Latest / Foul Territory / Zack Wheeler joins The Phillies Show

Transcript

Zack Wheeler joins The Phillies Show · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is Zach Wheeler. Welcome to Phillies shown.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Rubin Marr Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's Alecki. We are in Clearwater, Florida.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: We are almost at the end well week two of Campchin.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: It flies, It really does fly.
• 0:19
  Speaker 4: You wait all winter for baseball season to come back,
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: and it just goes pedal to the metal right away,
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: and it's not even the season yet. But of course
• 0:26
  Speaker 4: we're in spring training. In the games, we'll begin on
• 0:28
  Speaker 4: Saturday with the Phillies traveling to the middle of Florida
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: Lakeland play the Tigers, and then on Sunday they will
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: host the Baltimore Orioles in their first home game here
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: in clear Water. Rob Thompson has not really announced his
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: pitching plans for the early part of the Grapefruit League season.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: When he does that, you can kind of start getting
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: out the calculator and figuring out who's going to line
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: up where in the season opening rotation. But I think
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: we can bet that once March twenty seventh comes around
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: in Washington, Zach Wheeler will make the opening day start
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: for the Phillies.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: No, yeah, no, no doubt about it. I mean, Zach
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: was the opening they started last year. I remember it
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: was like Aaron Nola had started the previous few and
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: then Zach gets to start last year, and no doubt,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: and why wouldn't he.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Such a fun guy to watch pitch?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: And I hate I hate to say this because it's
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: but I really feel, you know, my first three years
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: covering the team, it was like Hammels and it was
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Halliday and Lee and Roy Olswall. I kind of feel
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I didn't appreciate it as much as I did, just
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason. But then when you see Zach Wheeler
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: now and Aaron Nola now, these guys that go two
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: hundred innings every year, I just really find myself loving
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: watching those guys pitch.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Those are a lot of those are really fun.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Days at the ballpark because Zach is a throwback man.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: To throwback, he's a workhorse.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: He's one of the vanishing breed in Major League Baseball.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: The two hundred innings starter. Last year, there were only
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: four of them in the major leagues, and he was
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: one of them, getting to exactly two hundred innings in
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: his last start of the season. I know that was
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: important to him, and it's going to be important to
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: him as he starts of this new uh three year
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: extension with the Phillies, and you know, we were lucky
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: enough to talk to him a little bit.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we were.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: This is Yeah, We've wanted to have talked to Zach
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: for a while because he's such a fascinating guy and
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: he really is a throwback in a lot of ways.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: You know, you and I we love his demeanor on
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: the mound. It's a total bulldog. You know, he pitches
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: deep into games. Of course, he's elite, which you have
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: to be to pitch deep into games. But you know,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: we had Caleb Kathamon recently, we had JT. Real Muto
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: on recently, and both of those guys just really dug
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: into like kind of what makes him great. And so
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Zach kind of explained kind of what makes him tick
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: on the mound in the offseason during the season to
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: kind of get him to that elite cy Young caliber level.
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: And it's almost like he pitches like his personality no bs,
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: very serious, very efficient and I'm gonna attack you. And
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: you know last year he finished his second in the
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: Cy Young voting. I mean, you know, I'm sure there
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: was a little bit of a tinge of disappointment but
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, that's a hell of the season. You finished
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: second to cy Young. He was you know, led to
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: the led the league in innings I'm sorry, second in
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: the league in innings. Uh, and he led the league
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: in ops against and whip. Yeah, I believe he was
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: dominant second a second in e ra A. Just a
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: fabulous season. And so he's got two second place finishes
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: in the cy Young and last handful of years. That's
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: that's that's pretty impressive.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: And you know what I liked about this this interview,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: which you're about to hear, is that we talked. You
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: talked about how he's like no Bs on the mountain
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: and he really gets after it. But you see like
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: his personality in this interview and Zach is he's a
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: lot like Halliday and like some of these elite guys
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: on the mound, but off the field, he's really chill,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: really laid back. In fact, I remember I think it
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: was two postseasons ago before he pitched in Atlanta. I'm
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: standing in the dugout myself and I can't remember who
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: else is out that. I think it was Matt Gelb
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: and Zach comes out before Game one or Game two
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: of this series, whichever one he pitched, and he just
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: starts talking to us, and I'm sitting there going, oh.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: Man, I hope he pitches well. And I hope no
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: one has a photo of me chatting with Zach.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Before this game, because, you know, because people get superstitious
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: about that stuff. But he is really laid back off
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: the field, total hardcore pitcher on the field, and that's
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: why he has a chance to win a Soal Young
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: every year.
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: It's been a great, great great three greats. Signing for
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: the Philadelphia Phillies. Seems to get better every year. And
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: when I you know, watch the way how dedicated he
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: is to his craft and the condition he is in,
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: I still feel like the best yet to come. I
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: feel like he might cash in on one of those
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: Winna saw Young one of these years. And of course
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: the big prize is the World Series. That's what he
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: wants more than anything. That's what guys in that room
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: want more than anything.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: And here's something I'm gonna throw this out there, because
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: as Hall of Fame standards shift over the years, man,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: if he has three Zach Wheeler type years, I wonder
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: if you could enter the conrece He's not gonna have
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the wins. Of course he's not gonna have the strikeouts,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: but in terms of dominant pitchers for an extend period
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: of time, we might down the road be talking about
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: him as a potential hot Hall of Fame candidate.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: We'll see, we'll see.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: you're gonna enjoy this. Here we go, our conversation with
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Zach Wheeler. Zach, thanks for joining us. Spring training has started.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of talking a lot of the
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: guys already the first week. You know, they're really excited
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: about this team. You know, even though you guys haven't
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: kind of crossed the finish line in.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: The last few years.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: What has you excited and what has you and confident
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: about this team in twenty twenty five.
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: Well, first things first, I think we're a good you know,
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: we did well last year. We got to where we
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: wanted to be. We just did finish the job. You know,
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: we won the division, won a lot of baseball games,
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: made it to the playoffs. You know, we're happy with that.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, you can be
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: happy with that, but you want to win the World
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: Series every single year, and that's the goal coming in
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: the spring, and so you know that was about the
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: only letdown last year was you know, just not finishing
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: the job. And you know, I think that has this
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: a little more hungry, especially with the group of guys
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: that we had. You know, we came close the past
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: few years, so you know, I think finally just getting
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: there and you know, kind of putting our nose down
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: at the right time to go.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: And the last few springs, you know, you've come in
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: two springs ago with the sweeper. Lit's past spring it
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: was a split and I knew, I asked you the
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: other day. I kind of knew you wouldn't have another
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: pitch because there's only so many pitches you can throw.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: But do you come into this spring like I know
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: you're always trying to like get better and take that
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: next step. What's the point of emphasis if it's anything
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: this spring for you?
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: I don't know, Like you said, usually come in with
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: something new, So I'm kind of concentrated on that and
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: other stuff will kind of just you know fall into place.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: But I don't know, it's.
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: Nothing really, you know pinpointed this year, you know, just
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: just getting your work in as everybody would always say,
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: and you know the stone strikes, staying healthy and just
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: getting to the season.
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: Zach, year six, right, you're six in Philadelphia. What is
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: the experience come becoming a Philly coming to Philadelphia meant
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: to you? Because it just seems like you get better
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: every year. It seems like it's been a great marriage
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: with the team, with the city, with the you know,
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: your coaches, and and you just keep getting better and better.
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, hopefully that continues. You know, it's hard to get
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: better and better every season. You know, it's just sometimes
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: it has to do with a lot of luck. And
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: I have a good team playing behind me, have a
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: good defense behind me. That definitely helps. And you know
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: I have people pushing me on the staff, you know,
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: pitching staff and Caleb also, so you know, just all
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: those factors kind of adding up over the years, and
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: you know, just having that drive to get better. Also,
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: you know, you they give you this contract and you
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: don't want to let people down. You don't want to
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: let you know, your family down, your name down, that
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: type of stuff. And you know, when you're walking around,
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: you don't want people to look at you a certain way.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: So you try to do the best.
• 8:23
  Speaker 5: You can and you know, live up to that contract,
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: if not exceeded.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: You mentioned the contracts you starting now are the highest,
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: uh have the highest one year salary in the history
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: of Philadelphia sports. What type of responsibility comes with that?
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Kind of just the same thing. I said, you know,
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: it's living up to that contract. And now I got
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: a new one, so you know, it's it's up there
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: and I gotta I gotta live up to it the
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: best I can.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Hopefully that works out.
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: You know, I feel great, So hope that can continue,
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: just to kind of build on what I've been doing.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: I remember your opening press conference you were you spoke
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: a little bit how you were eager to see how
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: the Feel Analytics program could help take you to the
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: next level. And then your first spring training you said
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: you were eager to throw to j T rol Mudo.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: Those being factors on why you chose the Phillies. Can
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: you speak on you know, what the Phillies Analytics program
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: has done for you to help get you to the
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: next level, and what your relationship is and throw it
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: to JT and whatnot.
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I think kyleb has done an awesome job.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I gotta give a lot of credit to him.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: You know, I've always had a good fastball, but O
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: speed's always struggled, you know, finding basically what pitch kind
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: of fits me the best and then improving that and
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: throwing it for strikes and good quality strikes and stuff
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: like that. So he is a nerd in the aspect
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: of he can dive into all these numbers and angles
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: and this and that. He knows how to look at
• 9:49
  Speaker 5: a ton of different stuff and kind of shrink it
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: down and give it to me how I kind of
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: soak it in. And that's a lot of visual stuff
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: for me. You know, Kayla could sit there with a
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: ball and spin it. This is how the ball needs
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: to be spinning, not like this, but like this, and
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: I see that, I'm like, all right, well, my hand
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: needs to be here to make a spin like that
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: instead of here. That type of thing, and you see
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: results kind of right away. So it's that type of
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: stuff that kind of you know, relates to me. And
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: I've been able to kind of put it into uh
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: you know, put it into play so to speak, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: pretty quick and have those results. And you know, jtuh
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: give all the credit to him. He does all the homework.
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: I think you guys talked about this with him before, but.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I really don't look at any video.
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: I know guys from over the years what I've done
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: to him to a certain extent. And then you know,
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: I've gotten better as my careers went on of how
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: to read hitters or situations or maybe what this guy's
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: trying to do in this situation, that type of thing.
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: And then Caleb in between innings we're all talking. I
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: think he talks with JT and then he kind of
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: comes down and gives me the game plan of how
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: we're going to attack that in or a certain hitter
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: when we get to him, that type of thing. Also,
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: you know, JT does all the homework and I may
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: shake him off once or twice a game.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: If that just a lot of trust in JT then right,
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: I mean you.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah, tell him just call the pitch and I'll try
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: to execute it. Right, that's our thing.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: And then a lot of trust in Caleb too.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: So like the previous two off seasons when you when
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: you come to camp with the sweeper and then the
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: next camp with the split, is that something that he goes, hey,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I think this is something you should.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Do or is this something you go hey, I feel
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: like I need something else. How did those conversations?
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: The slider was kind of.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Struggling a little bit, like it kind of always has
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: over the years, just not necessarily shape wise like shape.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: It could get a little bit better, but just stone
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: at first, a good you know.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Strike, it's always low, it's always a ball, and so
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: I never got chases off of it and stuff like that.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: And I tend to throw like thigh up, so when
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: I throw something low, they really don't even go after it.
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: So Caleb just kind of came to me, this is
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: the kind of the new thing going around. And he
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: was a Bower in Cincinnati, and Bower kind of started
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: the whole uh you know, sweeper face, so you know,
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: he introduced it to me. I tried a few different
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: grips and I found one that kind of mimiced my curveball,
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: just the hair. So I was comfortable with the grip.
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: I just had to change my angle a little bit more.
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: And you know, once you start playing around with that
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: angle kind of messes with your fastball a little bit.
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: So I kind of had to go back and forth
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: in between starts and starts was this, some starts as that,
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: and then the split.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: We talked about it during the off season. I need
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I need something that.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Goes to show sweeper, sweeper, and then like.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so the sweeper.
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: I basically just hooked that scene right there, and I
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: try to make this the horseshoe right here or the
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: train tracks wherever we will call it. Kind of just
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: keep going that way. That's my thought on it. Now,
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: keep the keep it going.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: I don't know if that's technically right, but that's that's
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: my mindset and that's what helps me. So I just
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: gotta make sure I don't start doing that and trying
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: to make it go. I got to keep my arm
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: up because that's where my fastball is and just trust
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: it and throw it.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: And then to split, we tried a few different ones.
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: And before I was kind of just like a normal
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: split like that my fingers down on the side. But
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: then I started going up with my other fingers for
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: whatever reason, it's more comfortable, and I started hooking that
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: seem a little bit interesting. My thumb's just there just
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: I basically don't even use my thumb, but my thumbs
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: just there for a little bit of.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Brace on that side. So just throw it, throw it
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: like a fastball.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: What do you consider your bread and butter fastball.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Both.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: I can usually throw my sinker whenever I want, and
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: it's gonna be there.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Certain days you know you're not just gonna have it.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: But most of the time you have your fastball. Maybe
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: it's not location that day. Maybe sometimes other teams just
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: whacking it, like help. It happening a couple of times
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: last year and kind of get lost when that happens.
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: But you know that's that's when you got to kind
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: of shift the game plan and try to do something
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: a little different.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Maybe, Yeah, how often does that happen?
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: You have a game plan, you know that the other
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: team your face and you know their hitters. You warm
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: up in the bullpen, you come out and you're on
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: the rubber in the game and you just trash it
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: off because something's not working or something is really that
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: you didn't expect to work is working.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was like kind of last year.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: I go back to Baltimore game, I felt great, fastball
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: was flying good, I was hitting my spots for the
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: most part, and they're just whacking it. So it kind
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: of goes to like, all right, do they have something
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: or are they just hitting it that day, Sometimes you
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: got to give the other team credit, and it's hard
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: to do as a pitcher, but I've learned that over
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: the years. You know, you don't like it when you're
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: out there, but after the game, you're like, oh, either
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: they had something or you just got to give them credit,
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: you know, and kind of went back and I don't
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: think they had anything, but you just move on.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: How do you handle like, like frustration on the mound.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: You make a great pitch, they flare one, two runs score,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: you lose the lead in the seventh inning.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: How do you refok on the next step bad?
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Is that something that you've always been able to do
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: or is that something you had to work on. Is
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: there like a trigger for you to kind of to
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: kind of resettle so you don't ye spiral on you?
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean just kind of growing up.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: You know, my brother played a little bit of pro
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: Bowl in the minor leagues, and my dad coached and played,
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: so they kind of just had that mindset of, you know,
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: never show up your teammates. If something happens bad, you
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: just get right back on the rubber and try to
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: make your pitch and kind of.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Just shut it all down.
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: So that's That's why I always say, you know, when
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: Smoke gets on second base, I really lock it in,
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: and you know, that's the golden not to like the
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: guys score, but that's that's my mindset, and that's when
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: you really bear down try to make those pitches.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: You are kind of one of the leaders of a
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: dying breed, the two hundred inning workhorse, and you got
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: to two hundred last year. I think you got to
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: two hundred and thirteen in what twenty one. How important
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: is that mile post for you?
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's important.
• 16:00
  Speaker 5: You know, as a starting staff, especially me and Knowles,
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: we try to you know, all right, well, we got
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: to get two hundred innings and two hundred strikeouts.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: That's the goal.
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: And you know, if you're doing that, you're probably helping
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: the team, and you're definitely helping the bullpen. So if
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: we're able to go out there and give good quality innings.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Late, that's a big plus.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: If we're going out there and getting shelled in the sixth, seventh, eighth,
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: then this kind of you know, it's not really worth it.
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: But if we're going out there and doing well for
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: the most part later in the game, then you know,
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: it definitely helps the team down the stretch and the
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: playoffs when it really matters, and let's try to keep
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: those guts fresh off there.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say, we've talked a lot that you
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: really do rhind us of like guys like Roy Halladay
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: just on the super aggressive or not wasting pitches. You're
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: not messing around out there. And one of the things
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: with Roy was that he did not like people coming
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: into mound. And I'm sure he heard like JT says,
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: like we when I go to the mound, it's Tulip
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: said the same thing. He said there was a game
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: in Cincinnati where you almost maybe a stare kept them
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: in the dugout. I don't know, but can you speak
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: to that, that that mentality you have on the mound,
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: just being aggressive and just you know, the mound is yours.
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: And it's not even the mound as mine. You know,
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: when they're coming out there, it's usually because something bad
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: has happened or they need to slow things down.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: And sometimes I like it, you know, I need to.
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: I need a breath every once in a while, and
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: right especially during the hot days or whatever it may be,
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: middle of the summer, you didn't you need a little breather.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: But sometimes you're just you're very mad out there.
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: I might not show it, but you know you're pretty
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: angry because something bad is happening. And then you know,
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: they come strolling out there, and you know they try
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: to ask you questions, but you're still fuman on what happened.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: So it's kind of hard to have a conversation with them.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: But usually, you know, they just come out there and
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: Caleb just ask us questions or gives me a little
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: pointer here and there, you know, maybe stay back or
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: you're flying open a little bit, that type of thing,
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: so you know they're just trying to help Zach.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: We've got Andrew Painter here in camp, and a lot
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: of it about that young man, and you were in
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: his shoes one day, number one first round pick with
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: the Mets. Any advice that you can give him or
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: what would be the best advice you could give him?
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: And who was the guy who gave you advice on
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: the way up?
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's tough to say.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: You know, I didn't go to many big league camps
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: before I went to the big league camp and was
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: in the big leagues, so I didn't really have, you know,
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: people that kind of go off of. You know, I
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: have some good pitching coaches along the way. Steve Pine
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: my first year in pro ball, low A down in Augusta.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: He he helped me out a lot. You know, he
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: wasn't necessarily helping with the pitching aspect, at least with me.
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: You know, mechanics stuff, but you know what to expect,
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: how to act like a big league and all that.
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: You know, he pitched a long time as a reliever
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: in the big big so yeah, so he had you know,
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: he's been there, done that, and he helped me out
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: with that type of stuff. But once you got up,
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: you know, you're in New York and it was me
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: and Harvey and then you know, other guys coming up,
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: and you didn't want to get lost, so you're trying
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: to really concentrate and you know, be somebody, and you know,
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: I think that's what kind of pushed me also, right, So.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Do you think, yeah, three years, this is your new contract.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: What are the odds that at the end of year three,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: if you're healthy and pitching really well, you're going you
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: know what, maybe I keep it going because I know
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: you've said this is probably it if you have.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: Thought about it, that I was not just waiting far.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Away, just far away.
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: But I'm pretty sure I'm done after this, but you know,
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: time will tell, and who knows. I never want to
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: say never, but more than likely I'll probably be done
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: after this. That was kind of the the goal.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just because I mean, family time is so important,
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: you so much as I.
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Got, you know, four kids and my awesome wife, and
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: I want to spend time with them too.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: You just saw the Eagles win the Super Bowl.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Can you fantasize what it would be like to win
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: a World Series in Philadelphia?
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 19:59
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know a few years ago with them also,
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: and uh, you know, we wanna we want to get there.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: We wanna, like Harper always says, had that parade down
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Broad Street and just have people celebrate us and uh,
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: you know, let the city enjoy it.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: They'd like to enjoy, uh championships there do you? Uh
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: you mentioned four kids. They're gonna start playing ball, imagine right,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: t ball? Maybe at some point maybe just let them
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: let them find out if they would. I asked you
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: this a couple of years ago, like before the Little
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: League Classic, and like Little League season is starting, what
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: would your advice be to like parents who are trying
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: to teach the kids how to throw a baseball.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you remember what you told me,
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: but you're a lesson.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's probably you know, just figure out how to
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: throw the baseball properly to help protect your arm. And
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: in literally you're just there having fun. You're not trying
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: to You're always trying to win games, but you're also
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: having fun.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: At the little league level.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's it's all fun and games there and
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: you're learning how to play the game, learning how to
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: play it right, and learning your body and that type
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: of thing. So, you know, just just trying to keep
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: your arm healthy and not overdo it and get burnt out.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: It's great stuff, Sach, Zach, thanks a lot, man. We
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: appreciate the time fun.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Thanks for having me.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Man, that was great. I loved it. Jim, what you think.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: I thought it was great too.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: I go back to what I heard Dan please Sach
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: say on the MLB Network a few weeks ago. He
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: called Zach Wheeler the perfect picture. So that was a
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: nice little glimpse into the mind of the perfect picture.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: And I love that he showed us those grips. I'm
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: gonna go home and try them in the backyard.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: I am too.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna see if I can teach everybody in my
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: son's little leg how to throw like a good, good,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: nasty sweeper.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: What do you think, Yeah, bring that's that's not advised.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: Bring that sweeper to the what is it, the Marple Newton.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: Little League exactly. So you know, I will say this.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: One thing that Zach did tell me a few years
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: ago is he said, tell kids, when their hands are small,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: three fingered, four seam grip until their hands get big.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: So three fingered, four seam grip. Zach Wheeler, thanks again,
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: and that was a lot of fun. We'll be back
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: next week. Jimmy, I'll smell you later, Bud, smell you guys.
• 22:05
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• 22:07
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• 22:10
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• 22:21
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• 22:25
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• 22:29
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• 22:32
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