Latest / Foul Territory / Starting pitchers Nick Martinez & Drew Rasmussen join FT @Rays camp

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Starting pitchers Nick Martinez & Drew Rasmussen join FT @Rays camp · Foul Territory

0:03
Speaker 1: Take us into the locker room about the things that
0:05
Speaker 1: are talked about, because my my, my explanation was, you're
0:10
Speaker 1: talking constantly as Team USA about not being these guys friends.
0:13
Speaker 1: Who cares if it's your teammates. What are the things
0:15
Speaker 1: that you heard and the team talked about when you
0:18
Speaker 1: were on the WBC team.
0:20
Speaker 2: I think I don't I don't know if we I
0:23
Speaker 2: don't remember us, you know, single handedly pointing you know,
0:26
Speaker 2: one country out or anything. But it was definitely the
0:28
Speaker 2: vibe was, you know, we're playing for our country. We
0:29
Speaker 2: have this honor to wear this jersey, and uh, you know,
0:33
Speaker 2: we want to do our best to represent it and
0:35
Speaker 2: focus on USA, right and we're trying to win a
0:38
Speaker 2: gold medal for USA. So uh, it's not a matter
0:41
Speaker 2: of just singling any any country out. It's more of
0:43
Speaker 2: playing together and trying to you know, make something special happen.
0:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's get back to raise camp here. How excited
0:50
Speaker 3: you to be here?
0:51
Speaker 4: You strike me as a guy who's always wanting to
0:54
Speaker 4: strive to be better and learn, you know, with the Rays,
0:57
Speaker 4: very attractive to come sign here in the offseason.
0:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, for for that reason, right, they have an amazing
1:03
Speaker 2: reputation and you know, getting guys better, communicating their their
1:08
Speaker 2: you know, playing for cash, you know, for great things
1:10
Speaker 2: about them. I was working with Snyde has been great
1:13
Speaker 2: already and he's got a great reputation. So it's it's
1:16
Speaker 2: just it was very exciting to uh join an organization
1:19
Speaker 2: that has that reputation of you know, especially with the older,
1:22
Speaker 2: older pitchers, you know, to to get them back to
1:25
Speaker 2: their you know, highest highest performance level.
1:28
Speaker 1: What did they tell you in the off season when
1:30
Speaker 1: they're making that pitch, say, you know what, hey, you
1:33
Speaker 1: know this is what we see? Or what did they
1:35
Speaker 1: what what was talked about that made you finally make
1:38
Speaker 1: the decision to go to Tampa.
1:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, that they they had the tools available to help
1:42
Speaker 2: me get back on track to the best version of myself. Right,
1:45
Speaker 2: they were able and they knew how to communicate that
1:47
Speaker 2: and show me. And you know, I'm very confident and
1:50
Speaker 2: that I'm with the right you know, we're going to
1:51
Speaker 2: have some direction and and how how to be successful.
1:54
Speaker 2: So I feel like as as players, you give us
1:57
Speaker 2: direction and we can accomplish whatever that that objective is.
2:00
Speaker 2: And so we were able to do it, you know,
2:03
Speaker 2: get into the big leagues, you know, that was our
2:05
Speaker 2: main focus.
2:05
Speaker 5: And then throughout throughout the big leagues.
2:07
Speaker 2: You know, in the beginning, you're trying to survive and
2:09
Speaker 2: you may be left, you know, not knowing how to
2:12
Speaker 2: how to be successful. And then once you once you
2:14
Speaker 2: learn how to be successful, now it's just a game
2:16
Speaker 2: of adjustments and and you know how you can kind
2:19
Speaker 2: of stay relevant and stay ahead of the curb.
2:21
Speaker 5: And I feel like I'm in a great place for that.
2:23
Speaker 4: Yeah, a little easier decision knowing they're playing in the
2:26
Speaker 4: trap instead of the spring training facility.
2:28
Speaker 3: And also you talked about your journey a little bit too.
2:31
Speaker 4: Tell us a little bit about your journey, how you
2:33
Speaker 4: had to go pitch overseas and be able to come back,
2:35
Speaker 4: what you've learned about yourself, maybe things that you learned,
2:38
Speaker 4: you know, going overseas to pitch, because we're obviously seeing
2:41
Speaker 4: a lot of guys go over there and come back
2:43
Speaker 4: and have a ton of success.
2:45
Speaker 6: Yeah.
2:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's been a wild roller coaster for me.
2:47
Speaker 6: Man.
2:48
Speaker 2: I uh, yeah, I'm super grateful that, you know, for
2:52
Speaker 2: my time in Japan and having gone over there. For me,
2:55
Speaker 2: it was a chance and an opportunity to work on
2:57
Speaker 2: my craft at a high enough level where you know,
3:00
Speaker 2: at the time when I went, I felt like, and
3:02
Speaker 2: I still think it's true where teams value the success
3:05
Speaker 2: in Japan more than they value success in Triple A.
3:08
Speaker 2: And I never viewed myself as a depth guy, and
3:11
Speaker 2: I was kind of labeled, you know, I got non
3:13
Speaker 2: tendered my first year going to URB and so I was,
3:18
Speaker 2: you know, kind of labeled as just a depth guy,
3:21
Speaker 2: someone that can you know, be reliable in the big leagues.
3:25
Speaker 2: But maybe we be on the DFA train or being
3:27
Speaker 2: Triple A and kind of use them. However, you know,
3:29
Speaker 2: whenever we see fit and I always obviously I'm gonna
3:32
Speaker 2: believe more in myself, and so I wanted to kind
3:34
Speaker 2: of shake that label, and going to Japan, you know,
3:37
Speaker 2: was an opportunity for me to show that, and.
3:40
Speaker 5: I was able to do that. It worked out, Yeah,
3:42
Speaker 5: it worked out.
3:42
Speaker 6: Yeah.
3:44
Speaker 1: What's the biggest takeaway pitching wise that you took from
3:47
Speaker 1: Japan that you still lean on today.
3:51
Speaker 3: Yeah.
3:51
Speaker 2: Over there, you have to stay locked in every pitch.
3:56
Speaker 2: And I know people say that here at this at
4:00
Speaker 2: this level, obviously, just over there it's like it's death
4:03
Speaker 2: by a thousand cuts. They're trying to clog the bases.
4:05
Speaker 2: They're trying to make your you know, jack up your
4:07
Speaker 2: pitch count and make you work for every out, and
4:11
Speaker 2: so at that time of my career, I've obviously lacked that,
4:15
Speaker 2: and so just being able to know mentally that I
4:18
Speaker 2: had the mental fortitude to keep going helped a lot
4:22
Speaker 2: here when when I got back, And it's just a
4:24
Speaker 2: matter of, you know, as soon as you get punched
4:26
Speaker 2: in the face or in the mouth, you know, punch
4:28
Speaker 2: back and keep you know, keep going. And then overall,
4:32
Speaker 2: you know, my you know, my first three four years
4:35
Speaker 2: in the big leagues were uh, the last few were
4:38
Speaker 2: a lot of up and down, and it's kind of
4:40
Speaker 2: a mental grind doing that. Uh, you start to lose
4:43
Speaker 2: the passion for playing a little bit. And so just
4:45
Speaker 2: going to Japan reignited that passion for me, reignited that fire,
4:49
Speaker 2: and I've just i haven't let go of that since
4:52
Speaker 2: since I've been playing over there. It was a nice,
4:53
Speaker 2: you know, refreshing reminder of you know, why I play
4:56
Speaker 2: this game, and I've just you know, kind of chasing
4:58
Speaker 2: that feeling the whole time.
5:00
Speaker 4: Is that what's allowed you to be so okay with
5:04
Speaker 4: going from starting the bullpen to starting the bullpen, just
5:07
Speaker 4: doing whatever they asked because you love the game so much.
5:09
Speaker 4: And is it still difficult because you do yourself as
5:12
Speaker 4: a starter.
5:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's something that I've done basically my whole career,
5:21
Speaker 2: or I've done both, and I've always viewed myself as
5:23
Speaker 2: a starter. And even when I came back from Japan,
5:26
Speaker 2: you know, I thought, you know, when I first sign
5:28
Speaker 2: with the Padres, I wanted to be a starter. I thought,
5:31
Speaker 2: you know, that's what you know they signed me as
5:32
Speaker 2: in that first year that contract that get moved to
5:35
Speaker 2: the pen. And it wasn't always easy, you know, it
5:36
Speaker 2: took about it took until you know, even the middle
5:39
Speaker 2: of twenty three for me to really embrace it because
5:43
Speaker 2: there were you know, I'm always down for anything, but
5:45
Speaker 2: if there was you know, with the Padres, if there
5:47
Speaker 2: was a need where I felt like I can, I
5:49
Speaker 2: can help out and I was doing something else, it
5:51
Speaker 2: was it was starting. You know that that part meant
5:53
Speaker 2: to do get a little harder. But it's all about
5:59
Speaker 2: like switching your focus on like why why you're doing it?
6:02
Speaker 2: If we're trying to win ball games and I don't
6:03
Speaker 2: care what role role I'm doing, you know, So if
6:08
Speaker 2: it's the first or ninth, if I have the ball
6:10
Speaker 2: and this team's focus is winning ball games, I don't care.
6:13
Speaker 5: You know, at what point I get to.
6:14
Speaker 2: Baseball, I just want to want to help us win
6:16
Speaker 2: so and especially as I'm getting older, I'm getting less
6:19
Speaker 2: and less chances to win a World Series, so I
6:22
Speaker 2: just want to get on it.
6:22
Speaker 5: You know, World Series, We're going to see what happens.
6:26
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6:38
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6:40
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6:45
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7:24
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7:26
Speaker 1: Are you able to convey that in free agency, because
7:30
Speaker 1: I know we hear some guys are like, yeah, they
7:32
Speaker 1: wanted me, but it's kind of be more that swing
7:34
Speaker 1: roll fifth starter back in. Was that conveyed when you
7:38
Speaker 1: were talking to teams and was there a chance you
7:41
Speaker 1: could have gone somewhere else had they been more like
7:45
Speaker 1: solidified in being in the starting rotation or that focus
7:49
Speaker 1: on winning?
7:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think for me, the focus on winning
7:53
Speaker 2: is most important. And then uh, I just communicate that
7:57
Speaker 2: you know I did it with cash, I do it
7:59
Speaker 2: with you know, I did it with the reds. If
8:03
Speaker 2: our focus is winning, I'll do whatever whatever you need
8:06
Speaker 2: me to do. And I think that's yeah, we convey
8:08
Speaker 2: that message in spring, and I'm trying free agency and
8:12
Speaker 2: throughout the year. I mean, if we're if we're getting
8:15
Speaker 2: on a run and the team needs me to bounce
8:17
Speaker 2: back and forth, I'm open to whatever. You know, just
8:21
Speaker 2: winning ball games is my number one priority, and so,
8:23
Speaker 2: you know whatever, it's a lot of fun winning at
8:25
Speaker 2: the big league level, right like celebrating and getting on
8:28
Speaker 2: some nice runs. It makes the year so much more fun.
8:30
Speaker 2: So that's always just been the focus. And however we
8:32
Speaker 2: get there than whatever.
8:34
Speaker 4: Speaking of focus, what are the things you're kind of
8:37
Speaker 4: focusing on here in camp? Is a particular pitch? Is
8:40
Speaker 4: it ourm angle? And is there a conversation you've had
8:43
Speaker 4: with your pitching coach that's kind of really stood out
8:46
Speaker 4: so far?
8:46
Speaker 8: Yeah?
8:47
Speaker 2: So I think, you know, for me, the biggest separator
8:49
Speaker 2: from my previous years from twenty two to twenty four
8:53
Speaker 2: and my twenty twenty five season was I threw a
8:56
Speaker 2: lot of strikes and I can command the ball very well,
8:58
Speaker 2: but my first pitch strikes were down from from previous years,
9:01
Speaker 2: and that's a big factor for me to be successful.
9:04
Speaker 2: It's to be you know, obviously, I think for anyone
9:05
Speaker 2: to be successful right, the more chances, you know, the
9:08
Speaker 2: more times you are oh one, then you are one
9:11
Speaker 2: to oh, you're going to be more successful. So that's,
9:13
Speaker 2: you know, from from that standpoint, that's been a big
9:16
Speaker 2: focus in camp so far. It's really attacking guys and
9:18
Speaker 2: getting aggressive in the zone early. And then also another
9:21
Speaker 2: one from a mechanical standpoints, pitching from probably a more
9:24
Speaker 2: natural slot. Sometimes I tend to climb a little higher
9:26
Speaker 2: than I normally do. I'm pretty I climb pretty high already,
9:31
Speaker 2: but sometimes I try to get even higher. And so
9:33
Speaker 2: being in a more natural slot, you know, and mechanically
9:38
Speaker 2: those are i'd say the two focuses for.
9:39
Speaker 1: Me, Nick, you know who makes the most this year
9:42
Speaker 1: on the race? No, No, it's you. So does that
9:47
Speaker 1: mean you're going to Does that mean you're going to
9:50
Speaker 1: pay for all the dinners?
9:51
Speaker 8: Like?
9:51
Speaker 1: Is that something where you're like you sign a contract
9:53
Speaker 1: and you look at the contracts and go, oh crap,
9:56
Speaker 1: Like you.
9:57
Speaker 8: Know, yeah, I'm a big hang guy.
10:00
Speaker 2: So if the team's hanging, I'm there and I'm not
10:04
Speaker 2: shy about throwing the credit card on the table and
10:06
Speaker 2: paying for stuff. So if if we're if the boys
10:09
Speaker 2: are down to have a good time. So am I
10:10
Speaker 2: and I and I want to just I want to
10:12
Speaker 2: be a part of it. So uh yeah, I don't
10:15
Speaker 2: mind it all paying for dinners or any any way
10:18
Speaker 2: the guys can get together.
10:20
Speaker 1: What's your way of getting together? You say you just
10:22
Speaker 1: you sound like you're like kind of chill, like if
10:24
Speaker 1: everybody else wants together, But what what are some of
10:25
Speaker 1: the ways?
10:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would like to go to dinner, big, big,
10:31
Speaker 2: you know, show dinners are always a lot of fun. Uh,
10:34
Speaker 2: kind of a lost it's starting to become a lost art,
10:36
Speaker 2: right guys are Guys are playing more video games now
10:39
Speaker 2: and traveling, and now everyone's traveling in sweatsuits and it's
10:43
Speaker 2: kind of hard to land in the city, you know,
10:45
Speaker 2: in sweatsuits and then go, hey, let's go to dinner,
10:48
Speaker 2: you know, and have a show dinner when you got
10:50
Speaker 2: to wait for your bags and then you know, it's
10:52
Speaker 2: ten o'clock at night by the time you get your
10:54
Speaker 2: bags and you can't go to dinner anymore. So I'm
10:56
Speaker 2: a big proponent like kind of you know, show flight,
10:58
Speaker 2: kind of dress up a little bit. I'm big on
11:01
Speaker 2: the dropping goes. Let's go to this drop and go
11:03
Speaker 2: to dinner somewhere, and then you know, if it does
11:06
Speaker 2: turn out to be a late night getting into the
11:08
Speaker 2: city late and guys still want to hang out. You know,
11:11
Speaker 2: my room's always open to hang out, you know, have
11:13
Speaker 2: a few adult beverages and pops, Yeah, some pops and
11:18
Speaker 2: talk about the game or who are about to play,
11:19
Speaker 2: or just shoot the shit with the guys and on
11:23
Speaker 2: the off days golf. I mean, I'll do whatever for
11:27
Speaker 2: a hang I got. I got three daughters. We had
11:29
Speaker 2: a house full of girls. So if the boys are hanging,
11:32
Speaker 2: I'm there any excuse to house.
11:37
Speaker 8: I love that.
11:38
Speaker 7: Hey, Nick, question for you going back to the free
11:41
Speaker 7: agency period for a moment, you know, how much activity
11:44
Speaker 7: was there? How many other discussions I don't know if
11:46
Speaker 7: you want to list teams, but also just other creative
11:49
Speaker 7: situations where teams were like I only want you to
11:51
Speaker 7: be a starter or reliever, or there were multi year
11:53
Speaker 7: deals versus taking this.
11:54
Speaker 8: Kind of deal.
11:55
Speaker 7: Because I feel like you've had a unique process, not
11:57
Speaker 7: just this offseason but the one before where it's like, yeah, hey,
12:00
Speaker 7: sometimes the qualifying offer is the move.
12:03
Speaker 2: Right, right, So this this off season different from the rest,
12:06
Speaker 2: and that it was just such a slow developing off
12:09
Speaker 2: season four starting pitchers specifically, and so the luxury of
12:16
Speaker 2: talking about roles and and and choosing teams wasn't as
12:20
Speaker 2: it wasn't like years before. It was, uh, you know
12:24
Speaker 2: as I signed like February tenth, I think it was
12:27
Speaker 2: like right before that.
12:28
Speaker 5: I usually leave the spring.
12:29
Speaker 2: Training on the tenth and so to me, that's that's
12:32
Speaker 2: obviously really latent. So it was more of you know,
12:35
Speaker 2: as soon as we got the amount of interest from
12:38
Speaker 2: the Rays that we got, it was really just kind
12:39
Speaker 2: of rolling with it and going and then just communicating
12:42
Speaker 2: like they viewed me as a starter. They want me
12:44
Speaker 2: to start, but on my end it's, hey, man, if
12:46
Speaker 2: we're trying to win, then whatever you need me to do,
12:48
Speaker 2: I'm up for it. So this off season was unique
12:52
Speaker 2: in that it was just slower, right, this just slower developing,
12:54
Speaker 2: So we didn't have the luxury to talk about or
12:57
Speaker 2: choose from, you know, so many different teams you know this,
13:00
Speaker 2: or leverage teams to get to against each other, really right,
13:03
Speaker 2: So it was really just running, running with the ball
13:06
Speaker 2: and joining you know, joining the race.
13:09
Speaker 1: Can you give us two people from camp that joining
13:12
Speaker 1: it you're really surprised of Besides the size of Yondi
13:15
Speaker 1: Diaz's biceps. Yes, two people rais camp that you didn't
13:19
Speaker 1: know or hadn't really heard much of that you've been
13:22
Speaker 1: surprised with.
13:24
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I mean Yandy is an easy one, right.
13:27
Speaker 2: You see you see him like sixty feet six inches
13:29
Speaker 2: away and that's a huge human.
13:31
Speaker 5: But then you see him, you.
13:32
Speaker 3: Know in the gym, does he work out with a cutoff? No?
13:35
Speaker 5: No regular shirt?
13:37
Speaker 2: And I mean he I think he touches every weight
13:40
Speaker 2: that's in there. So uh yeah, he works out every
13:43
Speaker 2: day obviously. Uh I say what drewe Rashminssen has got quadzillous.
13:49
Speaker 5: I mean, you guys got him coming on next.
13:50
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to separate these chairs a little bit,
13:52
Speaker 2: all right, Guy's got some massive legs. I'm also impressed
13:57
Speaker 2: with mac shame just not pitching for two years, coming
14:02
Speaker 2: and pumping the zones at ninety seven.
14:05
Speaker 5: He's thralling back at like ninety five.
14:08
Speaker 2: I'm giving every ounce I get just to hit ninety three.
14:11
Speaker 2: So I'm impressed with you know, his his journey back
14:14
Speaker 2: onto the mound and his work ethic and stuff. Had
14:20
Speaker 2: Matt See as a throwing partner, and we're both excited
14:23
Speaker 2: about uh, he's throwing today, so I'm excited to, you know,
14:25
Speaker 2: see what he's been working on here. But we were
14:27
Speaker 2: both excited about what the rays are able to do
14:30
Speaker 2: and like kind of you know, how they can take
14:31
Speaker 2: us to the next level. And so that's gonna be
14:34
Speaker 2: very exciting to even watch them today.
14:38
Speaker 7: Nick, we really appreciate the time.
14:40
Speaker 8: Man.
14:40
Speaker 7: Great to catch up with you. We always enjoy it
14:42
Speaker 7: and then have fun the rest of camp. We'll talk
14:43
Speaker 7: to you during the year.
14:45
Speaker 5: Yeah sounds good.
14:45
Speaker 6: Thanks guys.
14:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, A first off, Big Martinez wasn't lying about the
15:01
Speaker 4: guy's quads.
15:02
Speaker 3: He called you Quadzilla. He said.
15:04
Speaker 4: One of the most impressive things you know that he
15:06
Speaker 4: was surprised when he came into camp was the size
15:08
Speaker 4: of your quads. You're either not wearing your pants tight
15:11
Speaker 4: enough because you hear Spencer Strider Quadzilla.
15:14
Speaker 3: These things are massive. I did have to slide over.
15:16
Speaker 4: Secondly, he walked in when we were talking about Jesus
15:20
Speaker 4: Lezardo's deal and he smiled, cheeked the cheek and I said,
15:23
Speaker 4: just stay healthy.
15:24
Speaker 3: Everything will take care of itself.
15:27
Speaker 9: Yeah, the stay healthy part, We're working on it every
15:30
Speaker 9: single day.
15:30
Speaker 8: So yeah, thank you.
15:32
Speaker 9: Guys for having me, you know, excited to be here,
15:34
Speaker 9: Excited to talk with you guys, a little bit excited
15:36
Speaker 9: for you guys to be in Port Charlotte. Perfect day
15:38
Speaker 9: down here. Not too hot yet, but I got a
15:42
Speaker 9: feel and that's going to change.
15:44
Speaker 4: When you talk about state, when you talk about staying healthy,
15:47
Speaker 4: what are the things that you're doing behind closed doors
15:50
Speaker 4: and how instrumental of the Ray's been and trying to
15:53
Speaker 4: keep you healthy, and what have you changed maybe from
15:56
Speaker 4: last year going into the off season and what you're
15:58
Speaker 4: doing here in spring training.
16:01
Speaker 9: First and foremost in the weight room, trying to be
16:04
Speaker 9: more efficient with how my day goes.
16:05
Speaker 8: More reps doesn't always mean better, you know.
16:07
Speaker 9: I think for the longest time, I always you know,
16:10
Speaker 9: I joke about it now or I would say, you know,
16:12
Speaker 9: if if some is good, more must be better.
16:14
Speaker 8: But that's not always the case. As I've gotten older, you.
16:17
Speaker 9: Know, maybe a little bit more efficient in the weight
16:18
Speaker 9: room with my time and with my efforts. On top
16:22
Speaker 9: of it, the organization, I mean, they got me wearing
16:25
Speaker 9: one of the pulse one of the pulse trackers to
16:27
Speaker 9: track throwing stress, throwing volume. You know, I think when
16:32
Speaker 9: it comes to like trying to pay attention to workload
16:34
Speaker 9: in general. It was never the days that I felt
16:38
Speaker 9: really good or I don't feel so good that I'm
16:41
Speaker 9: able to manage workloads.
16:42
Speaker 8: It's always the days I'm right in the middle.
16:45
Speaker 9: You know, we always laugh about it, but in our
16:46
Speaker 9: bullpens here for me, at least, the really good bull
16:49
Speaker 9: depends and the really really bad bullpens I can shut
16:52
Speaker 9: off real quickly. Right if on a day you're really good,
16:55
Speaker 9: you throw fifteen quality fifteen quality pitches were good there,
17:00
Speaker 9: you know I touched it, I did it, I did
17:01
Speaker 9: what I needed to for today. On the days it's
17:03
Speaker 9: going horrible, I'm not getting any better anyway today, So
17:06
Speaker 9: I can step back and say, you know what, I
17:08
Speaker 9: think I'm good. But it's the days where I'm right
17:09
Speaker 9: in the middle where it's like, let's just keep throwing,
17:12
Speaker 9: keep throwing. You know, we can we can figure something
17:14
Speaker 9: out here. And so I think the rays of the
17:16
Speaker 9: organization has been great about helping me just track workload
17:19
Speaker 9: and stress on the arm. Specifically, from that perspective, do.
17:25
Speaker 1: You trust them or how long did it take you
17:28
Speaker 1: to trust them in that because you're a guy that
17:30
Speaker 1: just you've just said it, you're going after going after it.
17:34
Speaker 1: You want to work harder. How long did it take
17:36
Speaker 1: for you to trust them? And was it like, Okay,
17:39
Speaker 1: I'll try it this time and if it doesn't work, no,
17:41
Speaker 1: I'm back to my way.
17:43
Speaker 9: Uh well, I mean from the performance side of things.
17:45
Speaker 9: I mean, since the second I got here, it seems
17:47
Speaker 9: like everything they give me seems to work out. So
17:50
Speaker 9: that makes things pretty easy, right when you take something
17:53
Speaker 9: that seems foreign, feels funny in your hand, especially when
17:56
Speaker 9: we're talking about new pitch shapes, new new new maybe
18:00
Speaker 9: usages or how often we're throwing certain things. They say
18:06
Speaker 9: something I might push back a hair, you know, I
18:08
Speaker 9: take it into game, and you know, two or three
18:10
Speaker 9: starts in, you're like, hey, this is this is kind
18:12
Speaker 9: of working out for me at this point. And so
18:14
Speaker 9: I think the track record on the performance side speaks
18:17
Speaker 9: for itself.
18:18
Speaker 8: Here.
18:18
Speaker 9: It's not just me, you know, I think I see
18:20
Speaker 9: you see a bunch of guys who come here and
18:21
Speaker 9: they find success.
18:23
Speaker 8: But the organization as a whole is great.
18:25
Speaker 4: Man.
18:25
Speaker 9: They the first thing they do is they want to
18:27
Speaker 9: get to know you as a person, right, and if
18:29
Speaker 9: once we build that personal connection, then it's really easy
18:31
Speaker 9: to get you to buy into it, to to what
18:33
Speaker 9: we preach and how we preach it, and and from
18:36
Speaker 9: the medical side and then the strength side.
18:39
Speaker 8: They give you the freedom to do what what it
18:41
Speaker 8: is you want. But I think they're.
18:43
Speaker 9: Really really good about putting up like bumpers on a
18:45
Speaker 9: bowling alley, where it's like, hey, we're gonna let you
18:47
Speaker 9: do do some pretty extreme stuff. We're not really gonna
18:52
Speaker 9: We're not gonna really intervene until we believe that you're
18:54
Speaker 9: starting to go down a path that could could raise
18:57
Speaker 9: some issues moving forward, and and that's when are going
19:00
Speaker 9: to step in.
19:00
Speaker 8: But I mean, they're they're very open.
19:02
Speaker 9: It's kind of an ongoing conversation with how I am physically,
19:07
Speaker 9: and they always meet me where I'm at and from there,
19:10
Speaker 9: you know, we have conversations about where it is we
19:12
Speaker 9: want to go and how it is we want to
19:13
Speaker 9: get the body feeling better or stronger or more mobile,
19:18
Speaker 9: And like I said, it's just kind of an ongoing
19:20
Speaker 9: conversation at all times.
19:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, speaking of staying healthy, and you mentioned pitch usage
19:26
Speaker 4: and different grips and pitch design. Have you have they
19:30
Speaker 4: implemented any of that stuff with you in this spring
19:33
Speaker 4: training in order.
19:33
Speaker 3: To keep you healthy.
19:34
Speaker 4: Is that a reason they felt like maybe some of
19:37
Speaker 4: the health issues has popped up because of.
19:39
Speaker 3: Usage or grip or stuff. Or is it more.
19:42
Speaker 4: About the physical side of things that maybe you were
19:44
Speaker 4: doing in the weight room or the lack of things
19:46
Speaker 4: that you were doing in order to take care of
19:48
Speaker 4: your body.
19:49
Speaker 9: Yeah, I you know, like I said, I always fell
19:51
Speaker 9: into the camp of I need to do more, I
19:53
Speaker 9: need to do it more.
19:53
Speaker 8: You know, you kind of get it at least.
19:55
Speaker 9: Shoot, our generation got to beat into our heads, right
19:57
Speaker 9: like if I just work harder, everything's always going to
20:00
Speaker 9: work out, and at some point that just takes a
20:02
Speaker 9: toll on the body.
20:03
Speaker 8: So, like I said, they've.
20:04
Speaker 9: Helped me become more efficient in what I do off
20:07
Speaker 9: the field so that I can be better at what
20:08
Speaker 9: I do on the field for a longer period of time.
20:12
Speaker 9: And so I don't necessarily think it has anything to
20:14
Speaker 9: do with pitch grips or what it is with pitch
20:16
Speaker 9: shapes and that kind of stuff.
20:19
Speaker 8: You know, it's it's you know, it's no it's no secret.
20:23
Speaker 9: Right velocity, velocity in the game is going up, and
20:25
Speaker 9: if you want to perform, the trade off is potential
20:28
Speaker 9: health or there is a potential trade off of health
20:31
Speaker 9: for performance. And I mean, shoot, just me personally, the
20:36
Speaker 9: way the way I am when it comes to how
20:38
Speaker 9: this game, how I play this game, you know I'm
20:41
Speaker 9: going to perform to the highest level I possibly can.
20:43
Speaker 9: And if me getting hurt is the risk, you know,
20:47
Speaker 9: I guess at this point, I'm so experienced at being
20:49
Speaker 9: hurt that it's just one of those things that it's
20:51
Speaker 9: a risk I'm somewhat willing to take because shoot, they
20:55
Speaker 9: did a great job getting me fixed up the first
20:56
Speaker 9: couple of times and getting me back on the field
20:58
Speaker 9: and performing at a pretty high level.
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22:02
Speaker 1: Tell me the differences, but also the similarities. One difference,
22:08
Speaker 1: one similarity between Chris hook pitching coach, or your big
22:12
Speaker 1: debut with the Brewers, And I think you also had
22:15
Speaker 1: them in the minor leagues? Am I correct?
22:16
Speaker 8: With the Brewers? I missed Hookie in the minor leagues?
22:19
Speaker 9: He was he had already, he'd already moved his way
22:22
Speaker 9: on up into the cushy seat before I got there.
22:24
Speaker 1: Gotcha, gotcha? So Hooky and Kyle Snyder the race pitching
22:29
Speaker 1: caps because both organizations have found value in great pitchers
22:34
Speaker 1: but also found value in people who consider you know,
22:38
Speaker 1: the cast offs.
22:39
Speaker 9: Yeah, both are great people. Like I said, I think
22:43
Speaker 9: relationships are probably the strongest foundation of how you get
22:46
Speaker 9: guys to buy into what you want them to do
22:47
Speaker 9: on the field. And both of them do a really
22:49
Speaker 9: good job of understanding who their guys are and what
22:52
Speaker 9: it is they like to do, how it is they
22:54
Speaker 9: like to go about their business. When I was with
22:57
Speaker 9: HOOKEI and Milwaukee, Man I was out of the bullpen
22:59
Speaker 9: and I was, Shoot, if you could text him, Man,
23:01
Speaker 9: I guarantee you he would tell you. I was probably
23:03
Speaker 9: the most stressful guy to watch day in and day out. Right,
23:06
Speaker 9: you're just getting called up, You're trying to not get
23:08
Speaker 9: sent down. You're loving, you know, loving life in the
23:10
Speaker 9: big leagues. I was just put into the bullpen for
23:13
Speaker 9: my first time, and that's an experience in its own right.
23:17
Speaker 9: I didn't know what I was doing down there. I
23:20
Speaker 9: was nervous, I was anxious all the time, and so
23:22
Speaker 9: he was really having to manage me personally more so
23:26
Speaker 9: than you know. He was helping me from a performance
23:28
Speaker 9: standpoint and helping me, you know, developed becoming a major
23:32
Speaker 9: league pitcher and all, but man, he was really having
23:34
Speaker 9: to manage who I was as a person and just
23:37
Speaker 9: the nerves and in the anxiety that comes along with
23:40
Speaker 9: debuting and being fresh into the big leagues. And then
23:43
Speaker 9: when I got over here with Snydes, you know, they're
23:45
Speaker 9: both really laid back, which I really I need because man,
23:50
Speaker 9: I'll start circling and I'll start spinning in my own
23:52
Speaker 9: you know, spinning my wheels. But just the way they
23:56
Speaker 9: deliver their messages. Man, there, it's it's incredible. And like
23:59
Speaker 9: I said, when you the foundation that they do with
24:01
Speaker 9: the relationships, it's really easy to buy into what it
24:04
Speaker 9: is they want you to do on the field.
24:07
Speaker 4: Yeah, you've been here a while, but you also know
24:09
Speaker 4: part of being a raised there's a lot of turnover. Yeah,
24:13
Speaker 4: what do you like to do off the field, or
24:15
Speaker 4: how do you kind of get you know, the five
24:17
Speaker 4: six of you guys starters? What do you guys kind
24:19
Speaker 4: of do to kind of jive during spring training to
24:21
Speaker 4: become a collective unit.
24:22
Speaker 9: Yeah, this group likes to fish and golf, and I'm
24:25
Speaker 9: not great at either, but I'll go.
24:27
Speaker 8: You know, I think that's kind of.
24:29
Speaker 9: At least early on here. Like you said, the group
24:34
Speaker 9: is so different year in and year out, But I
24:36
Speaker 9: mean Pep and Mac they can really swing the clubs.
24:39
Speaker 8: Mac likes to fish as well.
24:41
Speaker 9: We've gotten together with the Matt's family a little bit
24:44
Speaker 9: away from the field, and then Nick's back and forth
24:47
Speaker 9: right now between here and Miami and seeing his family
24:50
Speaker 9: and that kind of stuff. And I'm doing the same.
24:52
Speaker 9: Mine's up in Saint Pete right now, so you know
24:55
Speaker 9: when we're in town. Yeah, we like to hang out.
24:56
Speaker 9: We I mean we sit, we talk in the clubhouse
24:58
Speaker 9: a lot. I found myself in the weird role of
25:01
Speaker 9: being the guy people ask questions to this year, which
25:04
Speaker 9: is like I said, you know, I still look at
25:06
Speaker 9: myself as the young guy who's asking all the questions.
25:08
Speaker 8: But it's definitely a change.
25:11
Speaker 9: And but you know, just trying to help him out
25:13
Speaker 9: and you know, get comfortable with how this organization operates.
25:17
Speaker 9: You know, there's just minor things. Every organization does a
25:19
Speaker 9: little bit differently. So if we can get them up
25:21
Speaker 9: to speed with what it is we do and how
25:22
Speaker 9: we go about it, you know, I think by opening
25:25
Speaker 9: day that's going to put them in the right spot.
25:26
Speaker 8: To have success moving forward.
25:28
Speaker 1: You talk about teammates. One of your teammates a few
25:31
Speaker 1: years ago was Randy or Rosarina. Did you see him
25:34
Speaker 1: get denied? And how do you how did you view
25:38
Speaker 1: that knowing Randy, but also how did you view that
25:41
Speaker 1: looking at it from Col's point of view.
25:44
Speaker 9: Uh, so, I'm gonna be like full transparency. Judge hit
25:48
Speaker 9: the homer and what the first or second? And I said,
25:50
Speaker 9: all right, this one's over. I'm going to bed. So
25:52
Speaker 9: I didn't really see it actually happened in real time, right,
25:55
Speaker 9: I mean, Captain America hops up there and hits a
25:58
Speaker 9: backside home or like come on now. But you know,
26:03
Speaker 9: getting to play with Randy Man awesome in the clubhouse,
26:06
Speaker 9: loved it great. Get get to see him again last
26:09
Speaker 9: year in Atlanta and actually spend some time with him.
26:12
Speaker 9: The little bit i've been around cal seems awesome as well.
26:15
Speaker 9: I just in the moment, it seems like what the
26:18
Speaker 9: typical protocol as you go and you you know, you
26:20
Speaker 9: tap the catcher on the back or in the shinnies
26:22
Speaker 9: and you're just like, all right, let's get this thing going.
26:24
Speaker 8: We're here to compete.
26:25
Speaker 9: So maybe just wrong time, you know, wrong place, wrong time,
26:30
Speaker 9: and so that's all.
26:31
Speaker 8: I got on it.
26:32
Speaker 7: Man, Hey, if it was you, what would you do,
26:37
Speaker 7: Because I mean, I don't think.
26:39
Speaker 8: They come out to shake my hand. We're gonna get
26:41
Speaker 8: a free strike call. So life's good. Of course. My
26:45
Speaker 8: point is here, that's good.
26:46
Speaker 7: My point though, is it's not that because we've seen that.
26:49
Speaker 7: We even saw that earlier in the WBC with the
26:51
Speaker 7: Australia Catcher. We saw that last time with Randy and
26:54
Speaker 7: Will Smith. Right, guys get in game ode and they're like, no,
26:56
Speaker 7: right now, you're not my teammate. But Randy after the
26:59
Speaker 7: game had all kinds of comments. I don't know if
27:01
Speaker 7: you caught any of them, just kind of calling Klaut
27:03
Speaker 7: saying I love your parents, but but I'm mad at you.
27:06
Speaker 7: And there was some choice words included with that. So
27:08
Speaker 7: you know, Randy, Well, some people are like, he was
27:11
Speaker 7: probably just playing to the moment or getting really emotional,
27:14
Speaker 7: or is there a little bit of gamesmanship and drawing
27:17
Speaker 7: up more drama.
27:18
Speaker 5: In the WBC.
27:20
Speaker 8: What was Randy to day talking about.
27:23
Speaker 9: This is like a WWE script going on? Or if
27:26
Speaker 9: they match back up here coming up?
27:28
Speaker 5: I like it.
27:29
Speaker 9: No, I mean Randy with us was always you know,
27:32
Speaker 9: like high energy, big personality, great to be around, a
27:36
Speaker 9: lot of fun to watch. Like I said, I've only
27:39
Speaker 9: spent limited time around around Cal, but he seems awesome
27:42
Speaker 9: as well.
27:42
Speaker 8: I got a feeling.
27:44
Speaker 9: I don't think it was you know, Cal was probably
27:46
Speaker 9: behind the plate, like, hey man, I'm working with my
27:48
Speaker 9: pitcher here right now. We got to get this pitch
27:50
Speaker 9: call in, we got to get on the same page.
27:52
Speaker 9: We've had limited time to work together as is, and
27:56
Speaker 9: so yeah, I got a feeling. Man, he was just
27:57
Speaker 9: locked into the game, and that's what happened in all.
28:01
Speaker 1: Right, Drew last one from me. I talk all the
28:04
Speaker 1: time about how you know, the draft is completely different
28:07
Speaker 1: than it is, and I don't. I think we'd be
28:09
Speaker 1: remiss if we didn't talk a little bit about your
28:12
Speaker 1: draft process, because I'll walk it through. You were. You
28:16
Speaker 1: were draft out of high school by the Diamondbacks the
28:19
Speaker 1: thirty ninth round, did not sign then by the Rays
28:23
Speaker 1: in the first round, yeah, did not sign Yeah, then
28:29
Speaker 1: by the Brewers in the sixth round the next year,
28:32
Speaker 1: and did sign Yep. The draft the draft has changed
28:36
Speaker 1: a ton. Do you feel like your experience would have
28:41
Speaker 1: been alleviated had they or would have been different had
28:43
Speaker 1: the draft been like it is now.
28:49
Speaker 9: Well, I mean, realistically, you know, we talk about my
28:52
Speaker 9: junior year in college and guys, guys who get drafted
28:55
Speaker 9: in the first round signed.
28:56
Speaker 8: I failed my physical.
28:58
Speaker 9: And the smartest, the smartest organization in baseball did what
29:01
Speaker 9: they do right, like, let somebody else rehab them.
29:03
Speaker 8: We'll claim him on the backside.
29:06
Speaker 9: But it's just one of those things that, yeah, I mean,
29:08
Speaker 9: things are different now. I know there's less rounds for sure,
29:13
Speaker 9: you know, I mean the chance there's a chance that
29:15
Speaker 9: if the system was the way it is now, I
29:18
Speaker 9: don't get picked up at all. Right, you only have
29:20
Speaker 9: so many limited picks that you know, Milwaukee taking a
29:23
Speaker 9: shot on me in the six might not have worked
29:25
Speaker 9: out the same way that it did.
29:27
Speaker 8: What oh gosh, nine years ago. Is that where we're
29:31
Speaker 8: at now? Holy smokes?
29:33
Speaker 9: And so it's just one of those things where, you know,
29:36
Speaker 9: I think everything has its time and place and fortunate
29:39
Speaker 9: to be drafted by Milwaukee, I mean the draft process. Man,
29:42
Speaker 9: I was coming off my second Tommy John and they
29:44
Speaker 9: just said, look, this is exactly how everything's going to go.
29:46
Speaker 9: And if you know, as long as you perform up
29:48
Speaker 9: to expectations. You know, you can expect to you know,
29:51
Speaker 9: rehab the year of twenty eighteen. You can expect that
29:54
Speaker 9: if you're playing well, man, we want to get you
29:56
Speaker 9: to double A in twenty nineteen, and they stuck to
29:58
Speaker 9: their word. Man, that organize was great, you know, and
30:03
Speaker 9: I'm very blessed and humbled to have the opportunity to
30:05
Speaker 9: play for the Milwaukee Brewers.
30:07
Speaker 8: That was great.
30:08
Speaker 9: And then getting traded over here, you know, just kind
30:10
Speaker 9: of a full circle moment. I do like to laugh
30:13
Speaker 9: with Shane because he got drafted. McClanahan got drafted in
30:16
Speaker 9: the spot that was for compensation and not signing me
30:19
Speaker 9: to the year prior. And now the two of us
30:21
Speaker 9: are are best friends. And you know, life always has
30:25
Speaker 9: a way of working out, and it's just one of
30:27
Speaker 9: those things that you know, through the process. I got
30:29
Speaker 9: two organizations. I love, two organizations I can root for
30:32
Speaker 9: as long as we're not playing each other. And the
30:34
Speaker 9: opportunity to make a best friend all because of you know,
30:37
Speaker 9: failing one physical.
30:40
Speaker 1: I love that you said that because in twenty nineteen
30:42
Speaker 1: I was in Big League camp with the Brewers. Yeah,
30:45
Speaker 1: I was this close in your first live I don't
30:49
Speaker 1: think you weren't invited to big league camp, but you
30:52
Speaker 1: came over and you threw on the big league field
30:55
Speaker 1: against us, and I was this close to getting in
30:58
Speaker 1: that bat and you got to your pitch out for
31:00
Speaker 1: whatever that was, if it was twenty five or however
31:03
Speaker 1: much it was. But I remember standing there and I
31:05
Speaker 1: was like, this guy's had too Tommy John, Like, this
31:09
Speaker 1: guy's an absolute monster. I think you touched like ninety
31:12
Speaker 1: eight that day.
31:14
Speaker 9: Yeah, in a live VP, man, I wish I could
31:16
Speaker 9: still do it, but I don't got that in live
31:17
Speaker 9: vps anymore.
31:19
Speaker 1: You you look like you looked exactly like you look
31:22
Speaker 1: now in a sense that you're just smiling. You were
31:24
Speaker 1: happy to be out there, and I was like, I
31:26
Speaker 1: definitely want to take this guy deep, but he looks
31:28
Speaker 1: like he's so happy. And you ran out of pitches
31:31
Speaker 1: before I got to face you, so I never got
31:34
Speaker 1: to face you.
31:34
Speaker 3: Brother.
31:35
Speaker 9: You're talking about ninety eight, but could you imagine being
31:37
Speaker 9: the first hitters you're facing in two years being big league.
31:40
Speaker 8: Guys and you're just like, what do we got under
31:42
Speaker 8: the hood right now?
31:44
Speaker 1: That's good.
31:44
Speaker 3: You did from what I remember, you.
31:46
Speaker 1: Did good, But obviously I didn't get into bat Well.
31:54
Speaker 3: Drew, we can't thank you enough.
31:55
Speaker 6: Man.
31:56
Speaker 3: This is my first time meeting you.
31:57
Speaker 4: I can't thank you enough for your thoughtful, your authenticity.
32:02
Speaker 3: You've got a big fan of me.
32:03
Speaker 4: Hopefully you stay healthy, and most most importantly, for wearing your.
32:07
Speaker 3: Shorts here.
32:09
Speaker 9: They are fellows and all their glory.
32:14
Speaker 5: We got it.
32:14
Speaker 7: The Quad camp.
32:16
Speaker 8: The quad Cam's gonna have a count.
32:18
Speaker 5: Yeah.
32:19
Speaker 8: The love it true. You're the man.
32:21
Speaker 5: Thank you so much.
32:22
Speaker 8: Appreciate you. Good luck. We'll talk soon. Okay, yeah, thanks guys,