Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / FISH FRY: Former Angels slugger Tim Salmon serves up thoughts on Mike Trout and so much more

Transcript

FISH FRY: Former Angels slugger Tim Salmon serves up thoughts on Mike Trout and so much more · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Play Angel fans and welcome back to Halo territory. I
0:11
Speaker 1: am Mike di Giovanna with Mark Trumbo, and as you
0:14
Speaker 1: can see if you're watching us on YouTube, we have
0:16
Speaker 1: a very special guest today, Tim Salmon, the former former
0:20
Speaker 1: Angels right fielder and current broadcaster. Tim, Welcome to the show.
0:25
Speaker 1: How you doing today? Good, good to see you guys.
0:28
Speaker 1: You finally got it going. I'm glad to see it.
0:31
Speaker 1: Appreciate you having here. Tim Salmon played fourteen years in
0:36
Speaker 1: big leagues, all with the Angels from nineteen ninety two
0:39
Speaker 1: to two thousand and six. He was the American League
0:41
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year in nineteen ninety three and a
0:44
Speaker 1: World Series champion in two thousand and two. Of course,
0:47
Speaker 1: Tim finished his career with an eight eighty four ops
0:51
Speaker 1: and two hundred and ninety nine home runs, and he's
0:53
Speaker 1: been broadcasting with the team since two thousand and four.
0:57
Speaker 1: And Mark's gonna lead us off today with the first question.
1:02
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for being here. Tim in lou After
1:07
Speaker 2: Monday Night's tremendous performance, I think we have to start
1:10
Speaker 2: with a Mic trout question. He's back in centerfield, he's
1:14
Speaker 2: running well, and he's looked really good against the fastball
1:17
Speaker 2: this year, which gave him some trouble last year. What
1:21
Speaker 2: have you seen and what's your read on him early
1:25
Speaker 2: in this season, both physically, mentally and it's all around game.
1:32
Speaker 3: Well, I think he's in a better place than he
1:33
Speaker 3: was last year, and everybody points to the right there.
1:36
Speaker 3: At the end of the season, he felt like something clicked,
1:39
Speaker 3: you know, you know Mark, you know, the players the
1:42
Speaker 3: last one to realize.
1:43
Speaker 4: When their skills are starting to deteriorate. I mean it's
1:45
Speaker 4: like at the end of your career.
1:46
Speaker 3: I mean, Mike still got some more years ahead of him,
1:49
Speaker 3: but he's obviously seen with some of the injuries, some
1:51
Speaker 3: of the declines, and you know, maybe in the bat
1:54
Speaker 3: speed and things. And also you know, when you haven't
1:56
Speaker 3: played as much over five years, you know, the game
1:59
Speaker 3: kind of you know, catches up and maybe passes you
2:02
Speaker 3: by a little bit. So I think there's a little
2:03
Speaker 3: bit of him, you know, last year was just kind
2:06
Speaker 3: of getting back into it again, you know, his headspace.
2:11
Speaker 4: This this spring I talked to him. He seemed like
2:13
Speaker 4: he's in a great place.
2:14
Speaker 3: Seems like he kind of went back to the fundamentals
2:17
Speaker 3: of some things that maybe got away from him.
2:19
Speaker 4: Over the years. You know, this organization's had some changes
2:23
Speaker 4: at the big.
2:24
Speaker 3: League level and with that comes new hitting philosophies and coaches.
2:27
Speaker 3: And you know, I don't I've always said, why would
2:31
Speaker 3: you ever tinker with the best swing in baseball? But
2:33
Speaker 3: it's just a reality. When you're with somebody for two
2:35
Speaker 3: hundred plus days a year and the you know, the
2:38
Speaker 3: in the cages, you're gonna you know, you're going to
2:41
Speaker 3: start trying some things. And you know, Mike's been open
2:44
Speaker 3: to that, and I think to his credit, he's kind
2:46
Speaker 3: of said, hey, I need to just kind of clear
2:47
Speaker 3: the clear it out a little bit and go back.
2:50
Speaker 4: To some of the fundamentals. And I think that's what
2:51
Speaker 4: you're seeing right now.
2:52
Speaker 3: I think one of the conversations I had with him is,
2:55
Speaker 3: you know, there's been such a focus.
2:57
Speaker 4: On that high fastball, and outside of.
3:00
Speaker 3: Yourself and Garrett Anderson, I mean, I don't know too
3:02
Speaker 3: many guys that can handle the high fastball, But why
3:04
Speaker 3: would you change your bread and butter and what your
3:07
Speaker 3: strength is for a pitch that, Hey, if a guy
3:09
Speaker 3: can do it, if he can throw it on you
3:11
Speaker 3: on a certain night, you tip your cat. But by
3:14
Speaker 3: face or focusing on that pitch. He took away all
3:18
Speaker 3: his strengths, which were off speed. Hitting all the offspeed pitches,
3:21
Speaker 3: anything down on the zone he crushed. And you saw
3:25
Speaker 3: last year he really struggled. He takes a lot of
3:27
Speaker 3: those pitches. But this year, well, even like last night.
3:29
Speaker 3: I mean, you saw a couple of the sliders he hit,
3:32
Speaker 3: and you know, one was a fastball, I believe what
3:33
Speaker 3: the other one was a slider. It's good to see
3:35
Speaker 3: him hitting those pitches again, because it seemed like last
3:38
Speaker 3: year he was taking a lot of those pitches.
3:40
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about the ABS system a little later,
3:42
Speaker 1: but it does seem like maybe that new the challenges
3:46
Speaker 1: some of the high strikes that may have been called
3:48
Speaker 1: on him in the past he's taking and the umps
3:51
Speaker 1: are either calling them balls or he's challenging, challenging them
3:56
Speaker 1: towards the balls.
3:57
Speaker 3: You know, Mike, I've said this and Trump, but you
4:01
Speaker 3: can understand this completely. I remember Don Slott, he was
4:04
Speaker 3: an old catcher of ours, and at the end of
4:06
Speaker 3: his career, he came out for early hitting one day
4:08
Speaker 3: and wearing Baltimore and I was in there and I
4:11
Speaker 3: was just trying to turn on everything. I was like,
4:13
Speaker 3: wear me out inside, wear me out inside. And the
4:15
Speaker 3: reason was we just got back from Cleveland and we
4:17
Speaker 3: saw three sinkerballers, Herscheiser, Naggy and Martinez, and they wore
4:22
Speaker 3: me out inside, and all I could do is hit
4:23
Speaker 3: a ground ball to third base and I went over
4:25
Speaker 3: for the series. So I'm out there early trying to
4:27
Speaker 3: turn on that ball and change my swing, and he said, stop,
4:29
Speaker 3: what are you doing? He goes, tonight, you're going to
4:31
Speaker 3: see Ben McDonald and you see her. They throw four
4:33
Speaker 3: seemers and big overhead curveballs. The world's going to look
4:36
Speaker 3: normal again. Change in your swing, And sure enough it did,
4:40
Speaker 3: and I end up pitting a couple of home runs
4:41
Speaker 3: in that series, and it was like, oh, okay, there's
4:44
Speaker 3: certain guys that my swing just doesn't match up against.
4:47
Speaker 4: Tip your cap.
4:47
Speaker 3: Don't go change in your game to chase a couple guys,
4:50
Speaker 3: or it was just unfortunate.
4:52
Speaker 4: I saw three in a row.
4:53
Speaker 3: But why would you go change your swing and what
4:55
Speaker 3: you're good at and what's made you a Hall of Famer?
4:58
Speaker 3: Mic trout for a high pitch that not everybody can
5:01
Speaker 3: execute it, And really what I think he experienced was
5:04
Speaker 3: in his emphasis to try to hit it, he found
5:06
Speaker 3: himself chasing more and more of him out of the zone,
5:09
Speaker 3: which I think got him away from his game, and
5:11
Speaker 3: he kind of admitted that as well.
5:12
Speaker 4: So it's good to see him kind of like, Okay.
5:14
Speaker 3: Forget all that I'm not good, I'm gonna try to
5:16
Speaker 3: file that pitch off.
5:17
Speaker 4: I'm gonna hunt my zone.
5:18
Speaker 3: And I think that's what we've seen to this point,
5:21
Speaker 3: and you know, the bags it's been a little bit
5:23
Speaker 3: mixed at times, but last night was a great sign.
5:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, talk about mixed.
5:27
Speaker 1: Trout entered Tuesday night hitting two twenty four with an
5:31
Speaker 1: eight eighty three ops, four homers, and twelve RBIs. But
5:34
Speaker 1: all of his homers and RBIs came in the first
5:37
Speaker 1: three games of the season. In the last four games
5:40
Speaker 1: through Monday night and in between, you went two for
5:42
Speaker 1: thirty three and nine games.
5:44
Speaker 4: Are tim Are.
5:45
Speaker 1: You more encouraged by the bookend games that we've seen
5:48
Speaker 1: from Trout or more concerned about that middle stretch of games.
5:53
Speaker 4: Well, it just shows that he's not quite where he
5:56
Speaker 4: wants to be yet. I think I think that.
6:00
Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I think as the season progresses and
6:03
Speaker 3: he gets back into his old game plan of hunting
6:06
Speaker 3: lower in the zone.
6:07
Speaker 4: I think you're going to see his you know.
6:09
Speaker 3: You're gonna I think you're gonna seem to start becoming
6:11
Speaker 3: that hitter that maybe he wants to be and that
6:14
Speaker 3: he's always been. Maybe that's my hope. You know, those
6:17
Speaker 3: games in the middle, you know, sometimes you got to tip.
6:20
Speaker 3: You just played the Mariners. We had the Mariners and
6:23
Speaker 3: uh my blanket here. We had some good pitching, you know,
6:28
Speaker 3: I mean I remember those beat years, you know, when
6:30
Speaker 3: New York could roll it down and you know, or
6:32
Speaker 3: Boston and they'd you know, you're seeing page five out
6:35
Speaker 3: of six games. You're seeing stud pitching. They're going to
6:38
Speaker 3: beat you down, you know. So to me, if he
6:40
Speaker 3: was having those struggles against kind of your average Joe's,
6:44
Speaker 3: it might be a little bit more concerning. But you know,
6:46
Speaker 3: that whole stretch, I mean, it wasn't just him that
6:48
Speaker 3: was getting beat down a little bit.
6:50
Speaker 4: Is kind of the whole offense against some good pitching.
6:52
Speaker 2: M I think that this actually those advanced metrics, especially
6:58
Speaker 2: this stuff, plus that that has ever where indicated the
7:01
Speaker 2: Angels have seen, at least as of a few days ago,
7:04
Speaker 2: the toughest pitching, the second toughest pitching in baseball, and
7:07
Speaker 2: those stretches kind of come in bunches at times. You
7:10
Speaker 2: don't get to determine who you play. And I think
7:13
Speaker 2: they've more than held their own, which kind of is
7:15
Speaker 2: the question I'm getting into some of the early positives,
7:18
Speaker 2: Like for the offense as a whole, they're leading the
7:21
Speaker 2: league in walks, which I don't know if that came
7:24
Speaker 2: out of nowhere or not. Zach Netto is taking a
7:25
Speaker 2: ton as well. You know, there have been a few
7:30
Speaker 2: guys that are coming around a little bit later. But
7:33
Speaker 2: you know, are there some other highlights beyond Mike Trout
7:36
Speaker 2: that you think you know, guys, are you know, really
7:39
Speaker 2: contributing or taking a step in the right direction.
7:43
Speaker 3: Well, solaire, look what he's healthy. I mean, he's he's
7:46
Speaker 3: actually playing better. You know, I thought Neto and I
7:50
Speaker 3: talked to him. I see him every day in the
7:52
Speaker 3: you know, the dugout, and we talked about well, I
7:55
Speaker 3: know that there's been a concerted effort of discussion at
7:59
Speaker 3: least coming into training to be more patient. But you know,
8:03
Speaker 3: as I talked to them, look like, look, you're not
8:05
Speaker 3: going to be damn X sign going up. You're taken
8:07
Speaker 3: and you get to three to two every time. That's
8:09
Speaker 3: not what this team needs. I think what they're saying
8:11
Speaker 3: is is just recognizing the ebb and flow of at
8:14
Speaker 3: bats one at bats to the next, or one game
8:17
Speaker 3: to the next, and how they're pitching you. Because this
8:19
Speaker 3: aggressiveness is as great as trade. Don't take that away
8:21
Speaker 3: from yourself. But be aggressive in your zone and trumble.
8:25
Speaker 3: You know, I mean, you make money in this game.
8:26
Speaker 3: You played the game for a long time. When you
8:28
Speaker 3: hunt your pitches. If you're up there just being aggressive
8:31
Speaker 3: swinging at a fastball because it's a fastball, you're going
8:34
Speaker 3: to hit the pitchers fastball. A lot of those times
8:35
Speaker 3: are going to make out. So the reality is is
8:38
Speaker 3: that do you have the ability to say, Okay, I
8:40
Speaker 3: got three strikes to work with, I'm going to be
8:42
Speaker 3: aggressive in my zone and that means that I might
8:44
Speaker 3: have to show patients and take one of those fastballs
8:47
Speaker 3: that wasn't really where I was looking. But at the
8:49
Speaker 3: end of the day, you know, I said, you're going
8:51
Speaker 3: to have six hundred at bats. I said, it's about
8:53
Speaker 3: eliminating the wasted at bats. If you could eliminate wasted
8:57
Speaker 3: at bats, meeting those at bats where you went up
8:59
Speaker 3: there just free and swinging and then getting yourself out.
9:03
Speaker 3: You know, that's what's going to make you a great
9:05
Speaker 3: Major leaguer. And that's where I think a guy like
9:07
Speaker 3: Netto's at up and down the lineup. You know, I
9:10
Speaker 3: think Josh Low to me, is a guy that I
9:13
Speaker 3: really hope he brings some really big things to this offense.
9:16
Speaker 3: I like everything about him and what he brings. I'm
9:19
Speaker 3: excited about that. Ohapi's had a swing change a little
9:23
Speaker 3: bit as well, kind of a mixed bag. I mean,
9:25
Speaker 3: we saw him back in Anaheim again again it was
9:28
Speaker 3: against some great pitching. You know, again, all these young
9:30
Speaker 3: hitters are any hitter i'd talk about in this Angel lineup,
9:33
Speaker 3: and why they've struck out so much is, yes, they're aggressive,
9:36
Speaker 3: but you have to be aggressive hunting your pitches. Hey,
9:39
Speaker 3: two strikes, chase it, you know, expand his own. But
9:43
Speaker 3: you know, don't be afraid to get to two strikes.
9:45
Speaker 3: I mean, you have to give yourself a chance to
9:48
Speaker 3: hit the pitcher's mistake. And if you're afraid to get
9:51
Speaker 3: deep in the count, you're not going to belong for
9:54
Speaker 3: this game, and Mark you know that.
9:56
Speaker 4: I mean, that's what the great hitters do.
9:57
Speaker 3: They're not afraid to get deeper in the count, and
10:00
Speaker 3: that's where this offense needs to go. And the walks
10:03
Speaker 3: as you're talking about, maybe that's a good sign of
10:05
Speaker 3: them being a little bit more patient and being a
10:09
Speaker 3: more selective and looking for their pitches earlier in the count.
10:12
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Speaker 1: gonna get these thoughts of one former right fielder on
10:20
Speaker 1: the current right fielder, Joe Adah.
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Speaker 4: We'll be right back with more Halo territory. Kratz.
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11:27
Speaker 1: Well, Welcome back to Halo territory. I'm Mike Dgievanna, former
11:30
Speaker 1: Early Times Baseball writer with Mark Trumbo, the former Angels slugger,
11:35
Speaker 1: and Tim Salmon Sam and another former Angels slugger. Well, Tim,
11:39
Speaker 1: you were in right field for one of the best
11:41
Speaker 1: catches in Angel's history, probably the best catch I've ever
11:43
Speaker 1: seen in person, Jim Edmond's full extension over the shoulder
11:47
Speaker 1: diving grab to Rob David Howard of Extra Bases in
11:51
Speaker 1: Kansas City in nineteen ninety seven. And I'll never forget.
11:55
Speaker 1: I know it's a looked on Jim's face in your
11:56
Speaker 1: face who was more surprised? But that was classic And
12:00
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering. You know, we saw Joe Adell rob
12:02
Speaker 1: three homers in one game a couple of weekends ago
12:05
Speaker 1: against Seattle, but his third was clearly the more acrobatic,
12:09
Speaker 1: more dangerous, and more spectacular catch. Was that third home
12:13
Speaker 1: run robbery in the corner by the foul pole. Does
12:17
Speaker 1: that belong in the same league as jim Edmonds catch?
12:20
Speaker 1: Was it just as good?
12:22
Speaker 4: Well?
12:23
Speaker 3: I mean, I think Jimmy's catch for me always goes
12:26
Speaker 3: down as the one of the best ones ever because
12:29
Speaker 3: he ran about one hundred yards to get to it.
12:30
Speaker 4: I mean he was.
12:32
Speaker 3: On a long go pattern and the quarterback out to
12:37
Speaker 3: the coverage and he ran it down.
12:38
Speaker 4: No, Jimmy had to run so far to get to
12:41
Speaker 4: that ball.
12:41
Speaker 3: And then when he laid out, I mean I was
12:43
Speaker 3: running because I'm thinking, oh, he just laid out, that
12:45
Speaker 3: ball's going off the wall.
12:46
Speaker 4: Better get it. You know, he caught.
12:47
Speaker 3: I think that's what made that catch so amazing. You know,
12:51
Speaker 3: in our day, we played differently. We played shallower. You know,
12:54
Speaker 3: we were taking away singles from the punch and Judy guys.
12:57
Speaker 3: We were forcing him to hit overhead, and I think,
12:59
Speaker 3: you know, not to take anything away from Joe necessarily,
13:02
Speaker 3: but you know, rightfield has played a little differently.
13:05
Speaker 4: They positioned him a little deeper.
13:06
Speaker 3: Now he's got the line there, so he has incentive
13:09
Speaker 3: to go back and maybe take one.
13:10
Speaker 4: Off the wall.
13:10
Speaker 3: I think back in when I played, I was playing
13:14
Speaker 3: shallower and I had to make a decision sooner on
13:17
Speaker 3: whether I could get to that, so I never really
13:18
Speaker 3: had a chance to find the wall and make that jump.
13:21
Speaker 3: So it's just positioning. And he talks about He talked
13:24
Speaker 3: about it after he made the catch down the line.
13:27
Speaker 3: That is a spectacular catch, without a doubt. And what
13:29
Speaker 3: makes it spectaculars because the night before he almost had the.
13:32
Speaker 4: Same play and he just missed it. He kind of
13:34
Speaker 4: alligator on.
13:35
Speaker 3: It because he didn't know where that pole was or
13:37
Speaker 3: that you know, that corner, and he made the adjustment.
13:39
Speaker 4: He said that you know that play.
13:42
Speaker 3: He actually let me see who was hitting JJ Crawford,
13:45
Speaker 3: I think, and he said I was anticipating, and I
13:48
Speaker 3: was kind of like anticipate, you know, the way he
13:50
Speaker 3: fouled off a couple of bitches like he was going
13:52
Speaker 3: to pull it, So he was kind of getting a
13:53
Speaker 3: little bit of an extra jump on it, so and
13:57
Speaker 3: again they positioned him over there a little bit. But
13:59
Speaker 3: I still think I think even if you're positioned over
14:02
Speaker 3: there to go into that corner as hard as he did,
14:05
Speaker 3: that's hitting you right at the ribs. I mean, there's
14:08
Speaker 3: not many guys. I mean, that's like that tiding going
14:10
Speaker 3: across the middle. I'm not sure if I'm going to
14:12
Speaker 3: be a good extended I would never have, you know,
14:15
Speaker 3: unless I could be standing under it. I would have
14:17
Speaker 3: never gone flying into the corner like that. But you know,
14:20
Speaker 3: kudus to Joe. He had a fantastic night and it
14:22
Speaker 3: was a one nothing game of all things. I mean,
14:25
Speaker 3: he saved three runs, which would have easily won the game.
14:28
Speaker 2: So yeah, I have speculated what I would have done,
14:34
Speaker 2: and you were significantly better than I was out there.
14:37
Speaker 2: I've kind of side stepped it, but I think you
14:39
Speaker 2: answered it better. I you know, it would have been
14:42
Speaker 2: a disaster, and I mean a big guys going over
14:46
Speaker 2: the wall. They credited, and Joe was totally fine. As
14:49
Speaker 2: we've said. In addition, I was just thinking when when
14:53
Speaker 2: you know, Tim, when you were playing there and when
14:54
Speaker 2: I was playing there, that wall you had to hit
14:57
Speaker 2: it over in right field, he had to go into
15:01
Speaker 2: the No. No, I was It's just that, Yeah, those
15:04
Speaker 2: probably would have been you know, doubles, to be honest
15:07
Speaker 2: when when we were there. So yeah, yeah, I don't
15:11
Speaker 2: know why that just came to me, but it did
15:12
Speaker 2: thinking about how he Kendrick used to bang balls off
15:15
Speaker 2: at right all the time and they counted for a
15:19
Speaker 2: little bit less than today. But uh my, my question
15:22
Speaker 2: right now is kind of more on Joe's overall game.
15:24
Speaker 2: He's definitely from his early days and Tory Hunter talked
15:29
Speaker 2: about this a little bit too, improved tremendously and right
15:32
Speaker 2: field and specific I think center still still working on it.
15:36
Speaker 2: Maybe not the best option for him, but I think
15:38
Speaker 2: it was at the plate as well. He's making a
15:40
Speaker 2: lot more contact. I don't see as many uh you know,
15:44
Speaker 2: the wild swings, and he doesn't seem to be chasing
15:47
Speaker 2: the uh you know, pull side home runs like he
15:50
Speaker 2: maybe once did. He seems to be as matured as
15:53
Speaker 2: a player, as somewhat of a team leader as well.
15:56
Speaker 2: His overall game just seems stronger.
15:57
Speaker 3: Do you see that too, about he's a late bloomer
16:01
Speaker 3: without a doubt, you know, I don't blame him.
16:05
Speaker 4: He came up in a dysfunctional organization.
16:08
Speaker 3: He had a different hitting coach every year for like
16:10
Speaker 3: the first three or four years in the minor league.
16:12
Speaker 3: So he got to a point where everybody was doing
16:14
Speaker 3: a recooling and he didn't even know his swing was.
16:17
Speaker 3: And what his swing looks like now versus what we
16:20
Speaker 3: saw when he first got called up is completely different.
16:23
Speaker 3: And I just credit him in so many ways because
16:27
Speaker 3: you know, Mark, as a major leaguer of this game
16:29
Speaker 3: can what it can do to your confidence. And he
16:32
Speaker 3: was brought up before he should have been brought up,
16:34
Speaker 3: and he was put on the stage and he failed epically, offensively, defensively,
16:39
Speaker 3: every aspect of the game. And you know what, it
16:42
Speaker 3: takes a special person to be able to withstand that
16:45
Speaker 3: and still have the confidence to go out there and
16:47
Speaker 3: improve every year and be where he's at today. I
16:50
Speaker 3: give all the credit in the world to his hitting.
16:53
Speaker 3: To Chilie Davis. I'd been talking to Joe about Chili.
16:56
Speaker 3: Chili lives here in scott Sale great friend. I talked
16:59
Speaker 3: to Chili every winter and I kept talking about Joe
17:01
Speaker 3: Adele and He's.
17:02
Speaker 4: Like fish, hook me up, hook me up.
17:04
Speaker 3: But you know, I kept telling Joe, and Joe was like,
17:06
Speaker 3: first of all, he didn't know who Chili Davis was
17:08
Speaker 3: at first, which is shocking. But when Ron Washington came
17:15
Speaker 3: on board, I was talking to Ron about it because
17:16
Speaker 3: Ron was at one point I was trying to get
17:18
Speaker 3: Chili to be the hitting coach, and Ron really almost
17:21
Speaker 3: forced Joe to go see Chili two winners ago, and
17:25
Speaker 3: I think that was the career move for him right there.
17:27
Speaker 3: Chili just got him in the right headspace. You know,
17:31
Speaker 3: this generation of hitters are very mechanical. They know where
17:34
Speaker 3: their hips are, their elbows, they know everything.
17:37
Speaker 4: It's like, but you know, hitting this levels up here.
17:40
Speaker 3: It's all about this and that's where Chili, I think
17:43
Speaker 3: made the difference. And just how are you approaching it?
17:45
Speaker 3: I've been telling Joe for years, Hey, just at your
17:47
Speaker 3: fastball to right center field and we'll keep you on
17:49
Speaker 3: the slider. Well to you, that might sound right and
17:52
Speaker 3: you understand that, but to Joe, I don't know if
17:54
Speaker 3: it really made sense to him. I don't think he
17:56
Speaker 3: understood it until somebody like Chili came along and really
17:59
Speaker 3: ingrained and worked with him all winter long and changed
18:02
Speaker 3: his approach. And now I go back to last year again,
18:06
Speaker 3: because you know, I've been telling I've been telling Joe
18:10
Speaker 3: for the last couple of years. I'm like, Joe, would
18:11
Speaker 3: you throw yourself a fastball in that situation? Why you
18:13
Speaker 3: keep looking for a fastball? They're gonna throw you slider
18:16
Speaker 3: looks with the hanging slider in the count, They're not
18:18
Speaker 3: throwing you a fastball.
18:19
Speaker 4: You know.
18:19
Speaker 3: And Mark, you've been there, you know what I'm talking about.
18:21
Speaker 3: So and finally Joe got it last year. And I
18:24
Speaker 3: think half his home runs came off sliders. And every
18:26
Speaker 3: time I'd be driving a home and be text me.
18:28
Speaker 4: Fished sat on the slider. I knew what he was
18:30
Speaker 4: gonna do to me. You know. It's like, and it's
18:32
Speaker 4: so great when you see the light bulb come on.
18:34
Speaker 3: I mean, and it's not I don't trick credit for that,
18:36
Speaker 3: but I do enjoy the fact that I have a
18:38
Speaker 3: rapport a relationship with a young hitter that I'm watching
18:42
Speaker 3: mature before our eyes in a way that I really
18:45
Speaker 3: think he could be one of the best hitters in
18:47
Speaker 3: the game. I mean, there's he is tremendous strength, He's
18:50
Speaker 3: growing leafs and bounds every year. His defense is getting better,
18:54
Speaker 3: base running is getting better. I mean, he's a freaking nature.
18:56
Speaker 3: He's got all kinds of tools. So I don't think
18:59
Speaker 3: we've reached full potential yet. And even like last series
19:03
Speaker 3: we talked about all the great pitching, he was sneaking
19:05
Speaker 3: out a few hits here and there. He even hit
19:07
Speaker 3: a home run, smoked a home line drive home run.
19:09
Speaker 3: But you know, Mark, you know this. Good hitters get
19:12
Speaker 3: jammed when you're not going well. Good hitters get jammed
19:15
Speaker 3: because they're they're they're telling themselves, Okay, I gotta let
19:17
Speaker 3: the ball travel a little bit more. And you know what,
19:19
Speaker 3: And Joe is getting those little soft liners to right
19:21
Speaker 3: center field and I'm upstairs going he's on it. He's
19:24
Speaker 3: getting there, He's getting there, and it is I mean,
19:27
Speaker 3: and again, all your big hitters. April's the worst month
19:30
Speaker 3: of the year because we're trying to time the fastball
19:32
Speaker 3: with all the sliders and the curveballs that you didn't
19:34
Speaker 3: see in spring training and now it's under the lights
19:36
Speaker 3: and the game matters. And but give him, give him
19:39
Speaker 3: a month to figure out. I think Joe be back
19:41
Speaker 3: to where he.
19:41
Speaker 4: Was last year.
19:43
Speaker 1: Chillie Davis as an offensive mentor and Tory Hunter as
19:46
Speaker 1: a defensive mentor. I'm not sure I'd find two better guys.
19:51
Speaker 1: Speaking of influence, could you see Tory's influence on Joe
19:54
Speaker 1: in right field as well over these last few years
19:57
Speaker 1: and how did that sort of manifest itself?
20:00
Speaker 4: Oh? For sure. I mean Toy is awesome. Toys a
20:03
Speaker 4: great communicator.
20:04
Speaker 3: He relates to these guys, he talks to the language,
20:06
Speaker 3: he's funny. I do believe that his experience being a
20:11
Speaker 3: center fielder and then moving to the corner later in
20:13
Speaker 3: his career is huge for him as far as relating
20:16
Speaker 3: to somebody like Joe.
20:19
Speaker 4: You know.
20:19
Speaker 3: And here's the thing, you know, Hill Hill, He's he's
20:22
Speaker 3: honest about what he sees, you know. And I do
20:25
Speaker 3: believe that, you know, as far as the work ethic
20:27
Speaker 3: and the training and what has to happen, and you
20:30
Speaker 3: know in your preparation you're going to get a you're
20:32
Speaker 3: going to get a good lesson from Tori. So I
20:34
Speaker 3: do believe from that standpoint he's definitely helped Joe.
20:38
Speaker 4: Out a lot.
20:38
Speaker 3: I will say this, Toy has been great with him
20:41
Speaker 3: on the offensive side too. He's talked a lot about
20:43
Speaker 3: the same things that you know Chile emphasize on too.
20:46
Speaker 3: I think Tori's just all around, just a great mentor
20:48
Speaker 3: and so many aspects of the game.
20:49
Speaker 4: For any of these guys in this club.
20:52
Speaker 1: Looking at the current roster, tim and the current early results,
20:56
Speaker 1: what areas of this club give you the most stop
21:00
Speaker 1: for the rest of twenty twenty six? What areas give
21:04
Speaker 1: you some reason for concern?
21:08
Speaker 3: Well, I'm trying to pull up the exact roster myself
21:10
Speaker 3: at the same time here, but I'll just.
21:12
Speaker 4: Go through it, you know.
21:13
Speaker 3: I think on the pitching side, I'm really excited to see, well,
21:16
Speaker 3: obviously Soreano's doing great. I'm I'm really excited to see
21:19
Speaker 3: what Kohanowitz can do this year.
21:21
Speaker 4: He found a change up.
21:22
Speaker 3: I think he trusts his sinker now he's not trying
21:24
Speaker 3: to overthrow it.
21:27
Speaker 4: He's the early results have been good.
21:29
Speaker 3: I was talking to him last homestand about you know, sinkerballers.
21:33
Speaker 3: They said, you're my worst nightmare. A sinkerballer is my
21:36
Speaker 3: worst nightmare. And then on top of it, if you
21:38
Speaker 3: throw me a slider, I got a chance. But if
21:40
Speaker 3: you throw a change up off that sinker, that's really
21:43
Speaker 3: tough on Ridy's And you know, we've seen in these
21:47
Speaker 3: limited games, we've seen how dominant that changeup has been.
21:51
Speaker 4: So I'm excited to see him what he's doing.
21:53
Speaker 3: Debt meres is the same way I feel excited about
21:55
Speaker 3: Debt Mers and you know him working with Mike Maddox,
21:59
Speaker 3: you know they I think Detmer's told me in spring
22:01
Speaker 3: that they basically said, hey, you know what, go out
22:04
Speaker 3: there and do it the way you've always done it.
22:05
Speaker 4: How do you want to work it?
22:06
Speaker 3: Kind of given him control over his destiny and letting
22:09
Speaker 3: a guy like Mike come alongside. So from the pitching side,
22:11
Speaker 3: I'm really encouraged by those by that. On the bullpen side,
22:16
Speaker 3: you know, we got some good arms that are still
22:19
Speaker 3: on the injured list right now, and it's just a
22:21
Speaker 3: matter of getting those arms off because you have to
22:24
Speaker 3: rely on your bullpen.
22:24
Speaker 4: You saw it last night.
22:27
Speaker 3: You know Romano, you know his days of closing, you know,
22:31
Speaker 3: maybe filling in here and there, But I don't know
22:34
Speaker 3: if he has the fastball anymore to be that role.
22:36
Speaker 3: But he could be a great setup man, He could
22:38
Speaker 3: be a great something else in the bullpen. But that's
22:41
Speaker 3: where we're at right now, where you need him, and
22:43
Speaker 3: because of some of the injuries, so I think getting
22:46
Speaker 3: Joyce back, I think Stevenson.
22:47
Speaker 4: Losing was that was another blow.
22:50
Speaker 3: But and then Kirby Yates, you know who knows where
22:54
Speaker 3: that you know what that will manifest. I think I
22:56
Speaker 3: don't care how hard you throw, if you got a
22:57
Speaker 3: split finger, you always gott to fight and chance. So
23:00
Speaker 3: and the fact that he's been there, so that covers
23:03
Speaker 3: the pitching side, on the hitting, on the you know,
23:05
Speaker 3: defensive side.
23:06
Speaker 4: We saw it in the first week of the season.
23:09
Speaker 3: You know, the one area of this team has to
23:11
Speaker 3: clean up is the defense.
23:13
Speaker 4: They cannot be given extra outs.
23:15
Speaker 3: And Mike Soosha built all his teams around pitching and
23:19
Speaker 3: defense so much so that I was a pretty good
23:21
Speaker 3: defender still and even moved me to the DH so
23:25
Speaker 3: I know how important defense is. So I think that's
23:28
Speaker 3: probably my biggest concern is just you know, you mix
23:31
Speaker 3: and match so much that sometimes you get put in
23:34
Speaker 3: some weak defensive positions, and what's that going to look like?
23:38
Speaker 3: I think Joe Adell's better and right the News and Center,
23:40
Speaker 3: but I think if you had to replace Mike Trout
23:42
Speaker 3: out there forty you know, Tiodosio does a great job.
23:45
Speaker 3: I like that Josh Low and left Field's amazing. You know,
23:48
Speaker 3: I think, you know, strength up the middle is your key.
23:52
Speaker 3: Netto's strong. I like Frasier, I mean, you know Fraser's
23:58
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't know about his defense necessarily, but
24:00
Speaker 3: I like what he brings to this club when he's
24:02
Speaker 3: at the plate. He kind of reminds me of an
24:04
Speaker 3: old school hitter, you know. He he works the count.
24:07
Speaker 3: He's not afraid to, you know, do what it takes
24:09
Speaker 3: to put down a bunt. But then again, you know,
24:12
Speaker 3: I think Shauna Wall's fine. I think Mancata it's kind
24:16
Speaker 3: of been a mixed. It's probably been less than a mix.
24:19
Speaker 2: Don't don't great I've I've already, I've already spoken about him.
24:23
Speaker 4: I don't want the guy that comes down on people.
24:29
Speaker 3: You know, he's an experienced, veteran guy, and he's off
24:31
Speaker 3: to a rough start. When you're off to rough start
24:33
Speaker 3: and everything looks bad. So I want to give him
24:35
Speaker 3: a chance to catch his footing, hopefully and see where
24:37
Speaker 3: we're at before I really go off on that anymore.
24:40
Speaker 3: But he didn't make a couple of blenders mental miscues.
24:43
Speaker 4: That well, I ride along with.
24:46
Speaker 2: I didn't see the focus and that was early on.
24:49
Speaker 2: You're right, I do see more determined and I stand
24:52
Speaker 2: by it. You know, he's a guy that's capable of more,
24:55
Speaker 2: and he's been around long enough. And it looked like
24:57
Speaker 2: they're really It wasn't even so much of the airs.
25:00
Speaker 2: It was the careless throws in the dirt that bothered me.
25:03
Speaker 2: As Nolan picked him up and I said, man, that's
25:05
Speaker 2: just not it. That doesn't that doesn't have the look
25:08
Speaker 2: that is going to rub off on these young guys.
25:10
Speaker 2: It looks casual, and you know it's joke. You better
25:15
Speaker 2: be you know, I like guys that are fundamentally sound.
25:18
Speaker 2: The flashiness. If you can do that too, so be it.
25:21
Speaker 2: But just make the play man. I think that's also
25:23
Speaker 2: very cool.
25:24
Speaker 3: I I noticed that last year about that exactly what
25:27
Speaker 3: you're saying, and there's certain guys that pull it off
25:29
Speaker 3: and it's just part of the game. If you had
25:31
Speaker 3: to focus down, they be worse off. But I saw
25:35
Speaker 3: some nice plays last year. That's why I'm kind of
25:37
Speaker 3: holding back a little reserve, because you know, it's kind
25:39
Speaker 3: of like Ga. You know, everybody thought Ga didn't hustle,
25:42
Speaker 3: and it's like, no, that's the way he runs.
25:43
Speaker 4: That's his gait.
25:44
Speaker 3: You know, it just looks nonchalant, you know, And I
25:47
Speaker 3: think Mancatta has a little bit that his game. I've
25:50
Speaker 3: seen him actually in the cage working, and this guy
25:52
Speaker 3: works hard. I mean he's very concerned about his swing.
25:55
Speaker 3: Talking to Brady, I have a great relationship with Brady,
25:58
Speaker 3: and Brady's like, you know, the guy was doing everything right.
26:01
Speaker 4: I mean, there's nothing.
26:02
Speaker 3: It's not like he's you know, cadillacing through his warm
26:06
Speaker 3: ups and you know, like he didn't care. He cares.
26:08
Speaker 3: So he's definitely, I know, one of those guys that
26:11
Speaker 3: probably cares inside more than what it shows. So I'm
26:14
Speaker 3: going to give him some credit there. But switching heres,
26:17
Speaker 3: I mean, I think a happy you know, a Hapi
26:19
Speaker 3: has he needs There needs to be a lot of
26:21
Speaker 3: growth there this year. I don't know catching well enough
26:25
Speaker 3: to know all the metrics and all that kind of stuff,
26:27
Speaker 3: but you know, everybody said he just had a terrible
26:30
Speaker 3: year last year, and I know I would maybe focus
26:33
Speaker 3: on game calling, maybe I could maybe see that more
26:37
Speaker 3: than the defensive stuff. But you know, even like last night,
26:40
Speaker 3: to pass ball, you know, to lose the game, it's like,
26:43
Speaker 3: you know, it's like, Okay, you know, there there's some
26:46
Speaker 3: areas that he needs to clean up.
26:47
Speaker 4: And you know, I know he's young and he's still
26:49
Speaker 4: learning and all that kind of stuff.
26:51
Speaker 3: It's like, okay, well, hopefully we're looking for these young
26:53
Speaker 3: guys to kind of figure it all out.
26:55
Speaker 4: And that's that's kind of my take on it.
26:57
Speaker 3: You know, I think there's some positive spots there, but
27:00
Speaker 3: I think there's one area of their game that has
27:03
Speaker 3: to for me, that has to definitely improve this year
27:05
Speaker 3: is going to be defense as a whole. They've got
27:07
Speaker 3: to play better defense as a whole than they did
27:09
Speaker 3: last year.
27:11
Speaker 2: We asked your former manager, my former manager, Mike Soosha
27:15
Speaker 2: about the one knee catcher stance. It's something that I
27:19
Speaker 2: am not a fan of personally. I've said it and
27:21
Speaker 2: I'll just keep saying it, I think, and I've asked
27:24
Speaker 2: around enough. The goal is to get underneath those borderline
27:27
Speaker 2: strikes and try and steal them. Essentially, you don't make
27:30
Speaker 2: everything look better than it is. And now with the
27:32
Speaker 2: abs some of these, you know, if the teams don't
27:35
Speaker 2: waste their challenges early, they have the ability just to
27:39
Speaker 2: challenge it. And it's a ball and really you know
27:42
Speaker 2: that's the upside. Just maybe you get a couple extra
27:44
Speaker 2: stipe strikes. Now, what's the downside? Well, last night is
27:48
Speaker 2: the downside. I've watched that play numerous times, you know,
27:52
Speaker 2: So you're the one calling the pitch. You know it's
27:55
Speaker 2: going to be a breaking ball, and you see where
27:57
Speaker 2: it starts out of Romano's hand. It's really only going
27:59
Speaker 2: to go one way unfortunately, you know, and I didn't
28:02
Speaker 2: see him in position anywhere near early enough to block
28:05
Speaker 2: that ball. Now, they're probably going to lose this game, regardless.
28:09
Speaker 2: The judge was on deck. It was not looking good.
28:12
Speaker 2: Grissom at Homer, the momentum was already on New York side.
28:15
Speaker 2: But I just I don't think the glove saves with
28:18
Speaker 2: guys on base. It just doesn't look like what I
28:22
Speaker 2: remember seeing growing up. I mean it was, yeah, catchers
28:25
Speaker 2: really pride of themselves on you know, you're just your
28:28
Speaker 2: bald never gets by you. So you know, there was
28:31
Speaker 2: a couple that he threw over his head yesterday, Kakuchi
28:34
Speaker 2: being and he is struggling.
28:36
Speaker 4: I don't know what's going on there.
28:38
Speaker 2: I do know I was speculated his arm angle is
28:41
Speaker 2: much higher than it has been in years past. But
28:44
Speaker 2: to me, he looks uncomfortable and he's not landing his pitches.
28:48
Speaker 2: So there's just some rambling for you. I guess the
28:50
Speaker 2: question that I have the lineup construction and is we
28:55
Speaker 2: get a lot of questions about that. We haven't really
28:57
Speaker 2: weighed in on it yet, but I don't really see
29:00
Speaker 2: a better wait necessarily at the top with Zach, Mike
29:04
Speaker 2: and Nolan. I think Nolan ideally might be a good
29:08
Speaker 2: leadoff hitter, but he lacks the foot speed. And I
29:10
Speaker 2: think fans want to know why Mancatta is still there.
29:12
Speaker 2: And I think Kurt said that he's trust in his
29:15
Speaker 2: track record. I don't if there is a question here,
29:18
Speaker 2: it might be, you know, do you agree with that
29:21
Speaker 2: so far as far as the lineup, or are there
29:23
Speaker 2: some tweaks that you know, potentially guys could you know,
29:27
Speaker 2: elevate themselves up in the lineup, or maybe some guys
29:29
Speaker 2: need a breather or maybe yeah, if you have any thoughts.
29:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know.
29:35
Speaker 3: I the one thing I will say, I like seeing
29:38
Speaker 3: a consistent lineup, and that's what we have seen.
29:41
Speaker 4: You see pretty much you kind of know who's hit
29:43
Speaker 4: in front of you, behind you.
29:44
Speaker 3: I like to see that I think there for a
29:46
Speaker 3: while a few years back, it was like, you know,
29:49
Speaker 3: it was such a random lottery pick, you know, every night.
29:53
Speaker 4: So I do like the fact that you have consistency
29:55
Speaker 4: in it.
29:56
Speaker 3: I think Joe O'Dell for me, I think he's ultimately
30:01
Speaker 3: going to be lower in that lineup.
30:02
Speaker 4: I think right now.
30:03
Speaker 3: Hitting sixth, I think he was in six or seventh
30:05
Speaker 3: and back at home, and it.
30:09
Speaker 4: Gives you great depth, without a doubt, but.
30:11
Speaker 3: I think, you know, this is Zeke's you know, maybe,
30:15
Speaker 3: like you said, given a little bit more credit to
30:17
Speaker 3: some of the veterans in there in the lineup, and
30:19
Speaker 3: you know, it's definitely showing a deeper lineup to me.
30:22
Speaker 4: Shaanawell. Shaanawhell is kind of the one that I don't
30:25
Speaker 4: know if I have my mind made up.
30:27
Speaker 3: Do I want to see him at the top of
30:29
Speaker 3: the order or maybe kind of like that five to
30:31
Speaker 3: six hole that really can provide good protection for some
30:36
Speaker 3: of the bigger hitters being a lefty, because I agree
30:39
Speaker 3: with you, I think getting on base, you know, is
30:43
Speaker 3: he a log jam or you know, how does he
30:45
Speaker 3: do there? I don't know, but I do believe that,
30:49
Speaker 3: you know, Joe Adell you know, net O Trout. Sure,
30:53
Speaker 3: I think Joe Adell could move up at some point
30:55
Speaker 3: when he starts really finding his groove. Right now, Solaire,
31:01
Speaker 3: you know, you can't argue where he's.
31:02
Speaker 4: At in the lineup. I mean he needs to be,
31:04
Speaker 4: you know, where he's at. So I overall, I like
31:07
Speaker 4: the depth of it.
31:08
Speaker 3: And you know, it's it's nice to go into that
31:11
Speaker 3: seven eight hole knowing that you have a chance that
31:13
Speaker 3: you're not just giving the way outs right now with
31:16
Speaker 3: a you know, a guy like Joe down deep in
31:18
Speaker 3: the lineup. And I think the other thing too, I
31:20
Speaker 3: was and Mark you might understand this too, you know.
31:23
Speaker 3: I always felt like when a hitter was scuffling, you know,
31:27
Speaker 3: to put him in a position ahead of a guy
31:29
Speaker 3: that's hitting the ball well is going to buy him
31:30
Speaker 3: some more fastballs or.
31:31
Speaker 4: Put him in a position where maybe he sees some pitches.
31:34
Speaker 3: I remember at one point, kind of towards the end
31:37
Speaker 3: of my career, I got kind of shelved down like
31:39
Speaker 3: six or seven and at that point, you know, and
31:42
Speaker 3: I think at one point Benji Molina.
31:44
Speaker 4: Was hitting behind me, and.
31:46
Speaker 3: I think they were happy to walk me to, you know,
31:48
Speaker 3: because the double play was Arder. You know, it's like
31:51
Speaker 3: and it's not something I said.
31:52
Speaker 4: I remember.
31:53
Speaker 3: I think it was Mickey Hatcher we were talking about
31:54
Speaker 3: and he's like, we got to get you up, but
31:55
Speaker 3: you know, back up in the top of the lineup,
31:58
Speaker 3: and and I think that does that there is some
32:00
Speaker 3: truth to that that, you know, when guys are scoffling
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Speaker 3: sometimes if you can move them up in front of
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Speaker 3: some hot hitters, you might be able to buy some,
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Speaker 3: you know, good fastballs and just simplify their approach a
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Speaker 3: little bit more.
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Speaker 4: So.
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Speaker 1: Well, we're having such a good time with Tim Salmon,
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Speaker 1: we decided to break up this interview into two parts,
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Speaker 1: So we're gonna close part one of our Tim Salmon
32:20
Speaker 1: interview with that and join us next episode of Halo
32:24
Speaker 1: Territory and we'll have more with Tim Salmon. Please like
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Speaker 1: and subscribe, and thanks for joining us today.