Latest / The Layback Podcast / Ian Seymour, LHP in Tampa Bay Rays Org (Ep. 35)

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Ian Seymour, LHP in Tampa Bay Rays Org (Ep. 35) · The Layback Podcast

0:00
What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Lay Back
0:02
podcast. Joining us today is Ian Seymour.
0:05
Ian Seymour finished this past year in AAA in the Tampa Bay
0:10
Rays organization, which means he finished up as a Durham Bull.
0:15
He did also spend a good chunk of the year down with the
0:19
Montgomery Biscuits, which I'm sure we'll spend some time on
0:22
the transition between AA and AAA.
0:25
But Ian's had an awesome career thus far, put up some really
0:29
good numbers, and especially this past year, his first full
0:33
year back recorded some record highs and innings, pitch, games,
0:37
starts, all the above. So it was really cool to see him
0:40
get back on the horse after dealing with none other than a
0:44
UCL injury, which is ultimately how we got connected.
0:48
Ian was doing some work with Mike Mcferrin and Mike and Ian
0:53
talked a little bit about what we were doing and Ian hit us up,
0:57
found out what we were doing and wanted to get on board, which I
1:01
thought was awesome. So major shout out to Ian.
1:03
It's been awesome to get to know him over the past, I guess, 6-7
1:08
months, a little bit before the season started, maybe last
1:10
December, I think is when we got connected.
1:13
But yeah, with that, Ian, I'm going to pass it over to you,
1:16
pick up the pieces. Whatever I missed in the intro,
1:19
I forgot to mention your Virginia Tech hokey forgot to
1:22
mention you're from Massachusetts.
1:23
So hopefully that's enough for you to pick up the pieces.
1:26
There you go. Yeah, absolutely.
1:28
It's it's good to be here. I guess you pretty much covered
1:30
it. I grew up in Massachusetts, got
1:32
recruited, went and played baseball at Virginia Tech and
1:35
then I got drafted during the COVID year.
1:37
So a little bit of a strange time to to enter professional
1:40
baseball. So really, I guess my first year
1:44
was shortened because of COVID. It was a month short.
1:47
And then my second year I ended up pitching like 10 or 12
1:51
innings, getting Tommy John surgery.
1:53
And then that took me until middle of 2023 where I only
1:58
threw a couple starts coming back from rehab.
2:00
So this past year was my first full professional season.
2:03
And it also coincided with when I started working with with you
2:06
and flex progress last December. So there was definitely a lot of
2:10
factors that went into staying healthy, but I would, I would
2:12
100% give flex program credit for, for a career high in
2:16
innings and all, all sorts of things like that.
2:18
So just a part of my routine now and I'm excited to sort of share
2:22
my process of, I guess rehab of training of injury prevention
2:27
and and all sorts of things like that.
2:29
Awesome man, I really appreciate it.
2:30
And we are not naive, we know flex program is only a small
2:34
piece of what you do. You have an awesome team behind
2:37
you, whether it's your training. I know you just had a little bit
2:41
of a check up, just body check up you do a couple times a week
2:45
making sure everything's functioning properly.
2:47
So maybe that's a good jumping off point if you're cool to dive
2:52
into what you do to prepare your body.
2:55
We'll get into the timeline later, but I think it'd be
2:58
awesome to just look into what an offseason looks like for you.
3:02
Yeah, well, so currently, I guess my last start was last
3:08
week of September. So I haven't, I haven't started
3:10
throwing yet. I'll probably start playing
3:12
catch on Monday. I've been playing catch with the
3:14
football and just like light moving my arm around and stuff.
3:18
But my, my official throwing program and number of throws and
3:21
stuff like that I think starts Monday of next week.
3:24
So that's when the offseason really begins for me.
3:27
But currently it's it's it's a little bit boring.
3:29
I, I have my lower body days on Mondays and Thursdays of lifting
3:33
and then I have my upper body days Tuesday, Friday and then
3:35
Wednesday and Saturday are more conditioning based.
3:38
And really I just continue that schedule through until probably
3:44
I'd head down to spring training.
3:45
That's, that's my offseason. So it's a, it's a good group of
3:48
guys that I work out with and it makes it, it makes it enjoyable,
3:52
honestly, to get everything done.
3:53
But yeah, it's, it's the offseasons a different time
3:57
because it's it's very free as opposed to the structure of the
4:00
regular season. So I enjoy that part of that
4:03
aspect of it. It gives you a little bit more
4:04
free time to just hang out with friends and family and stuff
4:07
like that. But the work is a priority and
4:10
and getting your body ready that first month block, I would say
4:13
it's like just getting it back in shape to build, I guess.
4:17
I guess how I would describe it is if you build up a a mountain
4:20
and then you sort of slowly. Deplete that as the year goes on
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and like, I came back at the end of the year down at the bottom.
4:28
So I was. I'm building up my work capacity
4:30
again. Yeah, that's a interesting way
4:34
to look at it, for sure. I know everybody has their
4:36
different strategies. Some people, for whatever
4:39
reason, they must be superhuman. They can continue to push
4:42
themselves like crazy during season.
4:44
I feel like that's might be a little bit easier when you're at
4:48
the big league level. I don't know.
4:49
Granted, they play 162 games, but they also have the best
4:56
everything at their disposal. I know for you, you're you're
4:59
hopping level to level City city all the time.
5:03
I guess thankfully you now know that you're in the same place
5:07
for six straight days pretty much before you have to travel
5:10
again. I'm sure that made minor league
5:13
life just a little bit easier, but.
5:16
The routine of it is is much easier with the.
5:18
Well, I wasn't my only experience in professional
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baseball is the six day schedule.
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So I don't, I don't know anything other than that.
5:25
But yeah, that the routine and also just being a starter, like
5:27
it gives you a little bit more freedom to lift a little heavier
5:31
and push yourself, especially in the earlier months.
5:33
So you can, you can maintain things a little bit longer than
5:35
the year. But I would say just, I mean, I
5:38
hadn't, I hadn't pitched a full season until this year.
5:41
So just from that aspect of things, learning, Oh, I, I can
5:45
make it through a full season and I felt better honestly in
5:48
September than I did in April. So just knowing like repeating
5:52
what I did then is, is really just my, my only focus, like,
5:56
oh, I mean that works clearly. So just sort of riding that
6:00
momentum. It's nice to know that you
6:03
haven't figured out a bit. Of course nothing is ever going
6:06
to be perfect. We can always chase perfection.
6:09
But as you said, you felt great at the end of the year, and I've
6:13
heard so many pro guys say it, they're just chasing every
6:17
single day to get back into the green.
6:20
It seems like every day they're in the red or every time they
6:24
pick up a ball, How do they figure out a way to recover?
6:28
How do they get back to neutral? Because they pretty much know
6:31
they're not going to feel great again.
6:33
At least that's what I hear from a lot of people.
6:35
They're not going to feel great again until the season's over.
6:39
So just whatever they can do to feel good enough each time they
6:43
have to pick up a ball. And the fact that you were able
6:46
to extend that all the way through and really get through a
6:49
full season feeling good is a testament to the plan that
6:53
you've built and I guess all the people in your corner.
6:56
Yeah, I mean, definitely, I think like that was I guess the
6:59
biggest knock on me was that I have never been able to put
7:03
together a season from start to finish.
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So to, to finally like have that is, is just a very good feeling.
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And like to know that like I can do it.
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Like I'm, I'm capable of that. And just like I, it gives
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further motivation to continue doing the things that I do on a
7:15
daily basis and prepare your body to to pitch every five or
7:20
six days, whatever, whatever it is.
7:23
No doubt, but you say you hadn't gotten to complete a full
7:26
season. I know some of that is not
7:28
entirely on you. Because of COVID you didn't get
7:31
to play unless were you an alt site guy your first year or did
7:34
you get drafted? I got.
7:36
Drafted and I just like was home yeah, there was a instructs that
7:43
fall so I went for instructs but out before that I was just doing
7:48
nothing. Yeah, like it was, it was.
7:51
It was definitely time to enter professional baseball.
7:56
Was your gym at least open that first summer, or were you truly
7:59
just drafted and then on your own?
8:02
Well, it was in March when everything ended, so I was at
8:06
Virginia Tech still. Yeah, true there probably.
8:10
I stayed there until June and then gym started opening up in
8:14
Massachusetts and around June. So I I was able to work out
8:18
pretty much just uninhibited through that whole time.
8:20
But it was like it was kind of directionless, like you didn't
8:22
know exactly what was going, what was going on.
8:27
Right. So like at any given point you
8:30
could get called, I'm sure at least that's what you were
8:32
thinking. Like 02 weeks from now, I got to
8:35
be ready to step on a mountain and get dudes out.
8:37
Or two weeks from now, I could be in Port Charlotte having to
8:41
throw to whatever. I I'm sure you were just waking
8:46
up every day like is today the day we, we get that call, get
8:50
that e-mail. Yeah, I I guess.
8:52
No, I I wasn't really in front of the the Rays didn't bring
8:56
anyone from the draft class down to the old side.
8:58
It was So it was pretty much yeah.
9:00
I I got they were just like, hang around.
9:02
We're hoping for something this fall for you guys.
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Like, oh, all right, well, I'll hang around.
9:08
Yeah. And so I guess that was probably
9:10
the most relaxed summer that you had had since I don't know, I've
9:13
never. Yeah, I haven't been in
9:15
Massachusetts in the summer since I can't remember when,
9:18
since I played the tape, really. Yeah, in what?
9:22
What year were you in the Cape while you were at Tech?
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That was 2019, so 2019 I was at the Cape and then 2020 was my
9:28
junior year and I got drafted after.
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After those, I think I made like four starts and then that was
9:33
that. OK.
9:35
And you got drafted, you said, your junior year.
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Have you gone back and finished the degree yet?
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I did well, so COVID actually helped out with that so that
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they made everything online so I didn't have to go back to
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school. I could just finish all my
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classes online. Oh, that's awesome.
9:51
COVID, yeah. So I ended up graduating
9:53
everything without having to go back to school.
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So you're physically so I 100% officially a Virginia Tech Hokie
10:00
alum. I am, yeah.
10:03
Yeah, not just someone who put on the.
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Baseball jersey for a few years. You, you.
10:07
I got. I got my degree.
10:08
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that was a good feeling
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too, because that was not an easy thing to manage to like all
10:15
this classes online and stuff like figuring it all out.
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What's your degree? In.
10:19
I know it's not actually say that again.
10:21
Sorry. Biology.
10:23
Oh, smart guy over here. Yeah.
10:24
I don't know about all that. So I guess look look into your
10:30
life beyond baseball real quick. So what what was the idea?
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Let's say baseball never existed.
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Was there a plan with the biology degree or is just what
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you were interested in? I want to just pick something
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broad enough to where I could narrow it down once I was done
10:44
playing baseball. So like a degree that would, it
10:47
wouldn't, it wouldn't close any doors for me.
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But it wasn't so narrow that if I had it, then I was like stuck
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in that one thing. So it's just, it's broad enough
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to where if whenever the day comes that I'm done playing, I
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can sort of research options and, and things that would
11:02
interest me and I can go from there.
11:05
Yeah. And.
11:05
Tickle the science part of the brain for a.
11:07
Little. Yeah, something like that.
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Nice. That's awesome.
11:10
Yeah. Well, I guess we'll get back on
11:12
topic for a moment. So let's let's hop into the
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thick of things, the UCL tear, how that kind of went about.
11:19
Maybe before we even get into that, let's take a deeper look
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at the minor league progression. So that first year was almost a
11:28
non year because you got drafted during COVID.
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So then you show up to spring training in 2021, and what does
11:35
that look like for you? Yeah.
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Well, so I I actually, my elbow had always given me problems
11:43
like dating back to high school. And so in 2021 when I showed up,
11:47
I was dealing with like, I just had a partial tear in my elbow
11:49
since I was 15. And so in 2021, when I showed up
11:53
to spring training, it was just barking at me a little bit.
11:56
And I ended up just like shutting down for two weeks.
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And then it was OK. And I built up and pitched that
12:01
full. I, I wouldn't call it full, but
12:03
I probably threw like 60 innings in 2021 and it that offseason,
12:07
it just never really felt right again.
12:10
So it was like that 2021 year was like the last mileage I got
12:14
out of my elbow. And so then when 2022 came
12:18
around, I had a terrible spring training and then I had a
12:21
terrible like four starts or five starts or whatever it was
12:25
and AA to start that 2022 year. And then it ended up being like,
12:31
OK, it's this elbows. There's only one way to fix
12:34
this. So I ended up getting Tommy John
12:36
and that rehab process. I guess there's a whole separate
12:40
conversation in its own right, but it definitely fixed the
12:43
problem. Yeah.
12:45
So like, I mean, since since that since that surgery, my
12:49
elbows just, I guess I had never really known what it was like to
12:53
pitch with the elbow that wasn't partially torn at a competitive
12:55
level. So doing that now is like, oh,
12:58
like this is, this is a way different feeling than how I've
13:01
ever known pitching to be. Yeah, you're playing a different
13:05
game finally. That's got to be nice.
13:07
Yeah. How'd you manage elbow pain for
13:12
what, 8-9 years? Yeah, I don't.
13:16
I guess I just, it was always something that if it was
13:20
affecting the outcome, then I knew like I had to get something
13:25
done. But if I was succeeding and
13:27
pitching well and my velocity was good, my command was good,
13:29
all that was fine then. I mean, if my elbow hurt, like
13:33
it never hurt bad enough to affect my ability until it did.
13:37
So I guess that was sort of the breaking point the, the
13:41
professional season. I I could hide behind it in a
13:43
college or high school season, but the length of the
13:46
professional season sort of exposed the it's just not very
13:52
sustainable way to to pitch. Right, Pitching once a week for
13:57
a few months a year versus pitching.
14:00
Every 5 1/2. Times a week for seven months.
14:05
Yeah, it's a yeah, much different ask of of your body,
14:10
especially if it's not all the way healthy.
14:12
Yeah, it definitely wasn't. It for a long time, was it just
14:16
being smart about the way you ramped up or is that just kind
14:20
of what you thought baseball was like, 'cause they got my elbow
14:24
sore? I'll be fine.
14:26
Yeah, like that, that was just normal for me.
14:28
Like it it got to a point where even even when I got surgery a
14:32
week before surgery, I was like, well, maybe we can just like try
14:35
to find a way that I can throw harder.
14:37
So pull downs before I was doing surgery and it's just like my
14:42
arm just wouldn't it? It wouldn't do it.
14:44
Yeah, but the like the pain threshold was so normal to me
14:47
that it didn't really, it had no impact on me from that regard,
14:51
but from a performance aspect, like it was clearly impacting
14:54
things. And now that I throw, it's like,
14:57
oh, that's a way different feeling throwing a baseball then
15:00
haven't felt before. So spending some time now on the
15:05
surgery, you said you had a partial tear for however many
15:08
years that was when you ultimately got operated on.
15:12
Was it completely torn or were you still hanging on by a
15:16
thread? Yeah, so I think I had two
15:19
partial tears when they went in and then a couple bone spurs and
15:22
a stress reaction on my elbow bone.
15:25
See, I was just beat up. Yeah.
15:26
I don't think that would constitute as healthy or
15:30
encourage. Yeah.
15:31
He he like the doctor Meister the next day was like, yeah, how
15:36
are you? Sorry, Doctor Meister, I'm built
15:39
different. Maybe not that it's probably
15:42
smarter to get it done earlier. I would have saved myself some
15:45
time. Yeah, well, I guess that would
15:49
be my advice. Like if you feel any type of
15:51
pain no matter how, like unless you're in the big leagues
15:53
working towards the World Series or something, probably just I
15:56
get the thing taken care of. I mean, if you would have
16:00
continued to try to muscle through it or be a man, whatever
16:04
phrasing you would have put on it, you probably just would have
16:08
hurt your own career because people either would have
16:10
thought. You're not good anymore, Yeah.
16:12
You're not good enough or you're unreliable.
16:16
I don't know. Just a bunch of bad things,
16:19
yeah. No, I definitely, I definitely
16:20
hurt myself trying to push through it that 2022 season.
16:24
Like, I think, I mean, if you look at any of my any of my
16:28
statistics, I've always pitched fairly well.
16:30
And then there's my 2022 year and it's like what what happened
16:33
to that year? So it definitely, it like puts a
16:36
blemish on just who you are as a pitcher and, and how good you
16:40
are. Yeah.
16:41
I I think that's good advice because it is your career.
16:45
You only get one of them. And most of the time, yeah,
16:49
there's a couple people that have been able to retire and
16:51
come back. But that's so uncommon.
16:54
And especially when you're in the minors or when you're at a
16:57
lower level and you have to prove yourself, you might as
17:02
well do it when you are as close to 100% as physically and
17:07
mentally possible. Oh, definitely.
17:11
Well, and it's it's, it's so it's way more draining pitching
17:15
knowing that like you're hurt, as opposed to pitching when
17:19
you're like, oh, I'm like, I can, I can go out there
17:22
inhibition free. Was there ever a point where you
17:27
thought like, oh, this next pitch might be it?
17:31
No, because I was just so used to how it felt.
17:33
It was more like, Oh my God, I like just threw a 84 mile an
17:37
hour fastball to the backstop. That's awful.
17:41
Yeah, it's like I'm terrible. Yeah.
17:46
You hadn't done that since your sophomore year of high school or
17:49
something? Literally I was like I threw
17:50
harder when I was 15 so. Did you have a doctor's
17:55
appointment when you were 15? Like how how do you find out
17:58
that you have the partial tear way back?
18:00
Yeah, I did. I did.
18:03
And way back in high school where they were.
18:05
Yeah, it would have. Been my, it would have been my
18:07
junior year of high school and then I just like, I guess I was
18:09
still like young and underdeveloped that I just took
18:12
like a couple months off of throwing and then I got stronger
18:16
and then it sort of just protected it enough for the next
18:20
couple. Years.
18:21
It is amazing what strength can do.
18:23
For sure. I mean, I was like 165 lbs.
18:26
And then I'd sort of just like matured into my body so that I
18:29
guess that shielded it a little bit, but definitely not enough
18:34
to where I could, I could do it forever.
18:37
And I know you said the rehab was a whole different animal.
18:41
I didn't want to try to sprinkle it in there.
18:43
So maybe open up the door on that rehab now.
18:46
So you get the surgery in 2022 after a few crappy performances.
18:52
You had your surgery with Doctor Meister.
18:55
What happened after the surgery? You go back to Massachusetts?
18:58
Did you go back to Florida? Yeah, so I actually was in
19:01
Florida until Hurricane Ian. It hit our spring training
19:05
complex. And so then I did the rest of my
19:08
rehab up in Massachusetts because we had nowhere.
19:10
We didn't have a place that we could do it.
19:12
And then I I didn't start throwing until I went back and
19:17
we were in Orlando for spring training.
19:18
So that was when I started playing catch and stuff.
19:20
So I guess that part of it was interesting.
19:23
I mean, the first couple of months of rehab, just boring.
19:26
You're in your slang. You can't really do much then
19:29
you'd like when you can get in the weight room and you can use
19:30
your arm and that sort of thing. Like then it's then it feels
19:34
more like you're working towards something.
19:35
And then finally when you start playing catch, then it then it
19:38
actually feels like, OK, I'm getting close to to playing
19:41
again. But even then, I guess at every
19:43
stop, like every checkpoint was just a a new mental hurdle.
19:47
Like he would sort of unlock new things that you had forgotten
19:51
about. Like I think my first, my first
19:54
game back, there's a ground first base and I was just
19:57
standing on the mound. Oh wait, I was supposed to cover
19:59
there and the guy was safe. Yeah, man, that's part of
20:03
baseball. And it's just like, I guess
20:06
things like that that you just forget.
20:08
Yeah, you forget about the game you've been just throwing.
20:12
And competing and everything. Yeah, you're just throwing and
20:14
trying to get your body healthy. That I would say last offseason
20:18
I couldn't really work on things.
20:20
I was just trying to remember how to throw and get my pitches
20:23
to move how I wanted them to move instead of just focusing on
20:26
being healthy. Like I had to remember how to
20:29
pitch and compete and stuff. And I would say like, it's such
20:31
a, such a better feeling coming into an offseason like this year
20:35
where I, I competed for a whole year.
20:37
So now I I sort of know, oh, I can just work on competing and
20:42
getting my pitches moving where I want and commanding them as
20:44
opposed to like remembering how to pitch.
20:48
Yeah, for sure. I want to go back to those
20:51
different kind of milestones you spoke on.
20:53
So maybe maybe those first few months, Did you have anybody
20:57
with you rehabbing at the same time at the complex?
21:00
I know that can be a lonely place, especially, as you said,
21:03
when you're stuck in a slaying, you're really only getting
21:06
pushed on by a trainer. Yeah, we did a week.
21:09
We had a couple of guys, I would say probably three other Tommy
21:14
Johns within a couple months of me.
21:16
We all were in it together. And then there's always, I mean,
21:18
there's just so many, it's such a long season and so strenuous
21:21
that the the rehab room gets guys like it's like a revolving
21:25
door and sometimes. So there's always guys around in
21:28
that aspect. But I would say once the
21:29
hurricane hit and I was home, I did spend a lot of time just by
21:32
myself rehabbing, which was it was just a different experience
21:35
for me, but one that like I was very grateful for.
21:37
I got to really hang out my friends from home, just sort of
21:39
do things outside of baseball that I normally wouldn't have
21:42
had the chance to do. So really it's hard for me to
21:44
look on. I don't, I don't want to do it
21:47
again, but it's the look on the rehab process is something that
21:51
was like, oh, that was awful because I really, it really
21:53
wasn't awful. And I, I made, I made the most
21:56
of it for sure. But at the same time, I'm, I'm
21:59
all set. I don't want to do that anymore.
22:02
It's it's probably good. I don't wish that upon you or
22:05
anyone for that matter. Yeah, it's way more fun to play.
22:08
Yeah, when you were home, that's probably a good spot to bring
22:13
this up when you were getting to see your friends do something
22:16
different, kind of live that normal post grad life.
22:20
Because then I'm assuming at that time all your friends have
22:23
now graduated college, graduated, moved into Boston,
22:25
all that. Yeah.
22:26
Yeah. So they're like in the city,
22:28
like the these like multi roommate apartment situations.
22:33
I'm sure like going out at night.
22:35
Yeah. Was there a point where you were
22:37
like, I don't know if this baseball thing's for me, This is
22:39
pretty fun. Never that, OK.
22:42
I just, I've always loved like since I was a kid.
22:44
I just love baseball. Like it's so much fun.
22:47
And I guess that like that I would always come back to that
22:50
like no matter what part of the process that I was going
22:53
through, like it was, it was never really a question in my
22:57
mind of if I was going to come back and play.
22:59
It was more so the question was like, I just wouldn't know what
23:03
that looked like. Right.
23:06
A matter of when. More than pretty much.
23:08
Oh, for sure. And then I just, I, I didn't
23:11
know what it was going to look like when I did come back.
23:13
Like I just hadn't done it in a long time.
23:14
So. Yeah.
23:16
So how did it feel then that first time you were able to go
23:20
back to the complex? You're done rehabbing by
23:22
yourself, and I guess eyes were put on you for the first time
23:27
you were cleared to throw, right?
23:29
Because you said you weren't. I started playing like I did
23:32
like my first like 60 feet catch over the winter.
23:36
But I think my throwing program really started once I got down
23:39
to spring training and then I was throwing bullpens.
23:43
I think my first bullpen was May, I want to say of 2023.
23:50
So yeah, that was, it was just like I didn't know how to, I
23:54
didn't know how to throw anymore.
23:56
And it's like you forget everything.
23:58
It's very much. Had that been since your actual
24:02
surgery? When?
24:03
When was the surgery date? Even if.
24:05
It's not the specific day. I think my my surgery was in
24:08
June. So I think my first bullpen was
24:10
11 months after. OK, I'm not.
24:13
Maybe it was, maybe it was April and it was 10 months after, but
24:17
it was sometime in that. Range, OK.
24:20
So I guess because of when you got your surgery, you, you might
24:24
have had a longer timeline then some people might have just you,
24:28
I guess they've. Got it in like September.
24:30
I think it's a little faster than if you right, Yeah.
24:35
So I only got, I only ended up coming back and pitching like
24:38
July through the rest of the season then.
24:42
So when, when in the process did you actually feel like a pitcher
24:46
again, or a baseball player? Was it that first time you
24:49
stepped on the field and you forgot to cover first base?
24:53
No, I would say honestly, it, it didn't even feel like that.
24:58
It didn't feel like that at any point in 2023 because I, I
25:01
didn't have the pitches that I had had before, like the way
25:04
they moved and everything. Like I was still figuring things
25:06
out. It was, I was just like kind of
25:08
competing like, which was, which was good for me because I was
25:10
competing without the stuff that I am used to having.
25:14
And I would say even a little bit at the beginning of this
25:16
year, even though the results were good, I was still like
25:19
remembering like my strengths as a pitcher, which of my pitches
25:22
work best, how to play them off of each other.
25:24
I would say probably a month into the season this year, I was
25:28
like, OK, I'm, I'm firmly back, back and where I need to be.
25:33
But it, I mean, it is a long process, especially, I mean, you
25:37
can't you can't replicate what it means to pitch in a game and
25:40
learn throughout the course of a season.
25:42
So that's the only way to really you can start to feel normal
25:44
again is you just got to get back out there and do it.
25:47
Yeah, I, I think that's really good perspective.
25:50
It's not something that I could ever attest to because I didn't
25:53
go through it. I didn't play at the level that
25:54
you played at, but it sounds like mentally it took you almost
26:01
2. Four years to get back.
26:03
And I mean, if I had, if I had been able to pitch in more
26:06
games, maybe it wouldn't have been as long.
26:08
But yeah, that I would say that's pretty accurate for a lot
26:11
of guys to feel like totally, completely normal again, is, is
26:15
that 2 year, 2 year time frame? And really all that is, is just
26:19
like, that's how long it takes to get the reps back in that you
26:22
missed. And so I would say, I would say
26:24
that that feeling is pretty, pretty well echoed from everyone
26:27
I know that that's had it. And it's, it's so frustrating
26:30
too, because when you're going through it, everyone tells you
26:32
that and you're like, oh, I'm going to be the different one.
26:35
Like I'm going to be, I'll feel like myself day one.
26:38
And it's just, I mean, it's just not realistic.
26:41
You don't. It takes a while.
26:44
Were there any blessings in disguise?
26:46
I guess during the rehab process, I guess a couple where
26:49
you got to go home for the first time.
26:51
Yeah. And seek family.
26:53
It's yeah, it's, it's just exploring all those parts of
26:57
yourself outside of baseball. So it's I, I would say like for
27:01
me personally, a lot of my confidence was tied into my
27:04
performance and, and who I was as a baseball.
27:08
A lot of that, that was like part of my identity.
27:10
And so that that time off just sort of helps you realize like,
27:13
Oh no, my, my identity is, is not baseball player, even though
27:17
that's what you do and your confidence that you perform or
27:22
don't perform. It's more of an inherent sort of
27:24
thing. So that was, I would say the the
27:26
biggest blessing for me over that whole entire time period.
27:29
It is so amazing what surgery does to people or long term
27:33
injury. Because really anything that
27:36
makes you step away from your normal routine, like anything
27:39
that makes you take a step back, I think gives you that
27:42
perspective. Yeah, I swear I have said the
27:46
exact. Same thing and possibly the
27:49
exact same words. You just said it from my
27:52
shoulder surgery. The problem is it took me like 5
27:56
years post surgery to figure out everything that you just said.
28:01
I it was a. Way I had I had much more.
28:03
Process for me. Yeah, I had, I had a much more
28:06
isolated window to, to figure things out, I guess.
28:09
And I mean, I wouldn't say I haven't figured out by any
28:11
means, but it's, it's just a, it's, it's so much less.
28:16
I guess the, where I really noticed it is playing now.
28:18
It's so much easier to enjoy. I don't ride the like, there's
28:22
not as much at stake. It feels like every time I
28:24
pitch, like I can just go pitch as opposed to before.
28:28
It was like I had to do well, otherwise, you know what was I?
28:32
Yeah, I I think that's that's tough because it's also self
28:36
created almost every single time.
28:39
Yeah. I hate throwing corny phrases
28:42
out there, but as long as you're OK with yourself, at the end of
28:45
the day, you can look in the mirror and be OK with who you
28:48
are and be proud of what you do like it's all going to be all
28:51
right. Exactly.
28:53
And it's it like you make you make things out to be so much
28:56
bigger of a deal than they really are.
28:58
In the end, It's like, I know you can just, you can just be
29:00
happy. It's really it's all right.
29:04
I guess maybe let's call it one of those super happy times.
29:08
I at least I hope it was happy time.
29:10
The first time you actually did pick up the ball in rehab and
29:13
start to throw. Do you remember that throw?
29:15
Was it like something where like you made that first throw of
29:19
rehab and you're like, Oh yeah, I got this, I'm back.
29:23
No, it was hideous. Yeah.
29:28
I mean, I like it. If you look, I don't know if
29:30
anyone's ever made a good first throwback like it, it just looks
29:33
disgusting. I didn't feel like, Oh my gosh,
29:36
I I can let it loose like that. Took me until this year
29:40
pitching. I would say this past year where
29:42
I, I was, I was throwing like a midweek bullpen between starts
29:47
and I like cut one loose and I was like, oh, that's, that's
29:49
like, oh, I really feel good now as opposed to it just took me
29:54
longer, I guess to feel the way I.
29:57
Was before, was there a time in the rehab process where you were
30:04
kind of able to, I guess, audit your processes?
30:08
Were you able to make any changes to your routine?
30:11
Did you even want to make changes?
30:13
Like were you able to use that time frame to focus on something
30:18
in your game that you hadn't focused on before?
30:20
Or for you, was it truly just get back on the field healthy?
30:24
That's all I care about. For my, from my perspective,
30:29
it's very, I, I sort of fell into the hole of like trying to
30:32
get my mechanics to look a certain way.
30:34
And then the learning point from this past year was I, that's
30:37
just not how my brain works. So that whole rehab process was
30:41
like trying to trying to throw in this like fluid motion.
30:45
And then by trying to do that, it just wasn't very fluid as
30:48
opposed to just like with external cues.
30:53
I got to go through that as hard as you can.
30:55
And then my body just sort of organizes the way it's meant to.
30:58
When I like gave up on trying to make my throw look a certain way
31:02
and just pitch, then my velocity gets a little better, my command
31:06
gets better. Like everything just sort of
31:08
aligns for me. So really just learning that
31:11
about myself. I don't, I don't ever want to
31:13
hear a mechanical cue again. Like I just want someone to tell
31:16
me to compete and then things will probably work out.
31:19
So once you stop playing paint by number and you start just
31:23
going out there and dancing, it was a good time.
31:25
Yeah, just be athletic and and compete.
31:27
And if I'm doing those things, I'm probably in a good spot with
31:30
my delivery. And if I'm trying to make my
31:33
delivery do a certain thing, then it's not good.
31:37
Now that can be difficult in the return to throw program because
31:42
I know there are some old adages of like, Oh well, if you throw
31:45
this way, you're going to be more at risk to get hurt again
31:48
or like we don't like the way this looks.
31:50
So what did some of those conversations look like?
31:54
I guess with your rehab specialists or your different
31:56
coaches, were you able to have like a level headed conversation
32:00
there or was that super difficult?
32:01
Yeah, no, I mean, they, I, I would say my rehab process was
32:05
as flawless as it could be. Like I didn't have a set back.
32:08
I never really felt uncomfortable throwing or
32:11
anything like that. It was more just like
32:14
remembering how I did things before, like you're, you're
32:18
different when you come back from it.
32:19
So not trying to replicate what you did before, but just trying
32:22
to like be what you are. I don't, I don't know how I
32:25
would give someone advice because there's some guys that
32:26
just do really well with like patterning movements how they
32:30
want them to look. And I'm just not one of those
32:33
guys. So we just, we just worked on
32:37
getting my pitches to move, throwing them for strikes and
32:39
then go out and compete. And then it just sort of was an
32:42
evolution of waiting for my my body to to start moving how we
32:47
wanted it to move. You've mentioned now a few times
32:51
trying to regain that movement or regain the pitch shapes.
32:54
So did you have changes in your pitch shapes from pre injury to
32:57
post injury? Were you able to recover your
33:00
arsenal or has it? Changed it's I mean I, I threw
33:04
harder before surgery I think by like 1-1 mile an hour by the end
33:10
of the year. So it's still the top end of my
33:12
velocity. I'm but I just don't throw as
33:15
hard as I did at one point. And then the shapes of my
33:18
pitches now I think are all pretty much the same.
33:21
But for a while it was it just you just don't remember how like
33:25
your hand comes through on the ball on different pitches and
33:27
all sorts of things like that. It just takes game reps like you
33:30
can't replicate pitching in a game.
33:32
So there's you can throw a million bullpens, but when you
33:35
get into a game it it's just different.
33:38
So learning how to get pitches to move how you want them to
33:40
when you're in a game and locate them and play them off of each
33:44
other. That's that's why this year was
33:46
so important for me to like I just got to do.
33:49
I got so many more reps and I think I got so much better just
33:52
from actually being able to do things.
33:55
Yeah, I, I, I guess now let's focus on this year a little bit.
33:59
You threw frigging 5 or 6 innings once a week for an
34:03
entire season. And I guess sometimes twice a
34:07
week, the way the rotation worked out, especially when you
34:09
were in AAA and I know you got to a point where they even told
34:14
you, hey, you've thrown enough innings.
34:16
I I'm sure that felt good to hear.
34:18
Yeah, I had to start, skipped at the end of the year and pushed
34:22
to the next week, the last week of the season just because I, I
34:25
think I blew past what I guess were the expectations of what I
34:28
was capable of, which is just honestly fun.
34:31
But yeah, I think the biggest, like the biggest thing for me
34:34
was just getting upset. Like I got to face so many more
34:37
hitters. I got to throw so many different
34:39
pitches in different locations and learn what I'm good at, what
34:42
I need to work on. And that's feedback that you can
34:44
only get over the course of 140 some innings of, of pitching.
34:49
You don't get that in a small burst by any means.
34:54
And, and just facing, facing teams multiple times and like
34:58
facing hitters multiple times and learning OK, Like this is
35:01
how people adjust to me and this is their approach to me.
35:04
Like I, there was no scouting report on me before I, before I
35:08
pitched this year because there was no date.
35:11
Like I hadn't pitched. So like just establishing those
35:13
firm scouting reports and, and projections and stuff like that
35:17
and then seeing how guys adjust to you.
35:18
And then like, that's not something I'd ever had to do
35:20
before. So all those things are just
35:22
such valuable information for me and honestly just fun.
35:27
So what I was about to do earlier before I rudely cut you
35:31
off, I was going to put you on the spot.
35:34
You said you learn what you're good at and what you're bad at.
35:38
I'd love to hear from you. What do you think you're good
35:41
at, and what do you think you're bad at?
35:43
Or what do you think you need to improve upon?
35:44
Is probably the better way to phrase it.
35:46
Yeah. So for me, I about probably a
35:51
month into the year, maybe less, I realized that I have if I if
35:56
the catcher set up a little bit glove side, my command is so
35:59
much better of all my pitches. But then if you'd set up arm
36:01
side, I would just miss off, especially if my fastball.
36:04
So that was a big like that's a big point of emphasis for me
36:07
this offseason. I think if I can, if I can move
36:09
my fastball to glove side, arm side whenever I feel like and
36:13
like be confident in commanding that.
36:14
I think that's just a that's that opens up a lot of
36:17
possibilities for me. But I always like maybe it maybe
36:21
it's the way that I throw, maybe it's the movement of the pitch.
36:23
I really don't know. But my change of is always been
36:26
my best pitch and I sort of rant like there were times where I
36:29
would run away from that because I do throw multiple other ones.
36:31
And so just sort of like throwing my main pitches, like
36:34
playing my change up of my fastball and then playing the
36:36
like creating the triangle, I guess.
36:38
So with a pitch that moves gloves side and just really
36:40
emphasizing like those are my three pitches that I'm going to
36:43
throw the most often. And then I'm going to mix in the
36:45
other two when when it's necessary.
36:48
And then for a long time, because my change up was good, I
36:52
had way better splits against righties than I did lefties.
36:55
And so that was sort of not something I figured out.
37:00
I wouldn't say totally figured out, but not something that I
37:03
was confident in until the end of the year.
37:06
It took me like probably until I got to called up to Durham to
37:09
make an adjustment to lefties. And really the adjustment was
37:12
just throwing my change up more to lefties.
37:14
So really it's it's play to your strengths and like buy all in on
37:18
your strengths was the was the learning point for me.
37:21
And then being comfortable in that.
37:22
Like I think one of our coordinators said if he watches
37:26
us pitch, he should know what type of pitcher we are.
37:28
And there were times early in the year where he was like, I
37:30
don't know what kind of pitcher you are.
37:33
And then if I throw my pitches, obviously that are the best he
37:37
can. He can watch and anyone can
37:39
watch and be like, OK, yeah, this guy just says it really
37:41
could change up. And he plays that off his
37:43
fastball and off his breaking pitches.
37:46
Those are some good takeaways for sure.
37:48
I think you opening up an arm side fastball just broadens your
37:54
arsenal fully because you are able to throw the cutter super
37:58
effectively in addition to the change up the breaking pitches.
38:02
I mean, your strikeout rate was insane.
38:05
Your whiff rate was great. So there's no question when it
38:08
doesn't matter if you're in the zone or around the zone, you're
38:12
getting swings, you're getting chases.
38:14
So just being able to throw arm side as well opens up a whole
38:19
new tunnel that you can work off of.
38:22
Yeah. And that, that I, I would say
38:24
like it just eliminates someone from being able to look only in
38:27
one quadrant. So if I can like if I can play
38:30
my, like if I can just move my fastball up, down and out, I'm
38:34
good. Like I, I don't really try to
38:36
focus on moving my breaking pitches into different
38:38
quadrants, I would say. But if I can do that with my
38:41
fastball, then I think it'll open up a lot more, more avenues
38:44
for me to be successful. And I did want to clarify one
38:48
thing. You did say you had better
38:50
splits against righties because of your change up.
38:52
If we didn't say it earlier, Ian's left-handed.
38:55
That's probably important to throw out here.
38:58
That's probably, I don't know if we did clarify that.
39:00
That's funny. Yeah, I just, I am lefty.
39:04
So you, you said your change up has just always been your best
39:08
pitch. Is there another pitch that
39:10
you've really worked on developing that helped you have
39:13
success this year, or like a secondary offering that you felt
39:17
like you could go to? Maybe you had more success with
39:20
it than you ever expected to. I started throwing the cutter
39:23
when I was in college and that's always, it's just like a bridge
39:27
pitch for me. I got it doesn't really get
39:28
whiffs, it doesn't get hit hard unless I throw it right down the
39:32
middle. But it it just sort of like it
39:37
gives a different look than the the predominant fastball change
39:40
up combination. But I think for this offseason,
39:43
if I can add some velocity, especially to bigger slider, to
39:47
lefties, I think that'll just give me a, a more of a, a
39:49
dynamic arsenal against them. And bigger for you means more
39:55
sweep I'm missing. Yeah, yeah.
39:58
Yeah, not not as much depth, but sweep.
40:01
I, I guess let's talk through your arsenal a little bit.
40:03
So you throw a really good vert fastball, not much horizontal at
40:07
all. Then the cutter is where.
40:11
What's the usual movement plot on the cutter?
40:14
Well, so I throw two different ones.
40:16
I'll throw a true cutter that's just not a ton of horizontal and
40:20
probably like 12:00-ish inches of induced vertical break.
40:25
And then I'll throw one that's more of a traditional gyro
40:27
slider that's a little bit slower than the true cutter.
40:29
I'll throw both of them to righties.
40:31
And then I'll throw predominantly the gyro slider.
40:33
So lefties as the cutter and then sweeper and then a big slow
40:40
12 super ball that I I just like throwing for a strike stealer
40:44
pitch. The poop loop.
40:46
Everybody loves a good poop loop.
40:49
Yeah, I mean it. I think it's slow.
40:51
Yeah, how how have you like this year seen high curveballs get
40:55
reintroduced to the game as an effective pitch?
40:59
I mean honestly I like it. It grades out so terrible on our
41:03
pitch rating system but no one ever swings at it.
41:05
Never. It's like a auto.
41:07
Like if I throw it in the strikes and it literally doesn't
41:09
get swung at. Yeah.
41:12
That's that's got to be a weird concept for you when there is
41:17
some sort of deviance between what grades well versus what
41:23
gets out. And I mean the the takeaways.
41:26
Just like you probably shouldn't be throwing the that pitch 40%
41:29
of the time because people will start swinging at it, but if you
41:32
use it sparingly enough then it's just why would they go up
41:35
there looking for it? How difficult is that for you
41:41
when you know a piece of technology can be incredibly.
41:47
Helpful for your ultimate projections versus you know,
41:53
you're an athlete at heart and the mission is to go out there
41:56
and get outs and compete, and you're trying to win a baseball
42:00
game and a spreadsheet or a piece of technology might be
42:05
able to help you improve. And it might say you didn't
42:09
perform that great, but you went out and you threw 6 innings, had
42:14
six punches, one walk and one hit.
42:17
Is that is that difficult to wrestle with?
42:21
Not really, no. I just, I mean, at the end, at
42:23
the end of the day, like if you perform, someone's going to give
42:27
you a chance. Obviously, like within confines.
42:30
Like I think that's that stuff that you can work on in a
42:32
bullpen. But in a game, like I don't
42:34
think I've ever looked at what my pitches were moving at.
42:37
Like I'm just, I'm just trying to get people out.
42:41
Well, good for you for having that perspective, because I'm
42:44
sure that domes a whole lot of people up.
42:47
Yeah. And if it and it like it, it's
42:49
something like you can work on on the side.
42:51
But if it's not something I'm getting right away, like I'm
42:56
just especially in the middle of the year, like I'm just going to
42:59
throw the pitch that works. I don't really.
43:01
I'm not, I don't need to make it like nasty in the game.
43:05
Like if I'm I'm throwing a pitch that doesn't grade out well and
43:08
it's working like I'm just going to throw it.
43:09
Yeah. So what?
43:10
Who cares about the grade if it's not getting touched.
43:13
Yeah. But then like, obviously in the
43:15
bullpen, we'll try to make adjustments to it and see where
43:17
we can we can get it to go and get comfortable with.
43:20
But when, when you're actually out there like you just got to,
43:23
you just got to compete. I think that's a massive take
43:27
away, honestly, for any younger pitcher, college guy, something
43:30
like that, or heck, probably even other professionals that
43:34
are stuck in a rut chasing perfection and something, yeah,
43:38
you just have a good idea of what's important when it doesn't
43:42
mean that stuff isn't important. It's just a matter of stuff when
43:46
it's important. That's probably crucially
43:48
important. Yeah, I think that, yeah.
43:51
Like, I mean, I would trade stuff with probably a lot like
43:54
most people, but I, I think like the part of my and I guess that
43:59
comes from like, I never really threw hard.
44:01
So I've always just been able to pitch.
44:04
So I guess my, my big sort of goal for this offseason is just
44:09
get those stuff grades bumped up a little bit, but not by
44:12
changing how I throw or what I do.
44:13
Well, just sort of like putting out a little size in the weight
44:16
room, a little bit more aggressiveness with my throwing
44:19
program, but nothing like crazy. And just hope that a couple more
44:22
years removed from the surgery that the velocity comes back.
44:25
Yeah, there could be, just as you said in that last piece,
44:29
whether it's conscious thought or subconscious thought, just
44:31
more confidence in what you can do and what your body can handle
44:36
that it may just unlock another tick or two.
44:38
Yeah. Well, I also think like the when
44:41
you get the surgery, your elbow joint is so much tighter.
44:44
So I think it just takes a little bit for like some people
44:47
longer than others for your external rotation, like just to
44:50
be able to lay back a little bit more.
44:52
Yeah, and just getting comfortable handling that load
44:55
time and time again and just letting it eat, truly just.
44:58
Yeah, on that. That's really the the part like
45:01
I'm not trying to remember how to throw.
45:03
Like I'm just building on the my natural delivery this offseason,
45:06
which I think just comfortability in that as
45:09
opposed to that part of your mind that's thinking like, OK, I
45:12
got to be moving in this direction or on in this timing
45:16
or feel this sort of pressure wherever, like whatever internal
45:19
mechanical cue that might be lingering from remembering how
45:23
you throw. Like those are gone now.
45:25
So I can just sort of fall into the throwing how I throw for
45:31
sure. Well, if you're cool with it now
45:33
I kind of want to go into the transition from Montgomery into
45:37
Durham maybe. What changed how you felt about
45:40
your season? Just full runway talk as long as
45:44
you want about how your season was progressing, what you were
45:47
dealing with in Montgomery, and then ultimately that time when
45:51
you did get the call to go up to 3A.
45:53
Yeah, I mean, I was results wise just phenomenal in Montgomery.
45:57
Like I think maybe I had one blemish right before the All
46:00
Star break and coincidentally I got called up after my worst
46:04
start of the whole year. Just funny how that works.
46:07
But I think, I think that time period taught me when you're
46:11
doing really well, obviously you're like, OK, I would love to
46:14
move. But that time period sort of
46:16
taught me like, there's so many things that are happening
46:18
outside of your control that you can't give any mind to.
46:21
And our AAA manager, Morgan Ennsberg always says, just do
46:25
the good work. So just go out there, get better
46:28
the day that you have in front of you to get better.
46:31
And that's all that your focus ever needs to be on.
46:35
And if you're riding out any wave of results or any wave of
46:40
like the thinking about what, how you're valued or where you
46:44
need to be or something like that, then your, your mom that's
46:47
outside of where it needs to be. And so that was honestly like a,
46:51
a giant growth moment for me, just like it's, it's just more
46:55
professional. I'd say like you just you
46:57
understand things a little bit better from that aspect.
46:59
Like it's, oh, it's my only job is just to get better today.
47:02
Like doesn't matter how the game goes, doesn't matter.
47:05
You're just putting in the work to be the best you can be and
47:09
that's that's the only focus that there needs to be and it
47:12
and enjoy it while you're doing it.
47:13
So I was pumped after the All Star break just for a change of
47:17
scenery and to sort of see how I fared against AAA guys.
47:22
So my first start after the All Star break, I think I had like
47:26
12 days off, so I hadn't pitched in a while.
47:29
And so I was rusty my first outing in Durham and it was
47:33
like, I probably scattered like nine hits over 5 innings, gave
47:37
up a couple runs, but just sort of gridded through it.
47:40
And after that, I sort of just realized like, oh, it's, I mean,
47:45
it's not, not terrifically different.
47:47
Like I just have to execute pitches the way that I was
47:50
before. And so I just fell back into my
47:52
routine, got back on track. I started just like, fill up the
47:56
zone, throw your change up a ton, you're going to be hell.
47:59
And and that's, that's sort of how things went.
48:00
And I just rode that momentum through the rest of the season.
48:04
What was the biggest difference from level to level besides
48:08
ballparks, crowds, or anything like that?
48:10
The actual gameplay. I would say that like in in AAA,
48:15
you just sort of the guys who have been around longer and have
48:18
seen more pitching, they won't really do things out of their
48:21
approach. Whereas like in in AA, like I
48:24
could throw a pitch and some someone would just like
48:27
absolutely hammer it and you'd be like, well, why did they, how
48:30
are they ready for that pitch? Like it didn't make any sense.
48:32
And I mean that still happens obviously at any level.
48:34
But I would say that like there's more of a more of a
48:39
thinking aspect to pitching in AAA, especially against those
48:42
guys who have been up and down and like Darth there and have
48:45
seen so much more pitching that they're doing what they do well.
48:48
And then I'm trying to do what I do.
48:49
Well, like they like they don't want to chase my change up.
48:53
They're just not swinging anything at the bottom of the
48:56
zone. And so I would throw like 2,
48:58
like I would get to two strikes and I'll throw a change up just
49:00
below the strikes. And it wouldn't even budget.
49:02
Well, how how did they take that and then do it again and same
49:07
pitch like perfectly located, wouldn't even budget.
49:10
And then it's like, oh, well, they're, they've eliminated
49:13
everything down. Like they're only going to swing
49:14
it pitches up. So I can either expand a
49:16
fastball up or I can paint a fastball down and strike out
49:19
looking and I end up throwing a fastball right at the knees,
49:21
punch out looking. So it's just, it was like that
49:24
was not a way that I was thinking in AA, like in AA like
49:28
I was just out stuffing guys more so than than in AAA.
49:31
And in AAA, it was more of like a a complete pitching
49:35
performance. So would you leave games in AAA
49:39
more mentally exhausted than AA just because of how tapped in
49:44
you needed to be on your approach or what pitches you
49:47
needed to execute? Honestly, I don't, I'm not
49:53
someone that gets mentally exhausted like I I truly just
49:56
enjoy it. It's just a ton of fun for me.
49:59
There's no, there's not much stress involved.
50:01
It's just something that like, I really, I really just was having
50:05
fun. Yeah, that, I mean that's super
50:08
impressive that you could pair that analysis that you gave in
50:11
the previous answer. I mean, I wouldn't have asked
50:13
that question that I just asked otherwise about being mentally
50:17
exhausted. Is I get it, like, yeah, you're
50:20
you're just going out there and throwing.
50:21
But your analysis of reading hitters or how the game has
50:25
changed just got me thinking. So I.
50:27
Had to. That was definitely the newest
50:29
part. And I would say like I was
50:31
probably just more attentive on days I wasn't pitching as I was
50:35
in Montgomery. As in Montgomery, I was like,
50:37
I'm just going to beat these guys.
50:38
And I, I would say that that probably took away from my my
50:43
growth as a pitcher. Whereas in in Durham, I was more
50:45
so forced to watch guys all week long.
50:47
If I was pitching later in the week and watch, watch other guys
50:50
who were pitching before me and seeing how they attack guys and
50:54
just sort of adjusting off that. And it's like, it's just more
50:57
fun to be engaged in the game anyway.
51:00
Do you feel the game was called any different or the zone was
51:03
different at? That's definitely the ABS is I
51:08
think I don't know if that's itself is smaller, but I think
51:13
that it's just called a little tighter because you have the
51:16
ability to challenge and I think it they would rather call strike
51:22
a ball than a ball strike. So the the zone inhaler is a
51:26
little smaller, but not like man, you just you got to throw
51:30
strikes anyway. Like if you throw a strike is a
51:32
strike. It's like the borderline calls
51:33
that you might not get as much for sure.
51:36
And how do you like the challenge system?
51:39
I don't think I ever won 10. That stinks.
51:41
Yeah, I did. I my last start of the year.
51:44
I just wanted to use 1 and I won and then I had a couple like go
51:49
against me. So like I would I would one of
51:52
them was a strikeout that he challenged and it like revoked
51:56
the strikeout. So like that was also just an
51:58
adjustment like, oh, I I mean, mentally if you punch someone
52:01
out, you're like moving on to the next guy, but you'd have to
52:03
wait and like still be locked into the at bat.
52:06
That's really funky. Yeah.
52:08
If the if the call goes, gets overturned, which yeah, I had
52:11
like I've had probably like 3 or 4 overturned on me.
52:14
So I mean, you, you pitched extremely well when you went up
52:17
to AAA, so there was no real change in result.
52:22
It's like you were able to just pick up right where you left
52:24
off. Pretty.
52:25
Much. Yeah, I think, yeah, I, I think
52:27
after that first start, it was just that that confidence of
52:30
like, oh, I just, I do what I do.
52:32
Like there's a little bit more thought that goes into it and
52:35
that adjustment that I made. But other than that, it was
52:38
like, oh, I just play to my strengths and my strengths
52:42
hopefully if I execute are going to be better than like I did.
52:47
The odds are in my favor, especially if I get ahead.
52:51
So for sure. So you, you hinted at it.
52:55
I'm now going to Fast forward again to kind of where we are
52:58
now. You said the main goal of this
53:00
offseason is just improve stuff a little bit, correct?
53:04
Yeah. So I mean it's it's the it's the
53:07
command of the fastball to the different quadrants in the zone.
53:11
And then probably a little bit of like the the bigger slider.
53:17
So the sweeper adding some velocity to that.
53:19
Honestly, just add 2 miles an hour to every pitch and I'm, I'm
53:22
pretty happy, which is, I mean, that's not a small take up.
53:25
And if I don't achieve it, then like, oh, well, like I'm, I am
53:28
what I am. I'm not going to certainly do
53:30
anything crazy to, to get that. I mean, I just like add a little
53:34
bit of size to get me through the season.
53:36
Hopefully I end up throwing 40 more innings than I did this
53:40
year. And then hopefully the the
53:42
velocity ticks up with that and we'll see where it goes.
53:45
But I'm not, I'm not trying to change too much, you know, with
53:48
the success that I had last year.
53:49
I just sort of continuation of of what we were doing.
53:53
Right, it's pretty hard to argue with the 235 ERA and the three O
53:57
9 fib. Yeah.
54:00
Yeah, I don't know if you keep track of your own stats, but
54:03
also the 162 KS and 145 and a third is pretty decent if I'm
54:08
not mistaken. Yeah.
54:10
Is that what it was? Yeah.
54:14
I remember I wanted to get to 150 innings.
54:16
I knew I didn't get there, but. It's because they skipped you on
54:19
a start. That's what it was.
54:20
I would have had it. You're guaranteed 5 innings.
54:23
Probably. Yeah, I, I don't know how many
54:26
outings you had on the year that you didn't go 5.
54:29
I can tell you one the the last outing before you got called up.
54:35
My last Montgomery outing that was a dud.
54:38
Well, hopefully you don't have to step foot back in Montgomery.
54:41
And that can just be your last one.
54:43
What a legacy to leave on, oh man.
54:48
Well, I want to switch things up just a little bit before we
54:51
finish up the call. So I always like doing this with
54:55
the guys that have played at damn near every level.
54:58
So regardless of level, I don't care if it was Little League.
55:02
What is your single favorite ballpark you have ever played
55:05
in? Ballpark I I just have a soft
55:10
spot for Charleston. Like just everything about the
55:13
that city. I love the beach, they sell out
55:16
every game pretty much, so I I adored my time in Charleston.
55:22
Yeah, and I'm two hours away and I haven't been to a game there
55:25
yet, so maybe I'll, I'll make that a point this coming year.
55:28
I'll I'll go check it out. Just for you, nice beach
55:30
weekend, you know, catch a game that's a that's a good place to
55:33
be. For sure.
55:35
OK. And then without getting too
55:38
vulgar because I'm sure they get crazy, what was your first like
55:42
big welcome to the minors moment?
55:45
Not not something on the field, but I don't know like broken
55:49
down bus, some busted travel situation, catering didn't show
55:55
up. Well this year my car got broken
55:57
into great and my identity got stolen.
56:01
We were on a road trip so that was cool.
56:07
Oh, that's so brutal. We're.
56:08
On a two week road trip, we were about to leave later that day
56:10
and we had a team meeting. They're like, listen guys, we've
56:14
had some break insurance in the cars in the in the lot back in
56:16
Montgomery and I came back and sure enough, they they got me.
56:21
That's brutal. Sorry for laughing.
56:22
No. I mean, it's funny now, Yeah.
56:26
And then I kept getting these notifications like a credit card
56:28
has been open in your name. What?
56:31
Is that how you found out your identity?
56:33
Got stolen, yeah. So I had to.
56:35
I had to freeze my credit and everything.
56:37
Well, whoever stole it, I wonder if they know that they were a
56:40
minor league pitcher on a career year.
56:42
Yeah. I want, I hopefully, you know,
56:44
Yeah, give them something to smile about besides their new
56:48
found credit card. What?
56:50
Has been your favorite. Road, city, Road city.
56:56
You already said Charleston has been your favorite spot, so
56:58
there there's no sense me giving you a layup answer that you can
57:01
just say Charleston. Yeah, I got you.
57:05
I'm trying to think Columbus, OH was very cool.
57:09
I had I had a really good time there this year and then where
57:13
else was very cool. Could be a college one too.
57:16
Oh college 1Z Florida State was cool I enjoyed.
57:19
Playing at Tallahassee. Yeah, that was fun.
57:21
Yeah, that was that was probably one of my favorite weekends in
57:24
college when we went there. And how'd that series go for you
57:27
guys? That we, I mean, we weren't very
57:28
good when I was there. They got, they got good.
57:31
They were much better once I left.
57:33
I don't know what that says about me, but.
57:35
You set the foundation for a lasting legacy.
57:38
Is that maybe that's a positive way to spin it?
57:41
That's what we're going to stick with, and feel free to put that
57:44
on your Virginia Tech alumni resume.
57:47
Got it. Well, OK, that that pretty much
57:51
sums up my line of questioning. Anything else you feel like we
57:54
missed or you want to share? No, honestly, it's just, it's
57:57
just a pleasure being on here and a pleasure working with you
58:00
obviously as as another tool and and the toolbox of of putting
58:04
together a Goodyear and hopefully we we continue it
58:07
again next year. Yeah, man.
58:09
Well, I really appreciate it. And to the listeners, appreciate
58:13
you all laying back with us.