The Fall Of A Dynasty? - Around The Paw: S1E2

hello everyone welcome to the around the Paul podcast and we're glad to have you back for another episode it's episode two and we're back with you with a lot of exciting news and happenings around the Clemson Athletic program uh we've got some special guys who have been a great part of the Clemson Athletic program doing big things on the professional level we're going to talk about tonight we're going to have a lot of fun here we hope everybody enjoys it as well I'm joined by Griffin Barfield and Clifton Kennedy and guys I hope your week's been great uh how you guys doing tonight and hey is uh coach Swinney always says it's a great day to be Clemson Tiger yes absolutely and uh you know the week's been great um I will say that I did take a tumble and I broke my wrist so I'm out for a couple weeks but um yeah great way to start the podcast talking about my broken wrist but besides that it's been a great weekend I'm excited to talk some more Clemson Sports let's do it yeah yeah man yeah man it's been great um again y'all said this last week I had my daughter last week and now we've been by the pool for like five out of the six uh day so it's been uh it's been really good it's been really good hey no better place to be when it's hot outside it has certainly been that uh one of the hotter Julies I can remember but uh tell you what speaking of things that are hot there's a lot of things hot off the presses for Clemson athletic news and one of the things that just took place was the Major League Baseball amateur draft and right off the top man I tell you what there's a lot of guys with their names attached to Clemson that were taken in this Major League Draft and some guys that I think are going to be outstanding professional baseball players uh so Griffin I'll tell you what uh you know I'd always you hate to lose some of these guys especially if they sign professional contracts but at the same time it's an exciting opportunity for even more Clemson guys to pursue their professional dreams right exactly and you know it does suck like you said that we're not going to see them at Doug's kingsmore Stadium rep in the orange and white but you got to feel good for him obviously going right out of high school going right into the you know major leagues is obviously a dream for all these baseball players and even for those that did play for Clemson guys like Caden Grace Cooper Engel Ryan Evans you know it's it's just a great feeling for them and just kind of just you know support them for whatever for whatever they're gonna do right and you know I don't think why you as you said you hate to lose these guys and players of this caliber but one thing that we've seen coach backitch do is just in his first season at the helm is he's not afraid to go out and get guys out of the transfer portal he was actually quite uh at least to me he was very fluent in using the transfer portal so while you're not getting some of these guys I'm sure he has a plan he's going to go out and find quality players he did it in his first year resulted in an ACC Championship so I don't think there's any reason to believe that he can't or won't do that again oh no certainly I think that you know especially when it comes to baseball especially when it comes to you know losing prospects to the professional leagues I think baseball's the biggest one I think you know you have to go for the transfer portal you have to be a little bit more aggressive so I like what Eric package is doing so far grabbing some grabbing some guys from you know the mid majors and then um hopefully bringing in some new freshmen for the spring right and one thing we saw was he brought in several of his guys from Michigan where of course he was the head coach prior to coming to Clemson he's very familiar with that part of the country he's familiar with those programs uh geographically in that location so honestly I wouldn't be too terribly surprised to see him go back to that oil and try to get some guys from those big time programs uh up in uh the North and the Midwest definitely and I think you know sticking to your roots is something that you know works for a lot of coaches I mean you see it even in the professionally he's kind of sticking with people that you know potentially might they might have coached them before coach them in college something like that so I think you know if Eric package is going back to you know the Midwest going to Michigan going to that area I think that's it could definitely be a a huge W for Clemson rod and Clifton uh this is something that all of the major baseball programs they go through this type of attrition you've got highly rated guys who were committed they wind up being drafted and signed professional contracts and then you lose guys who you've had in your program for two or three years is they start their professional Journeys as well so this isn't something that's uh new to Clemson or any of these major programs so how do you expect Clemson baseball to respond what do you see coach package doing man after this first season and um seeing how the guys responded after being down you know that first part of the Season man it's gonna I will say this it's gonna be hard to Lose a Guy like Kaden Grace who um got off slow got off to a slow start um you know he had didn't have the great great season last year as a junior or as a sophomore sorry and and then he brought it kind of into the first part of this year but um that uh Georgia's Tech series he kind of he kind of went crazy and um just kind of went a streak but yeah it's gonna be hard to lose him but um you know just being a um paying attention to Clemson baseball and knowing how you can go out and get a guy um from the transfer portal um I think is going to be great for the tigers um and I don't know if y'all saw this but um uh Will Taylor said he's solely baseball now no football anymore um so uh I think that's gonna be huge for the baseball team um and uh I think it's with him solely focusing on baseball you know he could be that guy that um that takes over Caden's spot you know in the offense um and so I do think one place that um we're gonna have to fill a need um is first base because that's where Kaden played and then when Caden pitched um that's where uh Emmett played so um you know to find somebody who can play first base on a consistent basis um I really think that's going to be a place um of it's going to be a place that I'm going to look at as a weakness going in um you know unless I see something you know in the in the fall or in the you know spring um where they feel that need right I agree 100 yeah first base of course it is an area of emphasis and I think we'll see coach backich go out and he'll do something and he'll make a move to fill that spot and fill that need for sure but Cliff you touched on this and uh Griffin will get your thoughts as well but you just alluded to this Cliff uh that will Taylor has uh he's moving away from football he's going to strictly concentrate on baseball and not only is that a big thing for baseball but it also has a ripple effect to the football program as well we talked about this last week that Clemson was one over the 85 scholarship limit that something was going to have to give a walk-on maybe was regrettably going to lose their scholarship to get down to that 85 scholarship limit what that kind of took care of itself when will Taylor has decided to concentrate on baseball he was on scholarship for football now coach Swinney and the Tigers they're down to that 85 threshold so uh it's kind of funny how things work themselves out sometimes yeah really is yeah and Griffin um you know what do you think that that does for football why so does that kind of take uh some type of mental load off coach Swinney knowing that he's now in a place where the situation kind of worked itself out because you know he would have to agonize over who to take a scholarship from he's so loyal to his players so does that end up being a relief off of his shoulders I think so in some way and obviously I think that you know talking Sweeney loves his Walk-Ons and he wants to do that feel-good story and I think with Will Taylor leaving it's going to put a little bit more responsibility on those fresh wind receivers and those guys that are kind of going to the next man up type of thing but when it comes to will Sailor I think that this was probably the best move for his career I think that he was going to do a lot better on the baseball team than he was football I think you know he was going to be a consistent player in that lineup when it came to being on the team for baseball when it when football you know obviously he had some steps he had some you know plays that he'll be remembered for at Memorial stadiums but I think that you know the best move is for baseball for him and you're going to see him you know Thrive just only being able to play one sport I think you know doing that focus is really important for an athlete so I think you're going to see a lot of a lot of um progression out of Will Taylor no I agree 100 and of course wish him the best of luck is he concentrates on baseball expect him to be a huge part of the Clemson Tiger baseball program in 2024 and we're excited to see what he can do and speaking of uh other Clemson athletes we talking about the baseball players who were drafted but it's not just the baseball guys who are having a chance to play professional sports and to have that chance at that level let's talk about a Clemson basketball player who now has that opportunity of course the great guard Hunter Tyson he signed a free agent contract with the Denver Nuggets the defending NBA champions so not only does he have a chance to play professionally but goodness gracious guys he has a chance to go play for the team that won the NBA title probably has a good chance to repeat next year definitely and I think if you're going to a team that wants that you know experience from a rookie I think Hunter Tyson's a perfect victim and you can look at Denver's whole draft class um the two other guys Jalen Pickett and Julian straw they're old guys they're experienced guys and I think it's the perfect pick and you know it's obviously a feel good story for Hunter Tyson working his way up and through the rotation now he's making seven million dollars seven 7.7 million dollars in his new contract and he's been bond in the summer league two he's had 21 and 16 his first two games kind of just showcasing what Clemson's all about and you know their next game is on Friday I'm I will be tuning in and I think that you know he's just going to be doing a great job I think you're going to see a little bit of him in the rotation next year for Denver yeah I think so as well he's a tremendous player Griffin as you said he's just having some great games in the summer league right now look for big things out of Hunter Tyson but why you hate to lose a guy like that and we go back to that um and we'll talk about this in just a second as well that there's a big news a big commitment coming out of the Clemson basketball program and uh let's talk about that for just a minute uh you've got a young man who just committed to coach Brownell his name is Dallas Thomas he's a unanimous top 70 recruit in the country out of Little Rock Arkansas and I believe I read somewhere he is the second highest rated recruit that is committed to coach Brownell in the Clemson basketball program and I'll tell you what guys what a tremendous recruiting job and a big gift for Coach Brown I think it's the perfect start to the 2024 draft class and I don't know if it was two or three I know that he had like the same reading around like PJ Hall so it's kind of showing you what the type of guy he was and I watched his highlight tape and he plays exactly like Hunter Tyson he's a great catch and shoot um stretch for power forward he's a great shot blocker they call him slim because of his frame I think he's six eight six foot eight um but I'm very excited to see him play for the Tigers see him develop under Brad Brown Allen try to you know untap that potential that he could potentially have yeah and Cliff uh you know what's your take on that uh certainly uh players like that don't come around too often that it's hard to win the recruiting battles for guys like that because uh quite simply everybody wants them and for Dallas to choose Clemson what does that say about the trajectory of the basketball program and the confidence that some of these high-end recruits have and what coach Brownell can do in carrying this program in the future yeah after last season and how good of a season they had um it it's great that um we can get a recruit like that you know we did get PJ Hall um and but Clemson don't get these kind of these kind of recruits in basketball and um it's really nice to see the basketball program progress and be able to replace somebody like Tyson Hunter um because normally you see a guy you see the next season go down a little bit because they don't have that guy um and uh so it's great that they can replace a guy like Tyson Hunter and move forward and get just get better um yeah I agree 100 and uh certainly a big get we'll be looking forward to uh to watching how uh he does in a tiger uniform but we talk about recruiting let's switch our gears now uh to football recruiting and there has been some big news in the last week and uh let's jump in for a second uh what you got yeah so um I don't know if y'all saw this getting back to baseball for one second um I don't know if y'all saw this but um a former Clemson quarterback got drafted yep absolutely we'd be remiss not to talk about it yeah um so um I'm very excited for him for DJ and um and to see um if like how he does in baseball because I'll be honest with you I didn't even I didn't even know he played baseball um so that was another I didn't know moment um so uh you know I'm very excited to see how he does um or if he if he stays I doubt he'll stay but um you know I'm very excited to see because I know his dad personally so um I'm just happy for his family yeah no doubt it we wish DJ well and you know for as maligned as he was at times in a Clemson uniform and I don't think anybody could ever question that young man's heart and his willingness to work and willingness to win I think was just an unfortunate situation where some things didn't work out but um you know DJ William go away he he carried himself with nothing but class and integrity and look it's just the nature of the game sometimes things don't work out in a certain place and you have to find somewhere that's a better fit for you and um hopefully Oregon state is that way for him this year in football we certainly we wish him the best yep we're sorry yeah for sure uh but let's jump in now and talk about some football recruiting and it was a big week for Clemson football on the recruiting Trail and unfortunately maybe not for the reasons uh that you would hope Clemson of course has been pursuing some big time offensive line recruits uh here over the last uh several months especially for the 2024 cycle and two of those recruits have made their commitments to College Programs and unfortunately neither of them were to Clemson and we're talking about William Saturn white and Fletcher Westfall so Griffin you know let's cut to the chase right here Clemson has uh we'll call a spade a spade has struggled to land some of these big time offensive line recruits in recent years and these two young men were too that uh Thomas Alston really wanted so what gifts when it comes to offensive line recruiting I think you know it's it was definitely a disappointment to not have either William Saturday or um Fletcher Westfall who did commit to Florida um not commit to Clemson and Saturday it was between Clemson and Tennessee and then something that I read satellite chose Tennessee because he wanted the play time and you know Clemson couldn't guarantee that um he could get snaps as a freshman and you know 100 that I wish him the best but you know I think that you still have a handful of guys that Thomas Austin is looking at for the 2024 class so I wouldn't push the panic button yet I know there's you know eight or nine more players on the offensive line that could commit to the Tigers but you know it's definitely something to look at I know Casey Poe as well as another guy that the tigers are looking at who should be making his commitment like any minute now so I think that it's just you know important to monitor but not push the panic button yet agreed and uh another guy that Clemson missed on and his commitment came just several days after William Satterwhite and that was Fletcher Westfall and I think you could kind of see the writing on the wall that things had been trending away from Clemson and Saturn White's recruitment but West ball really was kind of the Shocker because even as soon as 24 hours before his commitment he seemed to be a 100 Locked to clips and at least all of the recruiting insiders felt that way and then just in the final 12 10 to 12 hours before his commitment all of the crystal balls begin flipping to Florida so that was a real head scratcher at least for me anyway so what do you think happened there I I honestly really don't know um I don't really know that much kind of The Insider stuff when it comes to you know High School recruitment but you know six seven and a half 335 pounds this guy was I think that it's a huge loss for Clemson I think you know it's like you said Garrett it's kind of like a shot to the chest where you know all these analysts are putting making sure that he's crystal ball declumps and then he flips you know it's it's definitely a head scratcher and you know I'm not really sure what what behind you know Fletcher Westfall but I think that you know he's going to Billy Napier in Florida who was um on the Clemson coaching side so I don't really know what happened but yeah and Cliff any thoughts on that and at least from your Vantage Point what you've seen or read or any Rumblings that you've heard um anything that you could think that might have played a factor in his going from a near Clemson lock to heading to Gainesville I really don't know again it's a head scratcher and um maybe maybe we can bring Adam on next week or something I don't I don't know maybe we can you know he's our Insider guy so maybe he can come on and kind of give us some insight about you know what happened um yeah for sure but yeah again it's a head scratcher and um I just I really don't know um yeah so I actually just looked on Twitter Casey poe just committed to Alabama the top um you know interior lineman so once again like you said it's just another big loss but hopefully it's you know something to monitor not to push the panic button yet but you know I think that's a loss for the Tigers as well losing the top offensive lineman or offensive guard in 2024. yeah those were three guys that were very high on the recruiting board and so now it goes to plan b or c but again you know coach Swinney he's a coach he always gets the guys maybe not the guys that some of the fans won't but he gets the guys that the program needs and if there's anybody that can find that diamond in the roof and we've seen it time and time again is probably one of the best in the country doing that definitely for sure I think that he finds those guys that are willing to work for their position and work with the heart that they have so if anybody can turn you know a guy that might not be the brightest coming out of high school into you know a draft caliber lineman it would be double Sweeney I think yeah for sure and while we're on the subject of recruiting and I think there might be some happier news on the horizon yeah it's um as you said Griffin it sucks to lose uh out on three offensive line recruits as good as uh Poe satter white and Westfall but you've got some other big time guys that are on Clemson's recruiting board that are getting ready to make their pledges uh here in the coming days in the next several weeks and you've got one that's coming up on July 15th it's two defensive backs actually you've got uh Ashton Hampton is the young man's name who's committing on July 15th and then just about a week a little over a week later you've got Corey and Gibson who's another highly rated recruit and looking my notes he's committing on July the 22nd and both of these young men have spoke very highly of Clemson I think there's a field that uh the Tigers are in good shape to possibly land both of them and so while the mood's a bit tempered by losing these guys on the offensive line you get these two guys it's just another shot in the arm to this already really really good 2024 recruiting class definitely and these two guys are crystal ball to Clemson Ashton Hampton which I think is a big win being from Tallahassee Florida and being offered by Florida State I think that that just speaks in itself it's a huge win for the Tigers and talking about Corey Gibson the the corner Lancaster Texas once again you're kind of trying to dodge the Texas Texas Tech TCU offer so I think that you know if these two defensive backs do commit to Clemson which you know they are crystal ball to do so I think that that's it's a huge win no matter what you know talking about these offensive linemen you know not being the best not being the best recruiting class I think that is a huge W to get these two guys yeah it's already a top 10 recruiting class by a lot of metrics and uh Clifton you had these two guys you figure that's going to Vault this class into the top seven six or seven if they get those guys and still even more on the board other than those two so this class has a chance to finish is really one of the best in uh Clemson history if it keeps trending in the way that it's going yeah Corey Gibson you know you he's got Ohio State Texas and Alabama um on his list so um yeah I mean if we could get a guy like that um and um just with all with all the other cornerback you know with the defense we got now you know I think it would just make our defense that much better yeah I agree 100 there's a lot to be excited about and so we'll see coming up in the next uh really eight to nine days as Ashton Hampton and Corey and Gibson get ready to make their pledges as Griffin said they're crystal ball to Clemson and we'll see if that holds up if anybody else can uh try to close it at the last minute but these are two very talented young men and seem to be very high on the Tigers and we hope we can add them to the fold for sure so that's uh that's kind of what's going on in the recruiting world right now and uh hopefully by the time we film next week's episode we'll have a lot more to tell you on uh that hopefully a few more commitments have made their pledge at that point but let's get on to another topic right now and this is one is the season closes in on less than two months away it just really seems to be and you know you just kind of have to face palm from time to time that you keep going down this road or have to keep talking about it but there still are people out there and a lot of them more than I feel like there should be that just continue to doubt the Tigers and you can talk recency bias or anything that you want to but people forget people are already writing this Clemson team off I've read three stories within the last week that are just outright predicting Duke to win the season opener and for the life of me I cannot understand or fathom the doubt around this program just three years removed from a sixth consecutive college football playoff appearance within the last eight years you've had four trips to the national championship game two national titles and how soon people forget what this Clemson program has done in recent memory and with the guys that you have on the roster right now with the ones that you have coming in not only do I not see Clemson falling off anytime soon but I think it's a Fool's errand to doubt this program may watch coach Sweeney's doing two years doesn't mean the fall of a dynasty it took Rome longer to uh to fall than that so you know where do the doubters come from and is it just that they love the idea of Clemson failing or do they truly believe that uh these things that they're spitting out there well surely obviously you know everyone loves a new competitor in the ring and I think when people are looking at the ACC standings Florence day pops out and don't get me around Florida State's an incredible team they were turning a lot of starters they're well coached but I think you know kind of centralizing around why the national media is doubting Clemson I think it comes the way the season ended and it wasn't the way you liked obviously you had a bad loss to Notre Dame you had the loss to South Carolina at home the Orange Bowl was kind of a little bit underwhelming than what people thought so I think that that has kind of centralized around it but obviously you know David Sweeney has been making moves behind the scenes which we'll get to in a little bit but I think that you know the way the season ended has kind of like put that in the Forefront and how Florida state has kind of trumped Clemson in a lot of these you know way too early prediction standings and you know these Sports books are picking them over Clemson and Clinton I think a lot of these pundits and analysts prognosticators uh whatever title that you want to give them in a sense I feel like they talk out of both sides of their mouth from time to time because they're so quick to write Clemson off but in the next breath they lost coach Swinney hiring Garrett Riley and talent what a wonderful job he's going to do for the offense modernizing it getting back to a more wide open scheme so you know we're not talking the French Revolution or Marie Antoinette here you can't have your cake and eat it too so it's either that Clemson is on the rebound and Garrett Riley is going to completely Revitalize the program or it's just going to be more of the same and they're going to continue to fall further off the cliff so you know which is it I mean I don't see us falling off the cliff um we might struggle like I was saying last week you know we might we might struggle coming out of the gate trying to figure out the offense trying to you know I really don't think we'll struggle on defense I um I mean I think our defense is pretty stacked um but you know I mean we might come right out of the gate and blow them out of the water you just you just never know with a new offensive coordinator um and I'm not gonna say a new quarterback but a new starter you know who only has really two starts um underneath his belt um and um you just it's a wait and see game and um it's it's way too early to even predict this if you ask me it's still early but that's what we do it's a the football is a year-round Sport and um that's just what they do is they predict things and then that next sentence they say the totally opposite thing but when it you were talking about Florida State um I for them it's it's one of those things um show me show me what you got because yeah like yeah they got all the recruits yeah they they're um out doing us in a lot of these polls but that don't mean Jack squat until you show me on the field like what are you gonna do in the first three games until you play us or the first four games until you play us and and what are you gonna do on the field when you do play us so um so yeah that's how I feel about Florida State um and I'll be honest with you the South Carolina laws did put a bad taste in my mouth because we haven't we didn't lose to them for seven straight years and so um and that Tennessee loss man um we're the better orange team and um so um that's kind of where I am on all that but the doubters are gonna doubt and the haters are gonna hate so let them hate and we'll get on that bus and ride it all away right uh coach Swinney of course he coined the term a few years back uh the Roy bust the rest of y'all so uh either get on or get left in the dust but either way we're gonna ride or die with the Clemson Tigers so um either join us or pull against us that's fine but uh pick one and stick with it right that's correct exactly absolutely and you know I think just to uh to finish up touching on the topic uh you know I think we talk about the perception of the national media talks about the perception of Clemson football and you know it really is a college football landscape of what have you done for me lately and a lot of times unfortunately that can change from year to year or so in the landscape of college football two years uh or back-to-back three lost seasons for a program with Clemson's expectations unfortunately is a very long time at least a song definitely and I think a lot of that comes to losing your prospects I think you know a lot of the perception is coming at the defensive line losing guys like miles Murphy Brian brzee uh even maybe a Trenton Simpson in there as well I think that it's a little bit uneasy get when talking about the perception when obviously we know that Clemson is reloading incredibly with guys like Peter Woods um and you know I'm not sure what other people think but I think that last year putting kid Club Nick in that Orange Bowl game putting him in you know games like the Notre Dame Syracuse game I think it's important I think it connects them with receivers I think only I think under Gare Riley he's going to thrive I think it's important to even you do lose and you did have a pretty bad loss it gives some experience at the national level and in a new year six bowl for a freshman quarterback who made his first start that day I think it's important so when talking about the perception I think that as Clemson fans we know a little bit more not not in that way but I think we have a better understanding that I think on the offensive side we might do a little bit better than people think right and we see things because we do follow it more closely we see things that happen uh from a closer proximity than I think people around the country do or would care to pay attention to and so those subtleties they do exist and for us I think it's a little bit easier to pick those uh pick up on those and so we might have a little bit better gauge of the trajectory and how things are going than people say on the west coast of the Pac-12 the Big 12 Big Ten and people who tout those programs and so really I think when it all boils down to it it's semantics anyway so you can say what you want about Clemson football we can say what we want but at the end of the day once the ball spotted on September 4th we're going to find out we're going to get a definitive answer and in the coming months after that ultimately it'll be decided on the field it will either be proven wrong or the people who have doubted Clemson they'll be proven wrong either way somebody will be wrong somebody will be right right and even when cliff talks about Florida State we don't know anything about these teams we just know that we just know stuff on paper we don't know anything until that ball snaps Labor Day weekend and we'll go from there but you know when looking at paper look in the stuff on paper this is what we think yeah and and before we move on Cliff anything else you want to add uh uh to the uh perception that Clemson football is somehow falling all for or is on the precipice of becoming irrelevant uh like Griffin and I said certainly we don't see it that way uh so we'll say you right um I'm behind Dabo and um I think he knows where this program is at and um I don't think we're anywhere close to the cliff no I agree 100 and that's my name so you know I was really trying to avoid during the entire course of this conversation I was trying to avoid that when I said uh falling off a cliff I wanted to say no pun intended and I was really trying to stop myself Be Clever yeah yeah oh well I'll tell you what uh you know I think we should talk about before we get out of here tonight um you know we've talked about uh Clemson recruiting and all these guys who are making a big name for themselves or now have the chance to make a big name for themselves on the professional level why don't we talk about a uh former Clemson guy uh Clemson pitcher who has not only made a name for himself on the professional level he is quickly rising to Legendary status across Major League Baseball and of course we're talking about the mustachioed one Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves who just last night uh I say participated in because he didn't get a chance to pitch he just started two days prior but he had a chance to participate in his first All-Star Game in Seattle and the mustache is taking baseball by storm absolutely and you know I think I'm the odd man out here I think I'm the odd man out at a Clemson school close to Atlanta I'm a Mets fan which sucks because you have to go up against Spencer Strider yeah yeah right I'll bring it in I I I know yeah but Spencer Strider is nothing but incredible I think that you know he's a strikeout artist I'm I was actually very surprised not to see him you know take take an inning or maybe like a couple of outs yesterday because you know he's incredible and he's very good and you know I don't consider myself a Braves fan but I consider myself a Spencer Strider fan obviously seeing a guy who you know goes who was an alumni at my school I want to see him succeed and you know I wish him nothing but the best but against my Mets yeah it's definitely tough I'm telling you man oh go ahead go ahead no no I was just gonna ask you you know talk we talk about uh Clemson being so great at finding uh diamonds in the roof and Strider this was a guy that you know we had good numbers at Clemson it wasn't anything that was eye-popping but uh the Braves take him in the fourth round uh the year he was drafted and uh we talk about Clemson finding those gems in the skies while the Atlanta Braves certainly found one as well I don't know that anybody could have expected or predicted Striders just meteoric rise to fame but uh once he burst onto the scene brought it the Braves brought him up as a lone reliever and I think it probably took three appearances for them to realize this guy's just too good to use in low leverage situations we've got to find places for him to pitch and once they did the rest is history really yeah I mean I watched him the last two years he played at Clemson um and the last year um before he got drafted by the Braves I mean he had a really good year um by most expectations for him he kind of again at Clemson if I'm not mistaken he started out as a reliever and um and then that last year he came into the weekend starter role uh if I'm not mistaken and um he just came into his home and but I I'll be honest with you when he got drafted by the Braves I was excited and uh because I am a Braves fan and um sorry yeah yeah no it's okay I know I'm the audience out here yeah so um but I never thought he would come up in the major leagues that fast like I never thought he would hit the the um major leagues as fast as he did um I never thought he would reach 200 strikeouts as fast as he did um and uh it's amazing and and to see him keep it up in year two um is amazing um you know so um I just love seeing Clemson players in the majors and uh it's it's great to see him you know do good stuff for the Braves right and one thing that really impresses me about Spencer is he's a very cerebral pitcher and to me I think he's great at making adjustments if something's going wrong he works very hard to figure out what it is and how to fix it let's go back to June he had back-to-back starts that you know to put it frankly we're just not very good the first one uh and Griffin I know this will make you smile was against uh your Mets and uh they really just they hammered him it runs in less than four innings and then it's next time out gave up I believe it was four home runs to the Detroit Tigers who uh sorry to any Detroit fans out there if you're being honest they're just not a very good baseball team but two rough starts and then he comes back he figures out uh what was going wrong and since then uh Spencer's made four starts I think he's only given up I believe four or five earned runs and the last four starts and it's just continuing to strike batters out at an absurd pace and it just goes to show not only is he a talented pitcher he's a smart one as well and I think that they both go hand in hand in uh making him the successful pitcher that he is yeah he reminds me of um Atlanta Braves pictures of old uh back in the 90s especially Greg Maddox just how cerebral he is and how he and like you were saying um that's who he reminds me of I'm not gonna say that he is I'm not trying to compare him to Great mind it's because Greg Maddox is a hard pitcher to compare anybody to but he just reminds me of Greg Maddox and those pictures in the 90s right and I think especially from the cerebral standpoint and and being smart and knowing what he needs to do and what adjustments he needs to make uh and Griffin you know I think that also lends itself to uh to his durability he's figured out a way to pitch that is sustainable and repeatable and you look at a guy so a lot of times you see players who throw 99 100 miles per hour and give and go Max effort every time out there particularly when they're starters they either tend to flame out or they have injury problems elbow problems and we haven't seen that from Strider when when I watch him pitch and uh you know you can tell me if you've seen the same thing or if uh looks that way to you but it's a very simplistic delivery it's one that doesn't have a lot of moving parts to it but it gets maximum result out of minimum movement and I think that that is very much key to keeping him uh sustainable keeping him healthy and has allowed him to be as successful as he has definitely and you know as a Mets fan I do know guys that do throw 100 miles an hour Tommy John elbow injury I'm Jacob degrom prime example but you know I think that strategy does an incredible job of just maintaining his health well I think it's important and besides you know his I think he did tears I think he did get Tommy John Wall at Clemson I think he did I looked at his stats I think he did in his sophomore year uh before he got drafted to Atlanta but I think besides that injury I haven't heard anything that you know for a longevity of time that he's been out for maybe like a start or two every now and then but I think that he just does an incredible job and that comes with Garrett like you said delivery I think that's important just to maintain you know the elbow and try to prevent you know those injuries that do come with pitching at very high speeds right in Clifton uh again going back he watched Spencer Strider pitch a play at Clemson and he's always had the reputation or been known as a two-pitch pitcher he's got the uh the devastating fast ball that he can run up 99 100 miles per hour he mixes it with the slider but you don't often see two pitch pitchers last uh and have sustained success in Major League Baseball only throwing those two pitches because if one of them's off on any given night then hitters can just sit on the other one and it just makes life very difficult so this year you've seen Strider and he began to incorporate it ever so slightly at the end of last season he developed he's developing a change up and really in the last month you're seeing him working in more and more I believe his last start against Tampa uh he threw about 14 or 15 percent of his pitches was the war on the change up if he can keep that third pitch continue to develop it and it be successful as well add it to the fastball slider combination then Spencer Strider goes from becoming a really really good pitcher with an overpowering fastball to really one that becomes almost unhittable when he's home yeah for sure I mean when that 99 mile an hour 100 mile an hour fastball Hitman that change up I mean that's gonna be that's hard to hit you know that changeup will be hard to hit after you see a 99 mile an hour fastball um so him coming up with that pitch and um having three pitches instead of two like you said you know um two pitch pitchers don't last that long so um if he can keep that up stay healthy and uh just do what he needs to do every night and focus on himself and not the batter or the pressure you know everything around him then I think he's gonna be great I mean he's already great if you ask me he's one of the best pitchers that I've seen for the Atlanta Braves you know in the last five years at least um so uh yeah I mean that's he's just got to do what he needs to do and work on that changeup yeah and you talk about how great he's been uh just some of the numbers and they really are staggering I believe he's got uh the last time look it's either I believe 164 or 166 strikeouts this year that is uh most in Major League Baseball uh by pretty good margin it's just an insane number and right now his strikeout um and his strikeout rate per nine innings is 14.27 and that would be the second highest of all time and uh the guy that's just a slight bit ahead of him driven is your guy um Jacob degrom when he pitched for the Mets but to give you an idea of just how close Strider is to degrom's Pace Jacob degrom smart was 14.28 strikeouts per nine innings Spencer Strider is 14.27 so that's about as close as you can get and it's just a historic pace for strikeouts definitely and another thing that I saw while like you know looking into Spencer Strider he became the fast fastest pitcher to hit 100 strikeouts in the year in 61 innings the fastest person before that was Jacob degrom so you know comparing these two guys I think you know Strider I think has had more success and he could have a lot more success just by staying healthy I think that's the most important thing I think that he can be a Braves legend by the end of it I think that he could be one of the best pitchers you know in this era of baseball he just needs to stay healthy and I hope that he does yeah and Clifton it's just a lot of fun to watch right he really is like I hate that they're on ballet all the time because I don't really get it that often it sucks but um but yeah I mean I love watching him when I do get a chance um thank you Lacey for letting me use your ballet sports login uh so I can watch him um so yeah um I just love watching him that's it I mean no stats that you brought up those stats that you did bring up sorry um are amazing I mean I think he'll hit 200 strikeouts I don't know in the next 10 games maybe I mean it's fast yeah at least by August I mean if he gets you know 9 10 strikeouts a game I mean he'll have them you know in the next 10 games yeah on face for over 300 strikeouts uh which is just an incredible season uh by any standard in the metrics so um hopefully he could hopefully he continues it on and uh you know I don't think he was healthy in the playoffs last year had a bad start against Philadelphia in the division series but I think he's shaking that off and if everything holds the way it is then and I think he's a big part of that rotation coming down the home stretch of the season and into the postseason uh last I look I think the Braves are on Pace right now for about 108 or 109 wins and uh he's a big part of that yes he is I saw the 110 I think like watching like something for the All-Star game but you know once max3 gets back I think that that's one that's arguably one of the best one-two punches in the league uh and you're gonna have them for a long time I think um I don't know if Max I don't know much about the Braves you guys do I don't know if Max read is locked up free agent after next season oh okay yeah so if you do lock him up I think that is a one-two punch that I spent even in the NL East I think that in the whole league it's just some a force to be reckoned with as always Griffin and I'll say this and I'm not sure if you were Clifton were aware of this or not and it's uh not in any way relevant to uh Clemson but we'll throw it out there as long as we're talking about uh these great major league pitchers and Max freed when Max read was in high school the top three in the starting rotation on his high school team it was Max freed Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals and Lucas giolito for the White Sox that was your one two three in the rotation all on the same high school team at the same time I didn't know Flaherty was in there that's wild oh Lord yeah that's crazy that's nuts yeah so so good luck anybody that faced that team for sure uh but I tell you what guys um you know I think that's uh just about it for us tonight uh as we wrap up episode two uh you know we've had a lot of fun doing this so far and we're gonna have uh we're gonna go back to the laboratory and back to brainstorming we're gonna have a lot of good stuff to uh talk about next week as well I'll tell you what before we jump off here uh you know I would be I've got to say the response to the first episode it's had so many views a lot of positive feedback and response from people and I tell you what that's to us it makes us feel good it's very encouraging and uh just makes us feel like this is uh something that we're gonna have so much fun doing and can be really successful for all of our Clemson Nation uh out there uh spread all over the country and here in South Carolina so guys I tell you what that was just phenomenal to see all of the support and the positive feedback after last week yeah and you know I it's been awesome just to you know over these past two episodes just discussing Clemson Sports this is my first podcast um you know I'm a little bit new to everything here but you know just seeing the feedback even by like just you know family and friends on my side I did post to Twitter so I didn't get a little bit of feedback there but you know just across across the across the whole thing just just thank you it's been you know absolute pleasure and I'm excited for you know the next few weeks going into football season just talking more clubs and sports is what I like to do exactly man exactly I mean it it amazes me because I'm not I'll be honest with you I'm not a podcast type of person to be on here as a talking head but I've had fun with you guys you know so um it's been great and um I love like I said last week I love um I'm starting to love every Wednesday um getting on here and seeing y'all's awesome handsome faces and uh talking some Clemson some clubs in sports yeah so here I was worried that I would break the camera on my computer I guess not you almost did we almost didn't get started hey you're right you're right yeah yeah thanks for a reminder [Laughter] but yeah man I'm excited about the weeks to come so I think my dog is too so yeah for sure and uh it's been a lot of fun even through two episodes and hey we're just getting started I mean uh we're still six weeks away from the start of football season and once that hits uh hits it's going to ramp up and we'll have more things to talk about than we even know what to do with so it's going to be a lot of things so uh we're gonna say good night for now until next week uh Griffin Clifton anything you want to say uh before we hit the road for the night uh good night and go Tigers have a great week don't break a bone like I did and uh we'll see you next week yeah no tough breaks for anybody out there uh Griffin took one for the team for us uh we hope he heals up quick uh no we will and we'll see everybody next week and as Clifton said until then go time

Channel: Clemson Sports Media

Views: 1,675

Keywords: Clemson, clemson football, clemson tigers, clemson highlights

Id: UusK-Bsax0A

Length: 50min 22sec (3022 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 12 2023