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It's our final mailbag Friday before the regular season begins, so let's get to our

questions next.

You are Lockdown Royals, your daily Kansas City Royals podcast.

Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day.

You are tuned into another edition of Lockdown Royals and the Lockdown Podcast Network.

I'm your host, Jack Johnson, and you can find me on Twitter at Johnny J and Rescore 15,

that is at JOHNYJ underscore one five.

You also can listen to us on wherever you download your podcast, that can be Spotify, Apple

podcast, Amazon music, Google podcast, Odyssey and YouTube to be sure to hit the follow button

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For your first time listeners, wondering what to expect as opening day is next Friday

in Atlanta for the Royals, we bring you episodes Monday through Friday, 30 minute episodes

in length, and as always on Fridays, it's a mailbag episode.

You send in a question via YouTube or Twitter, and I'll try to answer each and every one throughout

the duration of that 30 minute episode.

Before we dive into question number one, I want to tell you that today's show is brought

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A reminder that if I missed anybody's question, it's nothing personal.

I just didn't get the notification.

All you have to do if you do want that question to be answered is to respond to this video,

whether it be on Twitter or it be on YouTube, and I'll have it answered before Monday morning.

But if for whatever reason, I don't get to it in this episode, I didn't just skip over

it.

It's that I didn't get the notification.

We'll start it off on Twitter with Jerry.

In three years, could you see our starting pitching, being David Shields, Kendrick Chariot,

Lewandar Ovala, Noah Cameron, and Steven Zobak, if so, how good do you think that group

would be?

I'd have a hard time believing all five of those guys are in the rotation.

I would hope that at that point, David Shields is in the rotation.

Lewandar Ovala would be in the rotation.

I'm not sure on the rest.

For me to be confident that Noah Cameron can still be in the rotation three years down

the road, he's got a show that last year wasn't a flute to me.

I'm not as high on Steven Zobak, and Kendrick Chariot is going to have to show this year

that kind of like Noah Cameron last year wasn't a flute.

But overall, I got to be a fine rotation, but I have a hard time believing all five of

them would be in an on opening day three years down the road.

This one on Twitter is going to be coming with looks like the giver.

What's your opinion on the polymarket deal with the MLB?

Yeah, I'm going to need to do some more digging into that.

I read up on it a little bit this morning.

I know that a couple other leagues, I know the MLS has it as well.

All you want to do though is make sure you have the integrity of the sport intact.

It doesn't surprise me that Rob Manfred went that route, but as long as there's no issues

on the front of players hurting the integrity of baseball, I'm not going to have too much

of an issue with it.

Other leagues around the country have been doing it, so it's not like they would be the

first one.

But I am going to do more of a deep dive into that.

We'll see if it pops up on an episode next week though, but if that answer is good enough

for you, then I guess I won't have to answer it next week.

This one's from Toulouse Master.

I got two.

I hope that it's okay.

As always, that's not going to be an issue.

As Avala had this stuff to be a closer in number two, hypothetically, a Royals pitcher

wins Sy Young this year, and it isn't Cole Regans, who would it be?

Avala absolutely has this stuff to be a closer, and I could see him being in the back end

of the bullpen by the end of the year.

As for a Sy Young winner that's not Regans, I'm going with Chris Babich.

Next ones come in from Jason.

Do you think these are Maker Break years for Michael Massey and Nick Lofton if they have

rough seasons?

Will they go the way of Melendez?

I really do.

I could see them maybe punting on the Nick Lofton idea a little bit quicker than Michael Massey,

just because Michael Massey's been in every day player for the Royals before.

Those guys tend to stick around a little bit longer than the longtime bench guy.

If anything, Michael Massey can be a bench player next year or the year after that.

What I would say though for his everyday status, really getting into the lineup, let's say

three or four times a week and playing north of 130 games, he's going to have to show

that he's worth that type of roster spot in 2026.

This one's coming from Chipper.

Do you see the success that the Royals had in the WBC carrying over to the regular season?

I certainly hope so.

It's not a perfect science.

It's a little bit more of a measurement than spring training is because these are games

that matter to those players.

Nobody's working on stuff.

The atmosphere is top notch.

There is a little bit more reason to it if you wanted to make that comparison.

However, it's still an incredibly small sample size.

Most of those guys had about 20 to 30 at bats.

We know that's give or take 10 to 15 games, probably less than that, probably more 7 to

10 games to begin the regular season.

Guys can hit 400 in the first 30 at bats of the season and then be a non-fact of the

rest of the way.

Overall, you're hoping that the confidence from that tournament can carry into the first

couple series of the regular season.

This one's from Danny.

Are you worried about a step as his slow ramp up?

I know that's what he's known for, but we were there Wednesday and he didn't look great.

We did an episode on it yesterday.

I'm a little bit concerned and then I read the article from Pete Grathoff earlier this

morning.

And JJ Bacolo spoke to him, said that they've talked to Carlos about it and they're really

not all that concerned.

They actually said that he was at this exact point last year, around 88 to 89.

I thought it was closer to 92, 93, but they said it's pretty much the same and you'll

have two more outings before opening day.

So he'll throw on Saturday against the Rangers and then he'll throw in the exhibition game

against the Rangers in the middle of next week.

If he's at 92, 93 there, I can live with him being the closer to begin the year.

But as I said yesterday's episode, I can't live with 88 to 90 with no command from your

closer.

I'm still at a 7 out of 10 in terms of a concern level.

He looks better on Saturday and middle of next week than it's probably down to a three

or a four.

This one's from Tony, assuming sale will be pitching for Atlanta, will Cags and Jensen

be in the opening day lineup?

Or are we going to be anal about lefty, righty with those two?

They're important to the royal success to be there are two important, excuse me, to the

royal success to be platoon players.

Cags did just find the WBC against lefties.

Yeah, I'd see Cags being in the lineup on opening day, Carter as well.

That's because I'm not sure yet what the status is going to be on Isaac Collins.

Isaac Collins has been battling through some stuff and camp is he going to be ready to

go game one, hoping so, fingers are crossed, but I wouldn't see a need to put those guys

on the bench to begin the year.

It's opening day.

You put your best lineup out there and then after that, you can play the platoon matchups.

But I'd love to see Carter Jensen as the DH or the catcher on opening day and it would

love to see Jack Cagley out in right field.

Next one is coming from John, Royals total home run projection team wise.

God, I should have to go back to last year what they were.

I'm going to have to do this on the fly, but maybe I shouldn't waste time and look it

up here.

I'll go.

I won't give you an exact number just because I don't have one on the top of my head.

I will say they will rank middle of the league.

I'm going to put them like 15th in all baseball and total home runs.

So whatever that was last year, that's probably what I'd have the Royals at in 2026.

Next one is coming from Eli.

What level do Kendrick Churrio and David Shield start the season?

I hope they're in the same place and move up together.

I actually don't see them in the same place.

I could see David Shield starting in Quad Cities.

Kendrick Churrio just got to Columbia at the end of last year.

Maybe they could also say, let's go get a start or two out of David Shields in Columbia.

But I thought he proved enough.

If it were me, I'm putting David Shields in Quad City.

If you want to build up that rotation in Columbia and get a strong start to the year, then

sure.

But I see Kendrick Churrio in Columbia for sure.

With David Shields, he's kind of in between Quad Cities and Columbia.

I put him in Quad Cities.

It also wouldn't surprise me if they started in Columbia to have that tandem to begin the

year.

This one is from Burnsey.

Let's say Salvi's career ended at the end of the World Baseball Classic like Kershaw.

Do you think Salvi is a first ballot for Cooperstown if not when do you think he'll get in?

He has a very decorated career.

But I still stand on the point of he needs like one or two really good years to kind of

be that first ballot conversation.

If he's an all star this year and next year, I could really see him getting in without

much of a struggle, you got to keep in mind that they might favor a guy that's played

his entire career in one place has always been respectful to the media because you know

those guys have the vote.

But I still stand by that he needs about one to two more really good seasons, productive

ones for him to firmly be in that conversation.

I'm not quite there yet to say first ballot Hall of Famer.

This one's from Ben who will be the Royal's best starting picture this year.

I'm going to go with Cole Reagan's.

I feel that I have been confident in my answer the last couple of weeks.

If he's not healthy, then you're going to have to pivot to somebody else.

My go to would be Chris Babich yet another guy though that was not healthy for the entirety

of last year.

If you were to look at a betting line though, Cole Reagan's would be maybe the only guy

in the rotation that would be like minus 150 minus 200.

Maybe that's being over zealous.

That's why I would go with though at this point in time.

Time's question.

What is your final prediction for the 2026 season team MVP, rookie of the year, surprise

of the year, bounce back player of the year and someone who starts in AAA but ends with

Casey come September team MVP, Bobby with junior, rookie of the year, Carter Jensen, surprise

of the year.

Let's go with Lane Thomas, bounce back player of the year, Jonathan India might be one

there.

He starts in AAA but ends with Casey come September.

I mean, it's an easy one.

I could say Lewandar Avala, I'll go with him because I could see him having a really

big role.

I didn't want to say Ryan Bergerter, Steven Colock, because I don't really consider them

to be true AAA players.

Avala might need to prove a little bit more in AAA that he just no match for it and then

they can bring him up to Kansas City, so those would be my four answers there.

We'll take our first break of the show when we come back still plenty of questions to get

to next on Lockdown Royals.

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We're back here on Lockdown Royals and the Lockdown podcast network.

I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can follow me on Twitter at Johnny J underscore 15.

Want to tell you about the every day or club while we have the time and if you want to sign

up, no better time to do so next week is opening day.

The Royals will take on the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

And if the every day or club is for you, it's probably because you're a diehard listener

because you get ad free Lockdown Royals episodes and you get access to the discord group

chat.

Bunch of Royals fans in there, I'll be active throughout the regular season.

It's a great way to keep up with everything to do on the Lockdown Royals podcast.

You want to sign up, scroll down below, click on the URL link and they're going to be able

to take you from there.

Jumping back over to Twitter, this next question is from Justin.

What would you rather have?

Have the Royals three feet beating the Dodgers this year or be the first person ever with

a perfect bracket?

I mean, not even a question.

I think I'd go with the three feet there.

I couldn't really care less about if my bracket is perfect.

The prize money would be awesome.

That's for sure.

I'd have to imagine though, if the Royals were three-peating, beating the Dodgers this

year, this podcast would be pretty popular as well and that's what matters more to me.

So without even hesitation, I would say three-peat over being the first bracket, our perfect

bracket, just because it's total randomness.

I'm not sure I'd have any skill in that.

My bracket's already busted and it was at about 1 p.m. yesterday as I imagine many other

people had to deal with as well.

This one's from Salvador Presenjoy, could Luinda Ovala work into a closer or higher leverage

reliever role this year?

Without question.

Closer role might be too confident.

I would say though, he could have that Stephen Cruz type role where last year, he began

the year in AAA, quickly got into Kansas City because Hunter Harvey was hurt and then

they put him in high leverage spots and it worked out for a while.

I could see him being that seventh inning guy by June or July.

The stuff's absolutely there.

It's more about will there be an opening at that point in time?

And with the uncertainty of a bullpen, even if you have a good one, he will probably be

there within the first month or two of the season.

This one's from Raised Royal, first minor leagueer to see the show this year.

If I was to give somebody that's not burger, colic, or Ovala, I would go with maybe an

Eric Sarantola or Steven Zovac.

Those would be two guys that might be able to fast track to the big leagues.

The numbers got to be there though.

I mean, if we're talking about pitchers, they have to somehow be much better than the

previous three I just mentioned.

Eric Sarantola was pretty impressive for Team Canada and the World Baseball Classic.

So I'll go with him.

I just to give you a different answer than the ones I've been providing.

Josh's question.

Does Cags hit 40 home runs this year?

I'm going to go know.

I put it at around 25.

That seems like a safe bet.

He hit 12 to 13 if you were to hit or put the new to bet dimensions last year when he

was struggling.

You have 12 to 13 home runs when he was hit in 165.

I imagine he can get to the 25 to 30 range.

Forty might be shooting a little bit too high there.

The fence is coming in though.

That is going to help him with some of those balls that died of the warning track last

year.

If I was to pick somebody that could hit 40 home runs, it's either Bobby, with junior

Salvador Perez or Vinnie Pasquantino.

Next one is coming from S. New.

Do you feel Collins will be ready by opening day?

Yeah, we just talked about that a little bit.

I'm going to say yes.

Will he struggle to begin the year?

I could see that being likely.

Just because he's dealt with some of this stuff, the spring training numbers haven't been

good.

It's not the end all.

You would have liked to see him get some rhythm though.

He's still got a week to go though and there will be some opportunities for him to catch

fire to close out spring training.

I'm going to say yes though, he's ready by opening day.

Will he look like his true self?

I'm going to go with no.

Just in the first couple of series.

Max's question is the bullpen a concern, not many proven guys in the 26 man.

I believe it's one of the better strengths for the royals.

There are proven guys in this bullpen.

I mean, Carl Sistevez, we can say what we want about the velocity dip and the slow build-up.

He led the league and saves last year and had a 2.45 ERA.

That's proven.

He's been a closer for quite some time and a multiple time all-star.

Lucas R6 has been a proven reliever at this level.

Matt Straum has been an incredibly proven reliever at this level.

Yeah, there's some uncertainty with guys like Steven Cruz, Lewand Ravel once he gets

up there.

Daniel Lynch a little bit, but most of these guys, they've been around for a while and have

put up good numbers.

I would say it's the second best trait of this team behind its starting pitching and they're

more durable than the starting pitchers, so I'm not worried about it whatsoever.

DK's question, should we be worried about Isaac Collins, pretty awful spring training

performance?

So yeah, a lot of Isaac Collins questions today and I kind of saw him coming just because

he has been talked about a lot in the media over the last week or so.

You can put stock into it, but to me, when you can really see the alarm bells going

off or hear the alarm bells going off is when you get into the regular season and the

the play looks uncomfortable.

You're not so much focused on the numbers because guys are going to come out early on

in the season, hit the ball incredibly hard and you're going to look up and they hit 175.

I mean, Vinnie Pascuantino, when we talked with him, he brought up how slow the starter

he is that he's one of the worst April hitters in baseball.

Now he's being a little bit humorous about it, but last year, he struggled in April.

Though you didn't watch him play and say that's a guy who's hitting 180, right?

He looks completely lost.

There were moments he didn't look like his typical self, but he ride that ship rather

quickly, had over 30 homeruns and drove in over 100.

With Isaac Collins, if he's hitting 140 and he's just not looking comfortable in left

field, you can tell the swings a little bit slower.

His patience isn't as good.

He's not running as quick.

That's when the alarm bells will be going off for me.

Right now, as I've been trying to do, just not going to be too much stock into the overall

numbers, I'd be more concerned about his overall health.

This one's from Blue in Missouri.

Do the Royals lock up Michael and Vinnie this year or Michael, excuse me, I'm going to

be tripping up on that multiple times throughout the season.

Well, they did give Garcia a long-term extension and to credit our guy Spoon, who always gives

me a hard time about Vinnie Pascuantino's contract.

Yeah, no, they have not locked him up long-term in the way that they have with Garcia.

I do see them giving Vinnie a longer extension.

The one that he has right now is not a true extension.

If he gets out to a good start this year and he's obviously the vocal leader, I don't

know why you wouldn't try to give him that long-term deal.

He's not going anywhere anytime soon.

That seems like a good reward of player, though.

If it's not in the middle of the season, then absolutely early on next season, you can

give him that true long-term deal, not the one they gave him this past off season.

This one's from Spliff.

Do we sign a big arm at the deadline and make a run?

Well, I'm assuming you mean trade for a big arm at the deadline.

If anything, I would say they're going to trade for a big bat.

If they needed more help in the rotation, the bullpen, sure, I could see them adding a bullpen

arm and really trying to go for it.

If the pieces are there, though, you don't need to empty out the farm system to go all

in.

If you're 15 to 20 games over 500 with the guys that you have, you're probably trying

to improve within the margins.

If you are 10 games over 500 and you really need that extra push, I could see them getting

a pretty big impact player.

Only time will tell, though.

I'm assuming that's what you meant, though, in trying to go out and trade for a big

arm.

Not sign one.

Let's take our final break of the week when we come back.

We'll wrap it up with our final set of questions.

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We are wrapping up this mailbag Friday edition of Lockdown Royals and the Lockdown podcast

network.

I've been your host, Jack Johnson.

And we want to tell you that we're now the number one sports podcasting network out there.

No better time to join in on all the fun.

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Our final set of questions is going to begin with David or you worry about a steve is and

with the world's consider taking a matter of the closers role to begin this season.

We did actually answer that exact question, not that it's your fault at all for asking

it again, because you might have missed that episode.

But I am a little bit worried at the Royals aren't overly concerned right now, then he will

be the closer to begin the year.

The velocity, though, has to jump back up in a hurry.

Michael's question, do you think that having so many key players play deep in the world

baseball classic will impact the start of their season in any negative way?

I actually think it'll do the opposite.

I believe it's going to help a lot of these players.

They've been in good rhythm.

They're not going to be ice cold to begin the year where some of these guys in spring

training, you're making that jump from nobody in the crowd playing an 80 degree weather,

now to going in colder weather and having to start things up yet again.

The guys that played in the world baseball classic, they would be my betting favorites

to start the season pretty well.

Let's see if we have any more on Twitter.

If I missed anything, actually one more from Jeff, any update or hearsay if the Royals

have reached a deal with cable providers yet, I'm hoping a deal is reach and they will

keep sending more money through the MLB app.

I'd imagine that everything's all buttoned up.

Where I'm going to be watching the game, they've got everything I'll situated, I'll handle

with MLB.

I'm not sure what your cable provider is.

I've gotten a few questions about this.

Unfortunately, I don't have cable, so I don't have the direct answer for you.

I apologize on that, but I thought to this point, everything is all ironed out.

If you had been on cable last year with Valley, with Fandall, it's going to be the exact

same channel, or if it's not the same channel, it's not far off of that.

If I didn't answer your question properly, just reach out to me and I'll try to have

a better answer for you.

Let's go over YouTube.

This one's from Infinite.

Why is everyone just pretending Lugo is fixed and last year didn't happen?

You can pencil Lugo in as a top starter again this year as if he didn't fall off after

signing his big deal.

They are talking about burger or Cameron for the 5th starter, nobody's ever considered

moving Lugo to the pen to make room for a 5th starter.

Yeah, I just, they're not going to move Lugo based on how he ended last year.

They're going to go over the body of work of what he's done as a royal.

It was not good.

He also dealt with the back injury.

That might have impacted him a little bit.

They're paying Seth Lugo a lot of money.

We know baseball logistics here.

We know the baseball terminology, if you will.

Guys make it a lot of money.

He's going to get the first crack at it.

There's just no way the royals would say we're going to put burger or Cameron or both

those guys in the rotation and bump Lugo out with what he's making to be a longer lever.

If he struggles to begin the year, now we can have that conversation.

The first two years in Kansas City, Seth Lugo has been pretty good to begin the year and

I expect that to happen again in 2026.

Next ones coming from Steve, do you think that Estevis pitching in the World Baseball Classic

affected his velocity and should he have stayed in training camp like Reagan to build up

his command?

I don't believe it affected his velocity because he was throwing slower than that in

spring training.

Reading the article today from Pete Granthoff, excuse me of the case, he said that he

feels fine.

This is how he builds up and if that's the case, then there's nothing to worry about moving

forward.

I'm still a little bit concerned.

I just want to see him get to that 93 to 94 range of four opening day.

He's got two more outings to do so.

But no, I don't believe that really affected his velocity because he wasn't throwing hard

before he left for the World Baseball Classic.

Logan's question.

Every year, there's a player too that follows up a good year with quite the regression.

What better in pitcher do you think could follow that trajectory with the Royals this season?

I'm going to say Noah Cameron, we talked about this last week on our interview with Royals

Data Dugout, so a fun one to go back and listen to.

The peripherals, the data on him aren't favorable and it's not everything.

I like to play a little bit of both the old school and use the data too, but of guys that

could regress, that is one of the pictures in the rotation that I would feel pretty comfortable

about a slight regression.

Not a severe one.

I'm not counting on that at all.

Then offensively, I would say Isaac Collins, kind of for the same reason that his numbers

last year were not really supported by the advanced data.

All he needs to be is a league average bad, but last year, he was 19 to 20 points above

league average.

I don't see him being that same type of hitter for the Royals in 2026.

Next ones from looks like William.

Mailbag question here, 2029 projections, catcher Blake Mitchell, first base caguione, second

base Hammond, shortstop wit, third base Garcia, left field gents, center field rock report,

right field gamble, DH Pasquintino, pictures, Reagan's camera, Kudirna and shields.

This was posted about a month ago.

What would your comment be on that?

Sorry if I missed it about a month ago.

I would say this, that Hammond and Gamble are not going to be up within the next three

years.

One of them would really have to blossom, and I don't see it being that quick for those

guys.

They're young prep headers.

You can take your time with them.

The pushback I would say is I don't believe Blake Mitchell is going to be the catcher over

Carter gents and Carter gents and would be the catcher.

I could see cags in first unless he just continues to improve in right field, then you got

them there.

I bet they'll have somebody else there in center field.

I'm not sold that he's the center fielder of the future.

Josh Hammond, he's a third baseman in my opinion.

I don't know if you want him over at second base.

He's got that build to be a power on third baseman.

Michael Garcia is over there, and he's still going to be pretty young and under contract

three years from now.

I like some of the pieces you have in there.

I don't have tremendous pushback on it.

I just don't think with some of those guys that were high on right now that are 18 and

19, they're going to be up in three years.

I can see them being up probably closer to four to five years.

Next ones coming from this old detailing dude.

Do you see any additions to the 26 man roster with any DFA players when spring training ends?

If Collins gets put on the IR, if so, who would be at it?

My guess if Collins was not ready, would be you keep Tolbert and Lofton or Josh Rojas,

all the guys we've been talking about that in battling for a final bench spot, you would

just keep both of them, right?

If you're battling out with Lofton and Rojas, keep both those guys.

If it's Rojas and Tolbert or Lofton and Tolbert, you keep both those guys if one of them ends

up on the injured list.

This one's coming from dark.

Where is Adelbert O'Monity?

That's a great question.

Whenever he was traded to Boston for Josh Taylor to my knowledge, he never played a single

game for the Red Sox and I want to say he never played a game in the minor leagues for

the Red Sox.

My honest opinion would be that he's out of baseball because we've just not heard anything

on him.

It's kind of similar to Ace of Lacey, like there just been no reports on him and when

you go three to four years without any reports, they're clearly not playing anywhere on any

roster unless he's, you know, back in the Dominican Republic playing in some league or he's

in the Mexican league or maybe somewhere overseas but I'll have to do some more research

on that because I got no idea where Monty C is.

This one is from John and it looks like we got about five more after this.

John's question, what would Reagan's predicted win total be?

I'm going to say he gets to 12.

If I was to set up an over-under, I'd put it at 11 and a half.

This one's from KG, relatively new fan here.

I started watching this past season.

I know Vinny is the team's motivator but is there someone who brings the attitude in

the rotation and the bullpen?

Thanks for the great content.

As you guys know, I like to say, thanks for the kind words.

Rotation, it's not so much of a fiery personality.

I would say that they're all very level headed.

They look to Seth Lugo and Michael Walker to beat those wise guys in the rotation, not

in a sarcastic way.

They are the experienced season vets that everybody looks up to.

Out of the bullpen, John Schreiber is absolutely that guy that brings the intensity and the

fire.

Lucas Horsick is another guy but he's also kind of a bit quieter though in the clubhouse.

There's more of an outspoken guy so that's a better pick for the bullpen.

There's not really that fiery guy in the rotation.

They're all very common poised as the best way to put it.

This one's coming from Matt, based off the WBC, does any team's fan base have more to

be excited about than us?

I don't think so.

Only team I'd say is Boston, Boston had a couple of guys that played really well.

Willier Bray, Roman Antti and the championship game.

Also Garrett Whitlock for every game except for the championship one, but they're the only

ones that I think would come close to the type of success that the Royals had.

This one is from Armageddon Sports.

Do you believe the Royals can carry this type of swagger into the season?

Absolutely, but the only thing that brings swagger is winning.

You won the World Baseball Classic.

You start the season two and eight.

You're not going to have that same swagger that you did in the World Baseball Classic.

And lastly, this one's from Jeff.

When do you think the new City Connect uniforms braining will be released?

I'm not sure if they are going to have them unless they come about this week.

So right now, I'm just assuming they're going to have the Navy Blues again.

I would love to be surprised though.

At some point in Monday and Tuesday, we get the brand new uniforms that they'll be

unveiling for their City Connect uniforms.

That's going to do it for another edition of Lockdown Royals on the Lockdown Podcast

Network.

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