Summary

In this Complete Game Extra, we’re chatting with George about the current state of the Cincinnati Reds. We’re seeing some promising signs as the team ramps up for the second half of the season, especially with their newfound aggression at the plate. But that's not all, there are definitely areas that need some work if the Red Legs are going to have a shot at a wild card, like situational hitting and consistency in scoring. So, grab your peanuts and Cracker Jack, because we’re about to get into the nitty-gritty of what’s working, what’s not, and what we hope to see as we head into the final stretch of the season!

Podcast Partner Bios

George Foster - Major League Player with the Giants, Reds, & Mets. NL MVP 1977, 5-Time All-Star, Silver Slugger and member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Founder of George Foster Baseball where he offers private baseball instruction.

Timestamps:

• 00:05 - Discussion on the Reds' Season Progress
• 08:56 - Changing Mindsets in Baseball
• 14:10 - Analyzing the Current State of Major League Baseball Lineups
• 28:45 - Evaluating Pitching Performance
• 37:00 - The Philosophy of Coaching and Team Unity
• 43:02 - The Importance of Situational Hitting in Baseball

Key Takeaways:

• The Reds are showing more aggressive play this season, utilizing their speed effectively to disrupt defenses and create scoring opportunities.
• Ellie De La Cruz's improved plate discipline is a refreshing change that has led to more success at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position.
• Situational hitting remains a key area for improvement; getting runners home from third base with less than two outs can significantly change game outcomes.
• The importance of maintaining a consistent batting order cannot be overstated, as frequent changes can impact players' confidence and performance.
• The team's ability to manufacture runs through smart base running tactics, including bunting and hitting behind runners, is crucial for their success moving forward.
• Overall, the Reds need to show more tenacity and resilience in games, as consistent performances will keep fans engaged throughout the season.

Links:

• glovehound.com
• mdaiacademy.com
• georgefosterbaseball.com
• twocreativedigital.com

Teaser:

Next week we talk about all kinds of equipment from George's famous black bat to everyone's favorite glove, shoes, and more. Don't miss it.

Companies mentioned:

• Glovehound
• MDI Baseball Academy
• George Foster Baseball

Well, welcome, everybody, to what we're calling the Complete Game Extra.

We're going to take some time today and talk specifically with George about where the Reds are, where they've come, where they're going, and kind of some things that we're seeing that are encouraging and some things that we're hoping maybe they'll address in the. In the second half of the season. It's the All Star break this week. We just had the first National League win in a while, thank goodness. Oh, gosh.

Ethan asked me the other day. He said, did you watch in that game last night? I said, nah, we always lose. It doesn't make any difference. And. And he said, no, no, no.

He said, we won. And like a final. They had to do, like, the Home Run Derby thing at the end. Yeah. And so it was nice to see the National League get a win on that one.

So, anyway, as we're firing up, looking at the second half of the season, George, let's, let's kind of kick off here. And what are some things that you're seeing from the Reds that are encouraging you?

I think they're. They're being more aggressive out there, which is great. They need to be aggressive. When you have speed on your team, utilize that speed.

Sometimes managers are afraid to. Oh, you look at the, the time they take to catch and throw the second base or the pitcher below home, they're like a. They're human.

They're going to make a mistake or not make a perfect throw. So take chances and make that defense change. Change everything out there. But you got the tools. Got to utilize those tools.

But now with, I think 65 games to go, they got to go hard. Gotta go. Look at how many games do we need to win out of 65. Not just. Not.

You don't have to win your division, but being a wild card and, and with the pitching staff, they're doing a great job. But now you got to get some. Get the guys to support the pitchers, and you go out there and score eight or nine runs and then you score one run.

But learning how to manufacture runs and with the speed and the talent that they have. And cruise, he is on cruise control right now, but I saw that they change his.

How he holds his back and that really he's more disciplined and, and more productive, especially with men in scoring position.

Oh, I've noticed a ton more plate discipline out of him.

Oh, yeah. But it's because he doesn't have as much play in his hands like before. Just lay the bat on your shoulder.

And go to the ball and he's doing a good job now and then he tried to get the ball in the Ohio river but more times than not he's more disciplined now.

Yeah, I have noticed that about Ellie and it's been refreshing to see and I think it's brought him more. More success and having him get on base more which then gives him more opportunities to. To disrupt the game as a.

As a base runner which I think is a big strength for. For Ellie. What are. Who are some. Some members of the team that are just other than Ellie?

Who are some other members of the team that are impressing you these days?

I always love Espinal and just it's where he bats in the lineup is very important but I always like him second but I'm I guess from the old school thinking so if you get Fredo on base I would want to bun him over because esp all 10 but well so y. They say it's easy to steal third than to steal second.

So now you bought Frito over the second base and now it's easier for them to steal third base but utilize that. So now you going manufacture run and got a third base and then you have have De Cruz coming up.

He's making more contact now so you can get a run early in the game. You don't have to wait later on the game. So that changed the mindset of the game itself.

But learning how to score runs other than maybe getting a base hit or getting a home run so you get a sacrifice fly or you seen the other night you have oh the Reds end up winning. Hit the ground ball to the second basement. He was Navid steal it.

So so there's pressure on them when that end fills in and there's a pass by wild pitch opportunity. So you got to be prepared. But from third base there are more chances to score than you are at second base. But I want Fredo to start running more.

I don't know how his legs are but utilize that speed right now. All hands on board. We can't wait till spring training or save it for spring training and save it for next year. All hands on board.

Talk about some other guys who are really. I've seen a big difference since last year. Let's talk about Benson. You got a guy who last year just. Just struggled to be consistent.

I'm so happy for him because this guy you can see on his face that he really wanted and sometimes overdid it and But I'm glad that Eric Davis got a chance to Work with him. And he seemed to be more confident and more disciplined up there. But I love the fact being left handed the ball to left center hit the ball.

People don't understand trying to hit the ball to the opposite field is going to help you to pull the ball. And pulling is the right center for him.

And he got a key hit the other night, almost hit game one home run but he hit off the left field wall, left center wall. But that's good hitting there.

And that guy so strong and he's quick so being able to put that into play, I don't care how strong you are if you're not making contact is not going to help.

That's true. I was. We had the privilege recently of getting to meet Jose Trevino.

He had Ethan do some work on one of his gloves and brought it up to the shop, stood and talked to us for a while. What a great guy. Shout out to. To Jose. He was, oh man, what a great guy.

Just a lot of fun to talk to and to listen to his perspectives on the team and the game and whatever. And he said yeah, he said some of the guys just geek out over over Ed Helping them out with their Stu. Having. Having Eric around has been.

Has been really.

Oh that See that's the thing about it. I had to say not toot my own horn but this guy, this guy would make a big difference. And I don't understand.

They keep sending him down but nobody's there to help him. Reese, Reese Hines, that's the guy.

If I mean to have Eric Davis and they have my number and you call me but that guy, get that guy straight, that's going to help. That'd be a great platoonship him and him and Benson, both these guys can hit the ball hard and far but getting somebody to work with him.

I don't know if Eric's been working with him but since he's on payroll, get him to work with him. If not, you know, I'm just. I'm at home cutting the grass so I can help him. I know I can help the guy.

That's the thing about it that when you do something well, hope somebody will utilize your services.

But I can see that guy has a lot of potential but you got to be able to let him know what he needs to do because he's overdoing it right now and he getting overwhelmed. Just keep it simple, keep it. You said the number. Keep it simple. And that's what Benson is doing now.

Yeah, it's got to be hard when you're you know, you're, you're on the 40 man, and you're, you're, you sometimes you're up and then, and then you're back down. And each time they bring you up, you're trying to make the most of the opportunity, try and find a way to stay there.

That's, that's, that's got to be a, there's got to be a lot of anxiety involved in that.

Oh, it's anxiety. And, and when you go up to the plate, you don't relax.

Yeah.

Because you take every at bat. This may have been my last at bat this turn. So he's trying to hit a home run.

Some of them trying to hit home runs feel that that's going to stabilize my, or secure my state. But put the ball in play. And what he does with the ball and play, he doesn't have to have a learner. You don't have to swing hard.

Just be quick up there, have an idea. But once that word approach, what is your approach? You see, the guys have good approaches, have good results. So it's always the cause and effect.

So what caused that strikeout? What, what were you thinking? So when you go up to the plate or it's a left handed pitcher, oh, he has a curveball.

Lot of these guys, right handers do not know how to hit a left handed curveball. So. But showing them what's the swing path, teach them the swing path.

A lot of guys have a different swing path depending on where the ball is thrown, but you can't do that.

I mean, back in little league maybe you could have done it, but at this stage, this is the major league, you gotta be prepared, have an approach and have a swing path.

That was one of the things I remember hearing Pete Rose say is never change your swing. Your swing is what got you to the big leagues. You know, move in, move out, move up, move back, you know, do move your feet.

Do, do different things to, to give yourself a shot at handling whatever's being thrown at you. But don't change your swing. That's what got you here.

Right. You have to same thing. When I say people, I said you have three or four people try to talk to someone about hitting.

I said too many voices create too many choices.

Yeah.

And same thing you had going up there with a different swing. Now you say, oh, I'm going to use this swing for the ball that's inside. I'm used this swing for the ball that's outside.

You're not going to be successful that way. And, but you got to trust that swing and rehearse it over and over and over again so it can become second nature.

And go up there and have the confidence you can do it in any situation. I learned from Tony Perez, you know, Mr. Clutch. That guy is a clutch hitter. And I love, I'd love to be in.

On in the Batman's box when the games on the line, because I believe I could come through in that situation. I'm not going to do it all the time, but you have that confidence you can do it.

Yeah. And that's a different mindset from what we're seeing these days.

When you talk about guys playing back in the day, you know, the idea was I'm going to put that ball in play one way or another. I'm not, I'm not going up there to, to walk. I'm going up there to get that ball in play and make something happen.

I got, I got myself little involved. Too much involved in the game. Game.

Today when I, I'm watching the Rockies and they don't know how to get the guy in from third basement nested two out. I said, that's why they're 50 games in last place. Like, they're not. But nobody's there to teach them how to do it. That's the worst part of it.

They're not doing it correctly, but it's compounded by not having someone to teach them how to do it. And lot of these coaches are young and they don't, they don't really know. They haven't experienced it themselves.

Because I'm doing a lot of hitting lessons with kids, and one of the parents may ask me, you know, how do you, how do you have your value higher than somebody else's? I said, you're paying for experience. I've done it before. It's not that I read about it. I've done it before.

Yeah. And, you know, we talked about, in a recent conversation, we talked about the number of guys in the MLB who are hitting.300 or more. Right now.

You've got seven guys in the entire league hitting.300 or more, and only one of them is in the National League. You're talking Aaron Judge, Jacob Wilson, Jeremy Pena, Will Smith, Alejandro Cook and Cal Raleigh.

That's something.

And, you know, I remember you talking about how back in the day when you were playing, it was like 300 was the sort of the standard that everybody shot for.

It's a, it's a pride factor. And then it also helps the ball club. But I guess they look at 200. It's the new 300 today. If you're at 200, you're doing five.

But no, you got to go out there and work at it. How. How much better can you be? How better you best at each time? But These guys who's betting 300 or better are taking pride to go out every at bat.

Like Pete Rose said, do not give that bad away. You got. There's something you can do to help your ball club.

You end up saying walking because you fouled off eight or nine pitches and you hit a ground ball to the right side, you get the guy over. A lot of guys feel that that's not successful. A man on second base, no out. You hit the ground ball the right side and the guy goes to third.

That's good hitting. Like you sacrifice, but. Or sacrifice fly knowing. Or the ground ball, you're on. On base.

Make sure the ball is through and knowing that you can advance. The third. I saw the other day, two out, you're going on contact, the balls hit the right field and the guy only made it to second.

It's like, what is going on? I don't think he knew how many outs there were. You got to be at third base time.

You should be in motion because you know that it's a three, two count, two out, you going on the. On the pitch. But that's come that middle part. I give. That's a middle error right there.

Yeah. And I think when you. When you look at if.

I wonder what the answer would be if we asked, you know, across the major league, if a walk, when you go up to two taken at bat, if you get walked, is it disappointing? Because I have a feeling that it disappointed Pete Rose to death to be walked.

Yeah, because he wanted to leave the league and hits. Yeah, but. But he would take that. But I would be disappointed if I got a walk. They had to throw the ball over my head or bounce it.

I remember when I played against Atlanta, I may have a three and all count. And the ball, the guy threw a ball into the dirt. I was being selfish. I swung at it to get a 3:1 count.

So giving him confidence that, well, maybe I can throw it again, but he got up a little bit higher than I was able to hit it out of the ballpark because that's a launching path to that manner. I don't want to walk against the Cub pitching or the Atlanta Braves pitching. I mean, I felt that that was an off day walk.

You know, I don't want to get a walk but in certain situations it's okay, take that walk because I know I have confidence if it's a bench or parade behind me to drive in the run. So I'm not going to try to do it all myself. But when I'm up there, I'm trying to do the best that I can.

Right? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So let's talk about. You mentioned having someone behind you or someone in front of you.

Let's talk about lineup here for a minute. You've talked about how a great lineup tries to use speed to set up power.

What are you noticing about the current Reds lineup that, that you think is working and what are you noticing that you think needs some work?

It's working, but it's not consistent because guys are moving around in that lineup where we had a consistent lineup when everybody's out there playing one through eight, it was consistent. We didn't have a, a Morgan batting fourth one day and batting second the next day.

So a guy loses confidence too if you take them out of that slot, say, well, I'm not getting on base or something's happening. So take going up there with that little doubt make it makes you make an out.

I'm not being a poet, but that little doubt can cause you to make it out when you go up there. So it's now like in McLean's case, how can you make him productive?

So Fredo gets on base like I said earlier, but the guy over but okay, he has a line drive to left field. Fredo's still at first base. You got to be able to advance that guy until McLain starts swinging the bat much better.

He's swinging better, but not to the tune he had done before. So each guy finding out what he can do to help that ball club win and having a lefty, righty, it makes it important.

If you have a Benson, have a Benson behind a Hayes between the stimuluses so that now the pitcher has a different mindset. So he had to pitch your right hander, left hander, right hander instead of right, right, right. So he has the same, same mindset. So.

But it gives also Benson more pitch to hit a guy like him. He wants a fastball hitter. So who's behind you is very important. Who's in front of you is very important.

I had a Morgan or Griffey and of course Rose, he's going to lead the league in doubles, so he's going to be on second base. And so Joe Morgan, even if he doesn't steal the thought of it that that catcher is Going to call a fastball.

But once again, Perez Foster and bench must be prepared for that F. And we were. And this Trevino, he swing the bat well. I want to put him in an RBI slot at this time. I would put him fifth in the lineup.

I didn't like him batting eighth lower and light up because it may not be men on base, but that guy, he's aggressive up there. He has an idea, he moves. But having a. Because he feel that. Well, he's a small guy and he's not known to be a clutch hitter.

But I just seen him driving a lot of runs and be very productive.

I've been very encouraged by Jose's sort of surge in productivity since he came here. Ethan had worked on one of his gloves when he was still a Yankee. So we were kind of Jose Trevino fans before he was a Red.

We were following him because, you know, Ethan had done some work in. In, you know, for him and.

Excuse me, I know he was having a hard time there toward the end of being in New York and he had won the Platinum Glove and he had done some really great defensive things. But we, you know, we're wanting to really see him break out offensively. And when he came to Cincinnati, we were really hoping that would happen.

And it has. And that's been. The beautiful thing is seeing him, you know, crank doubles.

You know, you put him out there, he's not only going to move a guy, but with an extra base hit, he's going to bring him in. I don't care if he stand on first base. If he's cranking a double, he should be bringing.

Bringing them in and excited shows excitement. Yeah, there, that's.

That's an encouraging. An encouraging thing. You were talking earlier about how, you know, bunting and moving people over. I've noticed more bunting in recent.

Recent years, especially this year, and they. Not only are they bunting, but they're doing it well. That's another thing.

It's one thing to bunt, but then, you know, if it goes awry, it's not really helping you. But they're actually doing it well.

Even though maybe if you attempt a. But it. You don't make it successful, but it's letting the defense know that you would do it. It doesn't have to be a perfect but. But knowing where to.

But put the ball on the ground. They got to feel the ball, throw the ball and catch the ball. All you need to bunt the ball and run and the rest take every cell.

But if you constantly Go up to the, to the plate, swinging about it.

I one night, I look at Cruz, I look at Frito, I said they didn't need a shortstop or, or third basement because they kept hitting the ball to the first basement and second baseman. So they were down at third base, bought the ball, put on the ground. Leash had changed the mindset.

And people don't really realize that the pitcher had changed his mindset because he's trying to rush off the mound quicker. So he may throw a pitch in the zone that the guy would be able to get a base hit. But understanding that okay, this is the weapon. Use your weapon. No.

No reason to have that weapon if you're not going to utilize it. And like I said before in Fritos case, I would encourage you in the stride about every game, every game. And give me give incentive.

If you buy every game, this is. You're going to get $1,000 or more, but at the same time you're going to have your chance of winning.

Yeah. And I think that the more we see him play that fundamental baseball, you know, making, making the defense wonder could he do that?

Bring them in, widen that gap so you can drop it into the. You know, I said this earlier. The.

One of my favorite plays all year was Espinal gets up there and shows bunt and then pulls back and then just pops one right into the, right into the gap to, to get on base. You know, that was a clutch hit in that particular game. Moved around and brought him pitcher thrower.

Assume that he's going to buy and so he throws it right down the middle and there, there we go. But it. A lot of things changes, especially the middle part of the game. What are they thinking? What are they trying to do?

And what do you need to do to counter that?

And how impressive is Santiago Esmon? My goodness. I mean the guy, the guy can play any position. You can put him anywhere in the lineup. I mean he's just a gamer from the word go.

I He's a stabilizer. He's a stabilizer on that team. And the thing that a setback for me, for him. Sometimes he tried to get the ball in the air too much.

He's not a home run hitter. So hit ground balls, line drive. And when he hits the ball to the right side, that's, that's him.

And but if he's trying to pull the ball, then he popped the ball up or hit a ball that's to the warning track. It's okay. If a man on third base and, and less than two outs. But I want him to hit line drives and, and ground balls.

I just enjoy seeing him play wherever they put him. I mean he's just a, he's just a, a very gifted young athlete.

He was an all star with Mac, with Chilo. So he's done it before. And back to Trevino and other guys, a lot of them haven't played a lot. So fatigue may set in.

So now people say if the guy is tired, why do you encourage him to run? I want those guys before each game to run.

What I did before each game, I ran from foul pole to foul pole, from left field, foul pole to right field power pole. I did four, four of those a game. Get my body accolade and get my body prepared for it for that day.

You go to Atlanta, you got to play that hot weather, get your, your, your body acclimated to it. But you feel I'm tired, I can't do it. But your, your, your body needs give it more. You don't know how much your body can do unless you push it.

Just riding a treadmill or getting on a bike, it's not going to help. You got to go out there and actually do it.

What are you, what are you seeing from a. Let's talk about outfielding here for a second.

So we've got with the different outfielders that we have and some, you know, they're changing positions quite a bit. Sometimes somebody who's playing right will play left and back and forth.

As somebody who spent his career playing outfield, what are you seeing in the Reds outfield right now that is, that is impressing you or concerning you?

Defensively it's Fraley, he's really improved. He's getting better jumps, better routes on the ball.

Now Benson the same way he has an idea because when, when the balls hit down, down the right field line, he knows how to field it. Before he. The routes weren't correct or did have his feet correct.

But you got to be always be in a throwing position because you don't know if that guy's going to try to advance or not. But freely and adventure they make it. Been making some great, great plays out there. Web gyms out there actually. And then Fredo the same way.

You know, those guys I would be upset with if I'm hitting the ball but I don't hit. I hit it way out there. So they don't have a chance to make the web gym. But they, they have a bit control of what idea what they want to do.

We never cut the ball out in the gap and communicate out there. So that's a much improved. Because you could win a ball game. It differs in winning or lose the ball game if you misplay a ball.

The left field seems to be the. The rotating place where they put whoever happens to be up.

Left field is easier to play. I don't know why but. But the thing is it's more of not only the sun but also when the balls hit down. A lot of balls hit down the line.

So say if steers out there being right handed, a lot of times the guy go in there, he doesn't backhand the ball. You got to backhand the ball. But they go in there and field it in front facing so that they not going to be in a position to make a good throw.

So you got to go in there and back. Backhand it.

But the next move, if people can visualize this, that right foot has to step towards the target, not step towards the fence because you losing speed in that front side open. But that's the key. The two key backhand the ball and step with your right foot towards the target. And that's going to give you a better.

Be in a better position to throw a guy out. And sometimes it prevents the guy from advancing because you know you're in a throwing position.

That's a great. That's a great point. Talk about our. Talking about all of our guys who seem to rotate in and out of left field. One of the guys who.

Who has just absolutely impressed me to death that he actually has the. I believe he has the highest average on the team. If I'm not mistaken he does is Austin Hayes.

What do you see in Austin Hayes that you find encouraging?

That guy is the energized bunny because he's on the move all the time. It's like have happy feet. And sometimes they say at the plate, you know, slow down, slow feet, quick hand. But he's.

He covers the ground, cover the ground very well out there. And yeah, he get good jobs on the ball and he gets rid of the ball. So he's a good defensive outfield. He does a good job, has a good idea.

He's always communicating with Fredo and what he needs to do. So I just watch him. He should be the model. Everybody watch on that team what he does out there.

And then when you get, you take it. You know, when you consider that he's hitting.287, he's got the highest average on the team.

He's got good facility at the plate for putting Balls in play and cranking them out. If he gets a hold of him, he seems to be quite the total package.

Well, the Reds come up a good deal of getting him because they needed somebody from the right side that was impactful, and thus far, he's done that. And the other part is keeping him healthy is going to help that ball club win more games.

Staying healthy and because he's aggressive at the play, and I know with the Rockies, they get. Kept going at it, but it's caught. You got to make the adjustment. They kept throwing in slider, slider, slider.

So in that case, as a hitting instructor, I'm sitting on the bench, and they kept throwing in slider. I would say, going back to Junior Richards with the Astro, good fastball, good slider. So 50, maybe 50% of the time you're on the fastball.

50% of the time, you're going to throw the slider, but you don't know when that 50% is coming up. So what did I do? I got on top of the plate.

So these catchers see you getting on top of the plate, they think that you're guarding against that slider. No, I'm make. I'm trying to eliminate the slider and get the fastball. So he didn't make the adjustment to get on top of the plate. And.

But having the confidence that, okay, if they throw me a fastball inside, I'm still going to hit it. But he stayed in the same position, so it didn't work out well for him.

But the adjustment is being able to get closer to the plate and trust your intuition and look, fastball.

Now, let's talk about fastballs for a minute. Your favorite breakfast food. Let's. It seems to me like the. The high fastball has really become the thing in. In recent years. Did you see.

Were they really calling high fastballs much when you were playing?

No, that's why it was really my advantage. A lot of the pitchers would throw the fastball up, and a lot of guys would swing it, but the umpires wouldn't call that as a strike.

And so today they're calling it and. And a lot of these guys, they're complaining it's a strike, but they don't know how to hit it.

So got to go back to the drawing board, learn how to hit that. Going soft toss or batting practice or whatever. Learn how to hit that, get the muscle memory going in that day. But that high fastball.

Hit that high fastball, it's in the trajectory of going out of the ballpark. But being able to get on top of that ball and drive it. A lot of these guys get underneath it so they got to learn how to hit it.

But I, I tell people that until take it until you learn how to hit it. But what a guy would ask me said why did you swing at that? Because I can hit it and it's a ball, but I can hit it.

That's interesting. Let's talk about for a second pitching. So how about the pitching staff? Right now our starters are just absolutely looking, looking really good to me.

I'm, I've been really pleased with what we've seen so far this year with, with starters especially being able to go deep, getting into that seventh inning and, and keeping it alive. And that's usually when the wheels go off. But. Yeah. What do you see it in the starting pitching that you're finding encouraging?

Well, the first guy I want to admit because he's a stabilizer borrow, you know, he's coming in and doing, doing the job and he, he's tough out there and he's been the guy, the catalyst of being able to, to whatever rally that's taking place to go out there and stop it.

But the guy that I think a lot of people are surprised at is Abbott and, but I know as a left handed pitcher if you have a good breaking ball, you will win.

I go back to see Carlton, I know, look, I talk about hall of Fame but what made him a Hall of Famer, that slider I remember to this day is Tim McCarter, he was a catcher and, and Steve Carlton had a fastball, curveball. So you can see the curveball coming out of his hand. But the slider you're not able to pick up as well.

So I remember he went to the Phillies and I think they won 61 games that year. He won like 29 of them. But Steve, Steve McCarver encouraged him to get rid of the curveball and go to the slider.

And with Abbott I would encourage him to throw more sliders and more slider time. Most of the right handers not able to hit it.

And you, you look at in the hall of Fame the number of pitchers who left handed pitchers who had good sliders that would win. So hats out to, out to Abbott and, and now it's just keep those legs strong because pitching is the legs, not the army. Keep those legs strong.

Martinez is doing a good job. He's, he's adjusting. But I love this kid Chase Burns.

I look they, he got clobber pretty good in Boston, when I look at, I won't, I would not pitch him against America League team because those guys really put the ball in play. Especially, especially the Red Sox or the, the Troy Tigers.

Those guys, they eat fastball for, for breakfast, but they learn to hit the ball the other way. But his breaking ball wasn't working as well in Boston as it has been saying. Gets the Phillies and his first game.

But that kid, he's coming, staying healthy, he's going to be tough.

What, what are you seeing out of, out of Hunter this year that you have?

When he's healthy, he's tough. But keeping him healthy, finding out what he needs to do to stay healthy. And I would get a yoga teacher to keep him stretched.

And you know, people would say, you know, why? Why? I mean, you want to keep your muscles long and strong and right now he's tight and make sure they get someone to help stretch.

I know when I took martial arts, that was the best stretch I ever had because you had to really stretch your whole body to execute certain moves. So getting a, getting a yoga teacher to help you to stretch, it's going to really help you to stay healthier.

That was one of the things when we were talking with Jose, we were talking about gloves and Jose uses a pretty large glove. He's a 36 inch glove, which is a very large, it's the largest catcher Smith I had ever seen it. He even talked about a 38 being a possibility.

But we were talking about using a large glove like that and he, he showed us that one of the cool reasons for doing that is to be able to move and catch. So you're really bringing that into, into the pocket and really here in the seat and keeping it away from your hand and your knuckles.

He said, because when you're catching somebody like Hunter, he said, you get lit up, man. It could be a, it could be a real problem.

So, so being able to take and move that big glove and use it to keep that ball away from your hand when you're catching it, that was, that was interesting. But yeah, he said catching guys like that is a real deal.

I mean that 100 miles an hour over and over and over again is, is nothing to play around with.

Yeah, you got to ice your hands down afterwards, but that's good idea. Not only that, but I think they can frame the ball better because the umpires, a lot of them are getting full. I know. And the ulcer game, they.

In spring training, in the ulcer game, it's the first time I had seen it sistering training. So the catcher, the pitcher and the batter, they can contest that call. And there were two in the, I think in the all star game that the pitcher won.

I think the catcher won or something aside. But I like that idea. It's like in tennis, you know, you want to challenge that call.

Sure.

Well, and I think the, with the new style of catching, you know, starting low and coming up a lot of times, I think that's really resulting in a lot of catchers being able to help their.

I know pitchers get strikes, but that, the thing is that you have quick hands and downtime. I think the umpire maybe need to, you know, really work on their, their detecting if he's moving it or not.

But the thing is that I see a lot of balls that are pitchers or ball end up being strike because the guy's so quick enough to get the ball 20 minutes size.

The other thing that's been making me happy as, as a former catcher myself, I'm so excited. It's so nice to have multiple. I would have a team of all catchers if I could. So it's nice to have two of them in the lineup all the time.

I noticed even having Stevenson as the dh, a lot of times you've got two catchers actually in the lineup at the same time. Since he's come back and been healthy, what, what's been impressing you about Steve?

Oh, but he's, he's a fighter out there and, and you. I don't see as much frustration on his face as I had before.

So has a, has a approach, he's confident with that approach and he's not putting pressure on himself to, to hit home runs and he knowing right now he hit the ball consistently to right center, go with that. And later on pulling the ball, which is the left center for right hander, it will come about. But don't, don't rush it and don't force it.

And I just feel that he's more confident at the plate now and then when he, when he gets that key hit, he's excited because it's something he worked on, but it comes from being patient and keep working at it. And as he, as he is being a fighter.

Yeah, I think that's been, that's been key and it's been exciting. Excuse me. To see him come back.

I mean a lot of times you get guys and you're not sure they're going to be able to fully come back and, and when you have these.

Injuries, you don't know how it's going to affect your. Your swing or just your demeanor. And I, I just go. I didn't realize it until he talked about it. But you go back with Johnny Bench when he had the.

The operation and they had to go into his rib cage and so he lost a lot of muscle mass. So now he's not going to be as a strong around the core, so. But he still put up hall of Fame numbers. But you know that you could do better.

But that operation changed a lot.

Yeah. It's hard to know what that's going to do. And so it's nice to see Stevenson back, you know, at 100. Really, really doing.

But having. Having Jose around and help take pressure, whatever pressure off of Stevenson.

Yeah.

So now to be. Can go out there and be a productive. Not only have someone who could catch, but I'll cook sweet about.

Yeah, that's. And I'm kind of excited for. To see where. Where Austin wins ends up by the end of the year.

I mean, I know being traded and all that he's still not playing as much as I'd like to see him play. I mean that guy was a hit machine when he was here.

Unfortunately, you get. You become labeled.

Yeah.

You got to be back a backup catcher and. But when he got the opportunity, he did a good job.

Yeah, I hope he gets. I hope he gets his shot because I think he's. I think he's a whaleable player.

Player.

And it was. It was nice to have him be a red for a while, so. Well, I want to kind of bring this full circle here and let's talk about Tito for a minute.

The T. The players seem to be really, really respectful of him. He seems to really be getting his handle on what strengths he has and how he's putting together a team and where it's going.

What are your thoughts on Frank Kona and. And the job that he's doing?

I think it's more the intangible. It's just getting the players to believe it, believe in themselves, believe in his philosophy and, and believe in the team.

You know, have those three going is going to enhance your chance of winning. But if you're criticizing or being negative, then you know they're not going to take it well.

But he's been positive out there and always encouraging them and putting. Trying to put him in a situation that can be successful and. But he's out. He's there to support them.

When something happened at the play, dog, he's there to support him. Something happened during the game, letting him know, okay, this is what you need to do. Or they may ask an opinion. Why did the guy didn't.

Why do you try and steal second base? And certain situation, he can say, well, I thought it was a good play. So the thing is that he's not saying that. Well, I don't know why he went.

He missed a sign. But being there to instill in them the confidence that, hey, you are. You're important in every role that you play.

No matter what role you play on this team, it's important.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Frank Cotta and listening to him interact with journalists and people like that is that he does what I consider an essential part of family. So here at our business that we have here, we run a child care center upstairs, my wife runs it. And we. We talk about it being childcare.

That feels like family, because the idea is that we set it up with principles of family. And one of the things about family is that everyone is responsible for everyone all the time.

If you're at a family reunion and you got aunts and uncles and cousins and everybody else there, kid falls down, scrapes their knee, who picks them up? Well, the answer is whoever's closest. Because in a family, everyone's responsible for everyone all the time. That's what makes a family tight.

And I feel like there's that unity that's starting to build in here. The other thing about family that I think is, is what I define as loyalty.

And loyalty here in our business is what I call defend first, ask questions later. The idea that if someone comes in the door and they say, well, I can't believe that so and so did this. I heard that they did.

But I would say, well, that certainly doesn't sound like that person. But I tell you what, I'll ask questions and I'll get back to you.

In other words, I defend first and then I go ask questions, and if there's a problem, I deal with it.

And the thing I've noticed about Frank Ona is that Tito will take responsibility and defend first, and then if there's a problem, he's not going to litigate that in the press, in front of reporters, in a room with microphones, that's so important.

But taking responsibility and being accountable and not.

They talk about have your laundry out in the public talking about a guy on with the reporters doubting him, but talk to the guy later on behind closed doors. And I had seen that with another ball club, I'll name it St. Louis. I didn't like the fact that they were really getting on.

O' Neill ended up going to Boston, then I was with Baltimore. But the guy has a history of leg problem, so he said he wasn't hustling around in third base and he got thrown out.

But you don't know what condition the guy was in. So, but you have to say that, okay, maybe they didn't get a good job, but don't go out there and say he wasn't hustling with dogging.

So it's important for that manager to be there and say positive thing and encouraging things.

Yeah. And I, I, it also inspires confidence in the, in the players and in the, in the fans because if you have your, your coach goes out and goes out.

Well, you know, I don't know, I just, you know, kind of don't, don't look at me. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. Then it doesn't inspire. You don't feel like he's got it under control.

Whereas if he comes out and says, okay, so like for instance, I remember whatever game it was earlier this year, you know, throw goes wild from, from, from the outfield, bounces past the catcher, he's playing it off the wall. Or the pitchers playing it off the wall, turns around, overthrow second. But I mean, they look like it was just crazy.

Look like a little league team out there.

And, and they were, yeah, and they were asking him about it afterwards and he's like, okay, so it didn't go well, you know, and we'll, we're going to handle that. But he didn't go well. I don't know what those people were thinking. Gosh, I wouldn't have done that if I was them.

I would, you know, he, he totally was like, you know, hey, Buck stops here, we'll take care of it. Don't worry about it.

Because I remember that play with Mark Marte, threw the ball, threw the ball to the catcher and he's within 90ft. He would say, why can't you make a good throw to the catcher within 90ft?

But they didn't understand that the runner, he was trying to throw the ball over the runner because the runner is right in line.

Yeah.

And so as it happened, it went over the catcher's head. So now the pitcher gets the ball. He thinks that he could throw the guy at second. They're trying to force some play, force it out.

So now My comment was like, okay, now you threw it the second it went past. Let's throw around the outfield. Let's.

So moving forward as we. As we kind of bring this to a close here. Moving forward, what are some things that you hope to see in the remainder of the season from from the Reds?

The two things that really stand out of the two. This is number one situational quitting.

And I'm going to start take a heaven chart of how many runs are left at third base within that had within less than two hours. And that could mean the difference in winning or losing a ball game.

So learning how to get that guy in from third base when that's a two out, you don't need to get a base hit to put the ball in play. When you have two strikes, have an idea of what you want to get a pitch that you can drive.

Not just a swing to bat just because it's your turn to go up to bat. But getting that runner in man at second base, no out. Get that guy from second base to third base.

You set him up in a situation that you don't need to get a hit to drive a man. But it's a key is don't go out there and put value on every at bat and you got two strikes.

You know, be tough up there, don't give in, put the ball in play. Don't be swinging for a home run when you got two strikes. Don't try to be the hero. Just go out there and do the small things.

The small things will make a big difference in in the end of the game and you look back, you could win five or 10 games that way. Getting that guy in from third base and plus it takes the pressure off the pitcher. You get that runner in.

If you are 2 to 1 and a guy's at third, let's do I can get him in is 3 to 1. That's insurance runs. But that's very key and I haven't seen it a lot in the situation of play.

Making sure you know where to throw the ball in certain situations. The only one that really stood out but it didn't really hurt the club is freedom was on second base with the speed he has.

There's no outs and the ball is hit the right field. But if the right field is going to catch it, okay, you don't go. Don't even attempt to go.

But the first basic caught it and he had to take five or six steps to to regroup to be able to throw the ball to two third and that's not only catching it, but making an accurate throw. I just felt Fredo could have tagged up and gone to third base in that situation. It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference.

And being able to pick that out, it took, it could have been, say it was a nothing, nothing ball game. Now he's at third base with one out. Now they may load the bases or infield in, so it's going to enhance your chance of winning.

So situational hitting and situational play, we need to improve on those situations.

Yeah, I think one of the things I'm hoping to see more than anything is I'm hoping to see a little more consistency. So we have fewer games where we have one run and then we score like eight or ten runs and then like one run and then like eight or ten.

Like I'd like to see a little less feast or famine and a little bit more consistency in the amount of runs that we're scoring.

Right. That, that scored. Having a low scoring game is fine, but knowing how to.

You want to come out on top, but doing the small things, bunny the guy over still in the base, even that, you know, make that attempt to steal, getting the guy in from third base, things as such, it makes a big difference. Yeah, you go out there and score 8 or 9 or 10 runs or 14 runs and you don't score any runs the next day.

You know, that's been, that's been the, I guess the, the, the thing that been happening. So being able to not score, you can't go out there and, and say, I don't want to score 14 run.

But as a manager, what I would do, a guy has gone 4 for 4, you know, put somebody else in who hadn't played. So I want that guy to say, say those.

At best you can tire yourself out, you know, going out there scoring a lot of runs, running the base, I mean, that's a lot. Run the bases playing defense. So when you have a big mixed score like that, take your, your main guys out of the lineup.

The other thing I'm hoping to see is more tenacity battling back. I'm tired of going to. I'm tired of going to bed in the fifth inning because I know nothing's going to change. You know, that's the thing is, is I.

And I'm guilty of it and I should be a better fan, but the number of times that I've gone. All right, we're behind by three, it's fifth inning. I'm just going to go to Sleep because it's just not going to change.

I would love to not be able to do that. I want them to make me stay up and watch the rest of the.

Game because that's that intangible confidence believing they can do it. They're, they're saying the thing, the same thing. Oh no, we're down three, we can't do it.

Instead of, I know it's, I keep referring back to the big red machine. We know, hey, when, until three hours to record it, we have a chance to do it.

But it's just the confidence that we had and we knew that we, we, we intimidate the other ball club. Do something. Intimidate the other ball club.

Don't just lay down and give up in that situation because people know, they see me lay down and give up before, oh, they're dead, they're not going to come back. But you know, going out there, doing something to, to change that mindset and just believing that you can do it.

And I think that comes with not having those nights where you're just, you're just dominated by some pitcher. Like just one pitcher just has everybody's number.

Like I can't imagine on any given night that if the great eight is on the field, one of you, that, that Pitcher might have 1 of your number or 2 of your number, but he ain't going to have all nine numbers.

And that's the thing, like there are nights when you get a pitcher out there and he's got everybody's number and just nobody hits everybody anything all night long and you just get dominated.

Well, they, they get intimidated. They get intimidated. Number one. And then of course now the domination, the word that comes in. But you go up there, a guy's striking, strike out.

The first three guys did. Now the first three guys, man, he's really throwing hard and, and for me it's okay, I'm a turn around.

He may be throwing hard, but let's see how hard I can hit this ball. And, and, but you got to make adjustments up there. Not through the same thing each at bat, make the adjustment.

Like I said before with, with Hayes, move on top of the plate, stretch your stance out. Make sure you put the ball in play with, with two strikes come make the defense, make the defense, make an error.

So you got to do something different. Not just go up there and trying to swing for, for an advances, but put the ball in play.

And that's, that's a sign not only a good hitter, but a good team.

Yeah, yeah. I think all in all, I am extremely encouraged over the progress that I've seen this year over last year.

I have high hopes for where Tito is going to take this team and I look forward to being, to being a Reds fan through the, through the end of the season. I have been guilty in the past of being a Reds fan until the packers go to training camp and then I just bail in favor of football.

I look forward to say the Chiefs. The Chiefs. No, the Packers, I thought you said.

But I, my homie, I look forward to having a team in Cincinnati that doesn't let me do that. That makes me keep watching because you just don't know what's happening. And I think we have a shot.

At what I'm going to do. I'm going to have your number, giving it to them so they can call you.

But I just hope that they have the mindset they want to do it now and not saying, well, we got a three or five year plan, but now is the time because it's not a guaranteed, oh, now you have Della Cruz. How much longer will it be with the ball club? And hey, is he, are they going to resign him? They're not talking steer.

You know, there, there are a lot of moving parts that are there and what moves they're going to make on pitching staff. You know, these guys are having outstanding year. You may not have that in a Tusan beat, but do it while you can.

Yeah, I agree. Well, thank you so much, George for giving us your, your thoughts on the, on the process again.

Always a joy to hear baseball from your perspective and to, to, to learn from the way that, that you have learned to see it and learn to play it and learn to be a part of it. So I hope you guys have enjoyed it as well. A little extra, little extra episode here.

Remember, we will be back with regular episodes starting in September. So first Wednesday in September we will drop the second half, drop the first of the, of the second half of the season.

There'll be 12 more episodes will be September, October, November. So come back and you know, join it, bring a friend, tell people about the podcast if you can.

And we look forward to seeing you right back here on the Complete Game Podcast.