Latest / Foul Territory / Astros ace Hunter Brown joins CCT

Transcript

Astros ace Hunter Brown joins CCT · Foul Territory

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: What's up everybody. Welcome into another edition of Crush City Territory.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: I'm Chandler Room, joined by Tyler Stafford and perhaps the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: most special guest we have ever had on Crush Citty Territory,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: reigning American League Cy Young finalist, owner of a p
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: p I draft pick, and the pride of Saint Clair Shores,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Michigan Hunter Brown Hunter, thank you appreciate you taking some
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: time in spring training to get to get together with us. Uh.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: How of the first week, week and a half been
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: for you in West Palm?
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's been.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: It's been good, you know, get to see the boys again,
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: like like the first day of school, right, people people
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: mention that, but it's good to see your buddies again
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: after after a long break. You know, guys, you spend
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: I don't know, two hundred odd days in a row
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: with each other.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: So you do you do? Uh, head towards the route
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: of missing them, believe.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: It or not.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: So we're back.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: Baseball is back.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: That's most exciting part.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: And so yeah, it's just exciting.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Before we get going, before we start talking about baseball,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: we have got to do one thing. We have got
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: to give a shout out to mister Kevin Brown, your dad.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: This podcast has so few fans, so few people that
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: reach out and that like this thing. Your dad is
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: one of them.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: And you.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Told me, you told me a fan fest how much
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: he watches us. He unsurprisingly you said he likes Tyler
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: a lot more than he likes me.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: He is a fan. Don't change yourself.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Damn well, thank you. Uh, mister Kevin Brown, thank you
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: very much. Appreciate you watching. And I hope Hunter lives
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: up to your expectations. And I hope, I hope this
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: is good. Hunter. I introduced you when we started this thing.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Reigning American League Cy Young finalist, unquestioned astros Ace opening
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: day starter as of a week and a half ago. Uh,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: how has what you did last year breaking out and
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: really like announcing your presence in Major League baseball? Like,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: did you did you feel fame like change you this
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: offseason where you're getting recognized in Detroit when you were
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: walking around, Like how did you feel like, you know,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: last season maybe changed you publicly in perception and what
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: people thought of you.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, I think it's funny that you asked
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: me that, because other people have asked me that too,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: And I mean I feel like I go home and
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: I kind of already know everybody anyway.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: So I didn't I didn't feel any change. I got
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: a few more pictures at the grocery store in Houston
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: this offseason, but other than that, I mean, I feel like.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: In baseball in general, you know, the guys.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Outside of a uniform don't get recognized as much unless,
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: uh you know, I mean, especially if I'm wearing long
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: sleeves or something like that.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: You know, specifically, people don't. People don't say, oh, hey,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: that's funner. But uh yeah, I mean it's it's been good.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I have a question. So I was showing and Tyler
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: this before we started, and if you can see it
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: on your phone, this is you at the twenty twenty
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: two Futures game at Dodger Stadium. Got that picture views
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you were going out to do your APLO stuff, And
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: I was actually talking to someone in the ASTROS organization
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: about this a couple of days ago, because we saw
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: you walk out to go do something on the agility field,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and I remember getting meeting you there and interviewing you
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: at Dodger Stadium for this game, and like your transformation
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: from this where like the jersey is almost hanging off
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: of you to what you are now, Like, how did
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: we get from that to this?
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Well, ironically you had probably one of the only.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Pictures of me in high pants as well, So that
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: thing is that thing's gold.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: No. I mean, if you're talking about the physicality, you know.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: My trainer, Joe Neil has been has been awesome for
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: me at TWOSP Sports in Madison Heights, Michigan.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I go back there every year.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: I've been working with him since I got drafted. I
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: tried the old go to the local LA Fitness for
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks out of your first short season
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: spring training, and I said, you know, I might need
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: a different edge here, so you know, got working with him,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: and then I like to I like to say I
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: got body by Joe put the time in with him,
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: and you know I think I think that. And then
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: you know, just housing as much food as possible for
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: a couple of years really really helped.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Me gain some weight. So I mean in that picture
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: I was probably two.
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: Hundred pounds and you know, maybe now I'm.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: Pushing two thirty, so a little bit different.
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: We've talked about, obviously the physical transformation now we we
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: have all discussed externally when you added a sinker and
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: just became one of the best pictures on the planet.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: I assume that it is not easy as easy as
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: just saying, oh, I'll just throw a sinker and that
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: will fix everything. Can you just walk up through how
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: adding that pitch changed the type of picture that you
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: were before, how it plays up everything else, Like why
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: why did that unlock so much for you?
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: So, I mean I like to I like to think
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: that my identity before I got the pro ball, you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: because in college I threw mostly two's in sliders, and
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: then I got to pro bawl and then I think,
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: you know, kind of based on my arm slot.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: And then you know, all the the.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: The tricks and secrets of the trade that the Astros have,
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: they they quickly kind of shut that down and turned
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: me into a.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: North South guy. So I'd like to say it's always.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Been in there, and I always felt like I could
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: go back to it. But you know, at the time
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: the time that it started coming up, where I was like, Okay,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: something's got to make a change here, I was, you know,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: I was arguably one of the worst pitchers in baseball
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: for I mean maybe not even arguably, I probably was
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: for about a month. So uh, you know, at that
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: point you're looking around and you're like, man, I you know,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: I really love the big leagues and I definitely want
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: to stay here.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: But there's not many guys that get rolled out there
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: over and over with you know, an Era nor at
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the tenth.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: So first thing you do is you ask the guys
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: on your team, you know, some of the best players
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: in the world.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: And luckily I'm in the clubhouse at the time with
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: you know, Justin Erlander, Bregman, Al Tuve, Jordan.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: You know, Debon was was a guy that I talked
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: to at length about it, and they all kind of
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: just gave me the same feedback where it was I
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: kind of pigeonholed myself into staying with with a harder
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: velocity approach to the outer third of the play, so
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: my glove side in a way to writings, and with that,
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: it just really tightens up your zone to where you know,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: if you're already working just that outer half, well then
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: you go anymore. The chases start to go away because
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: now they know, you know that they just need that window.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: And then I wasn't throwing anything inside. So you know,
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: right handed hitters especially, we're destroying me. And so I
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: just said, all right, well instead of trying to, you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: maybe just drill four seams in, I said, I got
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: this thing.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: I know in the back pocket from from my.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: Old days at Wayne State, that I could at least
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: it's gonna go right. I don't know exactly how much
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: right it's gonna go, but it's gonna get in there.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: And then you know, you combine that and then now
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: you got you know, you got a bunch of different options.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: So I leaned it in my change up a little
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: bit more as well. And then when you're throwing a
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: change up that like mine, is a little bit you know,
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: depth and armside. You know, it's a big difference in
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: a four seam. So it kind of it also helped
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: my change up a lot. It opened up the slider
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: a little bit, and then you know, my four seam
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: and curveball got that much better because then there was
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: that other element that.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: That hitters had to respect.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: So it is it is a pitch for me that
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: you know, I lean on heavily, but it also does
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: just help make my other stuff better.
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: So it's a pitch you through before at at Wayne State,
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: and you just hadn't for a while and then brought
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: it back the same grip and everything did Did they
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: tweak anything for you?
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: No?
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: No, right off the shelf. I was lucky enough that
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: I was. I had some natural seam shifted wake on it.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: I was thrown at ninety five plus or so, so
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: you know, anything anything that hard is.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Usually is going to be all right. So I was
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: able to just kind of take it off the shelf
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: and roll with it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Hunter. I know you never want to relive April eleventh,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, probably ever again, your start at coffin
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: real quick.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: It seems it seems like in every interview I give
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: it gets brought up.
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: Though, I'm going to throw that out there.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: It's like it's it's that nightmare that just keeps coming back.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: But I'm sorry, Chayler, go ahead.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: What I wanted you, what I wanted you to talk
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: about was so that was a getaway day game. I
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: want you to talk about that flight home because I
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: know that we have talked about it a little bit,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: but I know Ryan Presley was on that flight and
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: very much helped you kind of get through that. I know,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Alex Bregman came, tell me about that flight home and
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: just what the guys, what those veterans you just talked
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: about what they did to maybe help you get through that,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: because I don't know that there's a rule book or
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: a playbook to get through or to compartmentalize what you
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: endured on that field.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: You know, not only I mean, obviously I was feeling
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: pretty miserable. Nobody wants to go out there and not
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: have success, and then you know, when you put a
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: magnifying glass and blow it up into what it was,
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: it's even worse. So but then also, you know the
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: team was struggling too, so you kind.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Of had both.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: So everybody knew that that something had to change, and
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: then you know it's changed as a whole, and.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Then you know, the leadership that we had it was
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: kind of like, hey, if Hunter, we're gonna need you.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: You know, that's kind of the route that Presley took
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: with me and Bragman. It was like, hey, you know.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: We need you to be successful, so so something's got
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: to change here, and you know, we believe in you,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: so you should probably start believing in yourself as much
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: as as we do, which at the time was you know,
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: maybe a little bit easier said than done. But then
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: then again, I'd had success the year the year prior,
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: at the you know, for the first half. My second
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: half of my rookie year wasn't wasn't what I'd hoped.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: But you know, you kind of put that all in
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: and then you start to, uh, you know, try and
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: get the good snowball going. I like to say, where
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: where you're try and build on the good things. Right,
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: So I knew at the time, like, okay, my fourth
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: team still was playing pretty good. My curveball was was
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: doing fine.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: It just I wasn't.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: I wasn't necessarily locating these enough and changing speed. So
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: it was a mentality change of all right, I know
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: that I had the tools to be successful because I've
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: already shown that a little bit. And then you know,
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: what tools do I have that I can lean into
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: to help me with that as well? And then you know,
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: we kind of took the identity of like, all right,
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: this has been a terrible start, but if anybody's gonna
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: do it, you know, it's gonna be us.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I'm curious, you know, we talk a lot on this
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: pod about and we brought it up with Josh. We
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: had Josh Miller on a couple of weeks ago, and
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: we always talk about your first inning of last season.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: You got out there, you faced Lindor, Soto and Alonso,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and you were ninety nine, You were dot and whatever
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: you wanted. Alonso got you deep to the deepest part
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of the park. But Soto and Lindor looked absolutely helpless
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: against you. I've said it before from the press box,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: like my jaw was on the floor. I did not
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: expect that from you in your first inning of twenty
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: twenty five. I guess I wonder, like in your head
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: when you do that, is it as simple as you're thinking,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Oh man, I got like I knew you had to
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: feel good coming out of spring training, But when you
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: see those three hitters react the way they did to
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: your stuff, what are you thinking after that first hurning?
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: You know, I think it's it helps you believe in
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: the work that you put in the off season. But
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: you know, ironically, my.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: Last start before the start of the season in camp
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: I had walked five and had two innings rolled on me.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: So I was going out there with a little bit
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: of you know, maybe a chip on my shoulder like
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: this is I'm not gonna let this happen again.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: You know, have have a have a poor start to
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: the season, so that that was in my mind as well.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: And then you know, Dyking was bumping, so the adreanoline
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: was flowing, like.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: He said, you know, three big name guys, uh, guys
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: that you know when you when you're at this level,
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: you want to compete against the best guys in the world,
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: and you know that's a that's a pretty solid top
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: three to start your season.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: So I think you you kind of.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Just combine all those things and then you know you
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: have a little bit extra juice.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: And then when you get done with that.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: And you're like, all right, let's you know, obviously here
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: I am again. Season has started where we're back into it,
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: and then just try to try to take it into
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: into the next inning. You know, then you settle in
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: and you're in a start versus h you know, just
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: running off purely kind.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Of emotions, I guess in that first inning.
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: So I mean you talk about having the introduce at
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: you know, the beginning of the year. This year, you're
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: starting opening day to the surprise of no One and
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: I'm sure yourself as well, but it is announced, it's
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: out there. What I mean again, just a fifth round
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: pick from Wayne State, you know, and and struggling at
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: the beginning of your career, you have it like, what
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: does that mean? Have you been able to fully process
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: how much your career has changed in the last two
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: years to now being in an opening day starter?
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: No, you know, I think I kind of try to
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: keep it to and it's a pretty cliche answer, but
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: you try to keep it to one day at a time.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: You know. Obviously I'm aware that.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: That I'll get in them all that day, but you know,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: I got a lot of work to do in camp here,
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: you know, to to tighten up some things and to
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: get ready for the season.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: So that's that's where the focus is at right now.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: And then and then.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: As for the last couple of years, you know, I
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: got some of those results personally by taking that mentality
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: into into those you know, you don't want to look
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: at a season at thirty starts or thirty two starts
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: or whatever. You know, you want to just look at
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: it at one start thirty two times, which I which
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: I think can help you kind of one compartmentalize both
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: the good and the bad. You know, never ride too
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: high or too low. But then it also keeps you,
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: you know, into into yourself and in what you're working
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: on and how to apply it to each game.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: You pitched about as well as you could last year.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Just there doesn't seem to be on paper or just
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: looking at stats, like it doesn't seem to be much
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: that you can work on or that you can improve upon.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: But I know how you guys are wired. I know
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: how every baseball player is wired. There's always something you
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: can get better at. What are those things? What did
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: you go into this offseason thinking like I need to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: get better at after last year?
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think I can do a better
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: job of.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: Holding runners, you know, specific in my time to the
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: played at times, you know, I have such a high
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: lay kick that I'm sure. I'm sure Vic and uh
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: and DZ last year at times were like, you know, come.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: On, man, give me a shot. But uh so, So
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: there's definitely that element to it. And I think I
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: think we we've kind of been.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: Talking about that as a as a team as a whole,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: So I don't think that's just for me. But you know, personally,
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: I think if I could, you know, if I could
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: strike out as many right handed hitters as.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: I do left handed, that would that would be awesome.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: And then first pitch strikes, you know, you want to
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: if you're getting ahead of guys, you're gonna get deeper
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: into games and and kind of some of that stuff
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: is gonna gonna even itself out. You know, you'll find
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: yourself and opportunities to to put guys away faster and
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: and you know, have more efficient innings.
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: Really, I mean, I at what point did you start
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: throwing ninety eight? Like I'm assuming that that was not
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: happening at Wayne State? Like when when did that? Was?
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: Was it? You're yeah? Nine year? Okay?
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, My junior year was the first time I was
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Actually again ironically, I was at the we did our
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: spring break tournament for Wayne. Say, we went down to
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: Kissimi a couple of times. So my junior year at
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Cassim I hit ninety eight for the first time. It
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: was but it was a big game, you know, Augustana,
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: they were reigning champs, and I was I was getting
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: the rock against them, and.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: So you know that was maybe it was just meant
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: to be.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Maybe the Astros saw that in their own backyard and said,
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: we got.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: To have this guy. At least that's what That's what
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I like to tell myself.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I was going to say, I have a theory
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: that you know, when when pitchers really gain that v
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: LO later and their career, you still try to nibble
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: like you used to have to when you were throwing
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: ninety two. And sometimes I'm just yelling at the TV, like,
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: big guy, you throw ninety nine, Just pump it down
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: the middle. See what happens.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: You know, that's no.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: I feel like it sits in everybody's head though, the
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: pitch that you throw down the middle that ends up
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: over the fence.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Here, like, oh boy, I'm not to do that anymore.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: So if we're modeling everything after Justin Verlander, I can
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: tell you I wrote an article once for Baseball Perspectives
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: that he threw more fastballs down the middle than any
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: other pitcher in baseball. And it was just, you know,
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: go off the curveball in the slider obviously, but he
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: I mean dead center heat. He's the he was the
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: leader for several years there.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: He's got a couple outside factors too. He's throwing the
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: ball from the.
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: Sky, and at the time, I don't think many.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Guys were throwing twenty three inches of vert on the fastball,
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: so maybe he was an outlier, you.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Know, Hannor, you mentioned that tournament in Kassemi. It was
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the Russmatt Invitational, and that is how the Astros found you.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Scott Oberhelman, the area of scout who still works for
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: the Astros who signed you, he saw you there first.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: And the only reason he saw you is because he
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: overheard some other scouts talking about you, and it was
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: his first scouting assignment for the Astros, was scouting this tournament.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: He overheard a couple of other scouts saying, Oh, Wayne
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: State has this kid that we really like, and he said,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I should stay here a little bit longer and go
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: see him. Went to saw you, went to see you,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: and the rest is history. So you were onto something
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: that you were in the Astro's backyard, and that is
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: how they found you at that uh at that spring
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: break tournament in in Florida. But your road to Wayne
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: State's interesting too, because your only D one offers were
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: to go be a bullpen catcher.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: And yeah, Eastern Michigan tossed me a little little courtesy.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: They said you could be the thirty fifth guy on
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: the on the roster out of thirty five.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: You know, they said, they they they thought I could
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: pitch a little bit. But you know I was. I
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: was a decent catcher. You know, I went I played
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: in Michigan, so you know, give it a grain of salt.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: I kind of I could turn and burn on some
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: seventy seven to eighty mile a hour fastballs.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: You know, this was in Texas or Florida. But you know,
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I like to think I had some tools, tools.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Behind the plate.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: But yeah, they you know, they obviously didn't have any
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: scholarship money for me, you know, being being the what
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: was going to be the last guy on the on
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: the roster. And you know that visit was a heck.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: Of a lot different than when I went to.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: To Wayne State. You know, I think you know coach
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Kelly Ryan Kelly had over.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: At Wayne State. You know, he took me around personally
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: in the golf cart. So I spent the day with him,
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: you know, and he was adamant that you know, he
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: loved the fact that I could compete, and he thought
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: I could compete on the mound right away.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: And you know, at the time, I was seventeen.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: So when you're seventeen years old and head coach is
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: telling you that, you know, you can come in and
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: play right away, and you got another one that's telling
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: you you can hang out in nipsel Any for the
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: whole year, that it's a pretty pretty easy decision. And
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: it ended up being, you know, one of the best
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: ones in my life. You know, I love I love
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: the fact that I to Wayne State. You know, I
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: love all the guys there, the coaching staff, and it's
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: it's like a true you know, it's a true family there,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: you know. And then obviously not known as a baseball
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: school necessarily, so you know, I take pride in that
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: as well, you know, myself and and Anthony Bass, a
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: couple of guys that came out of there. So it's
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: it's definitely it's definitely an honor to to be from there,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: no doubt.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Can we talk about this guy too.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there you go.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: I like Tyler.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Tyler.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Tyler introduced me to this guy. And if you're watching
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: on YouTube, if you're listening on audio, like, go to
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: YouTube just to look at Wayne State's mascot. I don't
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: know what this dude is called I know he's just
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: a but you got to look at that dude every
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: time you pitch like that. That would fire me up too.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: That's right, that's a w.
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: Chest hair coming coming in there? Is he a dinosaur?
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Like?
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: What is going on with this thing?
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: I don't have the answers for you, but here we
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: are talking about it, so they're doing something right.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: The eyebrows rule. I love this guy. I need a
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: shirt with with his face on it. For sure. You
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: mentioned you mentioned the catching. Uh As I look at
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: this roster with Dubon gone, I don't see anybody that
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: screams emergency catcher? Can you do? You do you think
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: you have enough pull now to nudge your way into
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: the list?
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: You see last year there was there was a day
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: where Diez and.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: Uh Caratini where we're both in the lineup, and they
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: were talking about, you know, Dubon and Walker being being
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: options and.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I kind of floated it to Miller. I was like, hey, man,
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: don't you know.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: Don't forget I don't mind getting back there, and uh,
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: you know he shut that down pretty quick, so I don't.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I don't think.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: I don't think it will be seeing me back there,
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: but and honestly, I don't want to. I mean, these
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: guys everybody you want, you know, imagine catching Brian and
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: Brady's slider in a too strike count. No thanks, I
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: think I think I'm just fine watching it.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: The dugout.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Well, you had tetsu Emi playing shortstop for you during
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: your live VP yesterday, so who knows what cross training
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: can happen?
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: That's right, that's right.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: We made it.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Twenty two minutes in. And I know fans are going
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: to crucify me if I don't ask you this. So
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: this is the one hard hitting question, hard news question
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: you'll get from the resident reporter on here. Everyone's wondering,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: you know, this is the time of year for extension.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: This is the time of year where negotiations for extensions happen.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: I know there has at least been some interest in
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: the past between you and the Astros and an extension.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Is that something that you are open to? Is that
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: something that maybe you have told Scott boris that that
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: you'd like to explore? Kind of where are you in
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: that an extension world right now?
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: You know, those those conversations have obviously, you know, come
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: up between Scott and myself and with all transparency.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: You know, I love Houston.
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: I love playing for this team, you know, and and
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: just I haven't heard anything since you know, I was
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: a rookie.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: So my focus is to be the best I can
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: be for this team this season, and you know that's
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: that's what I'm focused on.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: But like I, like I said, I love putting on
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: that Astro's uniform and I got no no visions of
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: doing it anywhere else.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: So that that's what I can give you. Guys, I
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: haven't I haven't heard anything, and that's that's just kind
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: of where I stand with that. So I'm well, hopefully
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: it was that's what you're looking for.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: I'm sure. I'm sure the fans will lot. I'm sure
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I'm sure they will.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: But I had to.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I had to get that in at some point in
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: twenty two minutes. And before we let you go, we
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: told you we keep you fifteen minutes, and we have
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: already exceeded that. But real quick, your goals for twenty
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: twenty six, both for you individually and maybe for the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: whole team, because I think one thing that by by
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Joe a spot of naming you the opening day or
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: when he did, he made it very clear that you're
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a leader on this team, that you are the leader
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: of the pitching staff. He wanted to make the pitching
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: staff aware of that on the first day of pitchers
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and catchers. So I feel like you can also speak
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: for the team a little bit here. What are the
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: goals personally for you and for the twenty twenty six
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Houston Astros.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: You know, I think, you know, individual goals kind of
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: come together over the course of the season. You know,
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: you kind of you kind of see some things that
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: are attainable. Obviously, what I want to do is make
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: all my starts. You know, being being at the front
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: of the rotation, you know that's a big deal. You
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: want to eat up innings for the team. You want
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: to you know, when it's your time, when it's your
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: time to.
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: Step on the mound. You know, you want to be
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: a guy where.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: The bullpen looks at you and the rest of the
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: coaching staff looks at.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: You, like, all right, you know, we're we're getting some
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: quality here. So so that's number one.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: And then as as a team and as a unit,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: our goal is to win a championship, no matter no
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: matter how that happens.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: I know it's it's it's big to talk about winning
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: your division and you know all those things, but you
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: just want to take it to the dance and see
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: what you can do when you get there. So because
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: because that's that's the end goal. We're here for championships
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: and that's where our mind's at. So whatever we can
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: do to to to give us an opportunity to.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Do that, you know, that's what That's what we're going
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: to be focused on.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Are we touching one hundred this year?
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: And ninety nine point nine?
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: I got actually real quick, I got something about that.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: I tell people this all the time. At this point,
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: I feel like it's better off not not being a
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: hundred guy, because the second that you start hitting one
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: hundred and you come out and you don't, you know, the.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Other dugout starts to murmur. They're like, oh, look at Brownie.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: You know he's not he's not hitting one hundred days,
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: he's feeling all right. Versus if you're the ninety seven
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: ninety eight guy and you're popping some nines, they're like, oh,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: you know, hundreds, feeling good? We got to really strap
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: it in today. So I think I think I like.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: Where I'm at.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to to stay around there and if it happens,
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: at happen and I'll obviously be thrilled. I get enough,
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: I get enough grief from the guys in the clubhouse
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: that that I.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Don't have what it takes to hit triple digits.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: So you know, I would love I would.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: Love for it to happen to to to mute some
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: of those things.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: But that is not that's not on the radar necessarily.
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: Mm hmm, very quickly. Excellent use of radar there.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: That's right, picked up.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Very quickly. Are you keeping just what the doctor ordered
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: as your warm up music? Because I low key think
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: that's one of the best warm up musics on the team.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you, thank you, Chandler. I like, yeah, you
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: you want to be just with the doctor ordered, and
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: it just happens. Ted Newton has some Michigan ties, so
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: I hadn't really thought about it, but I don't. I
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: don't see a reason and changing it now, especially uh
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: you know here and hearing that you think so highly
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: of it.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm honored. I'm honored that you take my thoughts
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: into consideration on this.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: Hunter.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Again, we very much appreciate this. This was awesome. I
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: appreciate you taking some time today between spring training. I
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: know this is a busy time for you guys, but
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: thank you again. Thank you again to mister Kevin Brown
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: for watching and spurring this on because Hunter actually requested
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: to come on just just so his dad could see
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: him on Crush City Territory.
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: Thanks again. That's the only time you're gonna hear us
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: on an Astros podcast. Thank Kevin Brown. That's gonna hurt
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: the old astro's heads in here.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: That's awesome, right, all right, Thank you guys.