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Aaron Nola joins The Phillies Show · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Is Aaron Nola and welcome to The Philly Show.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, todd Z A Lucky. It's
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: the Phillies Show. Philly's wrighty Aaron Nola joins the show
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: this week. Aaron has a charity poker tournament on Thursday
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: night at Citizens Bank Park, so we thought this would
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: be a good time to have him on the show.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: We talked to him about that, but we also talked
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: to him about much more. A lot of it relates
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to what has made him one of the game's most durable, reliable,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: all star quality, cy young quality pitcher over the past
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: ten years. Everything from his pre start routine to what
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: he has learned over the years from everybody from Carlos
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Ruiz to JT. Realmuto and much more. Here we go, everybody,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Aaron Nola. Aaron, thanks for joining The Philly Show. You're
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: a returning guest, so we really appreciate you coming back
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: on the show, and we've been wanting to have you
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: on for a while now, but we think we've thought
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: this week would be perfect timing because you're having your
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: second annual Aaron Nola Charity poker tournament that's at Citizens
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Bank Park on Thursday night, and are you looking for.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: How do you do?
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: How did you do last year?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Uh?
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Well I got to the last table, but I bought
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: in like three times.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Well, it is your tournament.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: No, it was fun though. We had a good time.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: It's good talking to a lot of people, sitting down
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: at the tables and meeting new people. And I feel
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: like there's just a little bit better than the bowling event,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: just in that in that sense where it's a little
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: smaller setting and able to hang out with a lot
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: more people.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: And So, if if I was going to play at
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: this thing on Thursday night, who are your teammates that?
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Whose table would I not want to be at?
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Like?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Who would who would bluff me and push me all
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: in when I'm holding seven to two off suit?
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know always wins everything, So probably I don't
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: know Long Kevin Long and Shba though last year they
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: were at the last table.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Oh they were okay, yeah, okay, and this and this.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: I could see k Long being, you know, a strong
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: candidate to be a winner. He's in this event.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: This event benefits phil Abundance. Event benefits Team Red, White
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: and Blue, Phil Abundance everybody and Philly knows very well
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Team Red, White and Blue that benefits veterans and health
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and wellness programs, right Aaron, As you want to talk
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: about either of those programs and why you're kind of
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: working with those guys.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I met him years ago. Uh. I love what
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: they do. Mike Irwin, the head of it Team Red
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: White and Blue. I love what what his mission is.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I mean you said it.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: You know, help gets veterans back on their feet and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: live a healthier lifestyle. And uh, and they put their
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: life on the line for us, so to give back.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: To them is awesome. I love all of them. They're
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: they're great people too.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: And then phil Abundance been with them for quite a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: while now, and I really love what they do to
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: make food and give food to a lot of the
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: families around Philadelphia that really need them.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: And uh, just great people over there.
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: Hey, before we start peppering you, I wanted to ask you.
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: I know, you know the people that that that raised you,
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: your parents, Uh, the great people. Why is giving back
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: to the community important to you?
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: I feel like.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: For for all of us baseball players and athletes, we
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: have a platform right now that we're a use and
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: to reach people. Especially being in a market like Philadelphia,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like it's a little bit
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: easier for us to do that, and for myself, I
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: just really like I enjoy doing it.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I enjoy helping people out.
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: I enjoy.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: I enjoy doing these charity events.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: I enjoy going to my other teammates charity events, learn
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: about what they're doing, what they're doing in the community
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: or the organization that they support. It's really cool. And
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: those guys support me and my wife at the charity
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: events over the years, so I love going to do
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: that for them. But I feel like for us, with
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: our platform that we can use right now to be
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: able to reach people and to help them out, it
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: goes a lot farther and a lot longer in the
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: long run. Because, oh, I don't as y'all know, you
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: don't play baseball for you know, most of your life.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: You only play for a certain amount of time. And
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: to be able to be on a stage as like
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: we are, we can use it in a way that
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: can help people out.
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, for someone who's been in the front office for
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: so many years, I I just want to let you
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: know I appreciate that because I know how important it
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: is for the organization, the Phillies organization, for you to
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: be involved and to make that connection so on behalf
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: of of all you know, you know, organizations that.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: You know, particularly the Phillies.
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: You've represented him so extremely well, so pretty cool, and
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: I appreciate that.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: We appreciate that, I think, and.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: I think that other people do too. I mean, at
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: the end of the day, it's you know, it's it's
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: not just the market that you make on the field.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: It's really the market that you make in the community
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: and the stamp you put on it's and it's been.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: Uh, it's it's not doesn't go unnoticed with you and
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: your family.
• 5:50
  Speaker 6: Awesome, well, said Reuben, Well said Aaron. You mentioned j
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: T is a good poker player, He's a good golfer.
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: This guy is and everything isn't he?
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: He has a well rounded human being.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: How much does he mean to you as a as
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: a battery mate?
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: I mean, I know if you throw into other guys
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: stub Stubby and Marshawn and others over the course of
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: your career, obviously, but why what makes him so special?
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Well, he's got a lot of good tradeses, I mean
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: one of the most athletic catchers that I've ever played with.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, probably the most athletic catcher I've ever played with.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: So he does he does pretty much everything on the
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: field besides you just catching. We've been together since twenty
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: nineteen now, so also seventh year or so.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: With each other's battery mats, I think not.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I think I know that helps out a lot with
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: us and the other picture just being able to be
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: together for that long amount of time and the experience
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: that we have together and all the games we've been together,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: we I feel like we we bounce things off each
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: other a little bit easier, just because you know, we've
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: been in the of the National League East for a while,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: so we've played a lot of the same team as
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: all the same guys. Especially these days with the pitch clock,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: it's a little.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: Bit easier to.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: I feel like for him to call the game with
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: us and for us to be on the same page
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: just because we know we know each other pretty well.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: So I think that helps out a lot. And it's
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: been awesome to be with him for this this amount
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: of time.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: And you told a great story. I asked in spring
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: training about what it means to have JT back, And
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: you told he told this funny story about how smart
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: he is behind the plate and why he has a
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: purpose behind every pitch, And you told this story about
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Christian Asquez homering off you first pitch. Yeah, sinker can
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: you can you retell that story because I think that
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: just kind of shows how smart of a catcher is
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: and why you should never doubt what JT finger the fingers.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: He puts down.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: I know, Yeah, it was a Minnesota last year, at
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: the end of the season. I think it was my
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: last regular season start at home and Vasquez comes up.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I think it was, I can't remember.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: It was later in the game.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I think he was the first hitter and I was like, yeah,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: he's gonna I was thinking he's gonna take this first pitch.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Oh no, he was the third hitter of the inning
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and I had thrown I think I had thrown four pitches.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: This was gonna be my fourth pitch, and I'm like, God,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: he's not He's not going to swing. So JT calls
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: a sinker in and I'm like, all right, I'm just
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: gonna I think he caught a sinker in. Yeah, Yeah,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: he caught a sinker in, and I'm just kind of like,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: didn't lob it up there, but I'm like, he's going
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: to take this pitch us A. He's a veteran catcher,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: like four p didn't want a four pitch inning, you know.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: And he swung and hit a homer and so so
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I told JD go, Hey, that's my bad. I you know,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I didn't think he was going to swing. Being the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: fourth pitch of the inning. He's like, well, that's why
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I caught a sinker in because I knew he was
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: going to swing.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: I'm like, well, that's on me. That's my bad. And
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: of course it goes over the wall.
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: Hey, DoLS, I wanted to take you down memory lane
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: a little bit.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: It can you believe that it is actually twelve years
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: almost to the month that I saw you pitch against Alabama.
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: I was in the in the stands. I don't know
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: if you know or remember that. I was there with
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: Pat Gillick behind home plate. But you pitched a gem.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: It was to me it sort of sealed the deal
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: as far as and our scouting people had already done
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: a great job with you, but sort of sealed the deal.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: You happen to remember us being in the stands.
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: I know you can imagine that there are others in
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: the stands because you were so highly regarded.
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: But do you remember that at all by any chance?
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Honestly, don't remember. I didn't even know you are in
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the stands. The only guy I knew that was there
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: was Mike Stofford.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: That's right, because staff has been had been our area guy,
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: and they'd been on you for a long time, and
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: you obviously had He built sort of a relationship with you.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Haven't seen you for so long, and he was the
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: one who was pushing hard for you.
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: But what I remember about that, there's a bunch of
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: things I remember about it, but I was sitting next
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: to Pat Gillick when you were pitching till The first
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: thing that I remember was your long toss routine prior
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: to the game. Can you talk a little bit about that,
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: because I was astonished by the length and breadth of
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: what you went through before you even took the mound
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: to throw your first pitch.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know how that came about. I think it
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: just started in college, my first year of college, to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: just to long toss A long tossed a lot. But
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: that was kind of my pregame routine every game that
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: I threw.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: Did you throw it was like ten or fifteen minutes?
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: I mean it looked like you longed long toss.
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: I'm thinking of myself, is he gonna have enough bullets
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: to finish this game?
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: To be able to pitch in this game?
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Is that?
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: I mean I didn't even know do you Did you
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: have enough like a set number of throws that you
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: made or amount of time or was it just when
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: you find loose?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Back then, not really, I mean, heck, I was twenty
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: years old, twenty years goes, I could throw forever. Not really,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I didn't really have a like I said, amount of throws.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: I mean.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Those days, I kind of I had a set amount
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: of throws, like each kind of each distance going back.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: But then I would just once I got to to
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the length I kind of toward center field, out to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: the wall, I would throw several just until I felt
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: really good, and then I would just come back in
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and start firing some. Honestly, back then, I don't really
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: know how many pitches I threw in the bullpen pre
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: game bullpen. But back then, my pitching coach Alan Dunned.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: We all the pictures made. Most of all the pitchers
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: had the like a throw in schedule, so we would
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: go we would go like five throws at each distance
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: up until like one hundred feet, like when we were
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: long tossing, So we would go like five all the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: way up ti one hundred, and then it would cut
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: down to four at like one twenty, and then three
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: at like one fifty, and then it'd be like three
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: three two two two, and then once you get back,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: you throw however.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: Many needs I mean when he I'm serious, guys, I
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: think he was doing at two hundred and twenty five
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: feet by the end. He was like I'll launch him,
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: and I'm like, oh my goodness. And it just circling
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: back to this season. In this offseason, you talked about
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: going back to some of that routine. Is that something
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: that would you consciously worked very conscious of based on,
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: you know, how things finished last year and how you
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: wanted to feel preparing for the WBC.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: I feel every every year.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: After every season, because I have been fortunate to make
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: all my starts and throw decent amount innings, I take
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: a good bit of time off and I kind of
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: used spring training to ramp up, but actually worked out
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: really good this year just from getting hurt last year,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and I didn't throw that many as through around one hundred,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: so I wanted to start a little bit earlier and
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: obviously get get ready for the WBC. And for me,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: starting a little bit earlier, I was able to to
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: long toss get my arm actually conditioned prior to spring training.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: So it was nice to long toss again because I
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: didn't really like I toss any of the off seasons
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: for like I don't know, seven and seven years or so,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: because I like to give my body arrest after after
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: a full season. So it was kind of nice to
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: be able to to long toss before spring training and
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: obviously still do it now. And it helps out too
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: because spring training feels like it's so short now for
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: starting pitchers at least, like it's quick, like it comes
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: really quick.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: You get there. You don't have.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: You don't have you know, six six bullpens and two
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: two or three live bad practices like we used to.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: You know, you got a couple of bullpens, a couple
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: of lives, and you're in the game real quick.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: So I feel like I was a little bit my
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: arm was a little bit more ready and my body
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: was a little bit more ready this year than it
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: had been prior prior years.
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: And it looks like Aaron Maybe that long toash routine
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: has a bit of a difference on your fastball. I mean,
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: case in point against the Cobs on Tuesday, and I'm
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: watching that game and in the third inning, You've struck
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: out Suzuki to end the third on fastball had two
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: seam action. It was ninety three. But as I'm looking
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: at that pitch from the center field camera, you could
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: actually see it take off and the finish on that
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: pitch was very noticeable. Did you feel did that pitch
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: feel good coming out of your hand? And have you
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: noticed a big difference just on the action of your fastball,
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: maybe because of the long toss commitment this winter.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, that pitch actually felt really good coming out
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: of my hand, but the location wasn't where I wanted to.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: Well, you had enough on it.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: You got to buy him right above his bad so
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: it was good.
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: I mean, you got it buy him.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So I feel like getting back to the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: long toss, the thing most that it's helped me out
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: with is on the ball a little bit more true.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: So I pronate a lot and over over my It's
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: just kind of how I've always been. And long tossing
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: really helps me use my middle finger a little bit
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: more and throw the ball a little straighter.
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: I can't cheat it when I get along with the ball,
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: with the ball flight.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: So when I'm at you know, one hundred, one hundred
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: and fifty feet, it's it's a little bit easier to
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: throw the ball straighter. But when I get farther back,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: if I pronate, the ball is gonna the ball is
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: going to sail on me. So it's kind of helped
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: me get through the ball a little bit better, use
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: my middle finger a little.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: Bit more, adding a lot too.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'd use my middle finger a lot, but that's
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: for a different Hey, Aaron's when I'm being one with
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: my detractors.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Year, Ruben was asking you about getting drafted, you know,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: getting drafted, and you've obviously been in the big leagues
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: for ten years, and what you have Andrew Painter right
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: now coming up and he's gonna be making his what
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: is uh, well, I guess it's technically his third start
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: on Sunday. What what do you make of him? And
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: can you do you see any of yourself and him
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: as a rookie. Does he look different to you? I mean,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: do you remember how you felt at making your first
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: three or four starts. What's kind of impressed to you
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: about Andrew Painter so far?
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well he's a lot bigger than I was, and
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: then he was a lot harder than I did, and
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: so those two things are really different.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember I remember my first my first he starts, Uh, honestly,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I only I remember more my first two starts. Uh
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: after that, not really, I think I remember. I don't
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: know if it was my third over in in San Diego,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: but I I just thought it was super cool. I mean,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: I didn't have a spring train. I didn't I didn't
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: go to big league spring training like he has before.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So my first time in the big leagues and around
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: the big league guys was in the big league. So
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: being able to step on the mount and having like
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Utly at second base and Howard at third and breddy
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Galavis is short. Like just seeing seeing that those guys
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: around me was pretty cool, obviously really new, and it
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: felt like like, dang, this is the big leagues.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: This is pretty cool. So I never took that for granted.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: And I feel like.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: I feel like sometimes it could be easy to take
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the big leagues for granted nowadays, because like there's so
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: many young guys. I'm not saying that's a bad thing
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: at all, but there's so many young guys. And when
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I came up, there was a lot of older guys,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: and especially on the Phillies team, then you had the
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: guys I just wanted the.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: World Series, so.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: We wanted to be wanted to be as disciplined and
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: respectful and and all that is possible and do my
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: work and be consistent with everything I did and not
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: get anybody's way.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: And I think that's to me, it looks like that's
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: what Painter. Painter is doing.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: He's really consistent in his work and he knows what
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: he needs to do to get prepared for the game.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: He's a he's a really big competitor, so it's been
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: really fun to watch him do that. And he's got
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: good stuff on top of that. So the more experience
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: he gets on the mound, the more things he go through,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the better better off he's going to be. The more
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: he's going to figure out what kind of what kind
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: of player he is, what kind of picture he is
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and what kind of duty he is he.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: After that start in San Francisco, he goes in and
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: he comes back out and finishes watching the game and
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: the dugout, and he said part of it was because
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: he's like, you know, I wanted to, but also like
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: I'm a rookie, I probably should do this. He didn't
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: really know, but he's like, I'm gonna go out there
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: and watch the game because a loud of you guys
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: when you finish, obviously you finish watching the game and
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: in the in the clubhouse. And I asked him kind
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: of what he talks about with you guys on the
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: rail there, and he says, a lot of pitch sequencing
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: and just talking about hitters and swings and pitch grips
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: and whatnot. Is that kind of what you guys talk about.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of people see you guys on
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: camera chit chatting you and Wheels you and you know,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Painter you and Lozardo and Sanchez. What do you guys?
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: What are you guys talking about there? Like what are
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: those conversations like, uh, just yeah, just.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Kind of what you said, I like, pitch secrets and
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: sometimes just kind of just the hitters kind of studying
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: the hitters a little bit. I tell him sometimes if
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: he ever needs any anything on some hitters, like I
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: can give you some information just because I face the
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: face certain guys a lot. But I mean, he's a
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: he's a rookie for so a lot of guys are
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: seeing him for the first time, so you know, there's
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: not like a ton of information on him, which is
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: actually which is actually it's actually a good thing, good
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: thing for him. But yeah, just kind of stuff like
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: ted and just watching the game, watching what hitters like
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to do, and just a little stuff like that.
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: Just doubling up on that. How important is that for you?
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: As far as I don't know, I think I just
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: feel like the fact that you guys are on the
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: rail watching and just dissecting and talking about that stuff.
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: How important is that as a teammate. How important is
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: that as a team, and how important is it as
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: a you know, to have success. I mean, I always
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: felt like that's a really important part actually watching the
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: baseball game rather than watching it on an iPad.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: Tell us about the importance of that and how you
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: guys feel about it.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's important.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I knew it was important when I first came up
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: being around those guys with with Aaron Harang in the dugout,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: cheuch And and Chad Billingsley Cole, all those guys, Jeff
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Frank cor So. I would always sit on the bench
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the whole game, and uh, Harang would always tell me,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: he was like, You'd always like, yeah, watching it on
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: TV is good, but during the game, like you learned
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: a lot more watching the game and the dugout. You
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: can pick up on things that you can't pick up
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: on TV, the reactions and and and whatever from from
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: hitters and stuff like that.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: Uh.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: And I would always obviously being the dug out, I
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: would always see Joos when he wasn't playing, he was
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: sitting on the bench the whole game, just watching the picture.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, it's.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Probably this is probably why this guy is super good
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: and he's had a long career. He's just like, really,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: this his homework. His homework is just sitting and watching
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: the picture and watching watching hitters and the catcher. Uh So,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: I thought that was really cool, and I just enjoy it.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: I enjoy watching the game. I enjoy talking to the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: guys about the game, about the hitters. I mean, for me,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: that's kind of that's our homework. You know, we don't
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: go to school anymore, so I mean something I like
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to do. And being around my brother too. He enjoys
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: doing all that kind of stuff. And him moving to
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: catcher years ago. That's kind of his his deal, game
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: planning and stuff. So it's just fun, fun to talk
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: about it.
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: So, Aaron, you've had a remarkable career. I mean, from
• 23:34
  Speaker 6: the start of seventeen until the end of twenty four
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: you led the major leagues and innings. Your durability is remarkable.
• 23:41
  Speaker 6: When I look at the Phillies Top ten list in
• 23:45
  Speaker 6: all time pitching, you are all over that list. You
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: will be on the Wall of Fame someday. But on
• 23:53
  Speaker 6: Tuesday Night you reached nineteen hundred strikeouts. That's a lot
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: of strikeouts, number two behind Steve Carlton. Do you ever
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: gaze at that top ten list and and your your third, fourth, fifth,
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: second in so many of these categories, and it just
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: sort of chronicles what a great run you've had.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it, uh. I looked at it a couple
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: of years ago, just because I didn't know. I think
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: it was when I passed curved up for what was
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: that like wins or something I can't remember, and then
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I passed cool up or something and he was at
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the field, so I had looked it up one day.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: I think it was I think it might have been
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: the strikeouts, and I was like, I got you on
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: the strikeouts, but you got me on the innings a
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: good bit, So I'm coming for the innings for you. Yeah,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: I liked obviously it's it's pretty cool if you be
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: on the list with a lot of those those Philly greats.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I think the innings standings and the games started would
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: be obviously a goal to keep keep shooting for.
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: Is that something that you thought about at all? I
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: mean as you were getting drafted by the Phillies. I
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: mean at that point you said you're twenty years old obviously, but.
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: Did you think about the imprint that you might make
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: in the game or were you just going day by day?
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: How does that work for you?
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: No, not at all. I had no I had no idea.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: First of all, I didn't know who the Philadelphia Phillies
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: were when they drafted me. Like I was like, Philadelphia Phillies,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Like I've never even heard of this team, because I
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: being in being from the being from Louisiana. Like all
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: I knew was l shut. I didn't really watch I
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: didn't really watch pro Major League Baseball. The only teams
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I really watched was like the Yankees Red Sox matchups
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: the Braves every now and again, because the Braves and
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the Astros were the closest teams to us down Ben Rouge.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: So I can never really I never watched Philly sports,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: but reubind No, I never thought I would be on
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: the list with some of these guys.
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: I never thought.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Any of this would happen when I when I came in,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to I wanted to be healthy and
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: have good have a good season. When I in twenty fifteen,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: when I came up, and then twenty sixteen, after getting
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: my feet wet a little bit, I had a decent
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: first half.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: And then ended up getting hurt. I had a really
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: bad second half, and then.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Did all the rehab and stuff like that, and twenty
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: seventeen came around and got hurt for the first month,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: so I was like back to back kind of getting injured,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and then after that I felt felt really good, and
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: so I just wanted to make as many.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: Starts and throw as many as as I can.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: And that's what I was told when when I came up,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: when Bob McClure was my pitching coach those first couple
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: of few years, and the starters are supposed to eat
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the innings and put all the load on their back,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: so that's why we start. I was like, all right, so,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: but tracing back to college, I threw in twenty fourteen,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I threw that season LSU, and I wanted to sign
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: early so I can go finish the season out in
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: minor league ball and get my innings up so I
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: could be ready for for a full minor league season
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen. So that's what I did, and I
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: can't remember how many innings I threw total. I think
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I threw like one sixty or something from college to
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: the minor leagues, and then twenty fifth I was like,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: that's pretty good amount. And then twenty fifteen I was
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: kind of I was ready to go for full my
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: first full season, and I think I ended up at
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: like total from the minor league so big leagues think
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: ended up to around like one fifty or something around sixty.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: And then after that I was like, I'm good to go.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: I come ready to go to try to get to
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: two hundred, and I was able to reach it. So
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: after that, that's just out of the bar. The two
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: hundred innings kind of the two hundred strikeouts make every start.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: It's kind of the bar that it starts that we
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: want to set. And being able to do that early
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: in my career too be healthy, I knew I could.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: I was able to do it, So that's kind of
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: that's what I trained for and and you know, study
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: for and did a lot to keep my body healthy
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: for that.
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: Aaron, hearing you talk about Baton Rouge, it's jarring my memory.
• 28:31
  Speaker 6: I once had a conversation with you, like I think,
• 28:33
  Speaker 6: I said, I I would love to see a Saturday
• 28:36
  Speaker 6: night football game at LSU, and we were talking about
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: the environment and how it relates to you know, sports
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: crazy town like Philly, and you said, Philadelphia is Baton
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: Rouge on steroids. What is the fan experience like in
• 28:55
  Speaker 6: between you know, a big college town, great football, basketball, baseball,
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: women's basketball, and a big sports crazy pro town.
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: Mm hm, oh yeah, it is.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia is LSU on steroids. I mean, you got everything's bigger.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Obviously passionate fans. LSU fans are really passionate. They travel
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: really well, no matter where it is. Philadelphia fans same way.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: They travel really well. They're really passionate. Ah, they're similar
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: in that that aspect. They're tough on the opposing team.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I've played with several guys that I've played against in
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: college over the years that have come through the Phillies
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: organization or that I've played against in the major leagues
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: that I've seen on the uh, that I've talked to
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: around the league, and UH, They're like, oh yeah, man, LSU,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: they would wear me out when I was on the
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: on the mount warming up because our our pitchers mouths
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: used to be on the field over there when I
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: was over there, and.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: They would wear They're like, they would wear me out.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it sounds like Philly's because the guy's up
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: in the opposing team up in the other bullpen to
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: get worn out too.
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: I've heard obviously, like the city Baton Ridges is not.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: Really like a city anything like Philly. We got more
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: grass and more parking spots, but it's kind of slow,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: a lot of traffic college town. Obviously, I grew up
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: right right next to Teleshoe, so just a gostion it's
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: really different. So when I first came to Philly, it
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: was it was good culture shock. Like it was, it
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: was weird, just because I'd never really been been in
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: a big city before.
• 30:48
  Speaker 6: Well, you mentioned the the upstairs bullpen at Citizens Bank Park.
• 30:52
  Speaker 6: That was originally when the ballpark opened. That was originally
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: the Phillies bullpen, and the fans were wearing out the
• 31:00
  Speaker 6: Philly's relievers so they changed it to the lower one.
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: That.
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a true story. They played an on deck
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: series right before opening day two thousand and four. Billy
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Wagner was in that bullpen. He's warming up and some
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: fans started to wear him out. So the game ends,
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: he walks right over to I guess it was Ed
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Wade at the time the GM and Rubeny goes, we're
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: not We're not going We're moving down down below. We're
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: moving down below. We are not going to be up there,
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: no way.
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: Billy Wagner was a brilliant move.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: Billy Wagner took one game, one exhibition game, and Billy
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Wagner says, we are moving bullpens. We're moving to the
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: lower tiers. So you can thank Billy Wagner for that.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: Aaron but Aaron, thanks so much for the time, and
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: again I want to mention your charity poker tournament Thursday night.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: You and Hunter of your wife, Hunter raised over the
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: years a million dollars for phil Abundance, over eight hundre
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: or grand for Team Red, White and Blue h I
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: wish you all the luck in the in the tournament, Aaron,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: hopefully you can knock out JT. Because he deserves to
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: lose every once in a while. So but thanks, thanks
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: so much.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: Shouldn't have to worry about me if he's playing so.
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: Well.
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: Thank thank you, thank you. Thanks again. We appreciate it.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Thanks a lot. The Philly Show is brought to you
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.