Why the Giants Are Turning the Corner: Bryce Eldridge, Young Talent and Winning Baseball With Mike Krukow

0:00Tim Ryan here with your Bay Area team and Ford. Now get a California Explorer annual day use pass with your purchase or lease of a brand new Bronco or Bronco sport. It's got goat mode like your players driving to the game or off-roading. There's seven available modes. Ford is America's number one for new vehicle quality among mainstream brands. Visit your California Ford dealer today proud partner of California State Parks. Named by JD Power 2026 US Initial Quality Study Award. Information visit JDpower.com slash awards awards based on 2026 model year. Now back to Merfin Marcus on the sports leader streaming live on these sports leader.com and KNBR. The sports leader app Merfin Marcus is sponsored by Bigelow T grab a mug and T proudly. There's no question we got the best in the group. That's why Merfin Marcus catch up with crew right now right now on KNBR 1045FM and 6 in the end. All right we love it Mike Kruko. We treasure these days here Wednesday with Mike. We'll

1:04do it again Friday. We're just going to squeeze as much as we can in here with Mike on the UMA guests on Giants one last night 63 wins. They will not lose a hundred. They're going to try to chip away at that again today at 1240 at 1215 pardon me St. Louis time 1015 our time 915 pregame as play as Anthony Molina get to chance on the man last night was played tidwell but Mike on the UMA guest line first and foremost good morning to you great to have you and second of all Wow Bryce Eldridge Mike 461 we've talked to you about him at various times throughout the summer and even lately but he just keeps doing things that impress us and Mike he's like joining these lists of of giant greats Mel Ott Willie Mays Orlando subaida of age 21 or younger with that many home runs and then last night I think the longest non-cours field Homer by any giant this year so I'm just gush and Mike and I'm just telling you seeing even more stuff from this guy as he plays deeper into the season well I mean it's all the best and you know we saw really at a pretty early point in his career where

2:10you know he just relax and he has such an incredible belief about his abilities and you know you're looking at this guy 21 years old and he does things that it takes time to learn but what I think his foundation is is the inside part of the play I mean you just don't normally talk about that when the guy 6 7 but he is really good at being able to pick over the ball that's on his hands on the corner or even off the plate in so that's remarkable I mean that just makes everybody shake their head going who is this guy and he just takes it all in stride I loved it last night and they were sitting up to you or the runner on and he comes up to nothing and it just kind of relaxed their buddy on the bench I thought the bads that they had last night up and down the lineup really pretty solid and and it really was reflected in the score obviously but you know right now with Devers out Eldries is elevated into the

3:11centerpiece of that that lineup and everybody is pulling off this confidence that's what that's what a player that has an unusual abilities can do everybody looks and everybody sees by this guy is successful but when he's doing it it rubs off it makes everybody better it elevates everybody and you know he's gonna have I'm having a great year I mean this is turned out to be a great year for this guy I mean I and it looks to me like as the season progresses I mean he's got better and I mean you go to get a number that will Clark had it in 1986 is rookie year and take a look at what what elders just done and will got hurt he didn't play the last five or six weeks or whatever and but there's a lot of similarities to it and then of course will just took off and he's seven and I I think the same thing is gonna happen to Eldries I think he's gonna be a monster in this game yeah and that was one hell of a home run last night and Mike we all know that everybody loves the long ball but you know

4:12that the morning show loves the bun so moving on from Bryce Eldridge to Jonah Cox who once again lay down a bump for base hit yesterday the stat I heard on the radio yesterday is that he's five for eight on bunth attempts to seize him for base hits he's also got 11 stolen bags so just your thoughts on Jonah Cox bringing back a style of baseball that seems like it's been missing here in San Francisco. Well I think you know he's aware of his abilities and I think he's taking advantage of it I mean how many times have you seen guys that came up and had an unbelievable speed that didn't know how to but and I'll give you an example of it we first saw Grant McCray he had great great speed but he didn't know how to but well he worked hard to become a butter and he still has a ways to go but I mean he's taking advantage of his abilities and this is something that that Jonah Cox has realized you know that my legs are by strength there's my strength on defense is my strength on the base pass and just by strength and being able to get on base when I'm in a cold streak when I'm not hitting the ball I can bump I can push a bump now you know you're now he's learning how to

5:14drag a bump depending on you know pictures and you know when you know in situation you know these are things that that it take a little time I mean I love to have him sit down with Dwight Kuiper who was a great butter and you knew that he was gonna bun at least once or twice in a game and he had excellent back control we saw Taylor that that ball player with a pod raise over the weekend he's an excellent and what it does to defense it completely disrupts the picture it disrupts the concentration of a defense what a guy can do what the runners can do and now that we're seeing Cox take advantage of it I mean I think right now you judge him with a lot of things in this game but on base percentage it's gonna be really big even more important than batting average for this guy and if you can get on base by with a base by because of walks and bumps I mean you're gonna play a lot of baseball so I'm really excited for his kid Tim Ryan here with your Bay Area team and four now get a California

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7:21slash hope or call one eight five five six nine four nine six four seven that's jhm.org slash hope or one eight five five six nine four nine six four seven sanctuary of hope because no girl should face this alone sponsored by Hague ministries Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason and Silverado keeps its rhythm you feel it in the turbo max engine with best in class standard torque and available Z71 off road package that keeps you rolling when the road turns rough and the most functional truck bed with best in class cargo space their trucks that work as hard as you do so you can do more of what you love without missing update see your Bay Area Chevy dealer today based on latest competitive information excludes other jm vehicles so I'm I'm really like him when I'm seeing here no Mike I'm doing some quick math here going back to after they got back from Boston giants are if I if I do this right there

8:24eight and so they're ten and I think they're like ten and ten I mean listen five they're right right around five hundred in their last twenty something like that and you know nobody wants to be five hundred that's what they were the last few years but it's better than it was the previous four months right and they are energetic and they're stealing bags and they're bunting and they're they're also as you pointed out to us I think the other day they're coming back even in games they're losing they're coming back and threatening like late in the game which they didn't do earlier in the year I guess my big picture question is is there anything the old vets the Chapman's the Adamus is the I'll throw Casey Schmidt in there all the guys who've been sidelineed is there anything they're seeing from these kids that they need to be better at next year oh yeah I mean talent let's try that with capital letters nothing makes a player better than talent coming up threatening to take his job so what is what is better in the eyes of the fan five hundred with veterans or

9:27five hundred with a bunch of kids when you see five hundred with a bunch of kids there's energy when you're at five hundred as a veteran team the energy is is it's C plus rated I mean it's it's five hundred it's it's it's yeah it's so so but when you're seeing it coming out of of your young players you know you start to imagine the future with these guys because you know they're going to get better they're learning to speed they're learning this level they're getting established and learning their their their opponents stuff and you think well gee they get that knowledge how much better they're gonna be well they're gonna be better well they're gonna be better than five hundred what that means you're gonna be you're gonna be worthy of a possible run for a playoff spot so when you have this coming from your from your organization from your mind of the system that puts enormous pressure on the guys who are there because there's not one guy in that in that in that clubhouse that's a veteran it doesn't want to be the guy that doesn't want to justify the contract and

10:29justify the numbers it takes to justify that contract and when you have young players who are realistically threatening to take your job that lights a fuse and that is there's nothing healthy or in a big league clubhouse and that nothing Mike last night we saw Blade Tidwell throw six and two thirds innings that's the deepest he's worked into a game at the big league level did you notice anything different by the way that Blade Tidwell it's attacked a strike zone last night I thought a slider was fantastic and I thought he was really good at keeping it down when he made when he missed with it he was below the strike zone nothing heard him you know when he's had problems with his stuff that slider oftentimes been lazy and it lingers in the in the strike zone and he gets hit and you have to make the the corrections when you talk to a pitching coach after a game they're gonna value it your stuff and they're gonna go back and they're gonna be able to show you where you statistically put the ball in the strike zone and if you're having a a percentage of of

11:32inefficient location it's gonna easily explain that an outing where you went four to third gave up five or six runs the other thing to about about it always goes ahead and hand when you're elevating when you're striking up it's like the slider or a sinker with that thing starts to come up you know all of sudden your E.I.A. starts to go up there with it and then you realize oh wait this isn't a good pitch today I can't I can't challenge I can't throw what I want to and you start to nibble now you're behind an account it's just snowballs so you correct pitch like he has done with the slider and I'll send you get it back well now I said you can pitch that that that he's he's conscious of that slider and that makes every other pitch you have better I thought what he did yesterday was exemplary and you know what he's done and a lot of us really good outing he's given it runs early and then he makes a correction the times when he hasn't been able to pitch well he hasn't been able to make the

12:32correction so as you go forward I mean this guy is is making strides to be better to improve to pitch consistently and or at least try to and certainly yesterday was a good step he's still in that regard for sure he may get I don't he might get two more stars certainly one more and he's somebody who needs to kind of earn that earn that respect from the Giants brass as they evaluate him Mike we delayed to the most important question of the day Marcus went down to San Jose last night which is cool to see the San Jose Giants and their playoff and they won and and three pictures through a combined no hitter and Marcus was excited because he was there and I was like he told me about it and I was like yeah and it did ignited a debate is is it combined no hitter and exciting and thrilling and memorable baseball moment my argument was I would rather see a complete game to hitter by one man then a combined no hitter by three men Mike where do you come in not I can't argue with you I the complete game thing is just

13:37it's just sad there's to what's happened to it and you know the sadness is that this generation player wants those complete games they want to be able to throw a complete game no hitter they want to throw shut out but it's been going on for so long now you think you go take a look at at Berländer I mean Berländer is gonna be a first-bound Hall of Famer in my opinion you take a look I was looking at the stats one day I'm going she how many complete games does he have how many shutouts and I'm thinking myself holy I have more than him how is that even possible I mean in the grand scheme that you start talking about Berländer and me and our abilities and I can't even be in the same camp with the guy but yet I had more complete games and and shutouts but you're talking about a warrior and and the same thing can be said about you know Bumgarner is heyday I mean they just took away the ability to throw 125 to 140 pitches which it takes to complete a game and it takes away stats that that were coveted that define

14:40pitchers and and got guys in the Hall of Fame shutouts and complete games and now it's no longer possible but I think the biggest sin of all is that in doing all this and limiting the amount of pitches that they throw you've taken away no hitters and perfect games they just and when you do see a combined no hitter I agree with you it's like man okay Tim Ryan here with your Bay Area team and Ford now get a California Explorer annual day use pass with your purchase or lease of a brand new Bronco or Bronco sport it's got goat mode like your players driving to the game or off-roading there's seven available modes Ford is America's number one for new vehicle quality among mainstream brands visit your California Ford dealer today proud partner of California State Park named by JD Power 2026 US Initial Quality Study Award information visit JD Power dot com slash awards awards based on 2026 model year this is Dave Roberts if you're heading into summer without a medical emergency kit you're taking a risk most people don't think about until it's too late summer colds linger and

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16:45torque and available Z 71 off road package that keeps you rolling when the road turns rough and the most functional truck bed with best in class cargo space their trucks that work as hard as you do so you can do more of what you love without missing update see your Bay Area Chevy dealer today based on latest competitive information excludes other GM vehicles my we're rooting Marcus's night in a good time out there my point is I agree with you guys I love me a workhorse I would rather see a no hitter or complete game at the major level but it was cool to see at the minor league level where guys don't have the longest leashes and to see a young prospect like Arhenius Kamehaya who's a top 20 prospect in the giant system to go five shut out innings with seven strikeouts then the combined no hitter was completed by two pictures were drafted this year in 2026 by Buster Posey and Zach Manassian. So I guess just big picture Mike like how important are those moments for these young guys in the minor leagues because you look at the San Jose giant you look at the river cats and the flying squirrels they're all playing playoff baseball right now like how big are these moments Cono or no Cono combined.

17:48Well they really are big and they're big for a number of reasons number one you're aware of the no hitters you're going out there and you're trying to get that no I mean that's that's a big proof really when you're going into a deeper into the playoffs when you have a team that puts out an effort like that collectively as a group I mean that's really valuable and so I think there's there's a little merit to it I mean I really shouldn't be as hard as I am on an honest little picture from a different generation but this generation that they're doing what they're they're pretty allowed to do and in doing that because of the new set of rules as to how far they can go and how many pitches they can throw because they're trying to protect these kids and when they do have a no hitter it is a big deal and it's a big deal because the pictures in that game felt the pressure of the no hitter and and then you say well how did they respond to that so if a guy can respond to that well he can respond to a ninth inning and possibly as a closure close that out of game or he can respond as a as a as a starter who is capable of getting a special

18:53hitter out to and three times a night so those are there are big things that you get to take out of a of a collective effort like that but it certainly doesn't hurt their momentum going into playoffs either yeah it's fun to see what's going on in the young in the lower levels there hey just because we we love talking ball with you this is a non-giants incident I don't know if you saw it but Pete Alonzo for the Orioles was it city field in New York old Shay Stadium area and hit his 300th career home run now it happened to be a game tying home run against the Mets in the ninth inning you'd think that would hurt a Mets fans heart instead Mike these fans and you played against them you were in New York these fans gave him a road curtain call that's pretty extraordinary I think and after the game there's a really neat online clip of these three New York fans they're in their late twenties two of them are wearing Pete Alonzo jerseys they caught the ball and Alonzo gave him so much time he spent all this time with them autographed all their jerseys autographed all their bats brought them out three cans of beer and they all took pictures

19:56now it's kind of thinking yeah that could maybe happen in basketball or hockey we can get but not probably not football but it might be only in baseball like only in baseball do you have something like that just such a special moment so I don't know if you saw any of that or had any reaction to that whole thing with the fans road curtain calls and then Alonzo's a treatment of those guys well I did see it I watched this morning and and a good for him I mean 300 miles down he's definitely gonna get 500 in his career just one of the great you know contemporary sluggers and he didn't want to leave New York he loved New York he was a met broke his heart that he had to go and and it broke the hearts of the fans and this was a guy who was enormously popular with the every with the every man of the city and and yet you know I mean Baltimore embraced him and brought him in and you know he's he's done well I mean and he got off to a slow start he was pressing he was out of he was out of whack he was you know he was missing his comfort zone so when you go back to a city and you get

20:59somewhat of an ovation it's a big deal when you get a standing ovation when you get a curtain call that's that's so rare and it's so cool I just it was it we just you could just look at the look the look on his face it was it was it wasn't satisfaction it was just a reenewal of the love that they have for this guy and that meant that meant the world to him and he'll never forget those fans that relationship that he had that the career he had in New York never never never be forgotten by the best fans they're great fans and at the lines will always be a year or there great moment really for the game of baseball and and for their fans did you when you went back to rigley did you get some old fans or remember you and give you a little special love I did and you know it was funny because I was worried about it going in but it wasn't my idea to get traded to the Phillies I mean and on the way out I mean I made sure that but I let it be known in Chicago as a house special Chicago was

22:02really feel was and certainly the fans were because they were remarkable and I mean and it always even when I came back as a broadcaster I got a couple times to be able to sing the seventh in stretch take me out to the ball game you know they gave me a good welcome and I never forgot it it was something you're worried about and and then when you do get a little bit of a innovation that feels really really good you know I tell you what the hell it's when you're on a when you come in and say you you open up the season there when you're with another team and now you're standing on the baseline and they're reducing you as a as a giant out of cup you really kind of worried about how to be received because however you receive you're gonna get buried by your teammates right one way together you really can't win but when you do get a nice location that does mean something they are having a fun time even though the brewers are are running away with it the cups are gonna go to the playoffs I think and and the rigley's kind of lit up right now so they're gonna have some fun this October so all right well listen still stuff to watch we'll see this

23:04kid Molina this afternoon or she say this morning my gosh 1015 and then and we'll we'll let you watch that have an off day Thursday watch some football and we will talk to you Friday Mike my Cooco every Monday Wednesday and Friday great stuff all right little change in the schedule cooler of content on Wednesdays is 815 p1s know this p1s know this because 830 Ron Rivera yeah that's right and then Matt Mayoko at 850 because tomorrow where I have to bump Matt Mayoko because of our big trip to cash Creek with Patrick Willis and DeVarro Bowman yeah I think Matt Mayoko will understand he's not as studly as Patrick Willis and I mean I would love to see Matt Mayoko over the middle of that 49ers defense but I'm not putting him on my top five greatest 49ers above Patrick Willis and put him on the top five yeah so by the way you can come see us at cash Creek tomorrow right come on down if they're or up or over yeah I'm so not sure which direction I'm driving to tonight 49ers Kyle Eustick and Raheem Morris did some media we'll talk about what they had to say about their trip about the defense 9er talk on the

24:07big hit next on these sports leader K and B sports leader Tim Ryan here with your Bay Area team and four now get a California Explorer annual day use pass with your purchase or lease of a brand new Bronco or Bronco sport it's got goat mode like your players driving to the game or off-roading there's seven available modes Ford is America's number one for new vehicle quality among mainstream brands visit your California Ford dealer today proud partner of California State Parks named by JD Power 2026 US initial quality study award information visit JD Power dot com slash awards awards based on 2026 model year