OverDrive - Braden on the torpedo bats in MLB, the league views of the bat and the Blue Jays' pitching viewpoint

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Former MLB Pitcher and Athletics Analyst Dallas Braden joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around MLB, the comprehensive insight of the torpedo bats, the league's view of the bat, Max Scherzer's thumb injury impact, Bowden Francis' level on the mound, the Athletics' experience in Sacramento and more.

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Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud. Here's Dallas Braden. Dallas is a former pitcher yourself. Are you pro or anti torpedo bat? Well, boys, first of all, thanks for having me on. It's good to be back with our neighbors to the north.

Let me start here. And I think I'm trying to look at it from a different perspective, but as a pitcher, if you're telling me you want to take wood away from the portions of the bat that I would love for you to hit the baseball on, I am all for that. I am all for that. And what does that mean? Well, as you've heard people sort of talk about

and describe it, we're taking wood from the end of the bat and maybe the handle of the bat, the two places where you would not like to hit the ball, and we're putting it all together in a place that you specifically get the ball most frequently. And that's what we've all tried to learn as young players coming up is barrel awareness, right? Get familiar with where the barrel of the bat is so you can put that barrel on the baseball. Well, as you get older and you learn your swing and you understand that velocity is something that you're going to have to contend with.

It's here to stay. It's only going to get harder you have to adjust how do we do that. The hitters are starting to figure out well if I can get to the baseball consistently with this type of swing and I can put this portion of the bat or I do put this portion of the bat on the baseball consistently why don't we make this the hardest part of the bat for me and so that's what hitters are doing. So it's been said in different ways. You know, there's been players who have come out and

said, you're not just, you're not moving the barrel, bro. You're just putting more wood in the, so then, I mean, effectively, isn't that moving the barrel? Like we're taking wood from one part of the bat and we're compiling it in another place. Therefore creating a barrel, the location of the barrel that was're compiling it in another place, therefore creating a barrel, the location of the barrel that was not consistent before. That's exactly what we're doing. And our folks over at a Birdman bats out in San Francisco, California, um, uh, an incredible company already ahead of the curve. They've been entertaining this. Um, and I've got one on the way.

It's at the ballpark waiting for me right now. I can't wait to go look at that thing. Not that I can do damage with it, but it's just going to be fun to explore. But it's something that I think when we start to evaluate players like, you know, John Carlos Stanton the last year, he's been talked about, it's come out that, you know, the bat was designed for him or he got the bat designed for him. And anytime you associate that kind of power and the results that comes with that kind of power, I think everybody's sort of interested if they can gather another 10 to 15 feet on their fly ball.

I think they'd be happy with that. But this really for me is all about who you are as a hitter, understanding who you are as a hitter and being able to adjust accordingly. Because it's not going to be for everybody, but for the folks who are really interested in understanding the science behind it and trying to match that up with what they do physically, I think it's a great opportunity for the offensive side of the game to try to catch up, to try to close the gap between what's happening on the mound as far as technology and resources and being able to translate that into productivity.

We have the ability to get in the lab and watch with slow-mo cameras where the baseball is coming off of our fingers, how efficient the spin is on any given pitch, and how we're able to duplicate that, how we're able to repeat that. Now for hitters, what they're finally figuring out, or what it seems like they're figuring out, is if I can put this barrel on this bat that I use in a place where I consistently hit the baseball, now maybe I might be on to something. What do you think the trajectory is Dallas? Is this just something where guys are all geeked up about it and they're starting to

launch balls? Do you think it'll level off? What would have to happen for the league to take a look at this at this? Like, would guys have to just completely start mashing all throughout the league, and then they're going to say, we've got to do something about this? Or what do you think their trajectory is? Well, I guess my question would be, what would you have the league do?

Because remember, these bats are all 100% legal, completely within the specifications and the guidelines of the protocol for Major League Baseball and the wooden bat requirements. So in terms of the league taking a look at it, the only look that the league, quote unquote, would be taking a look at, and when I say league, I mean organizations, is all right,

is this really something, and from player to player player is this something that you're comfortable with? Because that's really going to be the key is if you're a player who is comfortable making adjustments This may be something that you start to entertain I believe that the data that you would want to be referencing is going to have to be Convincing for you to want to make that adjustment or be willing really to even entertain that adjustment. But when I think about a guy like Anthony Volpe on the Yankees who was using the bat and he's a guy that's been talked about and his swing, I also think about a former Yankee

by the name of Derek Jeter, a guy who was well known, had the ability to inside out the baseball, had no problem shooting the ball the other way. Now, if you start to move the barrel down on his bat a bit, or you start to give him a concentrated point to focus on with that swing, does he become even more dangerous? And that's where the curiosity for me comes in because would Derek Jeter turn into a 30 homer, 35 homer a year guy because he's now got a barrel oriented in a place that he's more comfortable with, the place where he has consistently hit the baseball. That's where I think when we start talking about the launch angle revolution that has

occurred where guys who are not 25 to 30 homerun a year guys fancy themselves that because they're just trying to lift the ball because they're being told that you can cash in on the other side of the wall. Right. They're not paying you to hit the doubles. They're not paying you to hit the singles. They're paying you to hit the homers and they're they're turning their blind eye to the 220 average. If you can pop 40 and give us 80 stakes plus and you got an OPS 850 plus 900. Right. So that's where I think this is going to be another interesting frontier for players to explore.

Is this an adjustment worth making? Is this something that they'll feel confident that they can make in a quick amount of time? And from there, I think we'll start to evaluate. But I think it's going to be just like everything else in this game that pops up is we're going to give it a try. It's the new favorite flavor of the week. And then from there, if you like it, when you go back back next time you'll probably get two scoops of it if you don't like it you'll probably just stick to your vanilla the Dallas the Jays had

high hopes from they when they signed Max Scherzer despite the fact he's a 40 year old pitcher despite the fact he only pitched 43 innings last year due to injuries what does it say to you that he's been having this thumb trouble, goes down to see a specialist in Pennsylvania, and now has come home having received a cortisone shot to the thumb? Well, it's discouraging, I think, first and foremost, because of the expectations that that you have. If you're a Jays fan, that I know that Jays had, and obviously Max being the uber competitor that he is, has of himself. So I think initially, you know, like there's really no other way to say it. It just sucks. It's tough because you know what he could represent.

Should he be healthy enough to take the baseball 20, 25 plus times? That would be great. Um, unfortunately, what he has found out and what he has discovered, what he's long known is that this thumb is, is nothing to, to, to turn your nose up at you. He has to pay attention to this and he has been able to correlate how that thumb feels really with the rest of his body. And I think if you listen to what he said last time, after coming out of the ball game, like, Hey, I could feel the lack.

I could feel everything. It was compromised. If I was going to continue to pitch through this, it was just going to be a matter of time before it blows. And he absolutely attributes it to the health or lack of for the thumb. So when you look at the rotation and how it shapes up and, and some of the arms that you have there, when you, when you look at this blue shades rotation, if it's healthy, you feel pretty good about things.

You feel pretty good about your ability to get through five, six, seven innings and handing it over to the bullpen. Now that's probably a different question considering the lack of performance last year and I'm sure they've got, you know, hopes to be better. But ultimately losing a guy like Max Scherzer who could absolutely be that veteran presence is a tough blow, especially for a team that is trying to figure things out in a division where it looks like the Yankees and the way that they have retooled are looking to plant their flag even with the struggles of the Boston Red Sox. Yeah and Baltimore winning again last night so they're three and two.

Jays are three and two though. I mean the Jays are in a decent spot to start the year. Bowden Francis, sure he did it again last night Dallas. I mean this guy ever since the beginning of August last year his pitch, he's been an ace like and I'm he's not there yet you know he's the fifth man in the rotation coming out of camp, he's still got to earn his keep. But I'm curious, like, what is the sample size you need to maybe move past, okay, who is Bowden Francis to, all right, this is Bowden Francis, he's a legit major league pitcher, he's a guy you can rely on, he's a guy that if he's healthy can give you a certain amount

of starts and a certain amount of innings, how much more does a young pitcher like Francis, using him as the example, how much more does he have to show before he's officially made it? Well, I think what you focus on and what I personally focus on for the young guys are their ability to go out and command the strike zone with frequency and efficiency. And that's, so I don't want to call it a hallmark of his but he's been able to fill up the zone he's been able to limit traffic to an extent and that's a big deal so I think as you start to see a young guy because how many starts does he have under his belt career wise what 10 15 I think maybe 14 total you include the one you know this this outing this year, but I'm in like six solid innings, right? Four punch outs and the stuff plays. So I think again,

when you have somebody like Max go down, this is an opportunity for Bowden to show you exactly what he's all about and who he is. So I think for him, it's just about the regular reps. It's about being able to pitch to an extent where you have bought yourself the next outing. And I don't know that he's in a position to have to buy himself the next outing but it's really just about making sure you're polished the biggest name of the game is attack the strike zone if he can do that like I said with his stuff I

think he's gonna be fine yeah and he's not he's not young he's 28 years old I believe but still he is in terms of the major leagues and him being you know an everyday pitcher and it was a great debut for him last night. It was not for Jose Barrios on opening day. He's a veteran. He's back in the mound tonight. Curious in your experience, like when you're coming off a rough start, especially a big platform game like opening day, do you put like, I know it's a marathon, he's been very consistent throughout his career for the most part. He's a guy that remains healthy. He's likely going to give him 31 or 32 starts, but start to after a rough start.

One like how much of it is in your head once you get out there tonight, like I got to throw strikes, I got to get some outs and I got to redeem myself here. Yeah, I think there is a little bit of that for sure, because you have those expectations of yourself, right? And I think Barrios is is an intrinsically motivated guy He knows what it takes to compete at this level and those juices get bubbled up inside with this dude And that's something that I really like about him is the competitive streets competitive nature So I think it's I can remember going out. I mean my opening day start, the start I made on opening day,

felt like I pitched well, things didn't quite work out well for our club, but what you take away from that is, you know what, I can pitch, I'm fine, everything's gonna be all right, it's the first start of the year. So you just go back to the drawing board, you take a look at where you went wrong, where things sort of fell apart, and you get back on the horse and ride.

And I know that's extremely cliche to say, but what would you have him do after start one? Would you have him start to make wholesale changes and a complete overhaul of things? Right? He'd be looked at like he has four heads if he walked in. And we're telling the boys, all right, boys, here we go. We're switching it up. It's a completely different pitch mix. I'm going out of the stretch only, and we're going to see how all right boys, here we go. We're switching it up. It's a completely different pitch mix. I'm going out of the stretch only and we're gonna see how it go. Hold on, what are we doing, Jose? And because of the veteran he is,

he knows that it's just a matter of ironing the kinks out here early. Absolutely. It's weird, man. You go to like mob.com, espn.com, the AL West, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Houston Astrosros Seattle Mariners Athletics like it's not Sacramento athletics. It's not Oakland athletics You got a great connection with that team with the city of Oakland the Bay Area. What was it like last night?

I guess that home opener looked like a sold-out barn, but what do you what do you make of this whole transition up in Sacramento? Yeah, no there there were there was a ton of people there was a ton of people. There was a ton of people. The berms were packed. Every place, every seat in the house was sold. There were folks walking around standing, yelling and having a good time. Obviously it's a very different feeling, you know, and I think a lot of people were intrigued on how this was going to go and what it was going to feel like. I walked around old Sacramento, which is right across the river from the ballpark with my family before the game.

And there were a ton of fans out. There were a ton of fans who wanted to say hi and take pictures and just very excited about the opportunity to have big league baseball in their backyard now. And I think that's what I took away from it first and foremost. And I did take away some, some very, uh, emotional exchanges because there were fans that I had met that had said, man, I've been a fan since 68, since they got to Oakland, I've been a fan since the late seventies, right after they're, you know, right after their triplet run.

And those are fans who were telling me, and you know what? I was able to, I was able to just sort of put a bandaid back on it and realize that I love this team, I love the game of baseball, and I'll be there to support. So I hope that's the energy and the mantra that wins out over the season. But I think as far as the accommodations go and what these players have available to them, when you say minor league ballpark on the surface, I think there's a negative connotation attached to it. Understandably so because this is the big leagues and you expect everything

to be big league from top to bottom. And I think with the, with the space that they have and with the resources that they were given, they have absolutely maximized every opportunity that they had to turn this into a big league accommodating facility. And I think the players for the most part have seen that and responded. Great catching up with you Dallas. We appreciate you doing this, man. We'll do it again soon.

Anytime boys. Always glad to talk ball with you. You got it Dallas. Great. That just happened with me, Vashi Kapelos, Canada Decides 2025. Stay informed with my exclusive iHeartRadio podcast, available Friday afternoon straight through till election day and beyond. I'll have your weekly highlights and my unvarnished analysis of the campaign of a lifetime, the

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