Latest / Bleacher Report / Paul Skenes on Trade Rumors, Striking Out Babe Ruth and Splinker Pitch with Mookie | On Base, Ep. 43

Transcript

Paul Skenes on Trade Rumors, Striking Out Babe Ruth and Splinker Pitch with Mookie | On Base, Ep. 43 · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to On Base, presented by Guyico. Get More Baseball,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Get More with Geico. I'm your host, Mookie Betson. Today
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we have a two time all Star, two times starting
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the All Star Game in a Rookie of the Year,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four All MLB First Team and twenty twenty
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: three number one overall pick. That's kind of crazy right
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: right there. But anyways, Paul Skins, how you doing.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Bro doing well? Good to see.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks for coming on the show. I know you're a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: very important person, so you have a lot of things
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: going on, and so coming on the show, thank you.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you for that. I mean, I don't know what
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: you could possibly have going on in Pittsburgh. You know,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: here there's not a whole lot to do other than
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: maybe go to a steal company or something and check
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: it out. But other than that, thanks for coming on
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the show. I start off playing a game called on
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: base off base, and it's whether you enter, you're out.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: So I got first little game I want to play
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: with you. First things. First, you could hit a homer
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: in a big league game today, Are you on base
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: or on off base?
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: On that I'm off base, I would imagine that's probably
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: the coolest thing you can do. It's definitely cooler than
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: striking somebody out in a big league game.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: So are you pissed about like not being able to hit?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah? That was I mean, you know, I came up
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: with a two way guy, so I was looking forward to,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: you know, potentially to but honestly, when when that's when
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: pictures could still hit in the big leagues. I wasn't
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: primarily a pitcher, so okay, it was you know, it
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: was cool, and then once they changed, it was like,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: all right, you know.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: What would you you would you would like to hit that?
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: I would. I don't mind or I don't miss taking
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: VP and throwing bullpen like, oh it's a lot. Yeah,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you see it every day with show had about how
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: he does it, so.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Nobody does, but he does it. It says you hit
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: three sixty seven then double digit homers every year in
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the Air Force, so like you raked.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we're hitting at seven thousand feet too,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: so it doesn't matter to help, but Rake it is raking. Yeah,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I miss Yeah, metal bats man hitting at seven thousand
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: feet that was fun.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: So did you when you were hitting and pitching and whatnot,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: did you envision yourself doing this in the big leagues
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: or no, you were like.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Nah, I just want to Yeah, I really don't know.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: You didn't think about it because when I was at
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: air Force, I you know, my freshman year, I was
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: catcher and closer. I mean, first game I closed, I
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: caught eight innings and then came in and closed it
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: actually against LSU Oh was it? Wow?
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: And then my sophomore year, I was starting on Fridays
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and catching on Sundays, caught a couple of Tuesday Like
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: it was just like, you know, go out there and
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: play like have fun, which was, you know, cool.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: We got to enjoy the preparation. I'm assuming it's got
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: to be completely different. Yeah, from then to now.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, and that's another thing, like because you know
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: when I was two, Wang, I didn't. I didn't really.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I was figuring it out on my own, okay. And
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: nice thing is, you know, my coaches gave me the
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: latitude to do that. So I learned a lot about myself,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: a lot about my body. But I was far from
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: having everything figured out.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: And I feel like there's no possible way you could
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: figure everything out like that in the big leagues, Like
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: you know, what I'm saying, like just kind of play
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and figure it out as you go, Like you have to.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Prepare, Yeah, I mean yeah, from what I've learned, Like
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: it catches up to you at some point I've been
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: You've obviously been here a lot, a lot longer than
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I have, Like you got one sixty two. Man, it
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: catches up to you quick. Yeah, not doing something right.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: That's just the mental side, Like the physical side is
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: a whole different animal. Having to you know, play however
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: many games that you would be playing at catcher or
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: whatever position you would play, and then turn around and
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: prepare to face people like yourself.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: You know that.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I am the whoever. There's got to be somebody that's
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: gonna do it. I don't know who.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I mean.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: If show hey exist and there's got to be somebody
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: that's gonna do well, we'll see. We'll see. As time comes,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: you'll be playing. I'll be done by then though. All right,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: So next thing, L A. S U Football should be
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: number one in the country. Are you on base or
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: off based on that? Man?
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I have no idea. I really don't.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: They didn't they just play the other day. I don't know.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: I don't, I don't really watch.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't watch the game.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not a So you're done, You're you're like once
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: you once you left, you're like over it.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean even when I was there, I wasn't
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: like I don't know anything about football. I know that
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: I knew that Jayden Daniels was good. I didn't know
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: he was gonna win the Heisman, Like I didn't know,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: you know, he was going to be Jayden Daniels. Yeah, okay,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: like I watched the games and it's like, oh, you know,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: L who's winning, L who's losing. It's that's all I got.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't So you didn't like, like just
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: what about basketball? You know, you didn't watch anything, so
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: you didn't do anything. You didn't watch pay attention to anything.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I never played any other sports, so
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: like the only sport that actually interests me is baseball
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: and the other ones.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know what's going God, that's that's crazy what
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: you I mean? I feel like just you accidentally start
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: loving football at l s U.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I got thrown into it. I
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: think I mean LSU. I went to you know, l
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: C Alabama. The year I was there was the coolest
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: sporting event I've ever been to.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, but what the game? You could care less about.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: It was just the stuff.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, It's just like I mean, because I remember, you know,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: one of the LSU cornerbacks or whatever picked off Bryce
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Young in the end zone and it's one hundred thousand
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: people just going crazy and I'm looking up and I'm like, like,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: this could be the highlight of that kid's career. It
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: was just the coolest. You don't even think about the pick. Yeah,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know he picked him off in the end zone.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I don't know how it happened or anything like that.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: I just know that it was a ole environment that's wild.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so we'll just keep moving then. Okay,
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: if time travel was real, you would strike out Babe
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Ruth or your own base or off base.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: I think I'm on base.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: I'm on base on that too.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: I think if if Babe Ruth saw a hundred like this,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: you know, with the splinker and the slider and the
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: sinker and there are all this other stuff, I think
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: he may have a little problem with that. So if
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you were to to pitch the Babe Ruth, maybe he filed.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Maybe you got five pitches. You know, he fouls one off,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: you throw a ball whatever, what would be a sequence?
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, show him the heater and sewer's at.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: So he's shown him here, he takes it down in
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: the way, we'll just go down the way, strike one.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Now what another heater probably up somewhere.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: And with his back path I got him not catching.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Up to Yeah, I mean just I mean you got
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: to see where he's at.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Okay, So he files it off. Now it's o two.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: You went, heater down the way, heater up, files it off.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Now it's oh two. Now now what you got. You
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: got three pitches to work with.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah, it depends how he falls it off. But
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: I probably on another heater up even a little higher.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: So if he goes after he takes that ball one
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: too good take?
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah, probably just throw a splinker in there, Okay, okay.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, and I think he probably swing man I get
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: the five. Yeah, yeah, I think he probably swung. There's
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: no way he's seen a splinker before, so not many
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: of us have. Uh So, okay, So who's who do
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: you think would be the toughest at that like all
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: time that you would that you would face or someone
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: you would like.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: To face outside of outside of today's game. Yeah, there
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: are a lot of those guys now, but uh probably
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Barry Bonds.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be a tough I wouldn't even know
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: what to throw. I couldn't even tell you what throw, like,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: whatever it is, just make it good.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, nothing over the heart of the place.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: He can turn it. He'll turn it around, Yeah, he will.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: You know, like that's one person that I mean, obviously
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of people that could still hit in
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: today's game, but I think he can. He would be
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: an elite in today's game.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I mean, you see how the people
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: in his era pitched him. It was, you know, a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: lot of this exactly now nowadays, just this from the
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: just go to first.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I got one more finway. Was the coolest
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: road start you've made so far in your career? Are
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: you on base or off base?
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I really don't know.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I'll say yeah, I'll just kind of run together.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Not not really, I'll say off base. I think just
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: because my second career start was at Wrigley Oh okay, okay,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: a weekend day game there, and that was like, that
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: was the coolest thing, just because like for me as
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: a you know, this is I've been in I've been
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: in the big leagues for five days, like and I'm
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: going to regularly for the first time. So I've been
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: to Fenway. I you know, a couple of people ask
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: me about it after after my start the other day
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: at Fenway, and I'm like, I mean, you you played there,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: like it's it's unbelievable. But while I'm out there, it's
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: kind of just like, you know, it's baseball. But I
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: will say, looking at it from the dugout, like I
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: don't really know how to explain it, like looking up
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: the next two days and you know, just taking in
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: the game like it really didn't feel real.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's good. I mean, there's no you know,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: right or wrong with this, you know, But I think
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: early on, especially like you said, playing and in Wrigley,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: you know, pitching Wrigley was probably super dope. I'm me
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: coming up, I got to playing Yankee Stadium and then
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: obviously playing in Fenway, and it's like you the history
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: that goes behind it, and like you're you're like, wow,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: you know, it's it's cool, I'm here. But then once
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: you start playing, it's all it all kind of ends
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: up being.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's it's baseball, it's sixty f.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the same stuff. So I do have a
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: question your girlfriend, Livy, she she mentioned that you're a
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: good cook. Yeah, so you want to be a chef?
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Is that? Is that like your side gig or something.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: I enjoy it. I haven't done a whole lot of it.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: You don't.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: During the off season, I cook a ton.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: So like, what's your favorite meal?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: So I I have a trigger, and it's like it's
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: it's one of those wood pellet grills, not really a smoker,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: not really a grill, but like right in between. Yeah,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I mean it's a cheat code. I think, Oh, okay, okay,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: throw the meat on there, throw a you know, a
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: little probe in there.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, So like give me your meal, Like you going
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: you're not going to date night, but you're gonna make
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: date date night at home. So what you're gonna make.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Probably a rabbi okay if they have you know, dry
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: age grass fed. I think at some point, like when
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: you know steak, you can taste the difference, like for
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: sure grass fed and not. So okay, so you got
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: to rivite in what, uh, I'll probably the side. I'll
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: throw some broccoli or asparagus on the trigger two and
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: on the grill. On the grill, just let it go,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: pull it off when it's ready. And then I'll just
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: be like, hey, you make the mac and cheese, okay,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: And she'll do that. She enjoys that mac and cheese
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: or you know, mashed potatoes or something like that.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Some corn bread you make corn bread on on the what?
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've never made corn bread on there. They got
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: recipes for everything, so I'll play around with it. Yeah,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: that's a good you know what I'm saying.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I gotta go get me a tragger. Where are they?
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Where do they? Where do they sell traggers at?
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Probably like a slows You got yours, you can probably
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: get Okay, all right.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Give me a tragger.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: It's worth it, all right.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Uh So switching gears, brother, you know, obviously you broke
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: a lot of records, doing a lot of big things.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: You're through your first fifty starts. You have the lowest
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: era and in live bar era second behind the second
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: lowest I'm sorry, behind Vita Blue. And so seeing this
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and seeing how you react to everything, is this kind
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: of like normal for you? Like, I mean, you just
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: you expect this or you kind of like don't really
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: care about it either.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Your success probably a little bit of both. I mean,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know how you approach it, but I think
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: that's just a product of showing up every day and
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: doing the work. You know, it starts in because everybody
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: sees the stuff on the field starting in you know,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: March or I guess February and and spring training, but
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: everything starts in you know, October November, in the off season,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: and I don't think you can you know, it's tough
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: to put numbers like numerical goals on a season, right
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: and it should just be like, you know, go out
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: there and you know, be the best me that I
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: can be, and however it ends up, it ends up.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: And I'm not like, you know, the stats, the numbers
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: that kind of are what they are. It's just a
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: matter of going out there and you know, being the
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: best you know, pul schemes that I can be.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I feel like that's kind of you know how I
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: would take it, Like, you know, our whole lives, we
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: go play the game and X, Y and Z, and
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: then you get to this point because you are good.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: It is not like you got caught up after a
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: year and all that stuff, because it was like, luck,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, You've been kind of doing this.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: You're doing an LSU, you were doing it through the minors,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: You're doing it, you know, so it's almost like for
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: you to continue to do it, it's like, well, I mean, yeah,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: that's kind of why I am who I am, right,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: And so I remember, you know, when I won my
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: third and people ask me, like even after the second one,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: they were like, you know, that's got to be special, X,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Y and Z, and it's like, yeah, it is. It
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: is very special. But also like I remember when I
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: was ten, like we were always winning the championship. You
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. I was winning the championship at ten.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: It's what I do.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like the same thing, you know. So
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: for me from my perspective, watching you is like, I mean, yeah,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: it is super dope. I'm not knocking you at all,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: but it's like it's probably what he's been doing his
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: whole life. That's why he never reacts to it because
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: it's like, I mean, yeah, doing the same thing since
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I was eleven, you know, So how is that kind
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: of how you feel about it.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's just baseball and what you just
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: said about you know, you've won three World Series, Like
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: winning is winning? Yeah it doesn't.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: It doesn't just happen, right exactly.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: And winning however you define it obviously, you know, getting
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: a ring and you know, holding the trophy and all that.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: That's that's a you know, pretty easy way to define it. Yeah. Yeah,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: something that we're all you know, striving for. But then
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: you know the little wins also, the individual wins and
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: all that, like you know, that's that's what we do. Yeah,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: I think we win.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: So what does you know those are the big things?
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: What small wins get you excited? Like what what actual things?
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: And so for me, for instance, like going up and
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: the other day I got I hit a single to
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: write that got me excited because just a line drive
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to write let me know like, oh, you're in a
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: good spot, like keep on going, keep on going. So
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: like something like that for me got me excited. Obviously
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I didn't like show it, you know, but internally I did.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: So something like that for you, like what small winds
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: will get you excited to let you know like you're
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: in the right spot.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean executing a pitch that I've been working on,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: whether it's the you know, if there you know, because
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: over the over the course of thirty two starts or whatever,
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: you're gonna not have a pitch at times. I haven't
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: made thirty two yet, yeah, season, but.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Even during one start, like yeah, one starting, but in
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: the course of one hundred pitches that you're gonna.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Throw, yeah, I mean you can go. I've noticed it
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: this year more than last year. I think, like, you know, hey,
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: there there are some starts where I'm not getting the
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: heater down as much as I want to, or I'm
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: not getting the heater up, or I'm not you know,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: getting the breaking ball to the back foot or something
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: like that. So you know, you work on it and
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: then you go out there and do it, and that's
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: that's a little win man. I which I remember, uh,
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: playing you guys in Daughter Stadium earlier this year, huh
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: and Otani, I forget which game it was. I think
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: it was the Sunday game. But Otani let off the
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: game with a double. And then you come up after
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: you hit a fly ball to right field, get him
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: over the third Yeah, yeah, okay, And uh, you were
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: celebrating on the way back to the dugout, and I'm like, man,
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: I haven't seen that in a big league game like that. Yeah,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: the little win thing that that stood out to me.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: I mean that matters. You know, I'm winning exactly. It's
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: like you said you said earlier, it doesn't really matter
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: what the wins look like, you know, as long as
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: you keep working on him and doing them and and
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: like if you stack up all the small winds like
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: moving a guy over, executing your pitch or whatever, then
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that's how you hold up the trophy in the end, right,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: So so it's just you know, stucking up small wins
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: and whatnot, which you're obviously doing. So I do want
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: to switch gears a little bit. I want to go to,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: uh this splinker that you were gonna throw Babe Ruth
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: to punch him out on. So tell me how did
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: this get started? This first time ever, I brought a
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: baseball and I want to see what it looks like.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: But yeah, like, how how did this get started? Can
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: you can you show us the grip?
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: While Yeah, so when I was at LSU, I was
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm a forcing guy. Uh. I think that
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: because I've caught all my life. I spend the I
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: spend the forcing really efficiently, just because like you know,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: that's the thing behind the plate. So but the project
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: when I was at LSU was to get a slider
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: and a sinker to throw two different you know, fastball shapes.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: So I'm playing around with this literally for ten months
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: while I'm at l s U. And it wasn't good.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Didn't didn't really throw it the whole time I was there.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: But I'm going to split grip like this because I
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: had a buddy that I trained with, you know over
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Christmas break and that kind of stuff, you know, the
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: off season, who split it like this, and and it
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: was really good. And so thank god I kept with
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: it rather than switching the grip because I got back.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: And It's funny because between the National Championship in the draft,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: it was like a two week thing. I'm still throwing, uh,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: still lifting and all that, and I'm playing catch with
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: it one day and it like kind of kind of
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: split my fingers like this, and I felt it felt
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: it more off my index finger on that one. Uh,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: just throwing it and catch play and it kind of
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: split like that, and I was like, oh that that
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: one was different, and so I did it, did it again,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: and yeah, I've never met a pitching coach who tells
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: you to throw a splitter like this, you know, without
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: truly like spot you're supposed to do it. So I'm
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: throwing it like this and then I just basically kept
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: doing it. And it's funny because I, you know, get
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: drafted and all that. They don't know I have this, and.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Uh, because you didn't throw it.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I didn't throw it. And so I get to the
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: complex after the draft and uh, and I start whipping
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: it out in front of our pitching coordinator and he
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: was like, that's different. So I start throwing it and
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: like I was, I was kind of just seeing what
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: I had and and you know, it's kind of just and.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I've gone from there and now and now it's a
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: staple in your arsenal and it's I wanted to also
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: talk about your v low. Obviously, the game. The game
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: today is ridiculous. You know, everybody's throwing a hundred, but
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: not everybody can sit a hundred, you know, through seven
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: eight innings like you do. So how what is that
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: like when you're getting into the seventh and you're still
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: throwing a hundred, Like, are you rearing back a little
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: more to maintain that belough or is this still just
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: nice and easy, just something that kind of naturally comes.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe earlier in the year, I am rearing back
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: a little bit more. But it's it's funny because the
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: last few starts I've felt I felt better in the fourth, fifth, sixth,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: seventh than I have in the in the first few innings.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: So what what what would that be from?
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I really don't know. We're trying to figure that out.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: It could be uh, you know body, you know, musculature obviously,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: but you know, seeings waking up and stuff like that.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: There's there's some stuff there that we're trying to figure out.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: We just don't know yet. But I've noticed it at times,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: like I noticed it at times last year, but I
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: didn't really think it was like a trend, you know,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: in August, like I'm gonna feel terrible and like I
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: have because everything for me is my body and my delivery.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: If all that's dialed in, then my stuff's going to
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: be dialed in. So first three innings I'm trying to
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: find like the tempo, you know, and out of out
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: of wind up and stretch and then I kind of
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: just have it after that.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: So it's kind of like a thing where you have
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: to like settle in. Maybe not anxious is the wrong
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: word because I don't mean like I mean that and
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: then like a bad, bad way, But like, are you
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: just kind of like like before my first bat every game,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: really like I get butterflies, like I'm going up, I'm
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: on deck, especially when I lead off, Like before, when
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I let off, I would they would really come, like
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I would all right, here we go. Even though I'm hitting.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: This is my tenth year, eleventh year, you know what
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I'm saying, I still get the butterflies, and so like
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: is this something Is that something that maybe hurts you
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: a little bit when it's time to settle in or something.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: I don't think, because I get the butterflies too, But
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: it's more so like when I'm doing my movement prep
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: before the game, once I get into the bullpen and
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: see where I'm at, it's it's pretty much like all right,
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: you know, I got it, Like I remember how to
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: do this.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: What about like day game and day games and night games.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah that makes a difference. Yeah, I'm glad you guys
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: came to town. So that means we have three night games, sure, yeah,
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: throwing the throwing the third one, which is an I've
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: had a lot of day games recently and I've I've
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: learned more throughout this year because I think day games
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: it's like it's nutrition, hydration, obviously sleep. Uh there's so
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: much that changes, you know that that's that goes. It's
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the complete opposite of what our normal schedule is. Uh.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: So I've I've learned more how to deal with day
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: games this year, but there's always going to be a difference.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, So I do want to ask this. Let's say
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: you have your fastball and your splinker, so I'm taking
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: away whatever, however many other pitches you have. I'm sure
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: everybody has five or six pitches now, and I'm give
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: you three three pitches to add to your bag. What
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: what pitch in whose pitch would you add to your bag?
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: Dum trying and slider?
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Trying and slider that's nasty? Yeah, goods gracious.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Bed NAR's curveball twelve.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you got trying and slider, ben NAR's curve,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: bed NAR's curveball, your fastball and splinker. You got one more.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I would have to think it's got to be some
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: type of like cutter or something like.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: I don't yeah, I just I don't know. I've I've
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: played around with adding a cutter and it just didn't
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: really work for my slides.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: This isn't your cutter. This is somebody else's cutter.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that you're bringing. And when you asked, I initially
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: thought about cutter. But it's also I just think cutters
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: are a little bit of a bat speed pitch, probably
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: for me.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, so what about Yeah, that's probably right. So okay,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: take off your splinker then, and let's let's add you
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: get another pitch so that it's just your fastball. You
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: got one more pitch you can add as somebody's splitter
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: if you want it or whatever. Yeah, or I don't
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: even know another pitch. You mean, you wouldn't even need
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: much more with your fast the fastball trying and it's curveball
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: then nurse slider. I mean you gotta change if somebody's
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: change up.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe like yalllamodos splitter, yallamodo splitter.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Okay, which is that?
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: I mean it's crazy because Yoshi throws you know, ninety
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: five probably sits around ninety five ninety six, and the
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: splitter is anywhere from ninety to ninety two. You sit
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: ninety eight to one hundred, and your splinker is ninety
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: five ninety six, So like, tell me about that. Like usually, well,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: back when I came up, which is forever ago, you know,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: guys weren't throwing ninety five. But the guys that did
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: throw ninety five, if they did have a splitter, it
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: was like eighty seven. How are you maintaining this velocity
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: with the splinker? And do you yeah, yeah, well we'll
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: we'll answer that first, like how are you man? Do
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: you not want the speed difference?
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I think, Uh, well, when I initially started throwing it,
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I thought of it as a sinker, and that's what
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I called it. So I wanted it to be as
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: I mean when I was first throwing it in the complex,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: and then you know, as I was coming up in
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: the minors after after the draft, I want to say,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: I was thrown at ninety seven ninety eight, so the.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Same, it's just it's just a sinker.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and uh and then I'm doing I'm throwing in
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: the off season, and my first off season going into
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: twenty four. I learned a lot about it and how
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: my body. It's a natural pitch for me to throw.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: So I'm not manipulating the ball or anything like that.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: But I think as I threw it, as I threw
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: it a lot in the off season, I'm trying to
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: get this shape, and I think with with uh, you know,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know about everybody's splitters, because you know, we
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: had bed in our he would throw it ninety four
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: at times, you know, So it's not it's not necessarily
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: always a shape velocity trade off, I think, but for me,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: I think sometimes it is. But it's again, it's not
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: a true splitter. So oh, so that's why you can
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: throw it so hard. Yeah, it's like, yeah, I don't know,
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: it's just a weird.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: It's just so his I would assume, Yo, She's is
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: probably pretty similar, the fact that he can throw it,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: you know, ninety two.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean he's probably been throwing it his whole life,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: him too, So I don't know. It's splinkers kind of
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: just one that I throw and let it do what
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: it does and it comes out at whatever view low.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you don't play with it at and subtract.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: You just kind of throw No, I just throw it.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so uh real quick, it's time to bring relief.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Get more baseball, get more. With Geykob, we're gonna take
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: a look at some moments that were caught on camera. First,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: my boy Devers had a ball go through his glove.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: At first he still got the out though, Uh Freddy
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: actually had that happen this year. Where uh yeah that
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: right there, that's like a nightmare in mind. Boy, I
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: couldn't like what if his head was behind it, you
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like for something like that, if
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: his head is behind it and he goes and hits
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: him in the face.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that always that always scares me.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: You know, you know have you have you ever? I
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: mean I guess as a picture you probably don't catch
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: enough balls for for that to break. But like a comebacker,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I guess, but your your glove is then the webbing
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: wouldn't even allow a ball to go through like that.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Message Yeah, I guess just the lace that connects it.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: But man, I mean I remember you remember Lester the
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: ball getting stuck he threw his Yeah, that's probably the
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: one that's like most likely for pictures because everybody else
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: the clothes.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Do you think you could think think quick enough for that,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: because I feel like if that happened to me, I
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: would just dang. Yeah, you know, I wouldn't have thought
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: over there.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: No, that is kind of impressive that he just yeah,
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: probably practiced it. I would assume like that's, you know,
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: spring training. Let's work on throwing our gloves over there
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: because the ball got caught in there.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: All right, so here we go. We got this dog
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: at the Orioles game. I wouldn't give up until he
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: got a hot dog. So, uh, you're a dog dad.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: How many dogs do you have?
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Just one?
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Just one dog? What's the dog's name? What kind of
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: dog is it?
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: Uh? English Cream Retriever English Cream Retrieve is Yeah, it's
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: a it's a golden that's white basically.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Okay, so it is a really good dog.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's great.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: She she's a really good dog. Did you send her
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: to training or did you do it?
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: No? She she was I mean the first day we
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: got her, she knew how to sit and lie down
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: and stay. So this wasn't a puppy. She she was
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: a puppy. Yeah, she's just she's just smart. Yeah, I
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: mean we taught her, Like, we got home and you know,
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: we're excited dog parents now, so we're spending four hours there,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: you know, holding treats in front of her and doing
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: all that. But uh, yeah, she's she's smart. She didn't
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: she didn't need to go to any training.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Nice. So do you like, do y'all go on family
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: trips with the dog and everything? Or did the dog
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: kind of stay home or what you guys?
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we'll we'll bring her, uh when we can.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: You go walking around beautiful Pittsburgh with it?
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah? Uh, occasionally, she's she's she's not as good at
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: walking as everything else. Okay, she likes to pull on
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: the leash, that's the one. That's the one thing about her.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: But get a little training with that. Yeah, that's part
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: of it. Yeah.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Okay, So last one or O'Neill O'Neill Cruz, which you
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: were there, obviously hit it hit a homer one one fourteen.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: I guess man which time?
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Oh okay, this was this past weekend. Okay, oh yeah,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: yeah if you seen him hit it one twenty yeah,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: Like so, so what happens? I don't know if I've
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: ever seen I've seen show hate hit a one eighteen,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I believe, but like one one, Like really anything up
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: there is just unbelievable.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: Bro. Yeah, I mean he's obviously got leverage and he's
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: got bats beat. That's that's a you know recipe for
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: for uh egg of velocity. He hit one here one
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: twenty three that got out of the stadium, thank god.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Went into the river, Oh my goodness.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: And next day our man, I'm talking with our manager
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: about it and he's like, man, I'm so glad that
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: didn't land in the stands because I was probably killing someone.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, like, it just takes a special human, like
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you have to be that size to hit it one
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: twenty Yeah, and you know, like, yeah, that's dangerous. It's dangerous, bro.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Think about it. If you're pitching and this guy is
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: capable of hitting at one hundred and twenty miles an hour.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's got to be scary, right, Yeah, I don't
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: That's I faced him in Live AB's and in spring,
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, this is this is a win for
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: me as long as I don't get something hit in
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: my direction.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Because if he hits it one hundred and twenty, there's
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: a zero percent chance you can get out of the way. Yeah,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: so it's got it. If it doesn't go, if it
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: coming right at you, it's over.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah. He hasn't done it. He hasn't hit any pitchers,
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: I don't think this year.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: So yeah, that's hopefully we can keep it. Let's keep
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: that going. So I want to go back to young Paul.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Where are you from?
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: Bro Orange County, California.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Orange County. You grew up there and you said earlier
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: you only played baseball. Yeah, so you didn't even try nothing.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: You didn't try and play basketball, no football or nothing. Yeah.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: That's the thing about growing up in Orange County. It
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: never rains, the weather's always nice, so it's year round baseball.
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: So we got you know, summer ball, fall ball, winter ball.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: So you were just constantly you were just constantly playing
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: playing ball. Yeah, and then you end up going to
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: the Air Force, right, and tell me about your time
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: at the Air Force, Like what, how how was that?
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: How how was that.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Compared to L s u U was the complete opposite? Yeah,
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: a lot of character building at Air Force. I mean,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: you can't get worse being there. It's you know, four
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: thousand of the nation's best and brightest, and the people
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: that are there it's just it's the highest caliber person
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: you're ever going to meet in your life, so that they.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Help shape you in a very in a positive way.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think, like, you know, the the Air
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: Force Academy attracts a certain type of person. You're not.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: You're not just you know, anybody. You obviously have to
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: be smart, you have to want to serve and all that.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: So that's part of it, that's part of the equation.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: But then once you get there, you know, you're just
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: getting better every day. Basically. You know, my you know,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: roommate happened to be a baseball player. You don't just
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: you don't always room with baseball players, like like at
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: normal colleges. But so we spent two years together and
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: he's off doing you know, my coach from Air Force
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: messes with me and says that he's more successful than
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: I am, and he's better what he does than I
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: am at what I do. So that's just the type
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: of person that you're around all day, every day. So
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: you can't you can't get worse being there.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: So did you do your homework or did you have
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: someone else do your homework? Like what about like making
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: I know, like making bids and all that type of
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: stuff like Air Force especially. I mean you probably had
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: your drill sergeant come in and I don't know this,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: I'm just making stuff off off my head, but like
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: like it was stuff like that very important.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean did you make your bed?
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Did you have?
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: We had? Yeah, we had to do all that you had.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: You had to make it up and then somebody had
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: to come check off and say yep, that's right.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So I mean we have Saturday morning inspections you know,
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: call him Sammy's and uh, I think twice a semester
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: and that's you know where they come in. I think
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: they used to do it with like the white glove
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: and like check for dust and had so well why.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Did you get the dust off?
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Just watch kind of dust like every day. But the
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: swiffer thing, yeah yeah, swift, I mean whatever you know
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: old it's like okay, yeah, anything, just make sure there's
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: no dust on there. Okay, the beds, everything there. You
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: had to. I mean, we're doing our own homework. If
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: we're not, there's an honor code there, okay, so you
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: know homework. You can't can't cheat, lie, steal anything like that.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: So if you if you get caught doing any of
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: those things, that's six months probation and you can't leave base.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: So what were you? What were you? Because my dad
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: was an Air Force and he served in be announced
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: shout out to you, pops. Uh. And when he got
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: deployed to go, I'm thinking he's in battle, he's shooting people,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: he's gunning people down from the whatnot. But not he
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: he was he was a part of the guys that
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: made the runways. So he mixed the cement and made
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: the runways for planes to come in, so like. And
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: then my cousin he fixed air conditioning stuff on the
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: planes and stuff, you know, so he worked on the
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: planes like that. So not everybody goes into combat. What
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: was your what was gonna be your expertise had you
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: got deployed.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wanted to fly, so you wanted to fly? Yeah.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: And when I got to Air Force, I mean I
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: was pilot qualified, vision, you know all the other stuff.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: There's you know, aptitude tests and stuff like that. But
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: so the only thing that would have kept me from
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: doing that is my height.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: But I was here too tall to fly.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but for fighters basically, so I don't know, I mean,
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: you flew into the Pittsburgh Airport. Probably there are a
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: bunch of seven teams there. I don't know if you
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: saw only think less seventeen. Yeah, so that's the big
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: like cargo jets. They're they're awesome. Uh. We actually flew
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: those and a lot of our road trips when we
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: were at air Force. But that's that's what I would
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: have wanted to fly.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: So is that flying that plane like that's that's kind
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: of like ups or something like you know, you're going
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to drop supplies off or what was that?
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that one. You can do a lot
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: of different things in it. You're dropping you know, people off,
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: you're carrying people. I think cargo is probably a you know,
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: pretty loose term. It's uh, but those that no, I
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: mean the size of the inside of them. We would
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: you know, drive our bus up when we were at
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: air Force and unload everything and put everything. But it's
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: big enough to drive the bus onto it if you
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: took But it's.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: People and like a flight simulators and all that stuff.
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: While he was there too, Yeah did it. When you're
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: when you're at air Force, it's it's basically just a
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: college that you're doing military uh, like centered stuff. At
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: so we're not like playing baseball. There wasn't enough time
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: in the day for me to fly while I was there, too,
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: so I did the flight simulator a couple of times,
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: but the pilot training and all that stuff, that's what
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: you do when you leave the academy.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: And then at Air Force you were a catcher. So
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: how did that? Like you, you caught when you were
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: young and everything, so you had always been a catcher,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: And do you think that that that helped you switch
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: to pitching really really fast?
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think just like understanding how hitters see the ball,
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: that's the biggest thing. And yeah, beard, Yeah I couldn't
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: grow a beard back then, shaven every day, and yeah
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: I gotta hind tights and all that. Yeah, I caught
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: you know, all of growing up. I didn't throw very
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: hard when I was, you know, freshman sophomore in high school,
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: so I just wasn't good enough to pitch, but always
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: threw strikes and all that. So I started pitching again
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: my junior senior year of high school, but got recruited
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: as a catcher and obviously went there as a catcher
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: and they let me catch.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: So so what how did what would how did this
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: switch prompt, Like you said you were closing games, you know,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: you catch all eight ings and then come close the game.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: So how did how did l s U or whatever
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: they just start recruiting you as a starter or how
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: did that all kind of play out?
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wanted to or I wasn't. When I got
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: in the portal. I was in the portal as a
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: two way and that's what you know, the arrangement would
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: have been wherever I had gone, because at that point
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: I was, you know, I was good enough to hit.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: I probably could have hit you know, during the year
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: while I was there. I would have been a you know,
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: platoon DH or something like that because I didn't hit
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: high heaters but or sliders. But when I when I
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: did hit it, it it usually was pretty hard. So but then,
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: uh we saw in the fall, like you know, when
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: I got to l s U, I had a you know,
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: uh pretty you know, a solid velo jump, and I'm
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: learning my body and stuff like I was just recovering better.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: I was, you know, eating better and all this. I'm
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: doing all this stuff baseball wise, that's just air force
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: isn't conducive too. So once I got to LSU, I'm
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: throwing harder and all that purely because I'm recovering. And
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: then once we got into the mechanics side and all
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: the science of it, then you know, got started getting
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: better on the you know, actually my body was moving
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: better and that kind of thing. So through the fall,
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: I two wade and then after winter break I was
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: hitting a little bit. But they were like, now you're
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: you're pitching. Uh they were like, you're because we had
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: our Saturday guy went down and they were like, if
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: you know, if we want to win a national championship,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: you can't get hurt. Okay, you can't get you know,
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: hit by pitch or something like that. So I took
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: the bat out of my hands and you know, rest
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: is history.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: So and then you did you obviously we're part of
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: leading the team to the College World Series and so
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: how how fun was that whole run?
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah? It was cool. I think I think the coolest
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: part looking back on it, if you asked me, you know,
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: two years ago, now I would have a different answer.
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: But the coolest part looking back is that we built it,
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: you know in the locker room, uh hang out and stuff. Yeah,
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: they did. They did a good job recruiting players. Obviously,
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: you know, first two picks in the draft that year,
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: we had you know, three first round. We had thirteen
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: guys drafted off that team in that draft. Uh, not
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: to mention the guys that have gone since then. So
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: obviously had really good players, but the character that we
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: had on that team was really good.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: So that makes it a bit huge different.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, guys that I'm sure that's something that you guys
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: have that you guys see just the character in the
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: locker room of you know, winning players, that's what we had.
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: And then we you know, built a a winning team,
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: head buy in and all that. So that's looking back,
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: that's the coolest thing.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: So two years ago, because you said it was, you know,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: your answer is different now two years ago, what would
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: have been your answer?
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: Just steamrolling teams? Yeah, that was fun, just winning baseball
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: games and just going out there and being better than them.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: But I've learned that you know, you don't you don't
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: just win. It doesn't just happen like you don't go
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: out there and win a major League baseball game. You
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: have to go out there and do everything right to win. Yeah,
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: and it's the same thing, you know, to a little
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: bit lesser degree, I think in college, like because you see,
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: like you know, Tennessee. The team we played at Tennessee
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: has three or four guys that are in the big
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: leagues now, I think more than than we had on
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: that team at LSU. They had really good players, and
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: they didn't win the national they went to Omaha, but
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: you know, we beat them in Omaha. Like you don't
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: just go out there and win, you know, World Series championships,
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: national championships like that, like you got to do everything
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: right and make it happen.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Soo okay, so a l s U uh, well, give
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: me like your Mount rushmore of you feel like baseball
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: players at l s U.
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah. So four guys. I'm not gonna put myself
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: on there. I was I was there for one year, Okay,
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: they got I mean Alex Bragman, Okay, yeah, Bragman Man,
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: I feel like you got to go up there.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: B I'm gonna put you in your list, all right,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: So you Bregman? Who else?
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: Cruz still and Cruz I mean he was there for
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: three years before it got It's just like it's this,
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the recency bias, Like.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, this isn't like to anybody.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, they won five and in the eighties and nineties,
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: and I can't really remember any of them.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: You weren't even born then. Yeah.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, uh, I'll throw Aaron Nola up there.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, nice. Yeah, so that that's probably my Yeah, yeah,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: that's Uh, there's a lot of people that want to
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: unless you don't play.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: Some good players.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, So going into uh the I want to talk
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: about the pirates. Now, obviously, uh, you went to the miners.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: You didn't spend much time in the minors, so there's
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: no way you really got to develop a lot of
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: relationships with guys. But now that you're here, there's no
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: you know, you're starting to see the guys that you
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: kind of surpassed, they're starting to come up and whatnot, Like,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: is it neat to really see the amount of talent
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: that you guys have, Like, and everybody's throwing a hundred.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Everybody is like, I know, you got the bubble Bubba Chandler.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: It just just came up, I think Jared Jones, I mean,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: it's got to be dope to see like the amount
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: of talent that you have with you.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and after the draft, I came up
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: and I was in Double A. That's where I finished.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: I spent four weeks there, I think, basically just to
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: get around the guys that I'm going to be playing with,
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: because they knew that, you know, we have guys coming
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: up and all that. So Jared was in Triple A
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: at that point. Bubba got called up to Double A
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: while I was there. You know, we have another guy,
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: Brax nash Craft. Oh yeah, yeah. So a lot of
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: these guys that I, you know, spent a short amount
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: of time with in the minor leagues. But I think
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: we really, you know, for me, like they showed me
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: what Pro Bowl was like, and I think it's really
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: it's unique for me because they showed me what Pro
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: Bowl is like, and now I'm I'm in the you know,
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: fortunate position to be able to show them what the
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: big leagues is like in a way, you know, cause
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: kind of go down the list a little bit. There.
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: Guys that were in the system, they were in the
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: system for two, three, four, five years before I was,
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: and I debuted before them. But now we're we have
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: these you know, connections and that kind of thing, and
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: we're getting no experience, like, you know, what the big
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: leagues is like together, So it's it's unique, like aside
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: from the talent standpoint, like it's it's unique from a
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: personal relationship. Yeah standpoint you were learning pro ball, which
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: is learning pro ball is completely different than learning the
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: big leagues, right, and like your experience.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: You know, you have a unique perspective because nobody has
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: experienced what you're experiencing and so like to be able
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: to help them out in it in a certain way.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's not necessarily teaching them things per se, but
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: it is helpful. It's because you've won Brookie of the Year.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: You're I mean, you're on all the leader boards and everything,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: so obviously they probably looked to you for some type
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: of help or whatever. It is not that those guys
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: aren't aren't good, but yeah, you definitely do have a
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: unique perspective that I think you should definitely continue to
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: share all with all the guys. And this is what
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: your second year and I mean, you're gonna have so
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: much more experience than really anybody year five, just because
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: you've been through so much. You're going to pitch in
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: so many big games and I mean to lead to
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: win Rookie of the Year, you know, coming up, you
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: were in college a year before you won Rookie of
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: the Year, and you know, nobody really can say that.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, and then when you won, like you don't
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: have any reaction to it, Like, how come you didn't
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: have any reactions? It was just what you're used to this?
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: Why else would you pitch?
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's like because obviously, I mean, there were memes
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: about it and everything. I joke will live because it's
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: like she she is my emotion, or she shows the
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: emotion for me. But like what we were talking about earlier,
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: like I didn't go into the year wanting you know,
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: it's not a successful year if I win Rookie year.
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: Whether I whether I won that or not, it was
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: a successful year. And so I'm like, I'm sitting there
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: and they call my name, and it's like, what what
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: does this change for me? You know, like the years
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: it's November at this point, Like, Okay, I don't know.
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: I probably think about it a little different. I think,
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: you know, maybe the next time I'll show a little
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: more emotion or something like that, but.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: Well the next time would be a cyan. You got
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: at least pat on the back.
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like, And it's funny because I like, you know,
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: I was in Baton Rouge at that point, and I
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: had all the guys from my team that were still
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: in Baton Rouge.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: They were they were.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: There, they just weren't in the camera and so they're
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: you know, clapping and all that, and so I'm like
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: kind of looking at them like that's I don't know,
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: it's just it's just how I am, Like, I don't
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: I'm not.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: A I mean, that doesn't define that. You're just saying, essentially,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: from what my perspective is, like, the awards don't define
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: whether I had a good bad season or that, Like, yeah,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: it has nothing really to do with it, Like did
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: you feel good about the work you put in? Can
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: you look in the mirror and say you gave it
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: your all? And that is what defines, you know, whether
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: good or bad season. And then the numbers are gonna
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: be the numbers. They're gonna be either either gonna win
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: or or not. That's kind of what I what I
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: see from you is that kind of is that it?
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because I mean it's just you know, it's it's
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: the process. It's you know, showing up every day and
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: being in the moment, you know, the little wins that
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: you were talking about, like that all adds up to it.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: And uh, I think that's one thing that like people
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: don't understand. It's like the people that are in uh
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: that are in the big leagues, you know, that are
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: performing at this level, they're they're doing it for a reason.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: And I think for me, that's that's why I do it.
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: I would say, you know, at this level, that's why
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: I'm here because because that's who I am. So I'm
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: not I know, I you know, I'm I'm not as
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: expressive as other people, and I don't know. It's it
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: was also tough because I'm in a position where i'm
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: I'm I think part of it also in that moment
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: was like I'm trying to process it and I got,
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: you know, fifty cameras right there, and I'm on MLB
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: network and it's like, you know, it's it's out there. Yeah,
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't know.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: And even after all that, you know, you still hear
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: your names in trade rumors. And I remember when I
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: was young and I was playing, I played pretty good,
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: you know, coming up, I hurt my name in trade
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: rumors and I remember thinking like, oh my gosh, like
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: I'm going to get traded. You know, I didn't know
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: what to think, you know, and you come up and
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: I had spent you know, two and a half years
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: in the minors, so I had some time to develop
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: some relationships. And you know, I was eighteen so getting drafted.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: So I was twenty one when when I debuted, and
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: I remember, like, I just didn't know really what to think.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: And so when you hear your name in some trade rumors,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: and you're always going to hear your name in trade
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: rumors by the way, like it never is going to
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: stop until you sign a deal, a long term deal
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: or whatever, Like, does that make you feel any way
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: or you didn't really care?
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: No, cause I knew it wasn't true. Okay, got that's
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: pretty much why. So if I don't know if there
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: if it is, if there is some truth to it,
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: maybe I'll feel a little bit different. But you know,
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: this year, I knew it wasn't it wasn't happening.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Okay. So before we before we finish up, there's an
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: I've never played this game. There's in a bat between
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: me and you. This is back in April this year.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: We're going to show we have whiteboards, we're gonna show
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: the pitch. We got to guess what the pitch is.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: And then I just want to give a quick little
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: sentence or two on what you were thinking and what
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: I was thinking. First, get your white board, so oh, oh,
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: first inning, I know what this is. I don't even
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: know how to spell. There you go.
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: I got to write it bigger.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: That's fast, all right, it's all right. So we're going, uh,
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: all right.
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: So I know.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Yep, heater ball one. So we're both right. I know
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: in that pitch right there. I the way I grew
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: up when I was young. I've always been a leadoff
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: hitter my whole life. And so now back behind show
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: Hey is different, not in a bad way and not
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: in a good way, but just different. And knowing that
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: show Hey is aggressive and we can start off games
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: one nothing, it's huge, you know, that's a huge advantage
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: to us. And then sometimes you start off when you
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: know he throw, You may throw two pitches and he's out,
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: which is cool. That's part of it as well. And
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: so I know, but at that point you had thrown
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: seven pitches, so I could have I could have been
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: ready to go, but I just kind of like easing
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: my way into the game. Kind of weird. But anyways,
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: I know, I know that's I'm passive. O, so I
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: know that's a heater. What's your thought on that as well?
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: Get ahead?
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: Get ahead?
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: Didn't do a very good job.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: You didn't do a very good job with that one.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: So all right, so uh, now let's go with pitch
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: two one. Oh, I'm gonna go with your would you
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: would you go? And I can't see another one? Okay,
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: let's see what pitch it was? Oh, slider, slider. So
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking fastball because uh, you went one oh, and
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: you don't want to fall behind or you don't want
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: to go too oh. So uh, I was I was
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: on the fastball there, threw slider there you I'm assuming
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: you thought I was swinging ready to go.
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Probably, I think I'm confidence striking all my pitches.
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: So it was kind of just pick one and and
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: go with it. So I'm I can't speak for what
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: Henry was thinking, but I don't really shake him. He
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: probably saw something, uh until he went with that. Okay, slider,
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: So so slider is one one. We got a couple
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: more pitches. Okay, let's go. Uh, you're a heater, slider.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: I'm going, uh, okay, what do you got? Yeah, I
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: think Okay, so we got another heater. Let's see what
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: it is here, Hundo, Okay, man, it's it's it's the
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: game has changed when you have If you can't hit
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: a hundred, you're not gonna make it. Yeah, like it's unbelievable.
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: Bro.
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So you went heater right there. I'm uh,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know what I was thinking of the time,
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: but just watching it, I'm thinking you went slider.
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, he's got to be ready for a fastball, I guess,
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: And I mean I got to be ready for a
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: fastball just because you throw a hundred and I can
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: adjust to I can try and adjust to anything slower
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: than a hundred. But if you're not on the hundred,
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: there's no way you're going to be able to hit both. So, uh,
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: what were you thinking there?
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: I was thinking a heater obviously. I mean the one
• 54:59
  Speaker 2: one count is is huge flip.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: It's that can change the bat.
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's that's like the one you pitching coaches till
• 55:06
  Speaker 2: you get ahead. Like other people say they you know
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: when the two out of the first three, I think
• 55:11
  Speaker 2: you know you can do both but like the ops
• 55:17
  Speaker 2: and batting average and all, that difference between two to
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: one and one two is huge, So all just trying
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: to get ahead. I think that what we were talking
• 55:25
  Speaker 2: about earlier with like, you know, Dodger Stadium on I
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: think it was a Friday night. Uh, probably just overcooked that.
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: Juice is going. Yeah, you got some juices going, okay,
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: and you kind of at home with me. I'm assuming
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: you probably had a lot of people at the game too.
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, yeah, I was playing for free.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: That okay, All right, let's go. I'm gonna go. Uh,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: let's see the mixed pitches. Let's go. Uh all right,
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: you went, I went slider. Okay, so let's see what
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: it is again. Boy golly, got them like a coming
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: in there. Okay, so now it's one two? Does that a.
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: Strike to Yeah? I think you said you went okay,
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: so to lucky.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: That's all right. Sometimes sometimes looks better than skill, bro Okay, So, uh,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: you said fastball every every pitch.
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: Is there specific reason why you Yeah, well I don't
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: remember this a bat at all neither, and I'm just
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: just you know, just default to your strikes, right.
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: You just said your strength is every pitch.
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, the only pitch that I've thrown for a
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: strike in this a bat is the slidest that's been
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: in the strike zone.
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: You you had your juices flowing, so it was just
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: coming out probably a little hotter.
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I didn't well, because now I remember that Otani bat.
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: I thought I was going to walk them the lead
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: off the game, which is like, that's a no, no,
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: you don't want to do that. I had no idea
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: where the heater was going that bad. I guess it
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: transferred over to this at bat too.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: So all right, so we got to to all right,
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: what you got yep, Okay, I'm going slider here, We're
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: both going slider. Let's see what we got. Oh I
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: didn't punch out? There we go? There we go? All right, so,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: uh slider there, I mean, you gotta. I feel like
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know what I was thinking. I think I
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: mostly think I was thinking, just catch up to your fastball.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: I stay on your fastball because if you don't, if
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: you if you don't, and uh, it's gonna be blown
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: by you. So I got one question, one last question.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Who do you think is the toughest strikeout in the
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: big leagues?
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: Oh Man.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: From my perspective watching and I'll give you this will
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: could be time to think. Yeah, Louis Arrias, So.
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: I've never faced the you never faced the watching from
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: the outside. Yeah, I think, like, you know, if we're
• 58:10
  Speaker 2: talking about, you know, toughest guy to strike out, yeah,
• 58:15
  Speaker 2: you know for sure, like it doesn't matter your stuff.
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: But if we're talking risk reward, which I think that's
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: probably more how I think about it, I would throw
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: Freddy in there.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: Oh okay, yeah, yeah.
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: For sure. If you you miss, he can he can. Yeah,
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: it's probably yeah, yeah, okay, he stands. But Freddy, Freddy will.
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: He's hard to strike out. And if you put it
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: leaving an inch on it's a Homer versus you're saying,
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: Arise may not. He's hard to strike out, but leaving
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: the inch on the plate and it's a single or
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: or something like that. Different skill sets.
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Freddy's tough.
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: So anyways, man, I know, we got to go to work.
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: You're a young guy, so you got to get there early. Unfortunately,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: sorry about that. Maybe one day, when you stack some
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: more accolades, get a couple more years under your belt,
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: you can start showing up a little later. But uh,
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: until then. Sorry about it, buddy, first bus for you.
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: So but anyways, man, thanks for coming on, as you know,
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: everybody kind of thanks. You're a rock star, bro. I mean,
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: it is what it is, and you embrace it. You uh,
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: you wear it really well. You don't. You're very humble
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: about it, you know you, but you also have that
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: fire and that edge and you that is the reason
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: why it's not luck, you know what I'm saying. And so, uh,
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: shout out to you for for holding it down, for
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: for all the for all the young guys coming up
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: and showing them the right way to do it. I
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: do expect you to be wearing a Team USA jersey,
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: so uh, that will be fun. That would be a
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: lot of fun, and uh, that would be something that
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: I got you getting excited for that. I think there's
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: there may may not be a lot of things during
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: baseball season that get you excited, but Team USA. If
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: that doesn't get your juices flowing, nothing will you know,
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: There's there's no higher baseball experience. So outside the World Series,
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: which I still think Team USA in the World Series
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: are They're different, man, different, so you'll you'll definitely enjoy it.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: So but anyways, Thanks for watching on base presented by Geico.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: Get More Baseball, Get More with Geico. Thanks Paul, appreciate it.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: Bro See you guys next time.