Latest / Foul Territory / Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman & Tony Gwynn Jr. join Friar Territory for a Padres Season Outlook

Transcript

Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman & Tony Gwynn Jr. join Friar Territory for a Padres Season Outlook · Foul Territory

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, there are certain opening day traditions that
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: you just don't want to mess with. For those that
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: have listened to Marty and me on the radio for many,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: many years, we had many of them, and we're going
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to continue one of them right here on Friar Territory.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Hi everybody, I'm Darren Smith.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: That is Marty Caswell, and if you're watching on YouTube,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: you can see a very familiar face and name, very
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: handsome right in the middle of our screen. He is
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: seven time All Star Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, who
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: always always took.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Time out of his busy day to join us on.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Opening Day, so we're as close to it as we
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: can get. And here he is, the great Hall of
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Famer joining us on Friar Territory.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Haffe is always good to see you. Thanks for joining
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the show.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Good morning you too.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: I've been like a forward of this tradition too. I
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: noticed that time of the year and I'm sorry we
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: weren't able to connect in spring training, but this is
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  Speaker 4: something I wasn't going to miss.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Great being with you guys.
• 1:01
  Speaker 5: Great seeing you, Hoffeing. Before I turn this back over
• 1:03
  Speaker 5: to Darren, I'm gonna go ahead and ratch you out
• 1:04
  Speaker 5: for one second, because when I lined you up and
• 1:07
  Speaker 5: I gave you a time for today, you said that
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: I was killing you because you have BedHead until noon.
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: Your hair is immaculate. Okay, you're a surfer guy. You
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: wear flip flops and shorts. Your hair is supposed to flow,
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: and you look great. I didn't how much I didn't
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: know you. You spent so much time on your hair
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  Speaker 5: that you could not do a live show here on
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  Speaker 5: Friar Territory until the hair was immaculate. You look great.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: It's what a little water will do.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: So yes, power Allies are starting to get a lot
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  Speaker 4: deeper my Petco parks.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: We're pushing the fences back. We're not bringing them in.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Very good line there, Trevor, what is the record, man?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, listen, you should give classes to former athletes
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: when they get out of the game about how to
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: keep themselves looking like they're actually former professional athletes.
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  Speaker 4: So for me, it was a big challenge in spring
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: training because the spread every day is unbelievable. In the
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: morning and the afternoon lunches are incredible.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: They do an amazing job.
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  Speaker 4: But I had to show some restraint in not piling
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  Speaker 4: up the plate, and so it was literally a salad
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: chicken every day for lunch. And it proved to do
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  Speaker 4: me okay through spring training because that's normally when I
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: put on my freshman fifteen.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Okay, Well it's working out for you, my man. So
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: as always, you're looking fantastic. We're heading into another season.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Explain to us as a player. I mean, you're not
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: that far removed from it. The energy, the excitement when
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: you know it's coming. We're hours away from opening day
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: at Peco Park. You're through the grind of Peoria, Arizona
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and spring training. Tell us what it's like like, the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: inner workings, the wiring of a professional athlete, of a
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: baseball player when they know like we're now just into
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the final hours before opening day.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the butterflies really kind of start to
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  Speaker 4: get a little bit bigger, and anticipation is fun. But
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: you're right, I think the end of spring training, in
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: the beginning, this little lull before the beginning of the
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: season is one where you start to reflect on one
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: how much work you put in the off season, Two
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: what kind of spring did you have? And three what
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: kind of year are you thinking you're going to have?
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  Speaker 4: And so all those emotions are running around. You're you're
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: you're ready, but you're you're not ready.
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  Speaker 3: In a sense, and so.
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  Speaker 4: You're just anticipating, you know, getting your hearing your name
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  Speaker 4: called and getting on the line and waving and wondering
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  Speaker 4: what kind of reception you're going to get, and then
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  Speaker 4: let's go, let's you know, throw the pitch and then
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  Speaker 4: you know, oh my gosh, we have one hundred and
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  Speaker 4: sixty two of these in a row, and hopefully we're
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  Speaker 4: pretty good when we get a chance to go to
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  Speaker 4: the postseason.
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  Speaker 5: Hafey, you have we been spoiled here in San Diego
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  Speaker 5: by just all, you know, having a great closers starting
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  Speaker 5: with you, and that that's kind of continued on to
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  Speaker 5: Mason Miller. We know how good this bullpen is going
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  Speaker 5: to be, but what what kind of rotation are they
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  Speaker 5: going to have right now? A lot of questions regarding
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  Speaker 5: you know, health, Michael Keane coming back, when Joe Muskove returns,
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: and of course the new editions with Walker Bueller and
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: Herman Marquez. Where are your biggest questions about this rotation
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  Speaker 5: going in?
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  Speaker 4: I think their pedigree is gonna speak for itself to
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  Speaker 4: a degree. I don't think anybody had the kind of
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: spring training they really wanted. I think Walker and Ermain had,
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  Speaker 4: you know, glimpses a couple starts where it was okay,
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  Speaker 4: they they're they're there. Arizona just stinks, you know, from
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  Speaker 4: a Marquez for pitching nine years in Colorado and then
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  Speaker 4: having a new spring training in Arizona. This guy's wait
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  Speaker 4: till he gets it. And he always pitted really well
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  Speaker 4: against us, but it didn't matter if it was in
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  Speaker 4: Colorado or San Diego.
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  Speaker 3: But he's going to enjoy Sea.
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  Speaker 4: Level and what his ball does on a daily basis
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  Speaker 4: like no other. So I think those two editions were fantastic.
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  Speaker 4: You know, Griffin when his achilles is it gets a
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  Speaker 4: little bit further, you know, moved in. I think is
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  Speaker 4: going to be a surprise for us. Mackenzie that got
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  Speaker 4: sent down. His stuff was electrical spring and so you know,
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  Speaker 4: from that standpoint in our incumbents, you know, Joe needs
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  Speaker 4: to get healthy and comfortable, and you know, I just
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  Speaker 4: Michael getting his feet underneath him.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be great.
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  Speaker 4: And then Nick's gonna it's gonna be one inning the
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  Speaker 4: first inning.
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  Speaker 3: He's gonna one, two, three.
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  Speaker 4: And he's going to exhale and go, Okay, I am
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  Speaker 4: where I'm at. I just think that's an Arizona thing.
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  Speaker 4: I think we try things in Arizona, like a new pitch,
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  Speaker 4: and then that gets shelled because you don't like it.
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  Speaker 4: Maybe you spend a little more time then you should
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  Speaker 4: trying to make that happen. You kind of sometimes forget
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  Speaker 4: what got you to the dance and what you're good at,
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  Speaker 4: and sometimes once the season gets going, you're right.
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  Speaker 3: Back to what you're comfortable with and ultimately allow you
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  Speaker 3: to be successful in the season.
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  Speaker 5: Have you gotten to know Nick Povetta pretty I'm sorry, Darren,
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  Speaker 5: have you gotten to know Nick Pivetta pretty well?
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  Speaker 3: A little bit?
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  Speaker 4: I wouldn't say really, Well, I'm okay, kind of perific guy,
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  Speaker 4: and so you know a lot of good communication goes
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  Speaker 4: on between him, Ruben and Ben, and you know, I
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  Speaker 4: watched his work. He's man, he cares a lot about pitching,
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  Speaker 4: he cares a lot about doing well for this team,
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  Speaker 4: and he's he's animated, whether it's a bullpen or spring training.
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  Speaker 5: I love that ping pong.
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  Speaker 3: Looking forward to seeing him pitch in the regular season again.
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  Speaker 1: For the record, Trevor said, Arizona stinks. He meant the
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  Speaker 1: actual state of Arizona, not the University of Arizona where
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  Speaker 1: because I know he's very proud of his Wildcats advancing
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  Speaker 1: to the Sweet sixteen, So I just don't want that
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  Speaker 1: to get taken out of contacts. There you go, Trevor,
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  Speaker 1: you talked about you know what got you to the dance,
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  Speaker 1: and I wonder, you know, for a guy like Walker Bueller,
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  Speaker 1: if you see any if there's any commonality, you know,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: it's not exactly the same.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: But you and your career right pre surgery.
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  Speaker 1: Humping it up there into the nineties, right, you were
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  Speaker 1: a different picture post surgery, and it's different. I know
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  Speaker 1: for him he's had two Tommy John's that wasn't exactly
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  Speaker 1: your situation, but he's trying to get back and he's
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: into the big leagues now doing it differently.
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  Speaker 2: I wonder you know what that's like, if you could walk.
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  Speaker 1: Us through that process from your own personal experience of
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: getting to the game and then having to adjust and
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  Speaker 1: become a different version of yourself.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: It's a great point and it's a great think about
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  Speaker 4: to be honest with if that's even a word. But
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  Speaker 4: you're kind of learning on the fly a little bit
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  Speaker 4: like a lot of the things that used to do
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  Speaker 4: that were successful and and and the success was relying
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  Speaker 4: on ninety seven miles an hour. I mean, that's that's
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: not in the tank. But mentally, you think it's still there.
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  Speaker 4: I can still touch it, and I can still you know,
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  Speaker 4: run it by a guy you know who's looking for
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  Speaker 4: the heater, and you know it'll still get by him.
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  Speaker 4: There'll be moments throughout the year and I'm sure it's
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  Speaker 4: happened already the last that you reach back and it
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  Speaker 4: just doesn't come out the same. And so the mentality
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  Speaker 4: behind the pitch still has to be the same. But
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  Speaker 4: knowing you're gonna have to learn to pitch a little
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  Speaker 4: bit is important.
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  Speaker 3: And so he is. He's learning that kind of on
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  Speaker 3: the fly. He's kind of learning that.
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  Speaker 4: At this stage in his career, and it's gonna you know,
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  Speaker 4: I wouldn't say you have to embrace it, because you
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  Speaker 4: never want to feel like your stuff is regressing, And
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  Speaker 4: isn't you're not the same guy when you're out there,
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  Speaker 4: because you have to have this certain bravado and this
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  Speaker 4: certain ore that you're presenting, like I'm not giving an
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  Speaker 4: inch away regardless of what my stuff looks like.
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  Speaker 3: And I think I see that in him.
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  Speaker 4: But you start to learn, Okay, maybe I'll take a
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  Speaker 4: little bit off, Maybe I'm I'll use this pitch in
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  Speaker 4: this situation I haven't always normally done, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: puts a little doubt in the hitter's minds that you're
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  Speaker 4: not predictable like you once were, and you become a
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  Speaker 4: kind of a complete pitcher, you'll say.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: And it's always had that.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously, you don't pitch in the big leagues for as
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  Speaker 4: long as he has, not having the idea of how
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  Speaker 4: to pitch and what way you have that particular day.
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  Speaker 4: We just have to maybe not be so bullish on
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  Speaker 4: the days you don't quite have that same life.
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  Speaker 2: Was that hard?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, to rewire your your you know, to rewire
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  Speaker 1: your brain from what it was that got you there.
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  Speaker 3: It's hard. Way you don't have success.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, but the hitters kind of remind you, you know,
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  Speaker 4: you're not the same guy, and you better learn to
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: do something better with less. It's almost you're getting force fed.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: You know, you're getting fed with a garden hose and
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: so that that they're a fire hose, and that's not fun.
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: But sometimes it is important to learn that way because
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: you'd really never know when it's something's gonna work until
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: you're in the in the middle of a real game,
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: not a spring training game, not a bullpen in the
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: off season. You know you have to get an out,
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: and that's kind of the best, you know scenario to
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: try and figure out what's going to work.
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  Speaker 6: Well.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Trevor, we have a relief pitcher as a manager. Who
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: ever thought we'd co we'd arrive at this day. Let's
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: talk about that when we come back. Craig Stamon as
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: the Potteri's manager, we'll talk and continue with Trevor Hoffman's.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: She's Marty Caswell. I'm Darren Smith.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: You're watching and listening to Friar Territory.
• 10:20
  Speaker 7: AJ baseball season is finally here, and there's nothing like
• 10:23
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• 11:24
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, we continue with Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: and it's interesting, right I had wondered forever. People have
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: probably asked you, Trevor, if you wanted to get into coaching,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: if you ever thought maybe one day you would want
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: to be a manager. And relief pitchers, even dominant closers
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in Hall of Famers, get labels in this sport, right Like,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: we haven't seen too many relief pitchers become managers. We
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: haven't seen many pictures become managers. Yet here's Craig Stammin
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: What do you think not only as somebody who's in
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the Potteries organization, but also as a former relief pitcher.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: How much are you rooting for Craig Stammon to succeed
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: here based on everything people say about the former relief
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: pitcher status and and what it might mean for a
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: managerial spot.
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a big fan of the person, and uh,
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: I think that bodes well where we're at in our game.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: I think there's enough help around him. He's assembled a
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: great coaching staff. The help with the analytics behind him
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: is going to be important. But he's a leader and
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: those are qualities that today's manager will lean on, I
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: think more than the manager of decades past. And so
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: I think I think because of his respect as a
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: player when he was in that clubhouse, will permeate the
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: players that are there now. And you know, until you're
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: on the fire and you maybe make a mistake and
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: how you own it or how you don't you know
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: handle it, you know a way that someone thinks you
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: should will come into play.
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  Speaker 3: But he's a real guy.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: He's he's he's honest, he's loyal, and he understands a
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: game and he wants to win, and so I think
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: the time is right for someone coming out of a
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: bullpen and that you wouldn't think would be capable of,
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: you know, knowing the xs and o's.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: But he's a smart guy, he's a padre.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: And I think he's going to do really well because
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: he's a people person too, that's.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Not afraid to tell you like it is.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: I love the article just the other day about Manny
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: maybe needing a little more rest throughout the season, being
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: thirty three, almost thirty four years old, and just in.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: An article you can tell there's a little bit of.
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: Back and forth that that's gonna be an interesting conversation
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: in his office. So I think you build a handle
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: that kind of stuff, and he's gonna do quite well.
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: That was I'm so glad you mentioned the article. I
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: was actually going to ask you about the whole manufactor
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: because that's been a conversation that that was presented to
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: Mike Schultz even last year. And you know how many
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: is right. He doesn't want to hear about days off,
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: he won't talk about injuries. He's there at a post,
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: he's there to do his thing. But do you think
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: that that Manny is more amenable, and that Craig Stamon,
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: who played with him, is the right guy to deliver
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: that message. He listen, this is my this is my call, Manny,
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: sorry my call. I know you Hall of famer, but
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: I'm the manager.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you got to look at what's left
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: on the contract. You've got seven eight years, right, so
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: let's maximize all that. And part of that will be
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: being smart with your workload.
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: In every sort there's workload talk, and so Craig's gonna
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: do it in a way where it's not the buck
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: stops here. I think it's going to be a conversation.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: It's going to be a collaboration, and I think, honestly,
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: you know, Manny will see you know the best way
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: that anybody will it's like, what's my best version? And
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: some of that's going to be grinding through a certain time.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: You know, Mechanically, I'm right, I'm healthy. I just need
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: to keep going and then I'm tired. And you know,
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: we've had some long road trips and that makes sense.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: And I think that that conversation and that trust that's
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: already there is going.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: To be a big factor in those decisions about.
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: To make Hafey in what way, where do you where
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: the padres better this season right now? And I'm sure
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Agent pos not done anywhere a year ago.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: At this time, I think they're a little more aware
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: of who they are. I think a couple of years past,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: it's like, okay, what is there? You know, I hope
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: our bench does all right, and I hope our bullpen
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: holds up. You look at where we're at, there's a
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: few uncertainties on how people are going to perform. But
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: I kind of like the roster now, like what our
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: lineup looks like, like what our bullpen obviously is, and
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: the starting rotation is, you know, pretty good considering some
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: of the guys that aren't starting the season.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: So in that regard, there are question marks, but I.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: Also think that there aren't a lot of holes that
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: we've had the last couple of years starting the season,
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: and so that's a good thing. You want people to
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: kind of get the rhythm of the season going. Uh,
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: the schedule is pretty firm coming.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: Out to shoot, so I mean, you got to be
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: on your toes otherwise you can look up a couple
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: of weeks in ago.
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: Okay, we got a little bit of a hill to
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: run over and or or you get off to a
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: quick start and you're like, Okay, we're for real and
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: we're gonna keep doing the things we're good at. Some
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: of that, some of that's not gonna be known until
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: we're two weeks in, just kind of how how we
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: got through that, how we navigated who we really are
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: And that's kind of the that's the unknown right now
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: that we talked about right before every day, what what
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: are we? Who are we really? And man spring was
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: a little bit funky for a lot of people, you know,
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: how we got to come out of that and get
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: going during the regular.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Season, Trevor, we talk and use a lot of oxygen
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: on Manny already, we talked a little bit about him,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: about Fernando Tatis Junior. Is there somebody maybe a little
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: bit off the radar, you know, somebody on this roster
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: who you're like, you know, everybody's talking about X, Y
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: and Z, but let's think about this guy over here.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Let's not sleep on this.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Guy, because this is a guy that's a difference maker
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: in the lineup or in the rotation or out of
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the bullpen.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: I think that's a great question, because you're right We
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: do spend a lot of time talking about the horses,
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: but you know there's there's some horses that are still horses,
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: like a Corona Worth and a Bogarts, you know, on
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: a Merril. I think those three guys, man, you add
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: that to the two big boys having a good year,
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: and those guys rebound. But like Jackson stays healthy, Crony
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: has a little more production. Bogey we stopped picking on
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: because of whatever reason, and just like him because he's
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: a great guy, and he's a leader and a winner,
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: and let's let's appreciate what we got.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Man.
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: That's five guys. And you add you know, Freddie behind
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: the dish. It's a stabilizer. And we added, you know,
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: a gold Glover in ty France. It's a local kid
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: that can hit a little bit. And Nick Cascianos with
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: a new you know, look in a different place. It's
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: a little more low key and not the juggernaut of
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: the past, and a lot of things could go.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: Well. That's that's in the lineup. And talk about a
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: healthy Michael King.
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: You get Joe, you know, maybe a month in and
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: he's feeling really good, and it's an injection of his
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: positivity and we know what he can do on the mound,
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: and Nick's kind of there's just so many things.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: And that's what I'm like.
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: I like our roster, it's just how our guy's gonna
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: come out the shoot, Like, can we stay healthy?
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: I think maybe the one thing in your question.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: I know I've been ramblin right there, but and and
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: Tiguyn kind of talked about it during spring train a
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: lot on the on the air.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: We have a little bit of death.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: We brought in some people that I think stabilize some
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Triple A stuff, Guys that we could plug in that
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: showed some some moxie, showed some you know, big league
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: talent when they played that was gonna be you know, reserves,
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: you're gonna be Triple A. And you know you don't
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: just get through the season with twenty six guys, as
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: we know, you have to use your whole roster.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: And so I think there's a little bit of depth.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: That depth could be a major factor in areas of
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: the season that we're gonna need it.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Sleeping on Ramon Loreano, I can't believe it anyhow, anyway,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: won't let you that.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: I'm just kidding.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Of course, another guy I mean like like again, like
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: you said, you rattled off all these names for good reason,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: and like here's a guy who you know, if he remains,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: if you know, but he's a guy who had twenty
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: five homers and he's you know, in a walk here.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: So that's another guy. I'm with you about Jackson Merrill.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: If he doesn't go on the IL a couple of times.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: It had seven home runs after September first last year,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Like this is this is a really good player, you know.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: So like there's a lot of a lot of things
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: to like on this roster for sure, Trevor. As always,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: we appreciate you and thank you for mentioning Tony Gwynn
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: because he's actually going to be our next guest. Tony
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Junior is coming up right after you.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you have a question, you have a question for team.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah. He had some great takes throughout the spring. One
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: of them was.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: Really intuitive, I thought, and regards to the abs you have,
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: you had a situation where Freddy was really good behind
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: the dish, being able to recognize what was in the
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: strike zone and not in the strike zone. And I
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: think it was Ramon Loreano you since you mentioned him.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: I think couldn't couldn't have been, though maybe it was.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: It was like two different pitches. One was really in
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: the strike zone, was really out. But Tony talked about
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: the perspective of being behind the dish and being in
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: a batter stance, how difficult recognizing what a strike zone
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: looks like from that different perspective. But what he also
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: said is you could be mechanically off, like what you
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: really think is a strike and you shake your head, going,
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: I can't believe that was a strike zone. But he
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: said something along the lines like that's a mechanical check. Maybe,
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: like it's a tell for somebody who might be in
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: a little bit of a funk.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Or isn't really seeing the ball, or interesting he.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: Really thinks it was one way or the other, and
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: it'll allow them a little bit of information to help
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: him get out of something.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: I think I remember hearing talking and something.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Like that, and I thought it was super sharp some
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: only only a guy that stepped in the batter's box
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: would recognize. And he brings so much value to the broadcast.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: I'm selfish because I hear his pops in him and
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: he's such a quality man. And you know, a dad
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: and a husband and just he's a rock star. And
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: think him and Jesse grind through spring training. Well, Mud
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: and Down get to go on vacation right around wherever
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: these guys. People don't understand how much hey, in the
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: ass these spring training games are and they they're there
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: for us.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, couldn't have been better said. And you're right about that.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: It's so Hollywood, Don and Mud They just get to,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: you know, go on their boats and do whatever they
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: want to do.
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: Caushing pictures.
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: Has Don invited you to dinner? Don Tangelo's? Have you
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: been invited yet?
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: No?
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: I mean, what's happening here? Hello?
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: Right there? I try to invite myself.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: I'll go anywhere.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: That's what I tried to invite myself. Ones.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I said, Hey, my wife's in the wine business. You know,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: I'll bring the good.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Wine, right, I don't have to worry about that. I
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: got you covered.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: And he was like, yeah, okay, you know, just totally
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: shut it down, Histan Trophy man. Like, I just was like,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: all right, I won't do that again.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: Man.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I suppose I learned my lesson on that.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: I think that's that's the key. We're just going to
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: show up.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I love that's hope you're the best.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: It is always our pleasure when we get the opportunity
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: to spend a couple of minutes with you.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Thank you for doing this.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Happy Opening Day, everybody for Happy Opening Day. Thanks Trever.
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: I appreciate you too.
• 21:54
  Speaker 7: Nice episode is brought to you by our friends at
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: Fox one. Fox one is where you can watch AJ
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: Pierzinski and I get this email every week. Now AJ
• 22:10
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• 22:12
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• 22:20
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• 22:22
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• 22:44
  Speaker 8: Box one Streaming Now One.
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: Okay, whoops, you muted?
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: All right?
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Well he got a lot of praise from our previous guests.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I gotta love that. It's almost like they were working
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: together Hall of Famer Trevor Hoppin giving tons of credit
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: to Tony Gwynn Junior, who was out in Peoria, Arizona
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: for the entirety of spring training. Who saw more Podres
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: baseball this year in Cactus League action than probably Craig Stammon.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: And he joins us here on always good, always our pleasure.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much for joining us here as we
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: get set for opening day.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Always a pleasure to speak with you and to see you.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: So thanks for doing this.
• 23:22
  Speaker 8: I'm so happy to be on with you guys. You
• 23:24
  Speaker 8: guys know you guys are my favorite.
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: So what's up to you. Good to see you, go
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: to see you, Good to see you, my friend.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And as I said, you saw a lot of
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: pottery baseball. You saw a lot of Cactus League action there. Man,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: you probably saw more than when you were playing. And
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: I'm only half joking when I say you saw more
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: than some of the coaches.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: What's the most important thing you.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Saw this year in Peoria, Arizona with the Potters?
• 23:49
  Speaker 9: For me, I thought, offensively, they hit the ball really
• 23:54
  Speaker 9: hard for like all of spring training.
• 23:57
  Speaker 8: And it wasn't just you know this this standard guys.
• 24:00
  Speaker 8: You think of.
• 24:01
  Speaker 9: I mean, it was literally everybody, and I attribute that
• 24:04
  Speaker 9: to Steve and Susan Junior.
• 24:06
  Speaker 8: I think.
• 24:09
  Speaker 9: His ability just kind of, you know, getting a chance
• 24:12
  Speaker 9: to see it behind the scenes, just his ability to
• 24:14
  Speaker 9: kind of talk things out. He's not like one way
• 24:20
  Speaker 9: or the highway like he is. He speaks the language,
• 24:22
  Speaker 9: and these guys seemingly all he has all of these
• 24:27
  Speaker 9: guys ears right now, and so I was very impressed
• 24:31
  Speaker 9: with the approach. He talked a lot about at the
• 24:34
  Speaker 9: beginning of the season, controlling the strike zone, because that's
• 24:37
  Speaker 9: kind of where it starts. When you're swinging at strike's
• 24:39
  Speaker 9: game gets a little bit easier, and you saw a
• 24:42
  Speaker 9: lot of that during camp. So I was very excited
• 24:47
  Speaker 9: watching that kind of play out because it started off
• 24:50
  Speaker 9: kind of slow the first week and a half, and
• 24:53
  Speaker 9: then from that point it feels like after that twenty
• 24:55
  Speaker 9: seven run game, it was just.
• 24:58
  Speaker 8: A lot of hard hit baseball from that point on.
• 25:01
  Speaker 9: And I thought that, considering how the offense kind of,
• 25:05
  Speaker 9: you know, sputtered at times last year, I just thought
• 25:09
  Speaker 9: that it was good to see them on it like that.
• 25:12
  Speaker 8: Now. Will it transfer to the regular season, you know, yes,
• 25:16
  Speaker 8: who knows?
• 25:17
  Speaker 9: But I think from that standpoint, as much as you
• 25:20
  Speaker 9: could put into these spring training games.
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: I was excited to see that.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: I'm glad you mentioned steven SUSA. Of course, another new
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: hitting coach for these Padres. Many have gone through some
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: hitting coaches. But how big a deal is it that
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: because you mentioned that he speaks their language and he's
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: only a couple of years removed from the game. Is
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: that the trend that we're going to do? You think
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: in these clubhouses where they want guys who are a
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: bit more relatable, forget the guys from twenty years ago,
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: they want guys who are a bit more recent from
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: the game.
• 25:49
  Speaker 8: I don't know.
• 25:50
  Speaker 9: I think it just depends on the group of guys
• 25:52
  Speaker 9: you got in the locker room. The Padres have been all.
• 25:55
  Speaker 8: Over the map in terms of, yes.
• 25:57
  Speaker 9: The types of the hitting coaches that have been in
• 25:59
  Speaker 9: and we've had old school guys, we had news school guys,
• 26:01
  Speaker 9: we've had somewhere in between. I think it's more about
• 26:06
  Speaker 9: how it fits the specific team that you have, and
• 26:10
  Speaker 9: I think it helps Steven These guys remember Susan, I
• 26:14
  Speaker 9: mean he was a guy that was talked about a
• 26:17
  Speaker 9: lot coming up the Nationals organization. He was one of
• 26:21
  Speaker 9: these freak athletes that everybody talked about.
• 26:24
  Speaker 8: But he's also extremely smart.
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: When it comes to the mechanics of hitting, and so
• 26:30
  Speaker 9: I just think he is relatable. It doesn't hurt, doesn't
• 26:33
  Speaker 9: hurt that he is not that far removed from the game.
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: And you know, ultimately we'll see how it goes. You know,
• 26:40
  Speaker 9: we've only spent two months together. They've only spent two
• 26:43
  Speaker 9: months together. A lot can happen between now and then,
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: but this certainly seems really really promising. I'll say this too,
• 26:52
  Speaker 9: You're only as good as the guys who are swinging
• 26:55
  Speaker 9: the back as a hitted coach. So no matter how
• 26:58
  Speaker 9: smart Steve it is, no matter you know, how much
• 27:00
  Speaker 9: he speaks the language, when those guys get on the field,
• 27:04
  Speaker 9: when they produce, he's gonna look.
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: Like a gen.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: There was a time where Victor Rogriguez was the most
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: popular coach on this Padre staff just a couple of
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: years ago, and then he became the scapegoat just a
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: year ago. Tee, we are like twenty five minutes into
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: the show and we have not yet mentioned the name
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: Fernando Tatis Junior, which is shocking to me. And I'll
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: tell you this, One of my favorite things when I'm
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: out there observing up and close is the sort of
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: relationship that you have with Fernando. You guys seem very
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: very close. What are you expecting from him this year?
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: And I know he said my best is ahead of me,
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: but he said that last year. Why do you think
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: this might be a little bit different and showing us
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: more of the MVP form of And he was great
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: last season, but he and the Padres clearly expect a
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: lot more from him.
• 27:49
  Speaker 9: I just think that Toddy, the more experience he gets
• 27:55
  Speaker 9: under his belt, the more years he has on this planet,
• 27:59
  Speaker 9: there's more maturity every year that he shows up I
• 28:02
  Speaker 9: feel like at camp.
• 28:04
  Speaker 8: And what is it about this particularly particular year.
• 28:08
  Speaker 9: I don't know if there's there's one thing I think
• 28:10
  Speaker 9: every time Toddy's healthy and he steps into camp, that
• 28:15
  Speaker 9: should be the thought that he has the ability to
• 28:18
  Speaker 9: win an MVP, And so I don't think it changes
• 28:21
  Speaker 9: this year. I loved hearing him in my you know
• 28:25
  Speaker 9: moments with him during the spring, hearing him talk about
• 28:29
  Speaker 9: what he wants to do from a from a hitting standpoint,
• 28:32
  Speaker 9: what his mindset is in terms of getting to the
• 28:35
  Speaker 9: hitting position.
• 28:36
  Speaker 8: And things of that nature.
• 28:38
  Speaker 9: I just the way he talked about it to me
• 28:42
  Speaker 9: gives me a lot of excitement for this year.
• 28:46
  Speaker 8: You know, I think, you know, when.
• 28:47
  Speaker 9: We're talking about the swing, Toddy is is so wiry
• 28:50
  Speaker 9: and so athletic. He can get away with a lot
• 28:53
  Speaker 9: of things that most guys can't get away with. Take
• 28:57
  Speaker 9: you back to that Homer he hit where he was
• 28:59
  Speaker 9: like full stop restart and he's a Homer. I mean not,
• 29:03
  Speaker 9: there's just there's very few people on the planet that
• 29:06
  Speaker 9: can do something like that. But I think his his
• 29:11
  Speaker 9: want to get better and try to figure out.
• 29:15
  Speaker 8: What he needs to do to reach that level.
• 29:17
  Speaker 9: I think at his hunger for that is only getting stronger.
• 29:20
  Speaker 8: And I think when you start getting into this twenty six,
• 29:23
  Speaker 8: twenty seven, twenty eight year old.
• 29:24
  Speaker 9: Range, it seems like for most guys, that's when like
• 29:28
  Speaker 9: the maturity kind of clicks in. And I think for Toddy,
• 29:32
  Speaker 9: he wants to be that player, and I think that's
• 29:34
  Speaker 9: kind of part of it, right, You got to want
• 29:36
  Speaker 9: all that comes with it.
• 29:38
  Speaker 8: He certainly does.
• 29:39
  Speaker 9: There's been nothing in camp or in the WBC that
• 29:44
  Speaker 9: would indicate.
• 29:45
  Speaker 8: To me that that he's not on the right path.
• 29:47
  Speaker 8: He swung the battle really well.
• 29:49
  Speaker 9: When the lights were at his bright as in the WBC,
• 29:52
  Speaker 9: he was right there in the thick of all of it.
• 29:54
  Speaker 9: And so listen again, as long as Toddy's healthy, that's
• 29:58
  Speaker 9: the kind of thing that we can expect. And I
• 30:01
  Speaker 9: think you know another thing that happens for players. You
• 30:05
  Speaker 9: stop getting into the realm of tinkering all the time.
• 30:09
  Speaker 9: You kind of get to something and you realize, you
• 30:11
  Speaker 9: know what, all the tinker and I'm doing isn't giving
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: me the consistency I want, And so let me try
• 30:18
  Speaker 9: to stick with something. And I think you saw that
• 30:20
  Speaker 9: a little bit from him last year, and I think
• 30:22
  Speaker 9: he's only going to build on that this year. And
• 30:25
  Speaker 9: some of the swing I wouldn't even say swing changes,
• 30:27
  Speaker 9: some of the get to the hitting position changes that
• 30:31
  Speaker 9: he's made.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: Tony.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: It's interesting because when we talk about Fernando, right, and
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: you've been around greatness your whole life, I sometimes wonder
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: if he doesn't fully appreciate how much value he brings
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: to this team in other ways other than just being
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: exclusively in the batters box and hitting forty plus on
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: runs like he did earlier in his career. He's won
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: two platinum gloves. He's been a good base runner, he
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: was a good at bat last year. I mean, he
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: brings so much value in so many different ways, and
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: sometimes I wonder if he doesn't appreciate it, or or
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: if it's not a big priority for him. Like you
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: were an amazing you're I mean, seriously, you were maybe
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: the one of the best outfielders in the Peco Park
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: era who put on a Padre's uniform, right, Like how
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: you didn't want to go glove is a mystery to me.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: But like, he brings so much value, and sometimes I
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: feel like like we just end up focusing on on
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: what he's not doing, and I wonder how we get
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: through to him that he's bringing value in ways that, like,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: you know, other players just can't.
• 31:33
  Speaker 9: He talked a little bit about this deer in the spring,
• 31:37
  Speaker 9: talked about, you know, sometimes almost like being so hard
• 31:41
  Speaker 9: on himself that you know, he can get into these
• 31:44
  Speaker 9: moments where he's in his own head and listen. That
• 31:47
  Speaker 9: is a human element that's not exclusive to Fernando Tatis Junior.
• 31:51
  Speaker 9: I think all of us experienced that in some shape
• 31:55
  Speaker 9: or form, And to me, I think maturity is for him.
• 32:01
  Speaker 8: Last year in particular is recognizing.
• 32:03
  Speaker 9: Okay, the power stroke is not here, how can I
• 32:08
  Speaker 9: find other ways to impact his team? He didn't go
• 32:12
  Speaker 9: into the tank when when he's when his stroke kind
• 32:16
  Speaker 9: of lefting for a second, he found other ways, got
• 32:18
  Speaker 9: on base at the highest clip we've seen from him,
• 32:21
  Speaker 9: maybe since early in his career, and so those are
• 32:25
  Speaker 9: his defense didn't they didn't fall it.
• 32:28
  Speaker 8: It got better, and so I think he recognizes that.
• 32:31
  Speaker 9: I just think like every other player, when he's going
• 32:34
  Speaker 9: through a little bit of a rut, he wears that
• 32:36
  Speaker 9: on his sleep. I don't think that's I don't think
• 32:38
  Speaker 9: that's different for most guys. Guys who care about it
• 32:41
  Speaker 9: a lot tend to tend to kind of kind of
• 32:45
  Speaker 9: go that route sometimes. I think as you get older,
• 32:47
  Speaker 9: you just learn how to deal with it in better ways.
• 32:50
  Speaker 9: And I think Toddy's no different. I expect to see
• 32:53
  Speaker 9: the same thing from him again this year.
• 32:56
  Speaker 5: So do you think maturity is the maturity is gonna
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: be the biggest thing for him, the biggest factor for him
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: knowing how to deal with this stuff.
• 33:02
  Speaker 9: Knowing how to deal with it, and every year that
• 33:04
  Speaker 9: he gets a chance to go through the experiment, I
• 33:08
  Speaker 9: think he's going to be better for it.
• 33:10
  Speaker 8: I don't think he's gonna get worse. I think Toddy's got.
• 33:13
  Speaker 9: A good foundation of people around him that care about him.
• 33:17
  Speaker 9: I think his dad is probably his hardest critic in
• 33:21
  Speaker 9: terms of, you know, his swing and things that he
• 33:24
  Speaker 9: should be doing. And I can recognize that my dad
• 33:28
  Speaker 9: was probably my toughest critic as well.
• 33:30
  Speaker 8: So I just think he again, he's.
• 33:33
  Speaker 9: A He's in a good place mentally, and I think that,
• 33:37
  Speaker 9: as much as anything, will be a reason why he
• 33:40
  Speaker 9: has an explosive year this year.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Can I ask about the defense in the outfield as well,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: because as I mentioned, you are an expert in the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: subject from your time in two thousand and nine, ten, eleven, ten, gosh.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: A lot a long time ago.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Tell us about the uniqueness of playing outfield in the
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: NST and you know what you make of not only
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Fernando out there and right, but also what you know
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: how Jackson Merril has really grown into the type of
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: centerfielder that he's become.
• 34:12
  Speaker 9: Let me start there, because I don't think as much
• 34:15
  Speaker 9: as we talk about Toddy and his offense and his
• 34:19
  Speaker 9: defensive pros, I think.
• 34:22
  Speaker 8: Jackson's kind of flown under the radar.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 34:25
  Speaker 9: He made a crazy change in his first year. He
• 34:28
  Speaker 9: goes from infield to outfield, and he was good. It
• 34:31
  Speaker 9: wasn't great. He was good last year. I thought he
• 34:35
  Speaker 9: raised the level a big time defensively, and we just
• 34:38
  Speaker 9: kind of because he was in a lineup, I think,
• 34:41
  Speaker 9: and we were locked in on you know what he
• 34:43
  Speaker 9: wasn't doing offensively because of the time off, we just
• 34:47
  Speaker 9: kind of forgot about my man. In his second year
• 34:50
  Speaker 9: of playing center field, and in.
• 34:53
  Speaker 8: My opinion, how good he looked.
• 34:54
  Speaker 9: I thought from year one to year two, his first
• 34:57
  Speaker 9: step was better. His comp and believing what his eyes
• 35:02
  Speaker 9: were telling him off the bat was way better. There
• 35:06
  Speaker 9: were times in his first year that he saw it,
• 35:08
  Speaker 9: but he didn't trust it, and so there was like
• 35:10
  Speaker 9: a hesitation behind it that was gone last year. And
• 35:14
  Speaker 9: you know, I hope this year he gets more, assuming
• 35:18
  Speaker 9: that he's gonna keep getting better, that he gets more
• 35:20
  Speaker 9: recognition defensively, because again, the kid can play.
• 35:25
  Speaker 7: He is.
• 35:27
  Speaker 9: What you probably would write up in the definition of
• 35:31
  Speaker 9: someone of a ballplayer, right like this dude just eats drinks,
• 35:35
  Speaker 9: you know, you know what he is all about baseball,
• 35:39
  Speaker 9: and I think his his his defense flew under the
• 35:42
  Speaker 9: radar last year.
• 35:43
  Speaker 8: I think Toddy speaks for himself. We don't need to
• 35:46
  Speaker 8: go there.
• 35:47
  Speaker 9: Ramona has a great arm, but he gets a little
• 35:51
  Speaker 9: get a little fuzzy in the outfield at times, but
• 35:54
  Speaker 9: he makes the play, which is ultimately what you put the.
• 35:57
  Speaker 8: Pitchers want and what keeps everybody half.
• 36:00
  Speaker 9: So in terms of playing defense in aos all right,
• 36:04
  Speaker 9: in NLS, you got a bunch of different types of ballparks, right,
• 36:08
  Speaker 9: I think San Francis is the hardest ballpark to play
• 36:11
  Speaker 9: outfield defense in all of baseball. The constant swirling of
• 36:17
  Speaker 9: the of the wind, never quite really knowing which way
• 36:20
  Speaker 9: it's actually going, that's the toughest one. Arizona's probably the easiest.
• 36:26
  Speaker 9: You know, they closed that roof. For a guy who
• 36:28
  Speaker 9: can run in a big outsfield, you want nothing more
• 36:31
  Speaker 9: than be able to run up underneath the ball and
• 36:34
  Speaker 9: make yourself look good.
• 36:35
  Speaker 8: So I think that's one of the easiest. You got two.
• 36:38
  Speaker 8: I think neutral.
• 36:40
  Speaker 9: Spots in San Diego in La not a whole lot
• 36:44
  Speaker 9: to playing, at least playing centerfield. Right fields a little
• 36:47
  Speaker 9: more difficult. You got the bigger wall over there in Pectco.
• 36:52
  Speaker 9: But you know, all in all, I think outside of
• 36:55
  Speaker 9: outside of San Francisco and Colorado, where you're you're playing
• 37:00
  Speaker 9: huge outfield with altitude. In the Colorado I think it's
• 37:03
  Speaker 9: still one of the more fun divisions to play outfield in.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Craig Stammon is the manager. We just talked to Trevor,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: who's a former relief pitcher, right, so birds of a feather.
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: So to speak.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: But when you got to San Diego, Buddy Black was
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: the manager pitcher and there's not a long history of
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: pitchers and managers, right, everybody knows Tommy Lesorida, Roger, Craig.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Buddy Black certainly would be on the list on a
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: short list of former pictures becoming successful managers.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: What did you think when you got here?
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: I know there was probably some history with Buddy, so
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: you know, everybody knows who he is.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: And people like him.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: But just like strictly in terms of you being a
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: position player and now you're playing for a manager who's
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: a former pitcher, what were going through your mind when
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: you met in San Diego and that was the case,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: you know what, I.
• 37:49
  Speaker 9: Knew Buddy a little bit, so I didn't have like
• 37:51
  Speaker 9: a crazy, you know, relationship with him, and so when
• 37:54
  Speaker 9: I arrived I didn't really know what to expect. I
• 37:57
  Speaker 9: was coming from playing under Ned Yos who was a
• 38:00
  Speaker 9: former catcher Ken Macha, who you know, my experience with
• 38:04
  Speaker 9: him wasn't wasn't great, and so I didn't really have
• 38:07
  Speaker 9: any expectations. When I got all I wanted to do
• 38:10
  Speaker 9: was have a chance to play.
• 38:11
  Speaker 8: And so Buddy for me was you.
• 38:15
  Speaker 9: Know, he's he's he's probably my top guy. Like that
• 38:19
  Speaker 9: was the guy who gave me the opportunity to play.
• 38:21
  Speaker 9: And I just loved his managerial style. You know, he
• 38:25
  Speaker 9: wasn't like he get in your face if he needed to,
• 38:28
  Speaker 9: but that really wasn't like his deal like he had
• 38:31
  Speaker 9: conversations with all I used to One of the things
• 38:33
  Speaker 9: I used to love is watching him come over to
• 38:36
  Speaker 9: a starting pitcher and even if you know John Garland
• 38:40
  Speaker 9: had gone seven of shutty or Kevin Krab gone seven
• 38:43
  Speaker 9: shutty and he was getting ready to take him out,
• 38:45
  Speaker 9: watching his interaction with these guys always tackled me. I
• 38:49
  Speaker 9: always got a kick out of watching him take a
• 38:51
  Speaker 9: guy out even though he knew that guy didn't want.
• 38:53
  Speaker 8: To come out. But I, for me, managers, whether you were.
• 38:59
  Speaker 9: Catch for or a pitcher, I didn't necessarily see a
• 39:04
  Speaker 9: benefit in terms of manager of how you managed the game.
• 39:09
  Speaker 9: All the managers I played for, for the most part,
• 39:13
  Speaker 9: I thoroughly enjoyed, and they knew baseball well.
• 39:16
  Speaker 8: But knowing baseball and.
• 39:17
  Speaker 9: Being able to manage a game in real time is
• 39:20
  Speaker 9: not the same thing. Outside of Buddy, my next two
• 39:23
  Speaker 9: managers after that were all in their first year managing,
• 39:27
  Speaker 9: you know Don Mattingly in LA and then you know
• 39:31
  Speaker 9: the Lake Ryan Sandberg in Philly, both in their first years.
• 39:36
  Speaker 9: And watching a manager in his first year versus a
• 39:40
  Speaker 9: manager that had some years under his belt, there's definitely
• 39:44
  Speaker 9: there's definitely something there. And the thing I love and
• 39:48
  Speaker 9: respect about Stam is he recognizes that and because he's
• 39:53
  Speaker 9: gonna lean on his staff the way we've seen him,
• 39:56
  Speaker 9: I don't know that some of those shortcomings.
• 39:59
  Speaker 8: For the other two managers, who you know, one should
• 40:02
  Speaker 8: be a Hall.
• 40:02
  Speaker 9: Of famer, one is a Hall of Famer, may have
• 40:07
  Speaker 9: been a little bit different in their approach in kind
• 40:11
  Speaker 9: of relying on their staff, you know what I'm saying.
• 40:14
  Speaker 9: So it'll be I think that's where Stan probably has
• 40:18
  Speaker 9: an advantage over the other two first year managers I
• 40:21
  Speaker 9: played for, As I think he kind of comes in
• 40:23
  Speaker 9: knowing I'm gonna need to lean on Lublin, I'm gonna
• 40:26
  Speaker 9: need to lean on bid Fritz, I'm gonna need to
• 40:28
  Speaker 9: lean on Steve and Our I need lee on Ryan Gohones,
• 40:32
  Speaker 9: who's handling the the infield like he's not afraid to
• 40:36
  Speaker 9: empower those guys to to be able to help him
• 40:39
  Speaker 9: be a better manager.
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: In the end, maybe maybe the NLS will come down
• 40:42
  Speaker 5: to which team employees the best special assistant, whether it's
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: you know, Bruce Bochie with Buster Posey in San Francisco
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: or the padres with with Buddy Black. So we shall
• 40:51
  Speaker 5: see t you're're awesome. But before I before we let
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: you go, my last thing, our Aztecs did not make
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: it in the tournament this year? Will you join Darren
• 41:00
  Speaker 5: and rooting against Duke this weekend wagon, I root.
• 41:05
  Speaker 8: With again to do every opportunity tunity.
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: I get so like a good American should.
• 41:13
  Speaker 9: This is light work right here, and I think Saint
• 41:16
  Speaker 9: Joss has a really good chance.
• 41:18
  Speaker 8: To pull it off.
• 41:20
  Speaker 10: I'm uncomfortable with all the nice things that are being
• 41:23
  Speaker 10: said about I'm not quite believing that the program is
• 41:27
  Speaker 10: actually actually better, But I'll take it anyway I can tequin.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: It is always our pleasure. You're the best. Thank you
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: very much. We look forward to listening to you on
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: the Potters Flagship on The Potteri's Radio network all season long.
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: Thanks for taking time to join us here on Fire Territory.
• 41:43
  Speaker 8: Darren Marty, always a pleasure. Thank you guys for having me.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: Who we listened to? I listen to religiously around town,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Love that man? All right, subscribe, listen to this podcast,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: do all the things on YouTube and find out where
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: you find all your podcast Thank you very much, and
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: we'll be back later this week.
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: Thanks every body, Peace out,