Dan Shulman

I think if you look it up, Vladdy's two best years might have been the two years where his swing and miss rate was the highest.

I may be wrong there, but I think it's pretty closely correlated.

Like, when you're a big boy, it's okay to take chances.

They want you to take chances.

Take your shot.

Yeah, take your shot, right?

Get your A swing off.

How many times have we heard that?

And I don't think it's coincidence that he has started looking a lot more comfortable in the field as well.

I thought the game looked...

maybe felt a little fast for him the first couple of weeks.

Remember, he picked up a couple of bunts that might have spun foul.

Maybe they don't, but they might have.

But I think he just looks more comfortable and confident on both sides of the ball right now.

And, geez, imagine where they would be without him the last couple of weeks with everything else going on.

I think he would embrace it.

I think he wants it.

Yes.

So I've talked to Dylan Cease, I don't know, a handful of times, maybe a little more than that, over the past several weeks.

And he has never said to me, I want to punch out as many guys as I can.