Latest / Foul Territory / Hyping under-the-radar MLB players + Pirates P Isaac Mattson joins FT

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Hyping under-the-radar MLB players + Pirates P Isaac Mattson joins FT · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna go in the weeds and we're
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: gonna spotlight a few unheralded players. I guess if you're
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: fans of these teams, you'd probably be like, no, that
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: guy's important, I know it, but you know, a little
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: bit off the beaten path, not the stars.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Jim Bowden wrote a.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Great article for The New York Times, Who is each
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: MLB player's playoff contender's most indispensable quote?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Under the radar player?
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: The term under the radar cratzy always gets me because
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: it's under the radar according to who right? But still
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I digress. There are plenty of players who don't get
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: enough love from around the league. So do you want
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: to go with yours? Or we want to dig into
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: boutens here? How do you want to do this?
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Let's go to Jim Bones first and see what he has.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: But I have a few, and I think under the
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: radar is you know, it's it's all on the eye
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: of the beholder, because you know, some all stars are
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: not really under the radar. But I think on the
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: team we just talked about VVP like he's he wouldn't
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: be the first guy that you're thinking of, But you
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: know so anyway under the radars subjective, yes, yes.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: So yeah.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Let's go to some of the players that were listed
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: in that article. Here we got the Tigers gliber Torres.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: He signed a one year deal. An excellent move, by
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the way, I remember a J. Hinch saying to me,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: give me the one year players.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Any day of the week.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Those guys are playing extra hard to playing for their
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: next deal. He was obviously with the Yankees before this.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: He had the walk off winner on Tuesday. He's been
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: excellent for a Tigers team that is absolutely steam rolling
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the Central on their way to the postseason. Under Kirk
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: for the Blue Jays, I'm gonna let you take this one.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Cratzy as a fellow catcher, you what do you feel
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: like he has brought to the Blue Jays.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: I think he just he upgraded his defense. He had
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: good receiving before and now now he's gone back to
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: upgrading his defense, which was a big to me. It
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: was a big detriment from last year. Signed that extension
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: this year and his defense is back. I think he's
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: second in overall runs created, you know, run saved at
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: defensive runs safe. But for me, you know, without going
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: through everybody, on this list his list in the American League.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Trent Grisham. Trent Grisham adds, yes, he got off to
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: a huge start. Yes, he You know, he plays in
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Yankee Stadium. People are like, oh, left handed hitters, they
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: feast in Yankee Stadium. To me, what he brings is stability,
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: gold glove stability in center field for a team that
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: had to put Judge out there, and if you have
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: to continue to put Judge out in center field, then
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: there's a chance he could get hurt. And it's kept
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Judge healthy. It's helped Jason Dominga's transition to left field some.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Obviously it hasn't gone as well and it's a tough transition.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: But imagine if you had to have Jason Dimingez in
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: center field learning to play in the big leagues even
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: though he's a super prospect and he's the Martian. To me,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: I think Trent Grisham has alleviated that for this Yankees team.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, he jumps out. To me, I think
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Russio Debon jumps out as well. Seven He's played seven
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: of the nine positions, Dana Brown said.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: So.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Garrett Whitlock for the Red Sox, also on that list.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: He's been an excellent for Boston as well. I'm going
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: to add to this list my own. I think with Toronto,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I know we talked about Kirk to me, Ernie Clement
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: is a guy that if you're outside of Toronto probably haven't.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Heard of him. He does not hit a lot of
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: home runs. He does not.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: He probably doesn't make a lot of highlights around the game.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'm a fan. The guy makes
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: a ton of contact. He plays pretty much every infield
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: position for Toronto. He's very versatile. If you talk to
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: guys in that clubhouse, he is a baseball rat. He
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: is a guy that is just obsessed with the game,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: obsessed with getting better. He has been a huge part
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of their success. He's a guy who I think when
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: we get to October and he gets the big stage,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: people are gonna be like, who is this guy.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I go on about how he doesn't have a ton
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: of power.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: We show all these clips where he's hitting the ball
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: out of the ballpark, but he does so much more
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: than that. I don't hate help runs. I swear he
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: does so much more than that. For the Toronto Blue Jays.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: He's a guy who you know, have to talk to
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: John Sneyder. He'll tell you their manager like he has
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: been indispensable to them this year. And what the Blue
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Jays have been able to do is mix and match
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: so much because they have guys that comment who they
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: can use in so many different positions. It's really given
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: them the freedom to play the platoon and use the
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: bench and keep everyone involved. And I just think Clement
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: is a guy who's not getting as much attention nationally
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: as he should.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I like that. I'm gonna go to the guy I
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: usually go to for the American League, JP Crawford. This
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Mariners team has stars. I mean when if we ever
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: said that about the Mariners lineup. You have Cal Rawley,
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: you have Henry Suarez, now you have Naylor, who those
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: two guys got traded over. You have Julio Rodriguez, who
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I don't think has really, you know, reached his hype
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: and his potential. JP Crawford when he's not in there.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Other years when he's been hurt, there's been a huge
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: decline in the way that they play the game. I
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: think he adds a level of tenacity, a level of
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: stability at a premium position that he honestly makes it
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: look easy. He makes shortstop look easy and is a
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: sign of a true big league shortstop is you know
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: what you make all the plays. He's an elite level shortstop,
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: gold glove shortstop that is giving this team stability up
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: the middle, which they already have with Cal, Julio and JP.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: And I haven't heard.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Any rumblings of him being pissed that he got moved
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: out of the leadoff spot. I think he's now hitting
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: like somewhere six or seven, depending on the platoon matchup.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: And I just think he is very underrated and being
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: out out West, that might be part of it. But
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: if you look up his numbers and you watch him play,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: you're like, kind of like that guy.
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: Okay Kratz. I opened up Arena Club, put my own
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: money in there, and I wasn't gonna go big. I know.
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: We went over the Ruby pack a week ago. This time,
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: I just went for the low level pack where it's
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: an easy entry point twenty five bucks. You can get
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: yourself a big boy card. The Grail has many good options.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: I slice open the pack. We're looking at it if
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: you're watching us right now, and I pull a card
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: from the nineteen fifties. Super cool. I enjoyed the experience
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: looking at it. It's Jim Gilliam. It's a top set
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: from the mid fifties. But I got an offer for
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: more than what the slap pack costs and I sold
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: it back. Tough times for the Dodgers right now, don't
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: at me, but I got twenty eight bucks instantly, so
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: I can buy another one of those packs and try
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: and get what I want.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Absolutely the excitement I heard Kip say before. The excitement's
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: in the chase. You sold it back, Now you get
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: to open another one. I enjoy when you slide it
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: across there in there and the pack opens.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Arenaclub dot com slash foul twenty percent off your first
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: lab packer card purchase. Get after it.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like it.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: I like it.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Great way to spotlight him.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Let's go to the NL look at the article as well,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: because some really great names on this list, I think,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: especially if you're not closely following a lot of these teams,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the Brewers, it could have just been like the entire
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: roster when they want with Joey Ortiz, Tanner Banks, you
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: know you look at this as Brad Keller been excellent
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: for the club Sharemiah Estrata not a name that like
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: immediately jumps out to you when you think about the Padres.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Right we talked about their bullpen. He really is that
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: unsung hero out of that bullpen.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Jose A.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Travigno, David Peterson, who was on yesterday's show, Girlson. Just
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: a really good list. Is there anyone that jumps out
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: to you, Cratsey that you feel like maybe didn't get
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: the love here on the NL side, there are so
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: many guys, I think, especially on teams like Milwaukee that
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: are outperforming what many of us thought, that deserve a
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: lot of love here. But anybody that you think deserves
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: another mention here?
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: I mean on that list, I'm going to go to
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Jose Travino because obviously he's a catcher who was a
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: friend of the show. He got a little bit of
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: an extension when he went over to the Reds. You
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: get traded over a team, you're like, okay, are they
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: just kind of using me as a piece. He is
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: very underrated because of the fact that this pitching staff,
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: this starting pitching staff, has been awesome and the value
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: he brings in that game calling, the value he brings
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: in in experience, in postseason games. If this team, it's
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: a big if they're close to the Mets though, if
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: they do squeak in to a wildcard round, he's going
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: to be the guy. Obviously, Tyler Stevenson is a beast
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: behind the plate, but I think Jose Travino's ability or
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: his experience in the postseason will lend so well to
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: the team. And it may not even lend well in any.
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: Stat that we have.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: You know that we have to be able to see
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: what kind of metric he does well in how he's
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: helping the team win. But he's that type of guy
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: in a clubhouse preparation wise that is going to get
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: this pitching staff in a right spot.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: I want to give a little love to David Peterson too,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: and I know he was just down the show, but
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the Mets have had so much trouble.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: In their rotation cratzy as you know, just getting innings.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: And when you look at like starts where they've gotten innings,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: like sixty percent of those where they've gone into the
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: sixth inning or more have been Peterson Like.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Honestly, if not for them.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: They'd be, you know, really up the creek in terms
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: of rotation issues, and now they're calling up some of
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the young guys now and then they're trying to find
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: a way to.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Kind of patch this together.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: But Peterson has been such an unsolved hero really, such
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: like an MVP of this pitching staff.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: You know what you're going to get. You know you're
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: going to get length.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: He's been able to give the relievers a little bit
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: of a break and that has just been absolutely huge.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: It's been a rough stretch for the New York Mets.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: You know, they went from you know, be up on
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the Phillies having comfortable lead, now looking up at them
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: for I think it's like five games now entering today,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: it's right that five six game mark. So David Peterson
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: without him, you look at it probably eight nine, maybe
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: even ten games back. I mean, he has just been
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: absolutely huge for them. I know he was on the list.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I just want to make sure we spotlight him because
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I don't think enough people know what's going on. There's
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: a lot of stars in New York. David Peterson has
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: been the guy that has kept that Mets rotation afloat
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: as much as possible. You know, it's a band aidd
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: up rotation. David Peterson has been the guy, and I
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: don't think a lot of people anticipated that going into
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: the season.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: I think I couldn't agree with you more. And that's
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: not exactly who but hey, you know what all star
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: guy that I have to mention real quick too. For
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: the Brewers, Bryce Terrang, I think he's a career like
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: eighty nine ops plus this year he's having almost one
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: twenty ops plus. He plays platinum glove defense. I think
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: he is the unsung hero of this team. Brewers fans
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: will be like, what we love Bryce terrang I didn't
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: say you don't love him. It's more of a national
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: unsung hero. And I think he's still improving in the
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: big leagues. I think he's learning. But man, when you
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: have that kind of defense at second base, it is
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: a game changer for this team and it shows up
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: in their wins. I'm the ballpark Isaac giving us the
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: giving us Isaac Mattson joining us from the ballpark cam clearly,
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, we're out here.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Oh awesome, Thanks for thanks for taking the time, Isaac.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: We appreciate it.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: I got to ask first because I tease this and
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I know people are waiting only for this part of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the interview. Your dad's strength apparently is what helped catapult you, right,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: is what really helped add a little v low there.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Eric is always talking about his dad strength. I think
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: it's it's bs when it comes to Cratzy, because I
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: don't really believe any of Cratzy's stuff.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: To be honest with you, how did this all happen?
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: And you do your kids take particular pride at you,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: mentioning that they helped.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Propel you here.
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean he's six months old, so right now,
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: I don't think you now how much. But for sure
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: I'd rather have the dad's strength and the dad bod
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: right now.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: But I know that dad Bod's coming soon.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: It's good, it's good. Just allow it, just allow it
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: to happen. But you can buy a true classic shirt
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: and it'll go away. Won't even see it. Delve into
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: that a little bit. Delve into into that because anytime
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: I came up in the early two thousands, and anytime
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: somebody jumped that much in velocity or hit the ball
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: harder from year to year, You're like, wait a minute,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: explain that. Explain the process of what what all went
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: into it for you. Somebody has been around the game
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: for a long time. To be able to get that
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: much of a velocity jump and for me sustain it
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: throughout the year, that's the impressive part for me.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: Well, thank you. Yeah.
• 13:11
  Speaker 6: I mean, I think more than anything, I was talking
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: with a reporter a couple of weeks ago, and something
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: that came to mind was they were they were asking
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: me kind of where my mind was and what the
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: mindset was behind it, And I think, more than anything, fatherhood,
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: you know, it's it kind of levels things up, like
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: every every experience you have in life kind of kind
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: of levels things up in a way. So before you know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: I love this game, still love this game. But like
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: I always thought, I knew what it meant to go
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: out and give it my all, and then when you
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: have a kid and your life changes, it just means
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: like that much more and you start to realize, you know, deeper,
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: different meanings to going out and doing your best and
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: making the most of the time you have because you
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: have that person inspective shift, and it's I mean, for me,
• 14:01
  Speaker 6: it's been positive. I think for a lot of guys
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: as positive. Sometimes it can be a little bit more pressure,
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: but I mean, I love him to death. I love
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: my wife to death, So just being able to show
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: to the ballpark and have that little bit of extra
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: like all right, we're doing it, you know, not just
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: for myself and my wife, but we got a we
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: got a third, third person in the in the mix,
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: and now I want to, you know, do even better
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: to honor him and to make him problem.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: That's a refreshing side, a refreshing look at it. But
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: in twenty twenty four, when you signed last year, when
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: you signed with the Pirates organization, you look at it
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: and you go, I'm twenty eight, Well twenty eight or
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: twenty nine last.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: Year both, but yeah, I mean when I signed that
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: well eight.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you sign there and you go, man, they're
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: only calling up young guys. Was it more of a
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna sign there to get back in affiliated ball
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: because you had played independent ball the year before? Is
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: it was it's something that I see a definite opportunity
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: to make it to the big leagues, which you did
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: eventually last year.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it was a it was a combination
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: of things.
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: But talking to my agent, there was there was some
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: opportunity available, but at the same time, still had to
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: show up and do the work, and I felt like,
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: and I still feel like, the player development side of
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: things here did a great job with me and they've
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: continued to do a great job with guys coming up
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: of you know, how can we how can we help
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: this guy become a better pitcher. And that's not to
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: say other organizations don't have great, great player development, but
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: just my experience with the Pirates last year, where I
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: had started in twenty twenty four to where I'm at now,
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: being able to look back and know that we put
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: in the work together to be where I'm at now
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: and trying to help this team win baseball games at
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: the highest level.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was. It was a journey for sure, Isaac.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: When you look at your career, you started with the Orioles,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: that you were out in the Frontier League, that you
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: were with the Twins of the midor Large, and you
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: called some of those experiences like rock bomb, especially with
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: the Twins, Was there a point in time where you
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: thought about staying, like maybe getting out of baseball where
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: you're like, you know, every minor leaguer, I think deals
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: with these moments of like should I keep going, should
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I keep pushing? Can I get better? Or do should
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: I face realities it Did you have those moments? And
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: how did you push through? Was it your wife? Was
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: it your your support system? How did you manage to say,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I'm going to keep going, there's more there, I'm going
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to get to the big leagues that I believe it's
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: going to happen.
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean it was. You know, there's there's definitely
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: been periods. You know, I look back at Wichita that
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: first outing, there was a rough one. I look at
• 16:39
  Speaker 6: my outings in twenty twenty two after a lot of
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: things had happened on the on the physical side and
• 16:44
  Speaker 6: as well as the mental.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: Side, losing our mom.
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: So definitely there's been those periods where I kind of
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: look at myself in the in the dugout after I
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: get out, and I'm like, all right, you know, how
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: did that just go?
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: And how do I evaluate where I'm at and where
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: I want to be nick.
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: So definitely those moments of doubt, and I feel like
• 17:03
  Speaker 6: there's very few people in this game of baseball, especially
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: where that's not the case, where you don't have those,
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: you know, periods of doubt or games where you're just like, Wow,
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: what am I?
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: What am I really doing on here?
• 17:14
  Speaker 6: But being able to have people like my wife, my family,
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: faith is a big part of my life. Just being
• 17:20
  Speaker 6: able to to lean on those things and really remember
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: who I am as a human being first. Those those
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: things kind of help me reframe those struggles and be
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: able to kind of move forward and grow from them.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is perfect timing because this is my question.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Is that is that the dugout phone ringing?
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: That is I think I don't know, replay review or
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: if that's the bullpen phone. It looks like replay review.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: So that's so so I'm getting I'm getting instant because
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: as a reliever, when you hear that, does the little
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: does your heart just are racing a little bit? Like
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, you got you gotta be honest because it's
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: the bullpen phone when they to give fans a tench
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: you know, I kind of look into it like the
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: bullpen phone rings. Isaac Matson has no idea if he's
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: coming in the game, but every reliever's heart besides like
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: Bednarm when he was closing or Santana when he's closing,
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: your heart starts jumping a little bit. When that phone rang,
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: did it start jumping and take us into the bullpen
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: when you do hear the phone.
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: Ring, so so right now, no, and it's only because
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: I'm in the dugout.
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: That's where I'm whether or not that whether or not
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: that affects me, but for sure, I mean there's.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: Especially you know, one of the things that.
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: You realize as a young reliever or at least a
• 18:48
  Speaker 6: new reliever in the big leagues is like, when you
• 18:50
  Speaker 6: come to the big leagues, you're not gonna be that
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: David Bednar.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: You're not gonna be that Dennis Santana right away.
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: So being able to be ready at a moment notice,
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: especially early in the game, that's when that's when your
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: heart starts to race, when you're that new guy and
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: you're like, oh, this is a situation that I might
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: go in and you still't know. But I was actually
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: talking to megear, a bullpen coach, a couple of days ago,
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: and I was like, I feel like for a lot
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: of guys, like the thoughts and everything, like sitting down
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: in the pan, it can be a little bit tough.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: You try to find ways to stay locked in, but
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: once your name gets called, it's like, all right, it's
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: go time. Like once you get moving, that's when I
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: feel like, especially for me, it becomes less of a
• 19:32
  Speaker 6: mental thing and it's like, all right, let's just we're
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: doing what we do where we practiced this a thousand times,
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: We've put in the work.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: Let's just go and enjoy the moment.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: I think that Pittsburgh's had a lot of really good players,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: but Paul Skins, I mean, what's it like to watch
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: that guy prepare and pitch. There's certainly a little bit
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: of more frenzy with everything he does.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: And everything he kind of carries with him. I know
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: he's not a guy who likes attention, but what is
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: he like as a teammate?
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: And how much fun do you have just watching that
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: guy do his thing, which is, you know, just at
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: the top.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Of the game right now.
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean his thing is like dominate pretty much everybody,
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: but it is it's always fun to watch. And it's
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: like whether it's him cruising for six innings or he's
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: working through some traffic, Like he finds a way to
• 20:24
  Speaker 6: work himself out of things, and he puts pressure on
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: teams do things they normally wouldn't do. Like I can't
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: count the amount of times we've had outfielders throw guys
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: out by ten feet. And I think it's a lot
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: of credit to him because they like, they don't know
• 20:38
  Speaker 6: if they're gonna get another.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Chance to score, so they have to send a guy
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: in a situation they might not.
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: But yeah, I mean he puts in the work every
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: day he's here, locked in on what he's trying to
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: accomplish on a day in and day out. Basically has
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: a rough one, which isn't often like he's he's mature
• 20:55
  Speaker 6: enough to understand the adjustments he needs to make and
• 20:58
  Speaker 6: he makes him and goes out and does his job
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: five days later.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: So it's it's a joy to watch.
• 21:03
  Speaker 6: And definitely it's a cool opportunity to be in the
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: clubhouse with him and in the bullpen watch him.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: Right, one of the guys that just got called up
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: for you guys, Bubba Chandler. Bubba Chandler is a prospect
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: twenty two years old and he has done nothing but
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: start in the minor leagues. Yep, does it suck to
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: have him down in the bullpen because he's a starter.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: He lives that starter life like oh he's young, he
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: barely shaves, he's got that like tiny little mustache. But
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: now he's down the bullpen and he's like sitting there like,
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: what are you guys doing? And you guys are trying
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: to stay locked in and do you help him try
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: to make that transition. I know he's not going to
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: be like the one out guy. You know, they're gonna
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: baby him pirate style for the prospects, But what are
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: the conversations you're hearing with him or having or other
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: guys are having with him.
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah, when you mentioned that, it kind of reminds me
• 21:56
  Speaker 6: of that old shirt where it was like a field
• 21:58
  Speaker 6: starter just had it. But no, I mean he's similar
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: to Paul, like his maturity level, his ability on the
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: field is whether it's starting music, now, let me go
• 22:10
  Speaker 6: down here they No, I'm interested to.
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: See what happens. I know he's excited to be here, and.
• 22:17
  Speaker 6: As bullpen guys, we're just going to do our best
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: to come alongside him and if he's got questions, we'll
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: answer him. But at the end of the day, it's
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: still baseball, Like whether you're in Indianapolis or Pittsburgh, it's
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: still the game of baseball. And I'm excited to see
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: him compete today.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Asak, you mentioned your mom, Debra, how she passed away
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: several years ago.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: For those who.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Aren't familiar, can you talk a little bit about kind
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: of how you've tried to keep her impact on you
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: alive even though she's noll over with you? And are
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: there moments where you think about her, whether it's like
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: running out to the mound or I don't know, if
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: you talk to her after every time you pitch. Are
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: there moments in particular where you're like, man, I really
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: miss my mom?
• 22:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I mean there's there's definitely moments throughout the
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: course of the season.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: And even just life.
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: There's there's seasons where when we first had Theodore, like
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: thinking out how much our mom would have loved spending
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: time with him. And yeah, there's there's definitely times throughout
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: the season ways that I try to honor her, and
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: I think all of us in our family we've tried
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: our best to honor her memory and and who she
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: was is just trying to do things around the community
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: with our walk. Our family has been organizing it. I
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: think this is the fourth or fifth year that we're
• 23:34
  Speaker 6: doing it. So being able to do that and build
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: awareness around mental health, help those her in need, because
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: that's that's who she was. She loved everybody, and then
• 23:44
  Speaker 6: she was she was willing to sacrifice her time and
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: energy to help others, and so just trying to remember
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: that and honor her in those ways. And then on
• 23:53
  Speaker 6: the field, just you know, remembering that who were, who
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: we are on the field is, and who we are
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: completely like our job is to play baseball, but that's
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: not who we are for human beings, and remembering that
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: everybody's going through something and trying to to love on
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: them as best we can.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much, isa Congrats on Teddy. Are you starting
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: solids now? Six months?
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Is he doing?
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: Is he doing?
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Food? Sitting up? I have a eight month though. We're
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: in it. We're in it.
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: Yeah, he started teething, so I think we're gonna wait
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: for for the first tooth before we give him a
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: big fat steak. But we've got purees on deck pairs,
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: he's carrots. He's into it all.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Awesome. That's awesome. Thanks so much, Isaac. We appreciate it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you guys for having me. Hope you guys
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: have to do that.