{"podcast":{"title":"Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander","slug":"flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614","podcast_index_feed_id":3663614,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/CAD8627571361","website_url":"https://www.foxsports.com/shows/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/698d0a92-8c57-11eb-830c-3fed562f4edf/image/c75c2bbbc54749c5247f20252b383480.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"FOX Sports","episode_count":732,"summary":"Flippin' Bats is a fun baseball podcast bringing you everything you want from around the league! You'll hear from Hall of Famer John Smoltz every week, you'll hear from the game's best players, and you'll be up to date on everything around the league! Baseball. Is. Fun. And so is Flippin' Bats!","last_synced_at":"2026-06-28T20:20:11.167672+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614"},"episode":{"title":"Saturday with Smoltz: How Serious Is Shohei Ohtani's Blister? + Braves Concerns Growing","slug":"saturday-with-smoltz-how-serious-is-shohei-ohtani-s-blister-braves-concerns-growing","published_at":"2026-06-20T19:48:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614/saturday-with-smoltz-how-serious-is-shohei-ohtani-s-blister-braves-concerns-growing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/RLDER9832367144.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/RLDER9832367144.mp3","summary":"Could Shohei Ohtani's blister become a serious problem as he chases one of the most historic seasons in baseball history? This week, Hall of Famer John Smoltz joins the show to discuss the growing concern surrounding Shohei Ohtani's blister issue and how difficult it can be for pitchers to perform through finger injuries. After allowing just 5 earned runs through his first 10 starts before surrendering 7 in his last two, is the blister to blame or is it something bigger? We also discuss whether there should be any concern surrounding the Atlanta Braves after injuries to both Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr., the Mariners' unique piggyback pitching strategy, and the latest proposed Home Run Derby rule changes. Don't miss another great baseball conversation with one of the greatest pitchers to ever take the mound. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:49 John Smoltz Joins 2:17 Braves Concern 5:38 Shohei Blister Issue 8:27 Mariners Piggyback 11:01 New Derby Rules 12:39 The Pro Tour 14:43 Outro #MLB #ShoheiOhtani #JohnSmoltz #Dodgers #Braves #baseball Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Could Shohei Ohtani's blister become a serious problem as he chases one of the most historic seasons in baseball history? This week, Hall of Famer John Sm…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1052,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614/episodes/saturday-with-smoltz-how-serious-is-shohei-ohtani-s-blister-braves-concerns-growing/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/flippin-bats-with-ben-verlander-3663614/saturday-with-smoltz-how-serious-is-shohei-ohtani-s-blister-braves-concerns-growing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}