getting more and more pumped for this defense after watching Adafe and then watching um watching this guy, Leo Chenal. Uh I'm I'm definitely pumped to see what like what is Durante Jones really gonna do. Like, I have an idea. I think we all have an idea because he's coming from the Flores tree. But what I don't know is how he's gonna use some of these guys. Um I feel like he's gonna have he's gonna be able to get creative because you can rush Leo Chenal, you can rush Sonny Styles, you can rush Frankie Louvu, you can probably rush Jordan McGee. I haven't seen enough of Jordan McGee yet to be able to make any like uh like uh big statements about him. Um I still I still I think he's got a lot of high upside, but we'll see uh how Durante Jones, if if and when he uses Jordan McGee. But I mean though the first three guys I named, you can do that with those three. You can drop Leo into coverage, you can drop Sonny into coverage. I that's not really a strength of Frankie, but it you know, I I couldn't I I don't see why they maybe yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna commit to that. I'm not gonna commit to saying you can drop him. Maybe they can develop it or anything like that. Um, but you can drop those other two guys that I just said into coverage. Um it's gonna be really fun to see how creative he he gets with this, who he sends in, you know. I can see him coming up with some like crazy sim pressures that you know create lanes, create rush lanes to to get after the quarterback, or um to uh to uh get you know stop the run game. It's gonna be because what we're also forgetting is I think our D-line is a lot better this year than it was last year. If you didn't see Javon Kinlaw's um, if you didn't see his interview, it was pretty funny. You know, he was like, hey, we got some motherfuckers now, and then just started rattling off everybody. Um, but but I think he's right. I mean, I think there we might be able, because we have these pieces of you know, Chenal, Sonny, Louvu, um, Adafe Owe, Deram Payne, um, Dietrich Wise. Uh don't forget about Dorance Armstrong. I think he had a quiet, what, like five to seven sacks last year. Um, I thought he was a good pass rusher. Um, who else? Uh Jerzahn Newton, he I think he'll be able to really shine this year in the pass rushing game. I think they'll definitely switch him out for some for some pass rushing stuff. Um, even though he is, you know, they say traditionally, like he's a little bit smaller. I mean, he's still a massive person in general, but he's a little bit smaller on the D-tackle side. But um, well, I th I think he might be able to take a step up this year because of Durante Jones' scheme. Um, coming from coming from the Flores tree. You know, I can see you know Kinlaw having a great year because I don't think he'll have to take on as many double teams. I think uh there's gonna be enough creative pressures that um offensive lines are are gonna have to really kind of like pick and choose their battles. So um yeah, we'll we'll see. I don't I don't know who I'm gonna do next week. Uh Chig comes to mind. Um I don't know. He signed a bunch of guys. A meek. I might maybe I'll do a meek. Um I heard I heard a couple of heard some stuff throughout the media of like him, you know, locking down Justin Jefferson. Um so I I think I definitely would like to explore that at the very least. Um, I know he's a little bit smaller, but he's got that kind of like pit bull mentality. Um, yeah, maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll do a Meek uh Robertson next week, and uh I'll I'll break down his tape. But this defense, I'm I'm starting to see kind of like the vision for this defense. Now I don't know, I'm guessing they're gonna play a lot of zone, even though they have guys that can play man. Um and I'm actually kind of curious to see what they do with Mikey, uh Mikey Samersdale, because they put him back at the nickel last year and he didn't do that well, and then they put him back on the outside, and he actually did a lot better. So I'm I'm wondering if they just like you know, I know he played inside at Michigan in college, but um maybe he's just better on the outside in the NFL for whatever reason. And I think I mean just keep him there. Um and I'm excited to see Trey Amos come off of this injury that he had and and come back because I thought he was doing really well last year, you know, up and up until his injury. So um just I didn't get to see a whole lot from uh from some guys like Dietrich Wise. I was excited to watch Dietrich Dietrich Wise because he's a bigger edge. I think he'll be good, you know, run stopping. I thought I you know, I was I was excited to see that last year. I didn't get to see it. You know, week two he goes down against Green Bay. So um yeah. It's uh I think it's I think it's coming together, man. I'm not gonna make any profound crazy statements like I did last year about, you know, hey, let's let's get to the playoffs, make a run. I you know, I don't even know if playoffs is in is in question. I think if we go if we split Philly Dallas, if we go one and one let me let me run that back. Let me run that back. If if somehow we went two and one through the first three games against the Seahawks, Dallas, and and the Eagles, um I'll be I'll be pretty I I think you can think about the playoffs at that point, even though it's only week three, because if we went two and one you either beat both division uh both division rivals and dropped against the Seahawks, or you split the division rivals and beat the Seahawks. Um even if you even if we went one and two, I think you can still like think about the playoffs um for sure. But but I mean if we if we dropped 0-3, that's that's kind of a hill to climb, even though you know it it would only be week three. I think it would still be a hill to climb because now you're 0-2 in a division, you're 0-3 in the conference, um it'll definitely be a hill to climb. Not that you know you still can't think about you know a playoff push. I think you like even if it's like even if we're I I was saying, you know, I think last week about like we could we could like recreate a 2012 scenario because of how tough the early schedule is. Um but then again, um I j I just think maybe that year was an anomaly. If if we're three and six, you know, you know through the through the first nine games, you know, it'll be it it you definitely gotta like puke and rally and go on a run. Um But maybe even then, like I like obviously the players should never give up, but us as fans, like I think if we're three and six, if we start out three and six through the first nine games, um maybe we're looking at we're looking at some uh draft big boards, we're seeing uh who we're taking, you know, in the top ten. But maybe not. I have no idea what's gonna happen this year because I don't know what David Blau's offense is gonna look like at all. I think we have an idea of this like Ben Johnson-ish. Um I'm definitely excited about hearing them get under center at OTAs. Golly, that's a freaking breath of fresh air. Because and for what it for what it was, Cliff, I don't think Cliff was bad. Like we were still putting up like 20-25 points a game. Like the defense was what really stunk last year, to be honest, which pains me to say because I think there's a decent amount of good players on that on on our defense, especially now this year, um in free agency. But um it just felt like very, you know, stagnant, but still not really hard to to like dissect offense. And I can see I I thought letting Cliff go at the beginning of the offseason was kind of a head scratcher because it was like, wait a minute, you signed this guy, and now you're saying, you know, he's not really what we need moving forward. And it was like, wait, but like you knew what you were getting with Cliff, right? You were getting this fast-paced, you know, create matchups and stick with it offense, and and um it seemed like, you know, they just kind of they parted ways and it was kind of a head scratcher. Um, but now now I think I'm starting to kind of understand that move a little bit more because when the offensive scheme kind of doesn't allow you to play complimentary football. I mean, if you're you know you get a stop, and then the offense goes out there and within like a minute it's you know third down, you're throwing your helmet back on. Like, we can't be doing that. Um we got we gotta give our defense a little bit of rest, man. There was way too many like three and outs last year that I remember. I remember Being on this podcast talking about like we have got to start quicker. Um, we were just three and ounce on the first two drives, and then the defense is kind of hung out there to dry. I mean, um, you you can't you just can't really win that way. Um, but I definitely I I feel like there is a place for Cliff's offense. Um, and it's definitely like under two minutes. Like two minutes if if if you I think his philosophies and his scheme is great for a two-minute quick offense, um, which is probably why I think uh, you know, his he's not washed, like his ideas aren't terrible, like Sean McVeigh hired him for a reason. Um it just you know, just you know, first year it was great, second year not so great. Um then, you know, I think if there's you know kind of a divide and in philosophy between you know Quinn and and and Cliff, then you know, it definitely makes sense that they both had to like part ways. And I'm gl I'm glad Cliff found a uh found uh found another place in the NFL because I you know I I didn't think he was terrible. Like if if he was terrible the team wouldn't have been putting up, you know, I think they we had to have averaged, you know, twenty points a game or so. Maybe less than that, because there was a couple of shutouts and we did get blown out by 20 fucking points uh four games in a row. Goll I mean, I I gotta quit talking about last year because because now I'm starting to get a little get a little get a little upset, starting to get a little sad. Um so anyways, um I totally just went off on a tangent there, but hopefully it was a good one. Um Leo Chenault, man, excited to have him here in the Burgundy and goal. I think he's gonna do great things along with uh and and I'm excited to see how Durante Jones uses him. Um it'll probably it honestly it's probably gonna be similar to how the Chiefs used him, just in a completely different scheme, a 3-4 base type type defense that that's a little bit blitzhappy, where the Chiefs they played more of like a traditional, you know, four down front um kind of kind of defense. Um so yeah, that's uh that that's kind of my thoughts on a little bit of commanders and a lot of bit of Leo Chenal in the defense. Um next up, here we go. We're right in the middle of the Nationals, right in the middle of the baseball season. Um this team, I I'll tell you what, uh the Nats haven't been boring to watch. That's for freaking sure. Um we took I first of all, we are above 500 and we're kind of teetering and staying above 500. Like I I we haven't had this since 2019, you know? We we haven't had like winning-ish baseball in in DC consistently since like 2020. Um 2020 is when it all kind of went downhill and there was a big fire sale um into 2021 and 2022. So dude, I there is absolutely like I can complain about some shit as far as like getting into the nitty-gritty of of where they can be better. Um, but as far like overall, like high level man, I I've really have nothing as a fan to to really complain about because of you know the team's been fun overall fun to watch, it's definitely been frustrating to watch too, but it's also um fun to watch, and um you know, it's it's it's so much better than it was last year and the year before. So much better. Um, I can just see like plate approaches are better. Um, the way Blake Butterra is taking this pitching staff and just kind of like very much like obviously we everyone's been saying they're analytics driven, it's very obvious. So, like an analytics driven, like chess match almost. He's really playing his matchups, and sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't, sometimes they don't work out, and you're left kind of scratching your head, like, uh do we really have to? But sometimes it it works, and uh and it's been working, like obviously, more often than not, or I feel like they wouldn't be above 500. Um, a lot of that is you know Woods and you know James Wood and CJ Abrams carrying uh carrying the offense for the most part. Um there's been a few like flashes in the pan of some other guys, it just hasn't been as consistent as those two. So, anyways, above 500. Uh, we just had a road series where we took you uh two out of three from Atlanta, which was a shit show of a series from a logistics standpoint because of the rain delays and this and that, and uh yeah, but it was still we took two out of three from him. Um Foster Griffin pitched uh pit came back, bounced back, pitched a good game. Um I'm back to you know really, really believing in the guy. I had to I had to pause the brakes for a second because he had two outings in a row where he wasn't he didn't do so hot. Um guys were just kind of you know ripping the ball off of him. So it was good to see him go out in Atlanta and have a good outing. I think he went six scoreless. We the so our pitching staff shut out the the Braves in one of those games, which is crazy because their run differential is like plus a hundred. They're they're putting up you know uh like I don't I don't know the exact stat off top of my head. Um I don't I don't have it in front of me. I apologize, but um they're you know they're you know if it wasn't for us doing what we're doing with the bats, they'd be the hottest offense of baseball uh right now, too. So they're one of you know, I think they're they're one they're top five uh offenses right now in baseball, and we shut them out. That's that's amazing to see. That's it like that's like where I start getting frustrated. Like, I see I know you guys can do it. You just for some reason the consistency isn't there for some reason. Um, but I think they're working on it and they're getting better. Um, and then we went and took two out of three from Cleveland. I was really hoping we were gonna get that sweep, but we didn't quite get it. But that was uh also another fun series to watch. Um had some good outings from some pitchers. Our you know, our starting pitchers were going deep, they were going deep. Um not like you know, seven, eight innings deep, but they were going, you know, giving us five, six solid innings over the road, and um that's what I've kind of been wanting and hoping to get this entire time. Um, and so that it was it was great to see. It was great road series um against two teams, one that's at the top of the league in the Atlanta Braves, and the other is at the top of their division in the Cleveland Guardians. So, man, I almost said Cleveland Indians right there. No, the Cleveland Guardians. Um so it it's it's uh very like um uplifting to see that that they're doing this against good teams with good pitching staffs um and and good bats and the rotation. So um I yeah, like I I just hope they can they can keep it up. I I just hope they can keep it up. Um let's get to uh Jacob Young. He's been he's been he's been going yard, man. He's uh I saw they threw up some stats earlier and it was like uh most home runs in May. And Jacob Young was on there with five home runs. He had five home runs this month. Um it was that was awesome. It's been great to see him getting better. He's still not where I would like to see him. Um I'm actually gonna get on freaking MOB.com right now. I should have done this before. My bad. Great podcasting right here. Um, but anyways, um they're doing great. Uh Jacob Young. I I've always really loved Jacob Young because of his defense, like him just going up and getting in and robbing home runs is one of my favorite things to watch, and he does that a lot. Um but uh he um he he's also been doing doing better with the bat this year, but not quite where I'd like to like him to be. He's he's hovering around a 600 ops, where um looks like MLB league average is around like 700, so still a little bit below our average on ops, and he's batting a 236, like like it's still better than last year, just not um it just needs to be a little bit better. I just need a little bit better from him for him to be like a solid guy in the lineup like he is in the field. Um so uh Nasim Nunyez, he's come through uh recently in one or two at bats, but overall, man, he's his bats not doing that well. He's he's got you know he's he's got a long ways to go. It's crazy that he's got he's leading the league in steals. Um so it does make sense from that standpoint to keep him in the lineup, but uh we just gotta get that bat to come around. We gotta and I'm not I'm not asking you to hit gappers, I'm not asking for you to you know hit it out the park. Um I just just get on base. I don't I don't give a fuck how you lean into one, walk, you know, get a little get an infield singer. I don't give a shit how the guy gets on base because he can swipe a bag so easy. Um, but I would like to see his bat just you know get up there, even if it was up there with Jacob Young at like a 230. Like that's miles ahead of of where he's been. Um why is he not on here? Wow. Oh, there he is, he's at the top. Jesus. Um yeah, he's batting, he's batting to 186 still with uh on base percentage of where was that at? Oh no. On base percentage 283. I I'd like to get that up there into the you know three fours. Like I said, you don't gotta slug the ball out of the park, but I I need to see. I need to see a little a little bit more on base from him because cause he's great around the base path. He's so quick, and he's so good with his glove. Oh my god, he's been as as frustrating as it has been to watch Nasim Nunez with a bat in his hand, it's been the complete opposite when he's in the field. He's made some fantastic plays over there at set over there at second base. And um, yeah, I would just like that that to transfer to the plate just a little bit, you know. Not asking you to be, you know, oh not asking you to go out there and be Aaron Judge. Um not asking you to do things that James Wood is doing. Just just get on base and um James Wood will do the rest. I do I do like not seeing him in the ninth spot a little bit. Um because if he gets on base and James Wood, I mean, does James Wood things, uh that's just that's just an easy run, if if you ask me. But it's just it's just tough because he he's not getting on getting on base and he's not swinging the bat like uh he needs to at the major league level, in my overweight opinion. So um Wood staying hot, would is still top. Uh he's still top of the league, and you know, homers. Uh hard hit percentage, heart his hard hit percentage is he he's got a 60.6 percent hard hit percentage. So more often than not, that ball is screaming coming off the bat. Um his his average exit velocity is what I'm seeing is 96.6 miles an hour average. I mean, that's that's crazy. I mean, and it's not out of the ordinary for him to hit, you know, 110 plus off the bat. Like it which is crazy to say. Like that I feel it feels like I'm I'm I'm exaggerating that, but I feel I but I'm not like the guy just hits the piss out of the ball. Um, so I uh there there was a couple of there was there was one or two balls that he hit today uh against the Padres, you know, the wind was swirling, so kind of got hung up and and you know kept him at the warning track. But you know, I th I think as we get into these uh deeper summer months of like late June, July, uh into August when it's really hot outside, um, I think he's gonna he's gonna crush a couple out uh crush a lot more out of the park. Um especially today where the wind was like coming in. I th I wanted to say it was like 30 miles an hour out of left field um coming into the park. Um so yeah, it's it's easy for that to get to get hung up. And uh but still hit the ball hard as hell, like he usually like he like he has been. Um I'm actually so I'm gonna be going to uh the series um against the Rockies. Uh I'll be going to that Wednesday game at at 1 o'clock and I'm excited to see. I I there there I would be I don't know if I want to make it an extraordinary statement like that. Uh I'd be surprised if he didn't hit a home run. But I think I do think it's very likely that he will. I think it's very likely that I see him or Abrams go yard or any of these guys. Um, oh, by the way, I don't know why this guy wasn't in my notes. Curtis Meade is on a freaking tear right now. He hit two home runs against Cleveland, I think. I think he had a two-home run game. He's driving in RBIs, driving in runs like a madman. I mean, he is just starting to really, really come around. Um, it's looking like he's got about you know eight close to 900 uh um ops right now. Um and he's batting a 244 like at a boy, you know. Um he he's been great at the plate. He's he's becoming one of those guys that when he steps up to the plate, like I'm expecting, well not expecting, but um, I feel I'm feel I feel good watching him at the plate. I I feel like he can do something good with the ball, and it becomes even more disappointing, which is a good thing. It's a good thing, um, when he when he doesn't do well at the plate. Um so it uh Curtis Mead, man, shout out this week, like player of the week type shit. Um doing freaking awesome things, hitting the ball out of the out of the park, um, driving in runs, just putting good wood on the ball, man. Putting good wood on the ball and just doing really great things. Um, I I you know keep it up, baby, because if like I was saying earlier, this team, this uh this offense is being carried overall by James Wood and CJ Abrams. They're the only ones that have any kind of real long-term consistency um thus far this season. I'm gonna knock on wood here. You're gonna hear me knock on wood. Because we know Abrams in the past has had his hot streaks, but then just goes on a solu hump. So hopefully that doesn't happen. Uh it doesn't really the CJ Abrams seems locked in at the plate this year, if you ask me. Like he there, there was a couple of pitches he he swung through today that he was like pissed. He was like, oh that uh, you know, if I make contact, that's going yard, that's out of here. Um, so uh, anyways, those two have been just kind of carrying this offense throughout this season, and I think what's made the team successful of being first in the league and run scored is you know nobody else is really consistent, but somebody will pop up and have a big week. I've seen K Bear Ruiz have a big week of hitting home runs and driving in runs. Curtis Mead this week, uh past past like week and a half has been stepping up and you know hitting some good balls. Um we I saw Dalen Lyle in Cincinnati. He's he's cooled off a bit since then, but what that that series against Cincinnati really gave the Nats a lift. Um Luis Gar Luis Garcia at times has come through big, uh just not that consistent. Jacob Young. Um uh Drew Millis hit a home run tonight against the San Diego Padres and give gave the Nats a little bit of a lift. So it's not that there's not other bats that are promising in the lineup, they just haven't been consistent at the level of James Wood and CJ Abrams, and which is a huge like they're playing out of their absolute freaking minds right now. The both of them are playing absolutely out of their minds. So I'm not saying they have to be at like their level, just a little more consistency is all I'm looking for. Like I like I was saying, Dalen Lyles cooled off. Uh K Bear didn't play today. So I don't have any recency bias for for him. Uh Curtis Meade, he's stepped up. I hope hopefully he can be stay consistent. Luis Garcia, he stepped up today in a in a big spot. Um one guy I do want to talk about is Dylan Cruz. Um he's been playing hard. I think he's been playing well overall. He just hasn't really been hitting the ball too hard. His hard hit percentage right now is 38.7, so he's not really hitting the ball hard. He did go yard once. Uh, I think it was against was that against uh was that against the Braves? Or was it the Mets? Might have been the Mets. Anyways, he he you know, I've I've seen him go yard once. He's definitely he's gotten some infield hits, like he's got some speed. Um, I think there's a lot of promise here with with Dylan Cruz, even though it hasn't looked good on the stat sheet. I've seen flashes where I feel like he might start getting it together. Um, I'm not projecting yet that he'll turn into the guy we drafted him to be. But if he can even be like, you know, three-quarters of the guy that we drafted him to be, that's huge for this lineup, and that's huge for this team, you know, on the defensive side of things. Um I'm gonna keep my eye on Dylan Cruz. I'm definitely rooting for the kid, definitely rooting for the kid. Um and hopefully he gets it together. Right now, you know, he's batting a 237 with you know, we're starting to kind of sniff uh 600 ops-ish. Um, like to get that up to, you know, 700 is is where I like, you know, I I would say is a you're a good hitter if you're hitting north of 700, 700 or more ops. So we'll see what what happens there. Um yeah, uh I I'm definitely looking at um you know some of these some of these pitchers. I think I'm I'm gonna transition into some of the pitchers. Um like I said, they were good on the road. Um but definit for for for some reason that when we get at home, like Foster Griffin, it was the fourth inning, and he had thrown 70 pitches, like over 70 pitches through four innings. That's not that's not gonna cut it, man. Like Brad Lord can't come in and save you every fucking night. You know, Mitchell Parker can't come in, and he's been shaky at times, but I think overall solid. Like, I don't have too many bad things to say about Mitchell Parker. I know he just had kind of a rough outing. Uh hopefully he bounces back from it. But uh you know, those two they can't come in and just Save the day in the fourth, fifth inning and go for three innings every fucking night. Like, we need these starters to start starters to start. We need these guys to go deeper. Give me five, six innings. Five, six solid innings. I'm not saying you gotta be throwing a shutout for five or six innings. If you, you know, like um foster griffin outside of having a high pitch count, uh gave up three runs. That's manageable, especially with one of the best offenses in the league, the best offense in the league, and and run scored. Um we, you know, that's sustainable. Um, but given up, you know, I think uh um who was it? I don't know, somebody gave up like five runs in the first like couple of innings, and it's like, dude, like we can't that's not sustainable. You're not gonna be able to like make a wild card push with with the offense needing to bail you out with you know seven, eight, nine runs, um, which they're more than capable of doing. They did it tonight against the Padres. Um, but we we need these starters to go deeper. Um, right now, uh across our our pitchers, we're averaging 20 pitches an inning, which is astronomical. Like, we need to be we need to get that back down to about you know 15 pitches. Like 15 pitches in an inning, I think is fine. It's and it's funny that um the difference between 15 and 20 is so huge. It really doesn't seem like five pitches doesn't seem like that much, but like you're talking 40 pitches through you know, two, uh 60 pitches through three versus like 30 and 45 through two and three innings. Um it's got I just wanted to lay out like it's kind of fun, because I was thinking about that today as I was thinking about the high pitch counts. It's like man, just like just five less pitches in inning. Um you know, which you know, for whatever it is, uh we'll we'll just leave it at like just five less pitches, man. Um I think it sometimes like some of these the Padres have been good about like extending at bats and uh making making guys make a pitch, and it's been more often than not in in the Padres series so far that they haven't made the pitch. Now um Friday night kind of sucked because we took a L 75. Um, but tonight it was fine. Like, alright, whatever, you didn't make the pitch, but bats came up and and gave you some run support, and we we ended up taking a W. Um, and then we got some really good support from you know uh shout out Black Brad Lord. I was just singing his praises. Uh came in, stabilized the game, kept him at three to ones. It was it was three to one for a while. Um then Brad Lord came in, stabilized, stopped the bleeding a little bit, and then uh Gus Varland. Boy, Gus Vland has been just either he's really, really on, or the wheels fucking come off. And I don't know, I don't know which guy I'm gonna get. And I don't even know if Blake Butera knows which guy he's gonna fucking get. Um, because he he came in in that what was it, the eighth? Yeah, he came in in the eighth and uh got two outs, and I was like, all right, here we go. We're gonna coast to you know the bottom of the eighth. We're gonna have you know, maybe he Blake keeps him keep puts him back out there because he has such a big lead, or maybe you know, he brings in somebody else, Clayton Beater, PJ Poolman, what whoever the hell you want to, you know, pick your poison there. Well, I guess you're not picking a poison with Clayton Beater shout-out just coming off a rehab. Um, but but then like the wheels fell off, and then he walked a guy, and then he hit a guy, and then he walked another guy, and now the bases are loaded, and now I'm sitting here looking like, oh, are we about to just like throw this thing in the eighth inning because we can't make a fucking pitch? We can't make he had the the guy he walked, he had him down like oh two, one-two count. Like, make the fucking pitch, man. Like it just seemed I don't know what it is, whether it's and I get it, like sometimes nerves take over, whatever it is, but but I mean we gotta get over that shit and make a fucking pitch and get this team a fucking W, man. You can't we can't have the offense hitting like it is, and then just have the like I it's it's gotta feel discouraging if you're a bat, like you know, you know, you you make a big like Millie hit a home run today. Like for Millie for for a guy like that that's been struggling at the plate like Millie has, for him to hit a home run today is huge for him, and then he ends up losing anyways like fuck, I finally got the bat around on a ball, and we still lose because we can't make a couple fucking pitches, we can't make a couple plays in the on the defensive side of the ball, whatever it is. Um that's gotta be freaking discouraging to some of the bats in the lineup. So um, yeah, I don't I don't know what to think of August Varland thus far. I I want to believe in the kid. I think he's he's definitely like highly competitive. He's I I feel a fire when he's on the mound. It's just sometimes things just go a little fucking off the rails, bud. We gotta, you know, keep it, you know, keep it keep keep it within the lines, baby. You know, yeah, I mean and and it wasn't that like he was barely missing on a couple pitches, he didn't get a couple of calls. Like he was throwing balls in the dirt multiple times, sometimes in a row, just for some reason got to the getting the third out and just couldn't put a freaking ball in the strike zone, even. So hopefully, like he shakes that one off and comes out next time we see him. He he has he has a good outing. Um, do want to shout out Clayton Beter tonight. Um past couple times I've seen Clayton Beter come out since coming off of the triple A Rochester rehab assignments. He has been very good, he's got good stuff, man. That freaking slider of his drops off the shelf. Drops off the shelf, babies. He knows how to pull a string, that's for sure. Um and just when he's the past couple times I've watched him be on the mound, I'm like, and I and I watch him, I'm like, that's that's the guy. That's the solid guy that you can lean on. That's our dare I say, I think he's our definitely our closer, like our big spot closer, because he he's got good stuff. He came in in the eighth inning with the uh bases loaded with two outs, got the out. I think got the strikeout, and then came back out. And oh, did he go one, two, three in the ninth? I can't remember. I think he did, but either way, just wrapped it up, gave it and got us curly W wasn't a whole lot of crazy shit happening. Came in, did his job, got out of there with a W. It was great to see. It was great to see, especially for a guy coming off a rehab assignment. He's got good stuff, got great talent. Um, you know, shout out, shout out Clayton Beater. Um, let's see. We'll have we're one we're splitting right now with the with the Padres. Like I said, you know, Lost Friday won today. Um oh also shout out to the guys uh in right field second deck uh taking the shirts off, waving them around, getting some energy in the crowd. That was awesome to see. I was I was I was giggling a little bit. It was uh it was fun to watch. Um I I hope I get to see that at Coars Field. Um I hope I get to Nats Park. Hopefully, if I if I go back to Richmond for for a little bit of work, I can get back into Nats Park. Hopefully the stars align and I can go back for a game because dude, we're starting to show back up. Um I'm starting to notice the crowds at at National Spark are starting to grow and not in a bad way, not in like a FedEx field, you know, away fans kind of way. I'm talking, you know, it's it's getting packed full of Nats fans. Um, and that's also great to see. I think the attendance today was like 30,000. Um, and it was it was mostly Nats fans. There's a few Padres fans in there. You know, you'll you'll always have that. I mean, I'm that guy whenever I go watch the Nats at uh course field. Um, so I you know you'll have that. But it's you know, we're starting to we're starting to show back up at the ballpark, and that I think that's great to see. I think hopefully that you know encourages the players, and you know, it it kind of keeps the momentum going on on the season that they're having. So shout out shout out the fans, shout out Clayton Beater, shout out uh shout out Millie for getting a home run today, putting one out the park, and then he and then he found another way to get get on base and and get across uh the plate. Um you know that that's always good. I mean, just getting on base, I feel like, is just kind of a really underrated part of the game. I mean, everybody loves to watch home runs fly out of the park, but um, I think I think just getting off base is just huge. Like I was saying with Nasim Nuniaism, Nasim just gets on base, that's freaking huge. Um so anyway, shout out Millie, shout out Luis Garcia Jr. There was uh like his like his first at bat, he grounded into a double clay, and I was like, You fucking are you kidding me, Luis? And then he, you know, I think he had a either struck out or um ground ground out or whatever. He didn't get on base um the second time he was up, but then that third time he came up, came through big, got an RBI, gave us the go-ahead run. Shout out Luis Garcia for getting a big hit and a big moment. Um who else came through? Who else came through? Um I think I think that's most of the shout-outs for tonight, anyways. Um hopefully we get to win tomorrow. Hopefully we get to win win tomorrow. And um hopefully, hopefully would hopefully Wood can stay hot. Hopefully, CJ can stay hot, keep carrying this offense, and hopefully other guys can keep emerging and um kind of propping up this offense. Um and hopefully, like Curtis Meade. Shout out Curtis Mead. Uh been hitting the leather off the ball. Hopefully he can stay hot. Um, it would night, it would be nice to have, you know, two. I'm I'm gonna say two more guys have more consistent success at the plate. Hopefully, it comes in the form of like Dalen Lyle. I think there's a lot of problems in Dalen Lyle. He just cooled off a little bit after that Cincinnati series, um, but he's he still comes up every so often. Um hopefully Luis Garcia can keep swinging the bat like he like he has been. He hasn't been bad, man. Like Luis Garcia, he's got a good bat. Um it's a little goofy at times because I feel like he just kind of like really gets ahead of the ball, gets out in front, and just kind of like slaps at it, but hey, it gets through the infield or it gets to a single, and sometimes it freaking leaves the yard. So hopefully Luis Garcia can can keep it going um and even improve a little bit. Um and hopefully uh I'm hey Dylan Cruz, I'm rooting for you, bud. I think you're getting better. I think you will get better. Um hopefully we can we can hit the ball a little bit harder, you um get it out of the get it out of the infield, or at least give the infield, you know, a run further money. Um but he dude, there was uh he he's had some hustle plays where um today I think that there was an inning that ends if he doesn't beat out a double play ball. So um happy to you know hope hoping to see more from from Cruz. Um hopefully he doesn't feel like there's I mean I know there's a lot of pressure on him because of you know he was the you know third overall pick. He you know, he's supposed to be, you know, the next up-and-coming guy. He got injured last year, which I think stunted his growth a little bit, along with it just I mean, the whole team is just playing better under this new regime. Uh no surprise there. But um I'm I'm really am rooting for this kid, and I've I I think he will get it together. He may not be, you know, end up being like Bryce Harper or anything like that, but I think I think he can end up being a solid, good player. So I think with that, I'm really starting to ramble here. Um go Nats. Hopefully we can get the series win tomorrow. Um, one o'clock Eastern, 11 o'clock my time, baby, over here in the mountain time. Um and uh good luck to Zach Lattell making another outing tomorrow. I don't know if we're gonna get an opener for him, which that's been kind of like PJ Poolin's role. PJ Poolin's kind of been that guy. Um, and he's been doing very well. Um, I I think fuck it, just keep doing it. I mean, I don't know why I don't know why he stopped. It's fucking working. Throw PJ Poolin out in the first. If you feel like he got some, you know, sketchy matchups with uh Zach Lattell to get through that, just get through that first inning and then let hopefully Lattell can give you. He he gave last time he was out, I know I s I know I was wrapping up, but now now I'm on Zach Lattell. He's he's his last two outings I think have been pretty good, if memory serves me right. I know the last outing he had, he went like I think he had like five shutout innings. Um so you know, hopefully he can the the pitching that way can can come back to to that. Um but but he's had some rough ones, man. I'm still shaking him off. I'm sure he is too. Like I when I was at the Giants game at Nats Park when he he gave up a six-run second. Um but so not to put that evil on him, of course. Uh but hopefully he can go out and have a good outing tomorrow, and we can get this series dub. And I hope Titus on the Padre side does not decide to get hot on our watch. So that's all I got. Uh next week I'll try to drop a podcast on Wednesday. I want to try and try and drop these on Wednesday just because it's it's a lot easier middle of the week than like being on the weekend. I kind of want to like relax and shit. But anyways, um try to try to get back to you Wednesday next week. Um, we'll talk about Amique Robertson, cornerback that we signed. Um and we will keep talking about these fun to watch nationals, and we will have a little bit of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals to talk about as well. I don't think I'm talking about the NBA because it's uh fucking flop a thon. So sorry. Sorry if you're if you're into the NBA. I'm not. Um so anyways, take it easy. We'll see ya next week.