Latest / Foul Territory / Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior joins Dodgers Territory: Yamamoto’s workload, Sasaki’s plan, more

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Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior joins Dodgers Territory: Yamamoto’s workload, Sasaki’s plan, more · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: We want to welcome in Mark Pryor, now long time
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: jein coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's been of
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: course with the staff for a number of years, including
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: as a bullpen coach before becoming the pitching coach. Mark,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: great to be with you as always.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We were just talking about the depth of your starting
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: rotation and we're interested in knowing. I mean, is this
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: possibly the most formidable pitching staff that you've ever worked
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: with going into a season. I hate to have you
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: rank your guys, right, You're kind of like ranking your kids,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: but man, you've got a lot to work with.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Well one, I won't. I won't rank your kids, and
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: I won't rank my pitchers either, you know. Look, I
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: mean we're blessed, you know, from a standpoint, from our
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: ownership standpoint, from management that they've gone out and acquired
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: a lot of talent, a lot of really high end talents.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: So it's a fun group to work with. At the
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: end of the day, they want to win, they enjoy
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: competing against other teams. They enjoy competing, you know, and
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: pushing each other. It's just a fun group to work with.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: I think that's ultimately as a staff. You know, you
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: enjoy the moments because they care and have such a
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: passion for their craft, and so that's what makes it
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: a lot of fun and a pleasure to work with
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: these guys.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Mark, Hi, my name's Katie. You'll meet me officially next
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: week down at Camelback Ranch. But thanks so much for
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: joining our show. I wanted to ask a little bit
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: about Yamamoto because we know he's going to go play
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: in the WBC for Team Japan. He also had that heroic,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: monstrous performance for you guys in the World Series last year.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: When you're looking at workload, and we touched on this
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: a little bit earlier, is he maybe it's still a
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: little bit tired from his performance last year. Is this
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: something where you're going to be monitoring his workload because
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: he pitched so extensively so late for you guys in
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: the season, And what's the plan for him to start spring?
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean that's the nature of the WBC, you know,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: it's it's you know, there's no perfect time to have
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: a tournament like this, but this is where the schedule falls,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: and so Yama's been you know, getting ready for his
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty sixth season. You know, since you know, he
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: kind of picked up his from his rest after the
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: World Series. You know, he's in a great spot. He
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: feels good. He wouldn't do this if he wasn't feeling good.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: He made that very clear, I think to ourselves as
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: well as to you know, Japanese officials that you know,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: he needed to make sure and kind of take stock
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: and where he was at. He feels great. I mean,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: I think what he did last year in the playoffs
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: was unprecedent, But I think he's in a good spot
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: right now. And it's from a workload standpoint. You know,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: he's prepared. We'll get him ready to go out and
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: be able to compete in the WBC and then once
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: you know, because of the limitations that are set forth
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: kind of in the you know, the parameter that they
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: have for pitchers, it's not that much different from the
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: standpoint of what it would be with us. Obviously, the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: intensity and the magnitude of those games is going to
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: be more so it's hard to you know, account for that.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: But he's going to be in a good spot and
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: he'll be ready to go once the season starts. He's
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: he's a unique individual. He takes unbelievable care of himself
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: last year was was special to watch him, you know,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: navigate his season and ultimately, you know, reach the pinnacle
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: at the end and doing some things that's you know,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: I know it's been said that like probably won't see again,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: and and you know, he wanted to win just as
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: much as anybody, and he just you know, he felt
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: like he was in a position to do some things
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: that were extraordinary.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah, special stuff from him. And if he's a type
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: of dude who needs a blow, either early in the
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: season or later in the season. The good thing is,
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: you guys got a lot of arms, you got a
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: lot of bodies there, very high end, a lot of
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: talented dudes. We are entering year or two of Roki Sasaki,
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: obviously a lot to build on for the dude. The
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: stealing is very high and we've heard a lot so
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: far the last really I guess weekend he's working on
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: adding a little bit a few wrinkles to the pitch mix,
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: maybe a little bit of a cutter, a little bit
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: of a two seamer. What are those kind of conversations
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: looking like as we try to make, you know, build
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: Rokie into a high quality Major league starter. We've seen
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: him do it as a reliever, of course, but building
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: him into a starter, And how do you make the
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: cutter and two seamer not necessarily effect that splitter forkball?
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think you touched on it there
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: at the end. I mean it's ultimately he's he has
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: a high velocity fastball when he's right, and he has
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: that nasty, you know, split finger pitch. So adding those
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: other pitches has been a conversation, been going on since
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: the beginning of last summer, even when he was when
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: he was on the il. But you obviously you don't
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: want to take away from what what his strengths are,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: so it'll constantly be you know, managed, not managed, but
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: monitored more just so that we're not pulling back from
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: the other things. But we do that with every buddy,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: with all guys. You know, we're we're in an era
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: where because of the technology and the and the resources
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: that everybody has, you know, guys are able to test
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: things out on a much more more regular basis. So
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: you're always making sure that they're not pulling back from
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: what their strengths are. And I think with Roki, you know,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: it was it was an interesting year it's a learning
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: year no matter how he slices it. You know, it
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: started off, you know, obviously with high expectations, the injury comes,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: you know, a role transition, you know, pitching in big playoffs,
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: big moments in the playoffs. So there's you know, there's
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: a lot for him to kind of you know, digest
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: and learn from. Like all major leaguers no matter you know,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: whether they're you know, a high school college or you're
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: coming over from you know, the Japanese or Korean baseball leagues.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's a lot to learn at that level.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: And so I think he's he's probably had a lot
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: of time to reflect over the winner on what went
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: right maybe for him, what went wrong, what he needs
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: to do to prepare, you know, to come into camp
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: and be ready to try to you know, put a
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: good foot forward to be a starter. I think the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: probably the part that it needs to kind of still
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: be ironed out is we never really got to see
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: the full version of or the healthy version of Roki
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: as a starter, and so I think that's intriguing for
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: I think everybody is. I think at the end, we
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: got a taste of it, of a healthy Rokie. I
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: think this year, We're going to see the full version
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: of Roki and then we get to actually see him
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: grow and mature as a starting pitcher in the major leagues.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Nothing but upside for Roki sisl Hockey Mark. I want
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: to talk about the sixth spot in the Dodgers starting rotation,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: perhaps the one question Mark Dave and Andrew Friedman of course,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: very high on. I'm just going to give you three names.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Emmett she and River, Ryan and Gavin Stone make the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: case or make what should we know about each of
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: those young men? What can they bring?
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, look, all three of those guys are going
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers at some point
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: this season. I think if one thing has been consistent
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: over the years is that we use our roster either
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: out of guys performing in the minor leagues and pitching well,
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: or out of need because I think some guys have
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: you know, had you know, some injuries. You know, all
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: three of those guys I think are going to impact
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: our roster and to win and how and in what degree.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I can't tell you that. The one thing that I
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: think that I've worned now going into my gosh, I
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: don't know seventh season or eight season, whatever it is.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Every year. Every year has been different, but we've been
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: consistently known that we do need starters at some point,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: and so I think with Gavin Stone, I mean, you
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: look at a guy two years ago who you could
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: probably say it was kind of almost like our bedrock
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and our rotation at the time. The guy all the
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: way through August was one of our most consistent pitchers.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: He would give us, you know games where he'd go
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: deep into games, he'd give us huge impact games. And
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I remember against the Padres with some big strikeouts and
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: some unbelievable performances. So you know, he's got that talent.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: He came up up in his in his rookie year
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: and he had a lot of learning experiences from understanding
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: who he was as a pitcher, what he can do
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: to dominate, and what his strengths were to tipping, and
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: then then coming back in that you know, twenty four season,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: what he did was was unbelievable. So I expect him
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: to you know, probably we'll have to figure out where
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: he's at. He was just because of the timeline. He
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: never really got out to pitch a whole lot, so
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: we kind of see whether or not we at you know,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: where we're at with him from a standpoint at the
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: inn spring and how he competes M and she and
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: did what he did last year, I mean coming off
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: with Tommy John, he got thrown right into the fire.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: I think it was against the Giants in a game,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: and he stepped up big time. He had a lot
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: of big performances down the stretch and a lot of
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: games where I think he was key to our success
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: where we started picking up and really started firing on
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: all cylinders. So he's going to be in that mix
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: for sure. And then River Ryan, Look, I mean we
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: only got to see a taste of him that you
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: know that year. He came out of this, came up
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: for us out of necessity, and he you know that
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: gave me through against the Astros. Was unbelievable. And I
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: don't think any of us we knew this stuff was there,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: but for him to put it all together in that
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: one performance, I think that's the ceiling that you're looking for.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: And I think it's in all accounts. He's he finished
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: off his rehab progression last year. He's bigger, he's stronger.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I think he understands what it takes to prepare to
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: pitch at this level. So I think we're all excited
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: to kind of see a little bit more of them,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: just because we didn't see a lot of them the
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: last time, but excited to see him in a much
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: more extended look this year. And again, I think all
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: three of them were going to impact. It's just hard
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: to pinpoint when that's going to be and how.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Mark When you look at how this roster is shaping up,
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: it's the first time that you are slated to have
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: a full two way show. Hey, Otani, there is going
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: to be some workload a Dave Robertson at FanFest. You know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: he's going to be using Otani as a traditional starter,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: but the usage might not be on a five day schedule.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: You might get a six to seven day rotation or
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: for PROTONI just kind of to keep him healthy to
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: start the year. What are you seeing from Otani? What's
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: kind of the planned to start his spring?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, right now, he's throwing bullpens. I mean he is.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Last year, you know, it was obviously a very unique year.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: You know, he was coming off Tommy John and then
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: he had the shoulder injury on the non throwing arm
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: and and this year, yeah, full version at the WBC,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: will you know, maybe provide a little bit of wrinkle.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: But he's so flexible with what he does, his ability
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: to win when he can pitch, and how he goes
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: about keeping himself sharp. So it's gonna be fun to
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: watch him. I mean, we'll go into spring training and
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: he'll keep throwing bullpens, you know, try to get him
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: to face some hitters before he leaves for the WBC,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: and then we'll just from then, we just kind of
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: have to wait and see where everything's at. You know,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: how long do they advance through the the WBC tournament
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: and then his ability to continue to maintain throwing off
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: a mound or even if he can be able to
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: face hitters, why he's gone. If he can, that's great.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: If not, then we'll deal with it when we get
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: you know, when he gets back to us and returns
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: to the team. You know, the fun the fun part
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: about show is you know, he he'll pitch as long
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: as he knows when he's pitching. He'll pitch whenever. If
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: it's six days rest, if it's eight days rest, if
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: it's three days rest. Like he's willing to do what
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: he needs to do to help this club win ball games.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: And so we'll just kind of plan it out and
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: kind of go day by day like we always do,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: you know, when we're in kind of these unorthodox situations
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: where you can't just map out, you know, the next
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: four weeks.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: And we talked a lot about the starting rotation. We
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: know that's going to be the elite. We expected a
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: lot of the bullpen last year definitely struggled to find
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: its footing. Now you add Edwin Diaz in the back
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: of that rotator or so the back end of that bullpen,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: you're hoping for probably more of what you expected out
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: of Tanner Scott entering the season. Kyle Hurt in the mix,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Bruce Dargrad are all back. I'll probably talk more about
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: them in a little bit. But what do you like
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: about this bullpen unit heading into the new season? Like
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: is this could you say it's the best bullpen in baseball?
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Or they have that potential? Well, I mean bullpens are unique,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: you know, I mean they it kind of ebbs and
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: flows year to year and season to season, you know,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I for me personally, you know, you never really know
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: what your bullpen is until you kind of they kind
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: of form their own identity, and you can have the
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: same players for two, three, four seasons in a row.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: But those of bullpen identities are always evolving and always changing,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: and I think so you kind of have to give
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: it time. You got to kind of let it summer
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: a little bit and and just kind of see how
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: that makeup starts to materialize. And you know, last year,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: you know, we struggled on the field, but that bullpen
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: was tight. That bullpen was they stuck together. They went
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: through a lot of adversity, and they but they kept
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: kind of you know, showing up every day, putting their
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: work together, you know, similar to what they had done,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: you know the previous season. It just didn't have the
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: same fanfare and maybe the same you know, dominance from
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: a statistical standpoint. Tanner obviously, you know, had his ups
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: and downs, and expect him to bounce back and and
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: have a great season edwin Is has been one of
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: the premier closers in baseball, and in all accounts, he's
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: he's great to work with and we've had a few conversations.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: He's another one. Again, I think the one common thread
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: we have with all our players position players and pitchers.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Is they got one common goal and they just want
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: to win ball games. You know. I think they're at
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: a point in their careers where a lot of them
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: feel very confident in where they stand in the game,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: and so they're all about what can they do to
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: help their team win ball games. But back to the
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: back to the bullpen, I think we have a bunch
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: of We have a lot of talented arms that can
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: do it, can do a lot of different roles that
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: you know edwin. Obviously at the back end, you know,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: going into the season is going to definitely shorten the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: games from our starters or to the finishing the games.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: And then you start adding trying is gonna have a
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: great year. Vest He's gonna have a great year, Scott,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: you got Klin. I mean, you got so many names
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: with so much talent in there. And I think once
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: we get through those first six weeks and you kind
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: of start seeing what that identity is, you know, then
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: it's up to them and them to kind to gel
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: together and come together and do their jobs. But it
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: could it could. It's lined up to be. It could
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: be a pretty fun group to watch them go in
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and out and go out to work night in and
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: night out. They got a lot of talent, and they
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: pull for each other and they're very close.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: You know, one guy I wanted to expand on, ever
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: so slightly before we let you go is dude I'm
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: super high on. I mean, I think this guy just
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: got closer makeup even though he's kind of been a starter.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: But I McAll him big Hoss, Kyle Hurt. What do
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: you think about a potential role for him heading into
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: the spring. I'm telling you, if there's somebody I want
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: with me in a bar fight, it's Kyle Frickin Hurt.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: Dude is a beast.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: But what do you like about it? I hope that
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: I would hope that he's not in a bar fight. Yeah,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: just out there, don't use the right hand. Yeah, well, look,
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: I mean Kyle is he's another one again. We got
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: big boys stuff out of him with his fastball and
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: his change up. Another guy that we saw, you know,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: I guess my dating myself. I guess it was at
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: the end of the twenty four season, you know, kind
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: of what was going on with him, or maybe it
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: was the twenty again. My dates, my years are all
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: starting to blend together. But we saw what he did
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: against the Padres late in the year one year, and
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: you saw that the skill and the talent and just
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: the raw stuff. And when you start seeing really good
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: big league hitters Machado, you know, cronin Worth at the
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: times tat teas and you see what he's making them
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: kind of take those awkward swings, then you know something,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: something's in there and something's real. And unfortunately he had
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: the injury that came up. But he's another one. I
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: think he can put him in any role. I think
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: he's a guy who can go in and he could,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: you know, be a set up guy in the eighth
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: inning if you need him and that's the way the
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: game dictated. I think he could get you out of
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: trouble in the fifth or sixth inning if that's the
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: way the game calls for. I think he can give
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: you multiple innings as well. I think he has those
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: that ability, And that's the one nice thing about I
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: think all our guys. Clearly Edwin's going to be probably
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: at the back end. Tanner's going to be mostly you know,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: kind of like one inning at the back end. But
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: all our guys they're all you know, they can adjust
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: and they can adapt to whatever the game is asking
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: out of them or what the team is in need of,
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: and so that's something that has been built with their culture.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: I think it goes back to, you know, almost the
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty season, and it starts with Blake. He kind
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: of started that, and then you kind of have guys Daniel,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Hudson and ken Ley. They all have kind of built
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: on it, and they all kind of compounded on each other,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: but they're all adapt to whatever was needed for us
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: to win a ballgame. And I think that's been the
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: beauty to watch this team. It's it's not about what
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: do I need to do or what do I need
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: out of what role do I need to be in.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: They just need to know like am I available today
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: or am I not? And then they're ready when the
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: phone rings. And it's again, that doesn't happen everywhere. I
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: know what happened other places, but it's a nice as
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: a staff and as a coach, it's nice to watch
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: these guys pick each other up and support each other
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: because that's what makes it fun and makes it a
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: lot of fun to go out there and win ball
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: games together.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, take the ball whenever the phone rings before I
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: let you go a two part question. How strange is
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: it going to be for you Mark to not have
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Clayton kersh Off in some form or fashion in your
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: starting rotation. And Andrew's really chomping at the bit for
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Clayton to start working with you. Guys, are you making
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: any phone calls to number twenty two, like, Hey, I
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: matter retirement early, come work with us.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: What's that gonna be? Well, well, it's it's definitely gonna
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: be different without him. There's a lot of things that
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: have been said that you know, I don't need to repeat.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's but it's it's gonna be different without
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: his presence. He is. You've been around him enough and
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: you've seen it. You know he has a presence on
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: what he does to prepare. I think that everybody's documented that.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: But he's also an energy giver when people don't realize
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: it or don't see it. I mean, this guy when
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: road trips are getting long, or it's early nights or
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: a quick turnaround Sunday day games, this guy will get
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: people going. This guy will get people. Clayton will get
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: people motivated. He would always bring energy, and you know
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: it's gonna be different. It's gonna be a little quieter
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: in the weight room, the music is gonna be a
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: little softer. He had some he had some cartoons. Uh,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: So it's it's gonna I'll be miss seeing him around.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: I I I feel very blessed and fortunate that I
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: had a chance to just you know, be a small
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: part in his career. And he taught me so much
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: about being how to be a coach. You know, it's
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: it's it's not always a linear path and a linear job,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: and you've got to communicate through a lot of different things.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: But he was a pleasure to work with and it
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: is gonna be But that being said, Clayton will never
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: be gone. He's always around. Uh he's he'll be texting
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: and you know, he's he's doing this pseudo unretirement thing
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: for the WBC, And I'm extremely happy for him. I
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: know he was bummed he couldn't pitch the last time.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: So I think everybody's extremely excited to see him pitch
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: and get a chance to represent the US because that's
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: a special that's a special thing, and for him to
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: actually have this chance and this opportunity now I think
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: caps everything off.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, from the WBC, perhaps to the NBC, not officially,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: but he could be one of us coming to the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: dark side. Mark Pryor, always appreciate the unbelievable insight and
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: your thoughtful answers. We'll see you at Spring training in
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: about a week and change. Thanks for coming on. We
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: appreciate you very much.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Anytime my pleasure, and I'll see you guys next week.