00:00:10
Speaker 1: Here comes the hook.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Down and in.
00:00:14
Speaker 3: 20 strikeouts.
00:00:15
Speaker 4: He ties the Major League record. Breeze hits it in the air to center.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: We will see you tomorrow night. The impossible has happened.
00:00:30
Speaker 4: Go! Big fly on Tyson. Towards the corner. It's back.
00:00:34
Speaker 5: It's gone.
00:00:35
Speaker 6: Welcome to Slam Diego.
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Bonus edition of the Just Baseball Show. You got Arm Layton here, and I'm at the World Series. I'm in Milwaukee right now. We had media day yesterday, and I tried to get to as many players as I possibly could in the 45-minute window for each team and get some really fun conversations with several different players from both the Brewers and the Rays that I thought you guys would really enjoy. So I stitched them all together and wanted to put it into a bonus episode.
00:01:04
Speaker 4: A couple of my favorites.
00:01:05
Speaker 1: Taylor Walls goes... Like seven minutes of just defensive mastery. It was a full-fledged masterclass on what is going on in his brain at shortstop, but also how he's become the defender that he is. That might be one of my favorite conversations ever. So that was really, really fun. I hope you guys enjoy that. That'll probably be the second or third one that is thrown in here. but also got to talk to Jake Bowers, Robert Gasser, Brian Baker, and his unbelievable change-up in his development.
00:01:32
Speaker 6: D.L.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: Hall and his development as well was really fun to discuss. My guy Liam Hicks and everything from ABS to the added power and never whiffing. And Cooper Pratt, who's one of the youngest guys out here, and just his quick ascension. So many fun conversations that I think you guys will really enjoy. And also, I will say, it is hectic at Media Day, so I apologize if Maybe the sound is a little bit more clear for certain players than others. It's like a mini media scrum at every single player's table and you're nestling your way in there and trying to get your mic to be up close. And then some areas are really loud. Some are not as loud. And I did a little bit of post-production to try to clean up the ones that were in really loud areas, but then that makes it sound a little bit over-modulated, but not going to bore you with all of that. I think I picked my spots. I think we did a decent enough job and hope you guys enjoy all of the different conversations. Of course, because it's me, it's very player development focused. I realized after a couple of the conversations, I was like, I could have asked Liam Hicks about getting acclimated to the Rays, but I just have heard him asked about that so many times. I'm always just going to end up talking about the player development side, like Griffin Jackson, hearing about his transition to a starter was so much fun. I don't think I mentioned him off the top as well and what he's been able to do there. And he was honest about some of his hesitance to make that transition.
00:02:45
Speaker 4: You'd think, you know, most of the relievers like, I want to do it. I want to do it.
00:02:47
Speaker 1: It's usually the team that's like, eh, but that was a little bit of a surprise with the conversation with Jax too. So before I jump into it and just send it right into the first conversation, which I We're going to start with the Rays guys and then it'll kick over to the Brewers guys. So we'll start with Brian Baker and his change up and then on from there because it turned into about a good four or five minute conversation. I do want to say Milwaukee is buzzing. Really cool experience just seeing the way that the community is rallied around and just how excited everybody is. Remember, this is like the 30th ranked media market, but you don't feel it at all because every single person it feels like in that market is so bought in on the Brewers and it is palpable. The other side is the Rays players are so relaxed. I mean, it has been really cool to just see like they have a really strong veteran presence, maybe as much as ever between Yandy Diaz and Cedric Mullins and Nick Martinez has been huge and instrumental for them as well. And he's kind of taken charge in a leadership role as well. But it just seems like this team really jives and everyone's very relaxed. And I think they know that they're kind of the underdogs here, but it doesn't seem like they're really buying into that identity. And you'd almost think they were the heavy favorites with the way they're going about their business. So it'll be fascinating to see how this all unfolds. Obviously Brewers were a clean sweep for us on our picks, uh, in our world series preview, but man, I just keep feeling more and more like this is going to be a really fun world series. So without further delay, here is media day with the Rays and Brewers. When did you realize that this pitch could be like truly special and be one of the more dominant major league baseball?
00:04:22
Speaker 7: Um, yeah, no, I've always, I've always, uh, I've always really liked my changeup. It's been my best pitch, best off-speed pitch of my entire life. It's just finding consistency with it has always been the hard part.
00:04:35
Speaker 4: It's such a field pitch, and.
00:04:38
Speaker 7: A lot of times you're trying to do too much with it or trying to slow your body down too much, and it gets really hard to throw in the zone. So I think over the last year or two, I've really honed in on a comfortable grip. That kind of starts the whole process where you're not like, finding a certain grip in your glove and like having to repeat it as the exact, exact same way every single time to get the same effect where I would see that in the past where it would just be two like totally different pitches from one pitch to the next. Um, so I think the consistency with the grip is really what.
00:05:09
Speaker 4: Started it all.
00:05:10
Speaker 7: And then, um, getting over here and just getting really comfortable throwing it and all kinds of different scenarios where I think early in my career, I would, I would really only throw it if I was up in the count. So, If I got behind a hitter, they were never going to see my best pitch, which is a tough way to exist sometimes as a pitcher. So I think that's kind of flipped over the last year or so. And just being able to use it more effectively, which all stems from being able to throw a first strike.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: And would you say the number one thing that helped you find the consistency really was just kind of how you were grabbing it out of the glove? So what was it exactly that just made you feel like, I've got it every single time? Because like you said, it is such a field pitch.
00:05:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, the grip is.
00:05:49
Speaker 7: It was definitely the biggest part where I was playing catch before spring training last year and the ball just kind of fell into my fingers a different way right before I was about to throw it. It was just super comfortable and it was noticeably sharper, noticeably better. So I was like, I have to try this and try it off the mound and see if I can do it. And it was just like an immediate click. Didn't really have to make any other adjustments other than how I was holding it. So from that point, the consistency definitely took off with it and it's been It's been better since that point.
00:06:20
Speaker 8: For sure.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: How much do you feel like it's made your fastball better, too? Because now guys are trying to make decisions later, probably, so that they're not always expanding and chasing that pitch down.
00:06:29
Speaker 4: And now their fastball is probably getting on them sooner. Have you seen that? Oh, no doubt.
00:06:34
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the percentage usage of the changeup has gone up, obviously, a lot. Probably thrown almost half the time this year, so. you know and still having you know relatively slow change up I think helps you know just the timing window of that and yeah I mean there's there's days there's days as the season goes on that your fastball velo doesn't feel quite as good as other days and I think it helps having obviously having to change up in the zone because you got to respect that and um being able being able to sneak a fastball in there at 94 instead of 98 sometimes it definitely helps and But, yeah, I mean, it all stems from, yeah, the ability to throw the changeup in the zone at any time.
00:07:15
Speaker 4: I feel like changeups more than any other pitch.
00:07:17
Speaker 1: A lot of guys draw inspo from other arms just from seeing the way that they throw theirs. Is that a case for you at all? Was there ever a changeup that you were looking at and said, like, I want to get like that?
00:07:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a good question.
00:07:27
Speaker 7: So I actually have gotten, I've gotten to work out with him in the off seasons for a few years now and got to know him a little bit, but Michael Walker was my answer.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: That's what made me ask you about the fastball because it makes his fastball so much better.
00:07:39
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:07:40
Speaker 7: So way back in when I was in college, still, I was, I was answering questionnaires as my player comp as Michael Walker, because that's right when he was getting good with the Cardinals and he was a fastball changeup guy. And that was basically what I was. And, uh, you know, obviously fast forward 12 years and I, you know, get to work out with him in the off season. Sometimes I get to see it up close and, um, you know, there's obviously some differences in it, but that, that was like one of the first, you know, true inspirations of like a, uh, a fastball changeup guy that I wanted to emulate. And, um, yeah, both us both being all stars this year and both, you know, getting to share that story with him is pretty cool.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Beyond that, where would you say you've grown the most this year? Cause the strikeouts, they've always been there, right? I mean, and I know Kevin was talking about it too. We're just like, Oh, this was a good pitcher. Like, she's like, he's gotten even better with us. But where would you say that area is that you've gotten even better?
00:08:32
Speaker 7: Um, I really just think it's the, uh, it's the consistency aspect of just being able to stay in the zone. Um, I think you, you, you go through, uh, a long MLB season and you go through ups and downs. I mean, everybody does, but it's about making those, those ups and downs, you know, a little bit closer to them, to the mean, to the mean. So I think, you know, when you, when you're, when you're trying to establish yourself as a big leaguer, you want to show that you're consistent and, you know, you, you want the manager to feel comfortable. you know, trust in you that you're going to go out and do something similar every time. Whereas, like, early in my career, it was kind of up and down where one outing I'd feel great, the next one I'd lose feel for the strike zone and, you know, walk two guys and then all of a sudden get taken out of the game. Like, man, I got to just really just avoiding that. And that really all starts with consistency in the delivery and throwing strikes. Mixing speeds, throwing strikes, letting the defense work. You don't have to be– you don't have to strike everybody out. And that's going to help you in the long run.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: How helpful has Snyder been for you? I mean, just being able to work with a guy like that.
00:09:36
Speaker 7: Oh, so helpful, man. Yeah, it's extremely lucky to get traded over here and get to work with him. You know, he's been incredible in terms of, you know, finding tweaks for everybody. You know, I've seen it day in, day out the whole year where he's he's so locked in that with each individual person and what they're doing and um you know instilling confidence in everybody that's that's a huge part of it as well as this you know when you go out there and knowing that you can get the job done uh it makes a big difference.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: Here's ray's shortstop taylor walls and again what was one of my favorite conversations i've had with the player in a little bit at what point you know did you start to realize that you have some special abilities which you love maybe are capable of doing some things on the dirt that you are?
00:10:21
Speaker 8: When I was younger, like, I mean, really little six, seven, eight. I was always playing with guys older than me, but I was always.
00:10:28
Speaker 4: The short side. Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker 8: So the arm strength was always a thing that like when I was younger, like I knew I was hoping it would develop. But as far as just being able to feel the ground ball and get to a ground ball, I felt like even at that age, I could do it better than most people around me.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: I think when I got to the division one level in college, I started.
00:10:50
Speaker 8: Realizing kind of how, not athletic, but kind of how agile it was, how my ability to react in my first step and the quickness and just the agility was kind of a step above most of.
00:11:02
Speaker 4: The other people around me too. But I really don't feel like I turned the page.
00:11:06
Speaker 8: And so I got into professional ball, My backhand got a lot better, and then I started kind of just creating my own way of how I was, my own style, I guess, so to speak, where, you know, I was building a lot of things with one hand. I was, you know, backhanding balls that were right at me. I was just doing a lot of things that were, I feel like I would have been drilled for in a negative way for doing if I was at the college level or something. So I feel like I was able to kind of create my own style when I got to pro ball, and from there just kind.
00:11:35
Speaker 4: Of have those.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: The pyramid always gets thinner and you get to Major League Baseball and almost every shortstop is also incredibly athletic, agile. Is that where, you know, you're grading out as one of the best to do it in a long time. Is that where your instincts feel like kind of separate you? How are you able to now just still be a notch above everybody else at the highest level?
00:11:54
Speaker 4: It's definitely not like athleticism. I promise you that. I'm not faster.
00:11:59
Speaker 8: I'm probably not more athletic than the guys that are in this league. The single-handed thing that I think separates me is what I do before the balls make contact with. Everything that goes into my pre-pitch, the anticipation, I think really just the will and desire of trying to get the best possible jump on every single pitch. I don't want to say that other guys don't do that because I don't quite know. But I just, I know how disciplined I am to doing it. And I would be able to bet that nobody does it more than I do. So, I mean, I think I just, I made that commitment when I was in low A 2018, when I was with Bowling Green. I used to have flashbacks or even in real time, I would dive for a ball and I would miss it. It would roll past me and I wouldn't quite get to it. And I would get up and as I'm like catching the ball from the outfielder, throwing it back into second base, I would have these thoughts in real time of like, dude, I felt so close to that.
00:12:58
Speaker 4: I could have called that ball.
00:13:00
Speaker 8: And I remember I kept asking myself, like, did I get the best jump? Like, did I, did I get the bet?
00:13:05
Speaker 4: Like, did I take the best angle at it? Was I, was I as ready as I could have possibly been for it? Or was I thinking about it in that bat that I had, or was I just not focused?
00:13:14
Speaker 8: Um, and that off season going into that 2018 year, I had that conversation with myself a number of times three years prior to, and I was like, look, this is the one thing, the one question I know where if I ask myself that this year, the answer is going to be I did everything I could possibly do. I was as ready as I possibly could be. I was as focused and locked into this pitch and this specific swing.
00:13:37
Speaker 4: As I possibly could be. I got the best jump I could possibly get.
00:13:40
Speaker 8: I was the most ready I could possibly be for this. There's no question in my mind that that was a base hit if I didn't catch it.
00:13:46
Speaker 4: And I did that every pitch, regardless of.
00:13:49
Speaker 8: If it was, if we were playing in Wisconsin in the snow and we were up 12 runs in the ninth inning, I would remind myself while I was in the field, like, Hey, these ain't the analytics are, they don't see this ball to be any different than if it was a one run ball game in the ninth inning right now, if this, if this ball, if I should catch this ball and I don't catch it, I'm going to get penalized the same way as if there was a one-run game and I missed it. So, like, you can't take plays off now. And I would remind myself that multiple times throughout that season. And that became, I think, where I really started to discipline myself. That's how ready I was every pitch. That's still how ready I am every pitch. And I think, I don't know, there could be, players could be that as well. But I know that nobody's not as ready as I am.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: And because of how intentional you are with every single game rep, do you just feel like now you've seen it all and you've gathered information on pretty much every single battered ball possibility?
00:14:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I've stacked.
00:14:48
Speaker 8: Swings on swings on swings in my head now since 2018. So what is that, eight years? Whether it's BP, guys taking BP, whether it's spring training, whether it's in the offseason when I'm not taking ground balls or I'm going out to FSU and I'm just sitting at shortstop just watching guys take.
00:15:07
Speaker 4: Swings and just letting my eyes and brain just.
00:15:09
Speaker 8: Kind of calculate exactly when the swing's taken, where it went, how that ball's doing, if it's topspun, if it's a three-bouncer like chopper, if it's smoke low. So I just have a ton of information stored in the database in the back of my head of, certain swings, certain timing and how guys trigger their swings. And if they're late, early, their barrel releases, doesn't release. If they slide their hands in, how that makes the ball spin off the bat. I have a number of information that I can pull from that I don't think that deeply about in real time, but it's just that helps the instincts.
00:15:46
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker 4: That's amazing. Last one real quick.
00:15:48
Speaker 1: If there's somehow some aspect of your defensive game that you want to improve upon going into next year, what could that be?
00:15:56
Speaker 8: I think I could always use more work on the routine, kind of slower than routine ball hit to my left towards second. That ball to me is probably the toughest routine ball to field just.
00:16:08
Speaker 4: Because you're moving towards first.
00:16:09
Speaker 8: A lot of times you get to it earlier than you think you're going to, so you feel the ball more in the center of your body than I would like. And that's a ball that you tend to get stuck with two hands on because it's funneled up to you. I think that that ball is I work on it a lot already, but that's the ball that I could continue to grow on really feeling it with one hand on the run, not getting in front of it. The other play, which is more of a this is a tougher play, is the smoke ball that's hit at you on a one hop.
00:16:37
Speaker 4: It's not a short hop. It's not an easy long hop.
00:16:40
Speaker 8: It's a ball that's in between and there's such a small window to do the direct footwork of opening your feet and taking a retreat shuffle back to elongate the hop to get an easy to make it easier play.
00:16:51
Speaker 4: The timing window is so small.
00:16:53
Speaker 8: So where if you don't hammer down, I guess the footwork of that, like in the off season, or you don't work on it, you're going to miss that window when the game comes and you're going to have still feet.
00:17:03
Speaker 4: You're going to try to pick it.
00:17:04
Speaker 8: You might pick it 6% or 60% of the time, but those are the two plays.
00:17:08
Speaker 2: I probably would.
00:17:08
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for the masterclass. I appreciate it.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: Here's Ray's right-hander Griffin Jacks. Making that transition from reliever to starter, and then in a year now where the season ends up being longer, you've still done a little bit back and forth, and I'm sure that's been extremely valuable. How have you kind of shouldered that load in that transition, and how did you play in the offseason?
00:17:29
Speaker 10: Was that something that you kind of knew you were ready to do? We talked about it a little bit in the offseason, but when I got the call to go play for Mark DeRosa in the World Bedfellow Classic, I thought, you know, I'm just going to focus on being a reliever right now. And I thought at this point in my career, that's probably where I was going to end up being. But the opportunity came back up again in the early of the season where we had a couple guys go down and we had a good chunk of the season show itself that I could potentially make the move. And I did, good leap of faith, but with the help of the organization and guys like Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez, who had done the transition before in the past, I felt like I had some really good resources there.
00:18:09
Speaker 6: But it's been a learning process.
00:18:11
Speaker 4: There's some bumps along the way, but I felt like it was a relatively smooth transition.
00:18:15
Speaker 10: I didn't think when we did this, I didn't know how I was going to feel at the end of the season after a full year of starting and a new innings workload max. But I still feel very strong and ready to go. And the energy and adrenaline of the playoffs has definitely helped. What's the difference in terms of how you feel going into the outing? Obviously, a little bit more time to prepare. I believe you're kind of ready to go any day.
00:18:38
Speaker 4: What's your mindset? What's been the shift there for you to compare it as a starter? I try to keep it the same.
00:18:44
Speaker 10: There's some starters, you know, that I've been around in the past that have, you know, they make that one day so special.
00:18:50
Speaker 4: So, you know, it mounts up to so much energy. I don't really like that.
00:18:56
Speaker 10: I like the only thing I liked about being a leader was every single day I felt like I could make an impact on the ballgame. So I just try to keep that mentality. I know it's not the same, but I just like to keep it the same every single day. and treat my start day just like I normally would every day.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: Pitch tweaks a little bit in terms of usage, like sleeper down a little bit in terms of usage. It was sinker up, if I remember correctly, or sinkers up? All foursame up a little bit, change of up for sure. Was that as part of, you know, just turning lineups over more, or was that going to be a general change regardless of raw?
00:19:26
Speaker 10: I think it's for sure more about being in the rotation.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: You got to show guys different stuff.
00:19:31
Speaker 10: Obviously, everybody knows for the most part, my signature pitch is my sweeper. But you can't lean on it three times to the order. Even big league hitters, after one or two times, they're going to make an adjustment. So there's just the foundation of knowing that I still got four or five but really I got other pitches.
00:19:49
Speaker 4: Make sure we show those.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: What did you feel like you gained the most confidence in with that arsenal? Because of course, usage goes down with some of your more frequently used pitches. Others go up the curve ball. You introduced a little bit more too. Was there one that you felt like, hey, I'm actually liking the usage of this a little bit more than I thought?
00:20:03
Speaker 4: Changed up for sure.
00:20:05
Speaker 8: Last year, I bumped it up a little bit with usage and I saw really good results there.
00:20:10
Speaker 4: So it's just.
00:20:11
Speaker 10: Nice mentally knowing that you don't have to throw one pitch to get guys out.
00:20:15
Speaker 1: And then just what you've learned about yourself now, like going into whatever role it might be next year. Is there anything that you just realized in this season and now doing some things that you haven't been able to or haven't had the opportunity to do in the past that you feel like you learned about Griffin Jackson pushing?
00:20:29
Speaker 10: I mean, before I did the transition, I was a little hesitant to do it for physical reasons. But yeah, now after doing it for a full year, I'm excited for a full offseason of training for this and ready to see how much I can handle next year.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Next up, Rays catcher Liam Hicks. Starting with just the way that you've been able to add power, have it really not come at the expense of your elite bats of all at all. Like what was the process of that through the off season? And like, how confident were you that, okay, I'm going to bring in this big leg kick. I know you did it in the past, but like that I can also still maintain my elite strength that I have as well of contact.
00:21:05
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think going into the off season, the thought process and what Miami kind of came to me was with, was like, we're okay to sacrifice a little bit of the bat to ball if you can impact the ball a little bit more.
00:21:17
Speaker 6: So I was definitely into that.
00:21:21
Speaker 11: As a hitter, I felt like I had an okay season last year, but I felt like I knew I could be better.
00:21:26
Speaker 6: So then, yeah, adding the leg kick was able to pull the ball a little bit better.
00:21:31
Speaker 11: Honestly, yeah, I didn't think that I would be able to keep the bat-to-ball quite that high, but luckily, I don't know how, but it's been better, so it's good.
00:21:39
Speaker 1: What was the process of grinding out that leg kick? Because I imagine the number one thing is just reps of it and being comfortable with it. It helps that you did it in the past as well, but how much did that allow you to add more power and get into your lower half? How many reps did it take to feel comfortable with it again?
00:21:57
Speaker 6: It was definitely an evolution.
00:21:58
Speaker 11: You know, I think if you go through like the video from the start of the offseason to the end, it definitely got bigger and bigger as the offseason went on. So it was something that I didn't know if it would work. But once I started to face live pitching and had had a little bit of success and was like, OK, I'm not just, you know, diving way out in front. I'm actually able to stay back and adjust. I felt like I was pretty confident in it and then felt like when I got to spring training, I had a lot of success and felt really comfortable with it and I could tell that it was going to improve some things.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: Was there like a cue that you found? Because that's the number one thing I think of too. I'll get PCA as well. It kind of added that big leg kick too, or the ability to still hold your backside.
00:22:38
Speaker 4: This stuff is so good now.
00:22:40
Speaker 1: Like the way that pitchers can tunnel with spin and change-ups and everything to still be able to hold that backside when your leg gets that high.
00:22:46
Speaker 4: Yeah. How'd you find that? It's tough.
00:22:48
Speaker 11: That's definitely something that I've had to, you know, adjust with the whole season. You know, you go through ups and downs in the season and, and have to find certain things that help and don't help. So, you know, as the season went on, I started to just kind of get up there and hang and, you know, I was getting stuck back or maybe falling forward. So, you know, front knee to back knee was kind of some of the thought that I had maybe getting that left butt cheek or that left back pocket to the pitcher kind of helped in holding that forward move for sure.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: And then just what you've been able to just develop in terms of the defensive side of things this year. Of course, you've got to crash course a new pitching staff and everybody around the team is just– giving you so much praise for how you were able to do that, but also just in general developing at the start of the season going into the year. What were you focused on developing when you were in with the Marlins going into the season? And then quickly, how are you able to then on the more mental side of the game crash course a whole new staff?
00:23:43
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think definitely I knew the defense was something that I'm going to need to improve on. That's something that I've my whole career, even the minor leagues. That was something that was always like the knock on me. You know, is he going to be able to stick a catcher? So I think that's something I'm constantly trying to improve on. Obviously, framing is the number one thing. You know, worked on that a ton this offseason, more than any offseason I ever have in the past. And then throwing as well. I really dove in. Luckily, the Marlins really helped me. They gave me a ton of resources in like a throwing program and all that stuff.
00:24:17
Speaker 6: So that's something that I worked on a ton.
00:24:19
Speaker 11: And I think as the season's gone on, as I've gotten more reps, that's definitely something that I've improved upon, you know, I'm not going to have the best arm in the league or anything like that, but hopefully I can just become one of the more accurate throwers, and I feel like that's something that I've gotten better at.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: I feel like you've been pretty locked in on ABS, too. Pretty good success rate. Some big high-leverage ABS challenges that have gone your way, too. Is that just something you got more comfortable with as the year progressed? And also, knowing when to deploy it is a whole different thing, too.
00:24:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think there's two things.
00:24:50
Speaker 11: I think there's knowing when to deploy it, when it's a high-leverage situation, when the it's.
00:24:55
Speaker 6: Really going to impact the game.
00:24:56
Speaker 11: You know, you're not going to want to use it with no one on and, you know, two outs and, you know, it's an O2 count or something like that.
00:25:04
Speaker 6: So that's one thing.
00:25:05
Speaker 11: And then another thing is knowing where you're good and where you're bad, you know, around the zone framing wise. So, you know, I know I struggle in a certain part of the zone more than others.
00:25:16
Speaker 6: So I know that when an ump calls a pitch, they are a ball.
00:25:19
Speaker 11: There's going to be a higher likelihood that it's a strike than maybe a certain other part where I really, exceed and do well so I think that's something that I've learned as the years gone on you know you can see my challenges are more so on the on the glove side than on the the arm side for me so it's something that I've I've noticed.
00:25:37
Speaker 1: Last one for you just going back to the rule five is you had not played above double a right at the time that you were selected did you think you were going to be taking the rule five how much were you paying attention to that like what was that whole process for you like to then find out you got a chance to you know make a big league team right after that.
00:25:52
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, obviously I knew about the Rule 5.
00:25:55
Speaker 11: I knew that it was possible, but I know that catchers don't usually get.
00:26:00
Speaker 6: Picked in that.
00:26:00
Speaker 11: It's very rare for catchers to get picked, so I really didn't think it was much of a possibility. I was kind of just relaxing at home the day before, and my AA manager from Texas called me where he texted me and said that he heard from some teams, and they were asking about me.
00:26:18
Speaker 6: And then he was really excited for me. And I was like, oh, dang, I.
00:26:21
Speaker 11: Guess this maybe this is possible. You know, you don't want to get your hopes up or anything like that. You know, it's such a big opportunity. So obviously I was very hopeful, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.
00:26:34
Speaker 1: Now on to the brew crew. We'll start with one of the heroes, if not the hero of the postseason, Jake Bowers. And he gets right into his at-bat quality and how he was able to put up some of those ridiculous ABs I had to ask him about in the NLCS.
00:26:49
Speaker 9: No, because I mean, there's plenty of strikeouts mixed in there for sure. But I mean, these guys are so good. I think a lot of it just has to do with getting into a certain mental space within the at-bat that can allow you.
00:27:00
Speaker 10: To do that.
00:27:00
Speaker 2: There's times.
00:27:03
Speaker 9: When you get to two strikes and you can't stop faking, that's not really.
00:27:07
Speaker 6: A good spot to be.
00:27:08
Speaker 9: So really it's about trying your best to kind of let your mind go blank and just say, I'm going to battle for as long as it takes.
00:27:16
Speaker 1: And I look at the at-bat with him, whatever, having to cover upper 90s up and in, splitter down and away, but then... Later against like Snell, you still have to do damage and that where you're also in battle mode. What were the differences between maybe those two battle modes and how you're able to pick up the homer there, but also the other one is just grind out as many pitches and draw the walk?
00:27:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:27:36
Speaker 9: I think the Snell at bat, I was looking for a fastball the entire time. And so I was super, super committed to that. I never came off of it. The Yamamoto at bat, I had no idea what he was going to try to do or when he was going to try to do it. So it was really just thought, see the ball and try to get a piece of it.
00:27:56
Speaker 4: Last one, left on left, you've been one of the best in the game. What can you attribute that?
00:28:00
Speaker 1: Because that's something everybody's trying to figure out, right? And seem to have figured it out this season and of course in the postseason soon. What was maybe something you found during the season going into it that allowed you to be so good?
00:28:12
Speaker 9: Getting more at-bats against lefties didn't hurt, for sure. I think I also developed a little bit of an approach off of certain types of lefties that has helped me a little bit. And then at a certain point, it's just about going up and trying to execute.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: Now on to Brewers left-hander D.L. Hall and the changes he made heading into this season. the sinker usage completely changed like obviously using it a ton it's been a ridiculously good weapon for you.
00:28:41
Speaker 2: Yeah um i think obviously the.
00:28:45
Speaker 5: Sinker usage has all went up a lot but i think that just comes from figuring out what works right like you know it's like it's sink or swim you know if you want to stay in the big leagues if you want to have success like you you have to steadily adapt so so whatever is going to help you or play better against your opponent so it's like I think just, like, not being stubborn and just trying to say, like, hey, no, I'm sticking to the four-seam change-up until I'm riding the four-seam 20. It's like, no, if you see that it's wanting to sink, grip the sinker and throw a sinker, right? So it's, like, just not being stubborn and just believing in the process of, like, finding what works and sticking to that and hammering that in.
00:29:31
Speaker 2: And I think, like, I hadn't thrown a sinker since I.
00:29:34
Speaker 5: Think 2018 and uh low a was like my last year throwing it and um I told myself I was never gonna throw it again it's like I get like three homers on it in low as I'm done throwing a sinker but also had a higher arm slot I was younger I didn't have any post or past injuries so it's like you know just figuring out like hey your arm slot's a little lower or or this is different. Your, your hand position is different. Like maybe the four seam doesn't work. So it's like just figuring that out and, and, and just trusting it. Right.
00:30:07
Speaker 2: Once, once I did switch over, it's like just trusting it.
00:30:10
Speaker 5: And like this year throwing the sinker and even going back and forth, there's been a couple of homers I gave up this year on four seamers because it was like, instead of throwing a sinker here, like I'm going to, I'm going to get up top and get a four seam by him. And it's like, You know, so I think it's just a big part of it is just like trusting it, right?
00:30:31
Speaker 2: And I think throughout this year, I've started trusting it more and more. It's been a super big, big note.
00:30:36
Speaker 1: It's a lot easier to be stubborn when you rack up strikeouts at the rate that you did through the minor leagues, though. So, like, was it surprising maybe at some pitches that weren't playing the way that you thought they would at the big league level, given how well, you know, it always played in the minors? And then were there some other pitches that you thought, like the sinker, that maybe wouldn't work as well and have?
00:30:52
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the big thing for me was, you know, obviously I went from, you know, throwing 100 with 19 inches of carry to, you know, throwing low to mid 90s with, you know, 14 inches of carry. So it's like after the injuries, it was like, okay, do I keep fighting it and trying to, like I said, just like trying to get it back? Or do you eventually just say, hey, like this is what I have right now. How do I get outs right now? And I think that's kind of what I did. It was like, how do I get outs in this moment? It's not with a 14-inch foreseam, so find something.
00:31:26
Speaker 1: What was that process of kind of like reinventing yourself a little bit? Because it's almost a different pitching identity, right?
00:31:31
Speaker 2: No, 100%.
00:31:32
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously I went from just like power, fastball, change-up mainly, to sinker, sweeper, cutter sometimes, but mainly like sinker, sweeper, all those things.
00:31:45
Speaker 2: Which was just so much different for me.
00:31:46
Speaker 5: But when I was going through the injuries and the velo dropped, it was like, you know, I have to find ways to get out in that moment.
00:31:53
Speaker 2: Kind of like what I did last year is like find ways to get out, which is what I did. So, yeah, it's been fun. It's been hard, but it's been cool.
00:32:01
Speaker 1: And last one for you, just being able to do that now in the Brewers organization, of course, it's not lost on anybody how good of a job they do to help players reach their potential, but also how much did that maybe help you trust that, okay, I'm going to reinvent myself a little bit here, but I know it's going to work out for the better?
00:32:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
00:32:15
Speaker 5: I think, you know, obviously there's a track record and you trust it. But for me, I think it was more personally just believing in myself and, you know, Trust in my eye. I was like, you know, this looks good. This is working.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: Trust it and buy into it completely.
00:32:33
Speaker 1: Next up, Robert Gasser, another left-hander for the Brewers. Huge outing, of course, against the Dodgers. I had to ask him about in the CS, but also just a great rookie season that I was eager to hear him reflect on. Kind of spread through the finish line. Do you feel like you've just gotten stronger with each start? You know, the moves down the center?
00:32:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been... It's been daily work. You know, it's the.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: Work in which we start that's got me to where I am at this point. And, you know, once we hit the hot stretch, it was really just.
00:33:02
Speaker 2: Trying to ride that as long as I could ride that high.
00:33:05
Speaker 3: Just because, you know, everything was, not everything was working, but, you know, I felt like I was in a really good spot and throwing the ball well and confident.
00:33:13
Speaker 4: So I was just trying to continue that.
00:33:14
Speaker 1: Were there any adjustments that you made just as a pitcher from like before and after or just things that sometimes guys like their slot just naturally changes a little bit?
00:33:23
Speaker 4: Not a ton different.
00:33:24
Speaker 3: I feel like when I first got back last year off of Tommy John, I was a little bit higher slot, but I've kind of gotten back down to my lower slot. But if anything's changed, I'd say probably just increased cutter usage this year. Yeah, the cutter was part of that midseason. It started to really take. and take shape and really, you know, kind of lead the, lead the arsenal. I feel like I was able to throw it to lefties and righties. And then it complements everything else well.
00:33:50
Speaker 1: With how well everything works horizontally, do you think that little bit lower swats helped everything play up in addition to that cutter?
00:33:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:33:56
Speaker 4: You know, it's just a pitch that I feel confident in throwing first strike.
00:33:59
Speaker 9: You know, everything leaves east and west so much that.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: Having a kind of a straighter pitch is able to throw it in any kind of confident thing.
00:34:07
Speaker 1: And then just speaking of confidence, what kind of level of confidence does your last outing give you in terms of doing what you did against the Dodgers?
00:34:15
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:34:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, I couldn't ask for much more. You know, it's what the team needed. It's what I dream of. But, you know, we got another game to go.
00:34:27
Speaker 2: Just let that carry that over.
00:34:28
Speaker 1: And biggest area of growth, maybe just since we're in the minor leagues and now, you know, of course, just finding the success of the big leagues.
00:34:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, the work.
00:34:36
Speaker 3: You know, I feel like it's just setting a new standard for myself every year.
00:34:40
Speaker 2: You know, you reach a goal.
00:34:42
Speaker 4: That's awesome.
00:34:43
Speaker 2: Enjoy the moment. But it's about progressing.
00:34:46
Speaker 3: You know, it's never it's never a finished product and always trying to adapt.
00:34:50
Speaker 1: And, you know. Last but not least, the youngster Cooper Pratt and his development and how quickly he's moved through the minor leagues as a high school draftee.
00:35:02
Speaker 4: Just kind of fun hearing that.
00:35:03
Speaker 1: His perspective on the three pillars and just how the Brewers are so good at developing these young players. Cooper, your development obviously moving pretty quickly through the minor leagues relative to a lot of other high school shortstops.
00:35:14
Speaker 4: Brewers do a great job of developing guys.
00:35:16
Speaker 1: What would you say is like the biggest part of where the Brewers have helped you along the way?
00:35:20
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, when I got drafted, I was maybe like 185 pounds skinny. I mean, I still thought I was really good. I still thought I should have been a first or second rounder. out of high school, but got drafted and then played in the ACL, rookie ball or whatever, and then went to strength camp and put on like 10, 15 pounds, and then off-season put on. Little Warren came back that first year on 200 to 205. I had a good year that first year, and that's one of the blessings of being in this org.
00:35:50
Speaker 2: It's like if you're performing, they'll move you.
00:35:53
Speaker 4: It's not like you're stuck at every level for a year.
00:35:56
Speaker 12: And every year, just being able to lean on them for.
00:36:02
Speaker 2: Weight gain, development.
00:36:05
Speaker 4: They have everything you need.
00:36:08
Speaker 1: I talked to Brenton Del Chiaro a lot about just your development. He always hones in early, especially on the swing decisions. How do you develop that side of your game so much, and how has that gotten so much better for you as you've climbed so quickly?
00:36:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
00:36:20
Speaker 2: They're big on the swing decisions in this organization.
00:36:24
Speaker 4: You got him, Scott.
00:36:25
Speaker 12: I don't have the best swing decisions. I chase a little bit, especially sometimes probably... a little more than other times. But they are big on the swing decisions and the three pillars of contact.
00:36:40
Speaker 2: Swing decisions, and damage.
00:36:42
Speaker 12: And swing decisions being probably the biggest. Because if you look up here, we walk a lot and take our bases.
00:36:49
Speaker 5: And I.
00:36:51
Speaker 12: Know they are big on that. And as you go up, especially here, umpires and lights are so much better.
00:36:58
Speaker 2: It's a little easier.
00:36:59
Speaker 12: Obviously, the pitching was so much better, but it's a little easier to see the ball that's starting on the edge and going away. But they prepare you for that in the minor leagues, and then you get to the big leagues, and it's like, oh, I've done this before.
00:37:16
Speaker 1: Again, hope you all enjoyed this. Hopefully, we'll be able to do more of these types of things at major MLB events and stuff as well. This is the first World Series I've been credentialed for, so it's been really special to be here and trying to get you as much content, information, All that good stuff is possible. Hope you're keeping up with the socials because a lot of videos and stuff that I'll be sending to our team and posting myself will be on the Just Baseball Media socials, whether it's Instagram. Twitter, of course, is always being a machine for us thanks to our guy Addison and the entire team with him and around him. And then, of course, my personal socials as well. But Just Baseball is trying to get you covered, keep you covered on all angles for the World Series and beyond that, but especially for this World Series right here. So very much appreciate you guys watching. joining us for that coverage. I know there's a lot of different places that you could get coverage during the World Series to see how many more people are out here at the press box and all that different stuff when it's these big games.
00:38:08
Speaker 4: So I know there's a lot of.
00:38:09
Speaker 1: Stuff out there and appreciate you coming to us for your World Series content. We'll be with you every game, every step of the way, and look forward to doing that with you through the rest of this World Series and then, of course, the offseason. But until then, We will talk to you guys after game one or two whenever this goes out. Reminder that we're going live every single night, so come hang out with us right after every World Series game.
00:38:29
Speaker 4: Talk to you then.
Speaker 1: Here comes the hook.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Down and in.
00:00:14
Speaker 3: 20 strikeouts.
00:00:15
Speaker 4: He ties the Major League record. Breeze hits it in the air to center.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: We will see you tomorrow night. The impossible has happened.
00:00:30
Speaker 4: Go! Big fly on Tyson. Towards the corner. It's back.
00:00:34
Speaker 5: It's gone.
00:00:35
Speaker 6: Welcome to Slam Diego.
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Bonus edition of the Just Baseball Show. You got Arm Layton here, and I'm at the World Series. I'm in Milwaukee right now. We had media day yesterday, and I tried to get to as many players as I possibly could in the 45-minute window for each team and get some really fun conversations with several different players from both the Brewers and the Rays that I thought you guys would really enjoy. So I stitched them all together and wanted to put it into a bonus episode.
00:01:04
Speaker 4: A couple of my favorites.
00:01:05
Speaker 1: Taylor Walls goes... Like seven minutes of just defensive mastery. It was a full-fledged masterclass on what is going on in his brain at shortstop, but also how he's become the defender that he is. That might be one of my favorite conversations ever. So that was really, really fun. I hope you guys enjoy that. That'll probably be the second or third one that is thrown in here. but also got to talk to Jake Bowers, Robert Gasser, Brian Baker, and his unbelievable change-up in his development.
00:01:32
Speaker 6: D.L.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: Hall and his development as well was really fun to discuss. My guy Liam Hicks and everything from ABS to the added power and never whiffing. And Cooper Pratt, who's one of the youngest guys out here, and just his quick ascension. So many fun conversations that I think you guys will really enjoy. And also, I will say, it is hectic at Media Day, so I apologize if Maybe the sound is a little bit more clear for certain players than others. It's like a mini media scrum at every single player's table and you're nestling your way in there and trying to get your mic to be up close. And then some areas are really loud. Some are not as loud. And I did a little bit of post-production to try to clean up the ones that were in really loud areas, but then that makes it sound a little bit over-modulated, but not going to bore you with all of that. I think I picked my spots. I think we did a decent enough job and hope you guys enjoy all of the different conversations. Of course, because it's me, it's very player development focused. I realized after a couple of the conversations, I was like, I could have asked Liam Hicks about getting acclimated to the Rays, but I just have heard him asked about that so many times. I'm always just going to end up talking about the player development side, like Griffin Jackson, hearing about his transition to a starter was so much fun. I don't think I mentioned him off the top as well and what he's been able to do there. And he was honest about some of his hesitance to make that transition.
00:02:45
Speaker 4: You'd think, you know, most of the relievers like, I want to do it. I want to do it.
00:02:47
Speaker 1: It's usually the team that's like, eh, but that was a little bit of a surprise with the conversation with Jax too. So before I jump into it and just send it right into the first conversation, which I We're going to start with the Rays guys and then it'll kick over to the Brewers guys. So we'll start with Brian Baker and his change up and then on from there because it turned into about a good four or five minute conversation. I do want to say Milwaukee is buzzing. Really cool experience just seeing the way that the community is rallied around and just how excited everybody is. Remember, this is like the 30th ranked media market, but you don't feel it at all because every single person it feels like in that market is so bought in on the Brewers and it is palpable. The other side is the Rays players are so relaxed. I mean, it has been really cool to just see like they have a really strong veteran presence, maybe as much as ever between Yandy Diaz and Cedric Mullins and Nick Martinez has been huge and instrumental for them as well. And he's kind of taken charge in a leadership role as well. But it just seems like this team really jives and everyone's very relaxed. And I think they know that they're kind of the underdogs here, but it doesn't seem like they're really buying into that identity. And you'd almost think they were the heavy favorites with the way they're going about their business. So it'll be fascinating to see how this all unfolds. Obviously Brewers were a clean sweep for us on our picks, uh, in our world series preview, but man, I just keep feeling more and more like this is going to be a really fun world series. So without further delay, here is media day with the Rays and Brewers. When did you realize that this pitch could be like truly special and be one of the more dominant major league baseball?
00:04:22
Speaker 7: Um, yeah, no, I've always, I've always, uh, I've always really liked my changeup. It's been my best pitch, best off-speed pitch of my entire life. It's just finding consistency with it has always been the hard part.
00:04:35
Speaker 4: It's such a field pitch, and.
00:04:38
Speaker 7: A lot of times you're trying to do too much with it or trying to slow your body down too much, and it gets really hard to throw in the zone. So I think over the last year or two, I've really honed in on a comfortable grip. That kind of starts the whole process where you're not like, finding a certain grip in your glove and like having to repeat it as the exact, exact same way every single time to get the same effect where I would see that in the past where it would just be two like totally different pitches from one pitch to the next. Um, so I think the consistency with the grip is really what.
00:05:09
Speaker 4: Started it all.
00:05:10
Speaker 7: And then, um, getting over here and just getting really comfortable throwing it and all kinds of different scenarios where I think early in my career, I would, I would really only throw it if I was up in the count. So, If I got behind a hitter, they were never going to see my best pitch, which is a tough way to exist sometimes as a pitcher. So I think that's kind of flipped over the last year or so. And just being able to use it more effectively, which all stems from being able to throw a first strike.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: And would you say the number one thing that helped you find the consistency really was just kind of how you were grabbing it out of the glove? So what was it exactly that just made you feel like, I've got it every single time? Because like you said, it is such a field pitch.
00:05:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, the grip is.
00:05:49
Speaker 7: It was definitely the biggest part where I was playing catch before spring training last year and the ball just kind of fell into my fingers a different way right before I was about to throw it. It was just super comfortable and it was noticeably sharper, noticeably better. So I was like, I have to try this and try it off the mound and see if I can do it. And it was just like an immediate click. Didn't really have to make any other adjustments other than how I was holding it. So from that point, the consistency definitely took off with it and it's been It's been better since that point.
00:06:20
Speaker 8: For sure.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: How much do you feel like it's made your fastball better, too? Because now guys are trying to make decisions later, probably, so that they're not always expanding and chasing that pitch down.
00:06:29
Speaker 4: And now their fastball is probably getting on them sooner. Have you seen that? Oh, no doubt.
00:06:34
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the percentage usage of the changeup has gone up, obviously, a lot. Probably thrown almost half the time this year, so. you know and still having you know relatively slow change up I think helps you know just the timing window of that and yeah I mean there's there's days there's days as the season goes on that your fastball velo doesn't feel quite as good as other days and I think it helps having obviously having to change up in the zone because you got to respect that and um being able being able to sneak a fastball in there at 94 instead of 98 sometimes it definitely helps and But, yeah, I mean, it all stems from, yeah, the ability to throw the changeup in the zone at any time.
00:07:15
Speaker 4: I feel like changeups more than any other pitch.
00:07:17
Speaker 1: A lot of guys draw inspo from other arms just from seeing the way that they throw theirs. Is that a case for you at all? Was there ever a changeup that you were looking at and said, like, I want to get like that?
00:07:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a good question.
00:07:27
Speaker 7: So I actually have gotten, I've gotten to work out with him in the off seasons for a few years now and got to know him a little bit, but Michael Walker was my answer.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: That's what made me ask you about the fastball because it makes his fastball so much better.
00:07:39
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:07:40
Speaker 7: So way back in when I was in college, still, I was, I was answering questionnaires as my player comp as Michael Walker, because that's right when he was getting good with the Cardinals and he was a fastball changeup guy. And that was basically what I was. And, uh, you know, obviously fast forward 12 years and I, you know, get to work out with him in the off season. Sometimes I get to see it up close and, um, you know, there's obviously some differences in it, but that, that was like one of the first, you know, true inspirations of like a, uh, a fastball changeup guy that I wanted to emulate. And, um, yeah, both us both being all stars this year and both, you know, getting to share that story with him is pretty cool.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Beyond that, where would you say you've grown the most this year? Cause the strikeouts, they've always been there, right? I mean, and I know Kevin was talking about it too. We're just like, Oh, this was a good pitcher. Like, she's like, he's gotten even better with us. But where would you say that area is that you've gotten even better?
00:08:32
Speaker 7: Um, I really just think it's the, uh, it's the consistency aspect of just being able to stay in the zone. Um, I think you, you, you go through, uh, a long MLB season and you go through ups and downs. I mean, everybody does, but it's about making those, those ups and downs, you know, a little bit closer to them, to the mean, to the mean. So I think, you know, when you, when you're, when you're trying to establish yourself as a big leaguer, you want to show that you're consistent and, you know, you, you want the manager to feel comfortable. you know, trust in you that you're going to go out and do something similar every time. Whereas, like, early in my career, it was kind of up and down where one outing I'd feel great, the next one I'd lose feel for the strike zone and, you know, walk two guys and then all of a sudden get taken out of the game. Like, man, I got to just really just avoiding that. And that really all starts with consistency in the delivery and throwing strikes. Mixing speeds, throwing strikes, letting the defense work. You don't have to be– you don't have to strike everybody out. And that's going to help you in the long run.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: How helpful has Snyder been for you? I mean, just being able to work with a guy like that.
00:09:36
Speaker 7: Oh, so helpful, man. Yeah, it's extremely lucky to get traded over here and get to work with him. You know, he's been incredible in terms of, you know, finding tweaks for everybody. You know, I've seen it day in, day out the whole year where he's he's so locked in that with each individual person and what they're doing and um you know instilling confidence in everybody that's that's a huge part of it as well as this you know when you go out there and knowing that you can get the job done uh it makes a big difference.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: Here's ray's shortstop taylor walls and again what was one of my favorite conversations i've had with the player in a little bit at what point you know did you start to realize that you have some special abilities which you love maybe are capable of doing some things on the dirt that you are?
00:10:21
Speaker 8: When I was younger, like, I mean, really little six, seven, eight. I was always playing with guys older than me, but I was always.
00:10:28
Speaker 4: The short side. Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker 8: So the arm strength was always a thing that like when I was younger, like I knew I was hoping it would develop. But as far as just being able to feel the ground ball and get to a ground ball, I felt like even at that age, I could do it better than most people around me.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: I think when I got to the division one level in college, I started.
00:10:50
Speaker 8: Realizing kind of how, not athletic, but kind of how agile it was, how my ability to react in my first step and the quickness and just the agility was kind of a step above most of.
00:11:02
Speaker 4: The other people around me too. But I really don't feel like I turned the page.
00:11:06
Speaker 8: And so I got into professional ball, My backhand got a lot better, and then I started kind of just creating my own way of how I was, my own style, I guess, so to speak, where, you know, I was building a lot of things with one hand. I was, you know, backhanding balls that were right at me. I was just doing a lot of things that were, I feel like I would have been drilled for in a negative way for doing if I was at the college level or something. So I feel like I was able to kind of create my own style when I got to pro ball, and from there just kind.
00:11:35
Speaker 4: Of have those.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: The pyramid always gets thinner and you get to Major League Baseball and almost every shortstop is also incredibly athletic, agile. Is that where, you know, you're grading out as one of the best to do it in a long time. Is that where your instincts feel like kind of separate you? How are you able to now just still be a notch above everybody else at the highest level?
00:11:54
Speaker 4: It's definitely not like athleticism. I promise you that. I'm not faster.
00:11:59
Speaker 8: I'm probably not more athletic than the guys that are in this league. The single-handed thing that I think separates me is what I do before the balls make contact with. Everything that goes into my pre-pitch, the anticipation, I think really just the will and desire of trying to get the best possible jump on every single pitch. I don't want to say that other guys don't do that because I don't quite know. But I just, I know how disciplined I am to doing it. And I would be able to bet that nobody does it more than I do. So, I mean, I think I just, I made that commitment when I was in low A 2018, when I was with Bowling Green. I used to have flashbacks or even in real time, I would dive for a ball and I would miss it. It would roll past me and I wouldn't quite get to it. And I would get up and as I'm like catching the ball from the outfielder, throwing it back into second base, I would have these thoughts in real time of like, dude, I felt so close to that.
00:12:58
Speaker 4: I could have called that ball.
00:13:00
Speaker 8: And I remember I kept asking myself, like, did I get the best jump? Like, did I, did I get the bet?
00:13:05
Speaker 4: Like, did I take the best angle at it? Was I, was I as ready as I could have possibly been for it? Or was I thinking about it in that bat that I had, or was I just not focused?
00:13:14
Speaker 8: Um, and that off season going into that 2018 year, I had that conversation with myself a number of times three years prior to, and I was like, look, this is the one thing, the one question I know where if I ask myself that this year, the answer is going to be I did everything I could possibly do. I was as ready as I possibly could be. I was as focused and locked into this pitch and this specific swing.
00:13:37
Speaker 4: As I possibly could be. I got the best jump I could possibly get.
00:13:40
Speaker 8: I was the most ready I could possibly be for this. There's no question in my mind that that was a base hit if I didn't catch it.
00:13:46
Speaker 4: And I did that every pitch, regardless of.
00:13:49
Speaker 8: If it was, if we were playing in Wisconsin in the snow and we were up 12 runs in the ninth inning, I would remind myself while I was in the field, like, Hey, these ain't the analytics are, they don't see this ball to be any different than if it was a one run ball game in the ninth inning right now, if this, if this ball, if I should catch this ball and I don't catch it, I'm going to get penalized the same way as if there was a one-run game and I missed it. So, like, you can't take plays off now. And I would remind myself that multiple times throughout that season. And that became, I think, where I really started to discipline myself. That's how ready I was every pitch. That's still how ready I am every pitch. And I think, I don't know, there could be, players could be that as well. But I know that nobody's not as ready as I am.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: And because of how intentional you are with every single game rep, do you just feel like now you've seen it all and you've gathered information on pretty much every single battered ball possibility?
00:14:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I've stacked.
00:14:48
Speaker 8: Swings on swings on swings in my head now since 2018. So what is that, eight years? Whether it's BP, guys taking BP, whether it's spring training, whether it's in the offseason when I'm not taking ground balls or I'm going out to FSU and I'm just sitting at shortstop just watching guys take.
00:15:07
Speaker 4: Swings and just letting my eyes and brain just.
00:15:09
Speaker 8: Kind of calculate exactly when the swing's taken, where it went, how that ball's doing, if it's topspun, if it's a three-bouncer like chopper, if it's smoke low. So I just have a ton of information stored in the database in the back of my head of, certain swings, certain timing and how guys trigger their swings. And if they're late, early, their barrel releases, doesn't release. If they slide their hands in, how that makes the ball spin off the bat. I have a number of information that I can pull from that I don't think that deeply about in real time, but it's just that helps the instincts.
00:15:46
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker 4: That's amazing. Last one real quick.
00:15:48
Speaker 1: If there's somehow some aspect of your defensive game that you want to improve upon going into next year, what could that be?
00:15:56
Speaker 8: I think I could always use more work on the routine, kind of slower than routine ball hit to my left towards second. That ball to me is probably the toughest routine ball to field just.
00:16:08
Speaker 4: Because you're moving towards first.
00:16:09
Speaker 8: A lot of times you get to it earlier than you think you're going to, so you feel the ball more in the center of your body than I would like. And that's a ball that you tend to get stuck with two hands on because it's funneled up to you. I think that that ball is I work on it a lot already, but that's the ball that I could continue to grow on really feeling it with one hand on the run, not getting in front of it. The other play, which is more of a this is a tougher play, is the smoke ball that's hit at you on a one hop.
00:16:37
Speaker 4: It's not a short hop. It's not an easy long hop.
00:16:40
Speaker 8: It's a ball that's in between and there's such a small window to do the direct footwork of opening your feet and taking a retreat shuffle back to elongate the hop to get an easy to make it easier play.
00:16:51
Speaker 4: The timing window is so small.
00:16:53
Speaker 8: So where if you don't hammer down, I guess the footwork of that, like in the off season, or you don't work on it, you're going to miss that window when the game comes and you're going to have still feet.
00:17:03
Speaker 4: You're going to try to pick it.
00:17:04
Speaker 8: You might pick it 6% or 60% of the time, but those are the two plays.
00:17:08
Speaker 2: I probably would.
00:17:08
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for the masterclass. I appreciate it.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: Here's Ray's right-hander Griffin Jacks. Making that transition from reliever to starter, and then in a year now where the season ends up being longer, you've still done a little bit back and forth, and I'm sure that's been extremely valuable. How have you kind of shouldered that load in that transition, and how did you play in the offseason?
00:17:29
Speaker 10: Was that something that you kind of knew you were ready to do? We talked about it a little bit in the offseason, but when I got the call to go play for Mark DeRosa in the World Bedfellow Classic, I thought, you know, I'm just going to focus on being a reliever right now. And I thought at this point in my career, that's probably where I was going to end up being. But the opportunity came back up again in the early of the season where we had a couple guys go down and we had a good chunk of the season show itself that I could potentially make the move. And I did, good leap of faith, but with the help of the organization and guys like Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez, who had done the transition before in the past, I felt like I had some really good resources there.
00:18:09
Speaker 6: But it's been a learning process.
00:18:11
Speaker 4: There's some bumps along the way, but I felt like it was a relatively smooth transition.
00:18:15
Speaker 10: I didn't think when we did this, I didn't know how I was going to feel at the end of the season after a full year of starting and a new innings workload max. But I still feel very strong and ready to go. And the energy and adrenaline of the playoffs has definitely helped. What's the difference in terms of how you feel going into the outing? Obviously, a little bit more time to prepare. I believe you're kind of ready to go any day.
00:18:38
Speaker 4: What's your mindset? What's been the shift there for you to compare it as a starter? I try to keep it the same.
00:18:44
Speaker 10: There's some starters, you know, that I've been around in the past that have, you know, they make that one day so special.
00:18:50
Speaker 4: So, you know, it mounts up to so much energy. I don't really like that.
00:18:56
Speaker 10: I like the only thing I liked about being a leader was every single day I felt like I could make an impact on the ballgame. So I just try to keep that mentality. I know it's not the same, but I just like to keep it the same every single day. and treat my start day just like I normally would every day.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: Pitch tweaks a little bit in terms of usage, like sleeper down a little bit in terms of usage. It was sinker up, if I remember correctly, or sinkers up? All foursame up a little bit, change of up for sure. Was that as part of, you know, just turning lineups over more, or was that going to be a general change regardless of raw?
00:19:26
Speaker 10: I think it's for sure more about being in the rotation.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: You got to show guys different stuff.
00:19:31
Speaker 10: Obviously, everybody knows for the most part, my signature pitch is my sweeper. But you can't lean on it three times to the order. Even big league hitters, after one or two times, they're going to make an adjustment. So there's just the foundation of knowing that I still got four or five but really I got other pitches.
00:19:49
Speaker 4: Make sure we show those.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: What did you feel like you gained the most confidence in with that arsenal? Because of course, usage goes down with some of your more frequently used pitches. Others go up the curve ball. You introduced a little bit more too. Was there one that you felt like, hey, I'm actually liking the usage of this a little bit more than I thought?
00:20:03
Speaker 4: Changed up for sure.
00:20:05
Speaker 8: Last year, I bumped it up a little bit with usage and I saw really good results there.
00:20:10
Speaker 4: So it's just.
00:20:11
Speaker 10: Nice mentally knowing that you don't have to throw one pitch to get guys out.
00:20:15
Speaker 1: And then just what you've learned about yourself now, like going into whatever role it might be next year. Is there anything that you just realized in this season and now doing some things that you haven't been able to or haven't had the opportunity to do in the past that you feel like you learned about Griffin Jackson pushing?
00:20:29
Speaker 10: I mean, before I did the transition, I was a little hesitant to do it for physical reasons. But yeah, now after doing it for a full year, I'm excited for a full offseason of training for this and ready to see how much I can handle next year.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Next up, Rays catcher Liam Hicks. Starting with just the way that you've been able to add power, have it really not come at the expense of your elite bats of all at all. Like what was the process of that through the off season? And like, how confident were you that, okay, I'm going to bring in this big leg kick. I know you did it in the past, but like that I can also still maintain my elite strength that I have as well of contact.
00:21:05
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think going into the off season, the thought process and what Miami kind of came to me was with, was like, we're okay to sacrifice a little bit of the bat to ball if you can impact the ball a little bit more.
00:21:17
Speaker 6: So I was definitely into that.
00:21:21
Speaker 11: As a hitter, I felt like I had an okay season last year, but I felt like I knew I could be better.
00:21:26
Speaker 6: So then, yeah, adding the leg kick was able to pull the ball a little bit better.
00:21:31
Speaker 11: Honestly, yeah, I didn't think that I would be able to keep the bat-to-ball quite that high, but luckily, I don't know how, but it's been better, so it's good.
00:21:39
Speaker 1: What was the process of grinding out that leg kick? Because I imagine the number one thing is just reps of it and being comfortable with it. It helps that you did it in the past as well, but how much did that allow you to add more power and get into your lower half? How many reps did it take to feel comfortable with it again?
00:21:57
Speaker 6: It was definitely an evolution.
00:21:58
Speaker 11: You know, I think if you go through like the video from the start of the offseason to the end, it definitely got bigger and bigger as the offseason went on. So it was something that I didn't know if it would work. But once I started to face live pitching and had had a little bit of success and was like, OK, I'm not just, you know, diving way out in front. I'm actually able to stay back and adjust. I felt like I was pretty confident in it and then felt like when I got to spring training, I had a lot of success and felt really comfortable with it and I could tell that it was going to improve some things.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: Was there like a cue that you found? Because that's the number one thing I think of too. I'll get PCA as well. It kind of added that big leg kick too, or the ability to still hold your backside.
00:22:38
Speaker 4: This stuff is so good now.
00:22:40
Speaker 1: Like the way that pitchers can tunnel with spin and change-ups and everything to still be able to hold that backside when your leg gets that high.
00:22:46
Speaker 4: Yeah. How'd you find that? It's tough.
00:22:48
Speaker 11: That's definitely something that I've had to, you know, adjust with the whole season. You know, you go through ups and downs in the season and, and have to find certain things that help and don't help. So, you know, as the season went on, I started to just kind of get up there and hang and, you know, I was getting stuck back or maybe falling forward. So, you know, front knee to back knee was kind of some of the thought that I had maybe getting that left butt cheek or that left back pocket to the pitcher kind of helped in holding that forward move for sure.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: And then just what you've been able to just develop in terms of the defensive side of things this year. Of course, you've got to crash course a new pitching staff and everybody around the team is just– giving you so much praise for how you were able to do that, but also just in general developing at the start of the season going into the year. What were you focused on developing when you were in with the Marlins going into the season? And then quickly, how are you able to then on the more mental side of the game crash course a whole new staff?
00:23:43
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think definitely I knew the defense was something that I'm going to need to improve on. That's something that I've my whole career, even the minor leagues. That was something that was always like the knock on me. You know, is he going to be able to stick a catcher? So I think that's something I'm constantly trying to improve on. Obviously, framing is the number one thing. You know, worked on that a ton this offseason, more than any offseason I ever have in the past. And then throwing as well. I really dove in. Luckily, the Marlins really helped me. They gave me a ton of resources in like a throwing program and all that stuff.
00:24:17
Speaker 6: So that's something that I worked on a ton.
00:24:19
Speaker 11: And I think as the season's gone on, as I've gotten more reps, that's definitely something that I've improved upon, you know, I'm not going to have the best arm in the league or anything like that, but hopefully I can just become one of the more accurate throwers, and I feel like that's something that I've gotten better at.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: I feel like you've been pretty locked in on ABS, too. Pretty good success rate. Some big high-leverage ABS challenges that have gone your way, too. Is that just something you got more comfortable with as the year progressed? And also, knowing when to deploy it is a whole different thing, too.
00:24:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think there's two things.
00:24:50
Speaker 11: I think there's knowing when to deploy it, when it's a high-leverage situation, when the it's.
00:24:55
Speaker 6: Really going to impact the game.
00:24:56
Speaker 11: You know, you're not going to want to use it with no one on and, you know, two outs and, you know, it's an O2 count or something like that.
00:25:04
Speaker 6: So that's one thing.
00:25:05
Speaker 11: And then another thing is knowing where you're good and where you're bad, you know, around the zone framing wise. So, you know, I know I struggle in a certain part of the zone more than others.
00:25:16
Speaker 6: So I know that when an ump calls a pitch, they are a ball.
00:25:19
Speaker 11: There's going to be a higher likelihood that it's a strike than maybe a certain other part where I really, exceed and do well so I think that's something that I've learned as the years gone on you know you can see my challenges are more so on the on the glove side than on the the arm side for me so it's something that I've I've noticed.
00:25:37
Speaker 1: Last one for you just going back to the rule five is you had not played above double a right at the time that you were selected did you think you were going to be taking the rule five how much were you paying attention to that like what was that whole process for you like to then find out you got a chance to you know make a big league team right after that.
00:25:52
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, obviously I knew about the Rule 5.
00:25:55
Speaker 11: I knew that it was possible, but I know that catchers don't usually get.
00:26:00
Speaker 6: Picked in that.
00:26:00
Speaker 11: It's very rare for catchers to get picked, so I really didn't think it was much of a possibility. I was kind of just relaxing at home the day before, and my AA manager from Texas called me where he texted me and said that he heard from some teams, and they were asking about me.
00:26:18
Speaker 6: And then he was really excited for me. And I was like, oh, dang, I.
00:26:21
Speaker 11: Guess this maybe this is possible. You know, you don't want to get your hopes up or anything like that. You know, it's such a big opportunity. So obviously I was very hopeful, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.
00:26:34
Speaker 1: Now on to the brew crew. We'll start with one of the heroes, if not the hero of the postseason, Jake Bowers. And he gets right into his at-bat quality and how he was able to put up some of those ridiculous ABs I had to ask him about in the NLCS.
00:26:49
Speaker 9: No, because I mean, there's plenty of strikeouts mixed in there for sure. But I mean, these guys are so good. I think a lot of it just has to do with getting into a certain mental space within the at-bat that can allow you.
00:27:00
Speaker 10: To do that.
00:27:00
Speaker 2: There's times.
00:27:03
Speaker 9: When you get to two strikes and you can't stop faking, that's not really.
00:27:07
Speaker 6: A good spot to be.
00:27:08
Speaker 9: So really it's about trying your best to kind of let your mind go blank and just say, I'm going to battle for as long as it takes.
00:27:16
Speaker 1: And I look at the at-bat with him, whatever, having to cover upper 90s up and in, splitter down and away, but then... Later against like Snell, you still have to do damage and that where you're also in battle mode. What were the differences between maybe those two battle modes and how you're able to pick up the homer there, but also the other one is just grind out as many pitches and draw the walk?
00:27:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:27:36
Speaker 9: I think the Snell at bat, I was looking for a fastball the entire time. And so I was super, super committed to that. I never came off of it. The Yamamoto at bat, I had no idea what he was going to try to do or when he was going to try to do it. So it was really just thought, see the ball and try to get a piece of it.
00:27:56
Speaker 4: Last one, left on left, you've been one of the best in the game. What can you attribute that?
00:28:00
Speaker 1: Because that's something everybody's trying to figure out, right? And seem to have figured it out this season and of course in the postseason soon. What was maybe something you found during the season going into it that allowed you to be so good?
00:28:12
Speaker 9: Getting more at-bats against lefties didn't hurt, for sure. I think I also developed a little bit of an approach off of certain types of lefties that has helped me a little bit. And then at a certain point, it's just about going up and trying to execute.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: Now on to Brewers left-hander D.L. Hall and the changes he made heading into this season. the sinker usage completely changed like obviously using it a ton it's been a ridiculously good weapon for you.
00:28:41
Speaker 2: Yeah um i think obviously the.
00:28:45
Speaker 5: Sinker usage has all went up a lot but i think that just comes from figuring out what works right like you know it's like it's sink or swim you know if you want to stay in the big leagues if you want to have success like you you have to steadily adapt so so whatever is going to help you or play better against your opponent so it's like I think just, like, not being stubborn and just trying to say, like, hey, no, I'm sticking to the four-seam change-up until I'm riding the four-seam 20. It's like, no, if you see that it's wanting to sink, grip the sinker and throw a sinker, right? So it's, like, just not being stubborn and just believing in the process of, like, finding what works and sticking to that and hammering that in.
00:29:31
Speaker 2: And I think, like, I hadn't thrown a sinker since I.
00:29:34
Speaker 5: Think 2018 and uh low a was like my last year throwing it and um I told myself I was never gonna throw it again it's like I get like three homers on it in low as I'm done throwing a sinker but also had a higher arm slot I was younger I didn't have any post or past injuries so it's like you know just figuring out like hey your arm slot's a little lower or or this is different. Your, your hand position is different. Like maybe the four seam doesn't work. So it's like just figuring that out and, and, and just trusting it. Right.
00:30:07
Speaker 2: Once, once I did switch over, it's like just trusting it.
00:30:10
Speaker 5: And like this year throwing the sinker and even going back and forth, there's been a couple of homers I gave up this year on four seamers because it was like, instead of throwing a sinker here, like I'm going to, I'm going to get up top and get a four seam by him. And it's like, You know, so I think it's just a big part of it is just like trusting it, right?
00:30:31
Speaker 2: And I think throughout this year, I've started trusting it more and more. It's been a super big, big note.
00:30:36
Speaker 1: It's a lot easier to be stubborn when you rack up strikeouts at the rate that you did through the minor leagues, though. So, like, was it surprising maybe at some pitches that weren't playing the way that you thought they would at the big league level, given how well, you know, it always played in the minors? And then were there some other pitches that you thought, like the sinker, that maybe wouldn't work as well and have?
00:30:52
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the big thing for me was, you know, obviously I went from, you know, throwing 100 with 19 inches of carry to, you know, throwing low to mid 90s with, you know, 14 inches of carry. So it's like after the injuries, it was like, okay, do I keep fighting it and trying to, like I said, just like trying to get it back? Or do you eventually just say, hey, like this is what I have right now. How do I get outs right now? And I think that's kind of what I did. It was like, how do I get outs in this moment? It's not with a 14-inch foreseam, so find something.
00:31:26
Speaker 1: What was that process of kind of like reinventing yourself a little bit? Because it's almost a different pitching identity, right?
00:31:31
Speaker 2: No, 100%.
00:31:32
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously I went from just like power, fastball, change-up mainly, to sinker, sweeper, cutter sometimes, but mainly like sinker, sweeper, all those things.
00:31:45
Speaker 2: Which was just so much different for me.
00:31:46
Speaker 5: But when I was going through the injuries and the velo dropped, it was like, you know, I have to find ways to get out in that moment.
00:31:53
Speaker 2: Kind of like what I did last year is like find ways to get out, which is what I did. So, yeah, it's been fun. It's been hard, but it's been cool.
00:32:01
Speaker 1: And last one for you, just being able to do that now in the Brewers organization, of course, it's not lost on anybody how good of a job they do to help players reach their potential, but also how much did that maybe help you trust that, okay, I'm going to reinvent myself a little bit here, but I know it's going to work out for the better?
00:32:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
00:32:15
Speaker 5: I think, you know, obviously there's a track record and you trust it. But for me, I think it was more personally just believing in myself and, you know, Trust in my eye. I was like, you know, this looks good. This is working.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: Trust it and buy into it completely.
00:32:33
Speaker 1: Next up, Robert Gasser, another left-hander for the Brewers. Huge outing, of course, against the Dodgers. I had to ask him about in the CS, but also just a great rookie season that I was eager to hear him reflect on. Kind of spread through the finish line. Do you feel like you've just gotten stronger with each start? You know, the moves down the center?
00:32:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been... It's been daily work. You know, it's the.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: Work in which we start that's got me to where I am at this point. And, you know, once we hit the hot stretch, it was really just.
00:33:02
Speaker 2: Trying to ride that as long as I could ride that high.
00:33:05
Speaker 3: Just because, you know, everything was, not everything was working, but, you know, I felt like I was in a really good spot and throwing the ball well and confident.
00:33:13
Speaker 4: So I was just trying to continue that.
00:33:14
Speaker 1: Were there any adjustments that you made just as a pitcher from like before and after or just things that sometimes guys like their slot just naturally changes a little bit?
00:33:23
Speaker 4: Not a ton different.
00:33:24
Speaker 3: I feel like when I first got back last year off of Tommy John, I was a little bit higher slot, but I've kind of gotten back down to my lower slot. But if anything's changed, I'd say probably just increased cutter usage this year. Yeah, the cutter was part of that midseason. It started to really take. and take shape and really, you know, kind of lead the, lead the arsenal. I feel like I was able to throw it to lefties and righties. And then it complements everything else well.
00:33:50
Speaker 1: With how well everything works horizontally, do you think that little bit lower swats helped everything play up in addition to that cutter?
00:33:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:33:56
Speaker 4: You know, it's just a pitch that I feel confident in throwing first strike.
00:33:59
Speaker 9: You know, everything leaves east and west so much that.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: Having a kind of a straighter pitch is able to throw it in any kind of confident thing.
00:34:07
Speaker 1: And then just speaking of confidence, what kind of level of confidence does your last outing give you in terms of doing what you did against the Dodgers?
00:34:15
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:34:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, I couldn't ask for much more. You know, it's what the team needed. It's what I dream of. But, you know, we got another game to go.
00:34:27
Speaker 2: Just let that carry that over.
00:34:28
Speaker 1: And biggest area of growth, maybe just since we're in the minor leagues and now, you know, of course, just finding the success of the big leagues.
00:34:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, the work.
00:34:36
Speaker 3: You know, I feel like it's just setting a new standard for myself every year.
00:34:40
Speaker 2: You know, you reach a goal.
00:34:42
Speaker 4: That's awesome.
00:34:43
Speaker 2: Enjoy the moment. But it's about progressing.
00:34:46
Speaker 3: You know, it's never it's never a finished product and always trying to adapt.
00:34:50
Speaker 1: And, you know. Last but not least, the youngster Cooper Pratt and his development and how quickly he's moved through the minor leagues as a high school draftee.
00:35:02
Speaker 4: Just kind of fun hearing that.
00:35:03
Speaker 1: His perspective on the three pillars and just how the Brewers are so good at developing these young players. Cooper, your development obviously moving pretty quickly through the minor leagues relative to a lot of other high school shortstops.
00:35:14
Speaker 4: Brewers do a great job of developing guys.
00:35:16
Speaker 1: What would you say is like the biggest part of where the Brewers have helped you along the way?
00:35:20
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, when I got drafted, I was maybe like 185 pounds skinny. I mean, I still thought I was really good. I still thought I should have been a first or second rounder. out of high school, but got drafted and then played in the ACL, rookie ball or whatever, and then went to strength camp and put on like 10, 15 pounds, and then off-season put on. Little Warren came back that first year on 200 to 205. I had a good year that first year, and that's one of the blessings of being in this org.
00:35:50
Speaker 2: It's like if you're performing, they'll move you.
00:35:53
Speaker 4: It's not like you're stuck at every level for a year.
00:35:56
Speaker 12: And every year, just being able to lean on them for.
00:36:02
Speaker 2: Weight gain, development.
00:36:05
Speaker 4: They have everything you need.
00:36:08
Speaker 1: I talked to Brenton Del Chiaro a lot about just your development. He always hones in early, especially on the swing decisions. How do you develop that side of your game so much, and how has that gotten so much better for you as you've climbed so quickly?
00:36:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
00:36:20
Speaker 2: They're big on the swing decisions in this organization.
00:36:24
Speaker 4: You got him, Scott.
00:36:25
Speaker 12: I don't have the best swing decisions. I chase a little bit, especially sometimes probably... a little more than other times. But they are big on the swing decisions and the three pillars of contact.
00:36:40
Speaker 2: Swing decisions, and damage.
00:36:42
Speaker 12: And swing decisions being probably the biggest. Because if you look up here, we walk a lot and take our bases.
00:36:49
Speaker 5: And I.
00:36:51
Speaker 12: Know they are big on that. And as you go up, especially here, umpires and lights are so much better.
00:36:58
Speaker 2: It's a little easier.
00:36:59
Speaker 12: Obviously, the pitching was so much better, but it's a little easier to see the ball that's starting on the edge and going away. But they prepare you for that in the minor leagues, and then you get to the big leagues, and it's like, oh, I've done this before.
00:37:16
Speaker 1: Again, hope you all enjoyed this. Hopefully, we'll be able to do more of these types of things at major MLB events and stuff as well. This is the first World Series I've been credentialed for, so it's been really special to be here and trying to get you as much content, information, All that good stuff is possible. Hope you're keeping up with the socials because a lot of videos and stuff that I'll be sending to our team and posting myself will be on the Just Baseball Media socials, whether it's Instagram. Twitter, of course, is always being a machine for us thanks to our guy Addison and the entire team with him and around him. And then, of course, my personal socials as well. But Just Baseball is trying to get you covered, keep you covered on all angles for the World Series and beyond that, but especially for this World Series right here. So very much appreciate you guys watching. joining us for that coverage. I know there's a lot of different places that you could get coverage during the World Series to see how many more people are out here at the press box and all that different stuff when it's these big games.
00:38:08
Speaker 4: So I know there's a lot of.
00:38:09
Speaker 1: Stuff out there and appreciate you coming to us for your World Series content. We'll be with you every game, every step of the way, and look forward to doing that with you through the rest of this World Series and then, of course, the offseason. But until then, We will talk to you guys after game one or two whenever this goes out. Reminder that we're going live every single night, so come hang out with us right after every World Series game.
00:38:29
Speaker 4: Talk to you then.
