The Shrewdness sits down with Minor League LHP Matt Cronin and talks about Spring Training, his time with the Razorbacks, and rehabbing from injury.
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Hey, Shrewdness fans, welcome to another edition of the
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Shrewdness Podcast. I'm Prue, joined by Chiz and a
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guest this week. Dex is in the middle of Missouri
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somewhere, driving home, so he'll join us again next week.
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He got stranded by Frontier negative, negative publicity for
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Frontier on shrewdness here he's.
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Supposed to be in the air right now, he's instead he flew
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halfway home and then gets to drive the rest.
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So he's now in spring training actually.
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So he'll have some good spring training stories for us next
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week. I'm going to toss it over to
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Chiz, have him introduce our guest tonight.
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All right, yes. So this week we got a special
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guest, my relative we are lucky to have on the show,
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professional baseball player and future Hall of Famer Matt
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Cronin. Matt.
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Matt. Yeah, there's the applause.
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There's the applause. So Matt, to give you guys some
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background, he's been a minor league pitcher since 2021.
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Is that right, Matt? I think I got that right.
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20/20/19 was my first year for that.
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Oh, that's right. You started in 2019.
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That's right. Before that, he pitched 3 years
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at Arkansas for the Razorbacks, including in a College World
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Series, which we'll talk about a little bit.
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Most recently was with AAA Tacoma and the Mariners
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organization and then last last year had an injury and Tommy
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John surgery. So now he's currently rehabbing
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for Tommy John surgery in the process of building that back up
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and we'll see where he goes after this.
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So Matt, welcome to the shrewdness.
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Thank you for coming. Awesome, thanks for having me.
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We are. We got a bunch of baseball fans
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that listen to us and big baseball, big football fans, and
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we're super excited to get to talk to somebody who has
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experienced a little bit of spring because everybody's in
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this in the time of year right now where they've got like
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spring fever, spring training kicking in and wanted to start
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just asking you a couple questions about that.
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So spring training, right, First off, let's go real basic.
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How does housing work in spring training?
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Like, how do you, how do you do you guys?
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Like, do you guys all rent places?
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Do you room with people? Does the club give you places to
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live? How's that work?
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Yeah. So I guess for spring training,
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since that's technically not during the season, yeah, you
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have to find your own housing. So me and my wife, we were in
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Arizona with Mariners last year and we got a little Airbnb for a
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little while, but also for some of the younger guys there too.
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Like they'll put you in a hotel and they'll give you a roommate
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and stuff. It was just I didn't want a
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roommate. I had my wife with me so we
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opted to get our own place. Totally understand.
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Understandably, that'd be a little awkward, I would imagine
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having a roommate with you and your wife.
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So they do, they do. That's who they kind of OK,
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that's cool. They provide you with that.
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That's cool. So what's a day in the life like
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when you go to spring training? How does it start out?
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Kind of how does it progress? You know, do you guys have stuff
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that you do the first couple weeks you're there?
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What's a What's a kind of one-on-one?
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Yeah, so really, there's two different lives you can live in
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spring training. You get invited to big league
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camp. You're living the life you get.
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You know, you show up at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning, you do
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your stuff and you're out of there by 12:30, one o'clock.
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But minor league camps, a different beast in its own.
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They have you getting there early, early, usually around
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like 637 o'clock, and then you're there until 3 or 4 most
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days. And they just try to keep you
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around and they don't want you doing too much on your own.
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Interesting, interesting. So when you, if you get to go up
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to the to the majors spring camp, that's that's kind of nice
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little benefit because you're going to be you're going to have
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a little more free time. Yeah, it's, I mean you get a
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little more free. Time work day gets cut in half
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pretty much. It's in a lot of ways it does
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because when you're in the minor league camp, you're working with
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a lot of these. You know, you have some 16 and
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17 year old teammates that are coming from a Latin American
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country and you know, they're insanely talented players.
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They just haven't necessarily had the fundamentals of baseball
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and stuff like that. So that it's my only camps.
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A lot of like, hey, we're going to sit here, we're going to talk
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about what we're doing and why we're doing it.
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Whereas the big league camp, they expect you to know what
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you're doing and they expect you to be a professional.
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And so you kind of get in there, get your work in and get out.
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And there's not much, not as much instruction that's going on
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when big league camp. Interesting how many guys are
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typically invited to camp. Yeah.
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So for the big league camp invites, you get the 26, well
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it's 26 roster invite these guys who are already on the roster
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and then usually they'll they'll usually bring like 15 to 20 non
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roster invite guys who have a chance of trying to make the
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team out of spring training and stuff like that.
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And then minor league is there, is there?
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How many do they usually bring in for a minor league camp?
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So minor league is a little bit interesting because they'll
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bring a lot of the top prospects and guys who didn't get invited
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to big league camp, but you know, they're they want to keep
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them under an eye and stuff. They'll bring them in two weeks
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early from the report date for minor leagues, which is usually
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somewhere between like March 3rd and March 6th, but they'll bring
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them in mid late February and let them get kind of accustomed
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before the whole camp shows up. OK.
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And when you're in minor league camp, are they doing the same
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thing? Like, are you guys, do you guys
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play, play games then do you have like a, a schedule of games
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that you're playing, like inner squad, split squad, all that
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stuff? Yeah, so it's, I think it's
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about a week after the minor league camp starts.
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So usually around March 10th, yeah, they they'll have three or
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four games going every day between they'll call it the AAA
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game or the AA game or the single A game, rookie ball game
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and stuff like that. But sometimes they'll throw guys
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around just depending on the workload that they need to get
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them. And some some guys like a AAA
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guy who's you know, had time in the show and stuff, they don't
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want to keep them there all day. So they'll let them maybe go
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through the 1st 2 innings of the high a game or something like
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that and then get out of there and call it a day.
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And and how much do so like as a fan, we're like, when you don't
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play like me and Prue, the only thing you have to go by is like,
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you know, watching, watching. But then like stats, like I'm a
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big, we're big stats nerds, right?
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So you learn about stats. How much did the results
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actually matter in spring training versus like, how much
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of it is just people trying to get an idea for what you've got
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and what, you know, what kind of pitches you're working on?
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And, you know, like, are people like, are you concerned about
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your ERA in spring training or is that not really a big deal?
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Yeah. So I mean, that's going to vary
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wildly for every different player.
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So like a guy three or four years ago, Max Scherzer coming
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in, he doesn't care about his ERA.
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And then you get guys who are on the fringe and, you know, they
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maybe play AAA for a few years, but they have a chance of making
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the team with the big league squad.
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Yeah. I mean, putting up numbers and
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performing definitely matters. Yeah, that's interesting and and
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it would make a lot of sense. So can fans come to the minor
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league games too or are those closed off?
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No, they're, they're open. You just got to get your way
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over to the field. And then they usually have,
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they'll have like those little metal temporary fences they'll
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put up in the the walkways for all the fans to walk by.
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And I mean, there's new draft guys walking between the minor
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league fields getting asked for their autograph every day and
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stuff like that. So.
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I bet, I bet. And, and you talked about these
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guys that were coming from like Latin America and I know that's
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a a large portion of people for those guys that come over, do
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they have a lot of interpreters helping them like, you know,
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connect to the rest of the people to most of them speak
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English already. What's the what's the breakdown
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there? So the guys coming from Latin
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America, they, I don't know if I've seen a single guy come over
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with an interpreter. They start trying to teach them
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English pretty early, but then also a lot of the coaches and
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managers in the game now are bilingual and so they'll just,
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they'll translate for if it's needed and stuff like that.
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But you I've really found by the time guys, the Latin American
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guys are like 2324, they are rocking English.
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They they can hold conversations with you and they're doing great
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so. How much?
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How much Spanish do you know? I know a little bit.
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I go through a kick. I, I go through a kick every
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year of trying to learn a little more.
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I I can get by in very minimal phrases, but being fluent I'm
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nowhere near that. No, Yeah, I'm guessing that if
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you know the the five to 10 words that are used most often
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in a baseball game, you're probably right.
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You could probably hang well enough.
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Right, definitely. Have you ever had a primarily
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Spanish speaking catcher? I have actually my first year in
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pro ball when I was in Hagerstown, his name was Israel
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Pineda and he spoke a little bit of English, but it was mostly
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just like, you look good, Poppy, you look good and stuff like
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that. It was never you, you couldn't
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go between like your Arsenal pitches that you throw and stuff
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like that. And so, but I I loved, I loved
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Israel. He was one of my favorite pro
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ball catchers. I've thrown too, so.
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That's really cool. Really cool.
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I always think it's interesting of like you're, you know, you're
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just kind of mashed together with people you've never known,
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maybe you never see again and you just have to like figure out
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how to be a teammate with those guys.
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I think it's a really great skill to have and I'm sure
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something you've had to work on as you've, you know, kind of
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progressed. It's you're constantly shuffled
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in with new team members and all that.
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Kind of a great life skill in general, even for those people
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who who don't end up playing much pro pro ball, right?
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Yeah, no, it definitely is. I just got off a cruise actually
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with my wife and my parents. We were in Colombia and we went
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on an entirely Spanish speaking horseback riding tour.
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And I was our primary line of communication and it was very
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simple phrases, but I got a spot.
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So I was very proud of that so. Yeah, that's awesome.
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That's. Terrific.
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That's awesome. So if do you have a favorite
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spring training stadium in the time that you've been in the
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pros? I definitely, I think I've, I've
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only had one spring training out in Arizona.
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Now I've had six in Florida and I can already tell you I'd
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prefer Arizona spring training. Just with all the ballparks, you
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don't have further than a 40 minute drive in spring training.
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So you get to see all these different teams and you never
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really have to travel across the state or anything like that.
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So I didn't realize that, but you're saying in Florida they're
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all spread out a lot more? Yeah.
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So I was in Florida spring training.
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I was with the Nationals, and we were in West Palm Beach and we
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shared a facility with the Astros.
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And then 15 minutes down the road, up in Jupiter, we had the
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Marlins and Cardinals. And then the next closest one
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was 45 minutes away up in Port, say Lucy, Port St.
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Joe. It was the Mets.
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But then other than that, you got to drive through the
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Everlades, go over to Tampa or you go over to, what is it,
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Lakeland and stuff like that. And so you get some trips where
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they might have you, they might put you in a hotel in spring
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training overnight and stuff like that.
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Oh wow. Yeah, I I figured everything was
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like close to Jupiter is what I had in my head anyway, but OK.
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Everything in Arizona is like right in that, in that
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Metroplex, right? Phoenix area, right in Phoenix,
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yeah, yeah. Who's the most famous ball
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player that you've either shaking hands with or or played
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with maybe on a rehab assignment or something like that?
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No, I've, I've got a few. So in spring training when I
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was, I went to big league camp a couple times with the Nationals,
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I got to be around like Juan Soto Scherzer was around.
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I was never super close with them and Strasburg was there.
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And then also when I was in AAA with the Nationals, Strasburg
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came down on a rehab assignment and so got to know him a little.
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Well, they're pretty well and stuff like that.
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Yeah, that's awesome. Very cool.
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Who's the toughest guy you've had to pitch to trying?
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To think of I, I don't know if anyone just owns me in the pro
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ball level, but there was a going back to Wan Soto, there
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was a inner squad we had where we were just doing simulated
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batting stuff and I was facing them.
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We were starting with a 11 count and I think I threw him like 2
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balls in a row and then I might have walked him on like 3 or 4
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pitches after that, but he just stayed in the box.
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He's like, no, I'm going to keep hitting.
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And so I was forced to just sit there and throw to him and throw
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to him until he. Put the ball in play.
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That's awesome. I'm not taking a walk off this
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guy. Keep throwing.
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How many pitches do you throw Matt I?
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Fluctuate between 3:00 and 4:00. So I've got my fastball
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curveball and then I've I start throwing a forkball, which has
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been a lot of fun to learn and, and to throw when I throw it
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right. And then some years we add the
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slider, some years we take it away.
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It really just depends on what the analytics of the team I'm
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with and what they're they like for me and stuff like that.
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OK, that's interesting. Is that a thing for most
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pitchers? I had never heard that before.
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That's really interesting. Like the taking a pitch in and
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out, is that based on like a pitching coach's decision?
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I, I think it's a little beyond that.
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I think it goes back to the analytic guys who are looking at
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all the numbers and they've got all these machines that they put
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through to see what's going to work and what's going to not
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based off of averages in the past and stuff.
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And so if they see a number on like the Mariners like to my
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slider. And so they wanted me to, you
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know, they wanted me to work with that a little over the
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curveball and stuff like that. But it really just comes down to
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the analytics and what's working at the big league level at that
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time. Wow.
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That's that's super interesting. What what makes that?
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What makes that fork ball work or not work?
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What are some like coaching tips if I wanted to learn how to
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throw a fork ball? Yeah, so I might.
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So I don't even know if I could teach it.
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So it's I, I mean, I get, so I naturally my left hand splits
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way further. So I can really shove that ball
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kind of back in between my fingers.
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And then I might have to send some video to Brant.
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I got some slow MO video, but when I throw it, it slips out
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from the fingers rather than rolling off.
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So it when I throw it, well, it's it's almost like a
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knuckleball. Oh, OK.
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Oh wow. So is that some in some ways
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then that's just like because of your hand, it's like it's not
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like like not everybody's capable because of their just
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the structure of their hand, I guess.
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Is that right? Yeah.
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So I mean, you'll see a lot of pitchers, they're now throwing
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the split fastball, which is basically just taking mine and
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not necessarily shoving it in there.
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But it's, you're taking a lot of spin off the baseball and it's
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still getting that diving action.
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But mine's I, I wouldn't even classify it as a fastball
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anymore. It's it's a knuckleball.
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It's 80 to 84 miles an hour and the spin rates anywhere from 300
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to 800 RPMS, whereas a fastball is going to be 1900 to 2500.
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So. OK.
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So it's almost that's acting like your change up then kind of
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a change up edge for you. I've never been a guy who has
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been able to throw a change up or anything like that.
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And so that's kind of what I we've learned that works well
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for me and I've been able to command it.
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And that's probably the hardest part is just being able to throw
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it near the strike zone because it's just slipping out of your
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fingers. Right.
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Yeah, it's a lot of repetition. I'm guessing you just have to do
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it over and over again until you not get the feel for it.
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Yep. And a little worried now because
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I haven't thrown that since June of last year.
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So we'll have to see how that how quickly I can get that one
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back. Yeah.
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Right. So when you're when you let's
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talk about that, let's talk about the rehab.
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So you had surgery last June, did you say, or July, July,
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mid-july, last July. So for those of us who have not,
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you know, believe it or not, Pruitt and I have not had Tommy
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John surgery, Believe it or not, in my in my, in my job, there's
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not a lot, you know, a lot of this.
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It turns out throwing 75 miles an hour doesn't really tear up
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your elbow, so. No, it really doesn't.
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So, so when you're going through a, when you're going through a
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rehab like this, what are the stages of it?
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So like, how long are you just sitting after you get surgery?
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Like I can't do anything with this arm.
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And then what does it look like when you're coming back?
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What does the schedule look like?
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So it's you wake up from surgery and for me at least, I felt it
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immediately. My arm was just aching.
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It didn't feel like I needed Tommy John before, but when I
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woke up from the surgery, I'm like, I need it now.
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It was everything was just so tight and was pissing me off.
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And but no, that first two weeks you kind of just take it easy.
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You get through your your painkillers and the nerve block
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and all that stuff and then you're in a brace for I want to
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say was 8 weeks. And the brace, they have it like
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locks at the elbow, but then they can slowly increase how
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much you're allowed to move it. So I was stuck at 90° for a week
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or two and then they slowly gave me 10° at a time.
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And those 10° feel like you're straightening your arm the
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entire way. It was crazy how tight your arm
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can feel. I didn't realize.
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Really. Yeah.
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And so. That's like a like all range of
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motion then is is basically how you're trying to achieve that
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first couple months. Yeah, that the first couple
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months I laid on a training table in the training room and
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you just put your arm down and you're just doing that as far as
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you can. And the first first three weeks
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look like this and you feel like you're taking it all the way.
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But it took, it took a probably two or three months to get the
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majority of my range of motion back.
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And then from there that you start doing just a bunch of
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strengthening. You're not necessarily doing
00:18:51
anything on the elbow itself, but you're strengthening the
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stuff around it just to try to make sure it's going to be good
00:18:55
when you do start throwing and stuff like that.
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But it's six months of of just getting the mobility and then
00:19:02
getting some strength back and before you even start throwing
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again. So I just started throwing
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actually in January. OK.
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And how's it feel? How's it feel the first time you
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threw after having that much time off and a brand new elbow?
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Basically, yeah. So I mean, I've obviously met a
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bunch of guys who have gone through Tommy John and I talked
00:19:25
to him about it and stuff and some guys are scared to get back
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up there and to really kind of trust your arm.
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But that first day I started throwing, I was just so excited
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and everything felt good and everything so far has just felt
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so good. And there's not been any kind of
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sore. I mean, no soreness while
00:19:40
throwing. I'll get some soreness day after
00:19:41
and stuff like that right now, but it's just been felt so good
00:19:44
and I've been very excited to keep pushing it further.
00:19:47
Absolutely. That's cool.
00:19:49
Do. You get any swelling in that
00:19:50
elbow or just kind of general soreness from not having worked
00:19:54
it in a while? It's it's just like a general
00:19:56
soreness. I don't know how familiar you
00:19:59
are with the Tommy John procedure, but it's pretty
00:20:01
invasive. They drill like through your
00:20:03
bones and your elbow and wrap a new ligament through there and
00:20:06
right. But no, it's been, it's been
00:20:08
good. It's just you get a little achy
00:20:09
the day after throwing for a while is from what I've heard.
00:20:12
That makes sense. So when you injured it, did you
00:20:16
know right off? Do you know the pitch you did it
00:20:18
on? I do not.
00:20:20
So I actually my third baseman Jack Lopez, who was with me
00:20:23
there in Taco, well, we were in El Paso, but he played for
00:20:25
Tacoma. He probably knew the exact pitch
00:20:28
because he asked me every pitch for like the four or five pitch
00:20:31
leading up to me coming out of the game.
00:20:33
He's like, hey, are you all good?
00:20:34
You good? Like something wrong?
00:20:36
And I was like, no, I'm good. And I was, I was cruising and
00:20:38
then out of nowhere I just, the ball was sailing high and high
00:20:42
and outside and I could not throw strikes.
00:20:44
And it just wasn't feeling very good and called out the training
00:20:48
staff and took a couple Mris. But we realized I need to have
00:20:52
the surgery done. Oh wow.
00:20:54
Wow. So it's a little bit different
00:20:56
than, you know, like some injuries like people are like,
00:20:59
boom. Oh, immediately I knew like that
00:21:01
was it? Because that's not necessarily
00:21:02
the case with this. No, no, I'm thankful that too.
00:21:06
I've seen some of those videos of those pictures who you know,
00:21:09
they snap it and then they know immediately and they're in pain.
00:21:12
I was, there's nothing like that.
00:21:14
It was just from what my surgeon said, he's my UCL, looked good
00:21:19
in normal Mris, but then we put me in a stress position and once
00:21:22
I was stressed in the MRI, he was like, yeah, it's fully off
00:21:25
the bone. So I was really only feeling the
00:21:28
effects during a pitching motion.
00:21:29
It didn't really affect me in any other daily life and stuff
00:21:32
like that. That's really interesting.
00:21:35
Is that is that the only mechanism that that causes a
00:21:40
Tommy John is the ligament pulling off the bone or can you
00:21:43
actually RIP that ligament? That'd be a great question for
00:21:47
my surgeon. I really, I really don't.
00:21:50
Know All right, we'll strike that one.
00:21:53
That's awesome. So, so back-to-back to baseball
00:22:00
this year, World Baseball Classic.
00:22:02
You a fan? What do you what do you think of
00:22:04
the World Baseball Classic and how it interacts with, you know,
00:22:07
spring training in the clubs? I I mean, I haven't heard anyone
00:22:13
talk negatively about it. I've always been a fan of it.
00:22:15
I think it's a great way to grow the game.
00:22:16
And, you know, you get all these smaller countries that are being
00:22:19
represented by big leaguers and stuff that, yeah, I mean, just
00:22:23
people get excited for it. And obviously the viewership
00:22:25
probably shows for it and stuff like that too.
00:22:27
So I would love to play in it. I mean, but as an American,
00:22:30
that's going to be tough for me to get there, so.
00:22:36
Yeah, there's some stiff competition for those 8 or 10
00:22:39
spots or whatever it. Is we were we were looking at
00:22:41
that the roster this year. It's ridiculous.
00:22:44
It's it's they look so stacked this year.
00:22:48
And then, you know, you see some of these other countries and
00:22:50
it's like they're going to they're going to be in for a a
00:22:52
long, long game against some of these guys.
00:22:55
Yeah, it is cool to see the the countries and represent and I
00:22:59
agree. I love how it's seems to like be
00:23:01
growing the game and and getting more interest.
00:23:03
I think that's kind of cool about it.
00:23:05
Yeah, definitely. What do you think of the
00:23:07
challenge? The new the new challenge will
00:23:09
now you've experienced it already in the minors, right?
00:23:12
So you've got you've got some experience with it.
00:23:16
What do what do you think about it as a pitcher and what are
00:23:18
what's the players take on it I. Don't think I've really seen
00:23:22
many people who have been too opposed to it in the baseball
00:23:24
world, and as a pitcher I've definitely learned leave it up
00:23:28
to your catcher. They've got a way better eye for
00:23:30
the zone. As a pitcher, you get, you get a
00:23:33
little, you think something's a strike or your catcher makes it
00:23:36
look good. And so you're like, oh, that was
00:23:38
a strike, but your catcher knows really well and stuff like that.
00:23:41
So I've learned just leave it to the catcher.
00:23:43
Catcher's going to catcher's in your best interest.
00:23:45
They know usually the right time to do it.
00:23:48
Pitchers get emotional and stuff like that.
00:23:49
And there's no reason to challenge in the 4th inning when
00:23:52
you're up by 6 to 0 or down 6 to 0 or something like that, so.
00:23:57
Right. Just leave it to the catchers,
00:23:58
they're probably going to be in your best interest.
00:24:00
But there's got to be times when you're like, that was a strike,
00:24:04
David. I know that was a strike.
00:24:06
Oh no. Right.
00:24:09
No, no, definitely. There's ones you you definitely
00:24:11
want to challenge, but that that first time you, you give your
00:24:14
head pat and then you look up on the board and it was 3 inches
00:24:17
off the plate. You're like, I'm never doing
00:24:19
that again. So or your or your catcher
00:24:23
immediately is like no. Yeah.
00:24:29
I'll tell you though, the worst feeling I've had with the with
00:24:32
the challenge call so far is I had a guy, 32 and I threw a
00:24:35
pitch and I knew it was a ball, but the umpire rung him up.
00:24:38
Hitter just immediately tapped the head.
00:24:40
You look up on the board, it's a ball you get.
00:24:41
Started base so Oh no, totally. And you know, right, you're
00:24:48
like, Oh, no, that that was a ball.
00:24:50
Yeah, no, you know, you're just looking at the board for
00:24:52
confirmation. But I was like, yeah, no, that
00:24:53
was 2 balls off the plate. The umpire just gave me a good
00:24:56
call, so I think you're going to lose a lot of that now.
00:25:00
Most guys run out of their challenge early.
00:25:02
Right. Yeah.
00:25:03
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's, it's interesting
00:25:06
because as a fan, you know, we're, we get the benefit, watch
00:25:11
it on TV and they've got the box and it's like, you know, oh,
00:25:15
that was clearly a strike. And it's like so obvious to us.
00:25:18
But you know, when you're, when you're there alive.
00:25:21
And I know the umpires have a super hard job, but I I think it
00:25:24
will make the game better too, because there have there's so
00:25:27
many like critical situations when you're like, you got to be
00:25:30
kidding me. Like, you know, it extends an
00:25:32
inning. It should have been a strikeout
00:25:34
and you know, everything blows up, right?
00:25:38
Yeah, it seems like every every sport is kind of adopted
00:25:42
technology. And so I feel like baseball had
00:25:45
to do something like that. They've, they've started, you
00:25:48
know, with the challenges at first base and all that and
00:25:51
stolen bases, you know, slow MO replays in the NBA and, and even
00:25:57
in hockey and stuff like that or have been a thing for a while
00:25:59
now. So I feel like baseball has to
00:26:01
give something to to kind of start adopting technology and
00:26:06
otherwise it's going to fall behind as far as the fans and,
00:26:10
and the accuracy of the umpiring and so forth.
00:26:14
One thing I don't like though, is I, I have to say the stolen
00:26:18
base thing because they got the ultra slow MO frame by frame and
00:26:23
like guys will have a base totally stolen and they'll just
00:26:26
like pop up for like a not even a half a second.
00:26:29
Like their body moves off the base and they have the tag on
00:26:32
them and they're like, oh, you're out.
00:26:33
I'm like, come on. Like, I don't think that's, that
00:26:36
was the purpose of, of replay. You know, where are you?
00:26:39
Where do you stand on pitch clock as a pitcher?
00:26:42
You like it or not? You're going to get a lot of
00:26:46
mixed views on this. For me personally, I work very
00:26:49
quick pitch clock is almost never yeah, you do for me.
00:26:53
So I I really don't mind it and I'm all in favor for a shorter
00:26:58
game, especially when you're a relief pitcher and you're
00:27:00
sitting there for 130 games out in the bullpen for the entire
00:27:04
summer and that stuff. So I'm a I'm a fan for the 2 1/2
00:27:08
hour games, whereas before the pitch clock, I can remember it
00:27:11
was pretty common to have a four hour plus game and you're just
00:27:14
sitting there and you're just want it to be over because you
00:27:16
know you're playing again the next day and stuff like that.
00:27:19
But the outside team made-up in Rochester a couple years ago,
00:27:22
Tyler Clippard, who was a long time and will be better in that
00:27:26
guy. You couldn't even talk about the
00:27:28
pitch clock without him going off.
00:27:29
He he hated it. But if you go look at some of
00:27:32
his videos and stuff, he's the guy who's coming set and he's
00:27:36
doing all these like he has to do like 18 movements before he
00:27:38
comes set and stuff like that. But nothing against him.
00:27:40
I mean, he was, he was a great teammate and stuff like that,
00:27:43
but he hated the pitch clock and it was hilarious to talk to him
00:27:46
about it. Totally, totally.
00:27:50
I went to, I went to a game when I was in in college and Tom
00:27:56
Candiotti was the pitcher and he was a knuckleballer.
00:27:59
Yeah. And I guess when you're a
00:28:01
knuckleballer, one of the things I've heard is, is, you know,
00:28:05
they would take more time in between the pitches.
00:28:07
They didn't want people to like, see, see the pitch
00:28:10
consecutively. More time the better.
00:28:12
So he would take forever in between pitches.
00:28:16
I mean, it was like, Oh my God. Like it seemed like an eternity.
00:28:20
And you're, you know, sitting there as a fan, like, come on,
00:28:23
man, throw it. And then he would throw it first
00:28:25
a few times and then he would. It was like he was extending as
00:28:29
long as possible between pitches, so the batter didn't
00:28:34
get to see that much. But from a fan standpoint, it's
00:28:36
nice. But I didn't know like, from a
00:28:38
pitcher's standpoint, how it felt.
00:28:40
No, you you definitely remember. Would you say Tyler's opinion is
00:28:47
a rare perspective or do a lot of a lot of pitchers feel the
00:28:50
same way? I would most, I don't see too
00:28:54
many pitch clock violations now. So I don't think many of the
00:28:56
pitch, I think they've adjusted pretty well to it and they're
00:28:59
doing pretty well, Yeah. But yeah, no, those guys who
00:29:04
take forever, we have a nickname for them.
00:29:05
We call them the Human Rain Delay.
00:29:07
Yes, that used to be Garcia Para, right?
00:29:13
Was he the first human rain delay?
00:29:16
I thought he was only batting gloves and all that.
00:29:18
I don't know. Oh.
00:29:19
Yeah, he would. He would take.
00:29:21
Forever in the batter's box. Yeah, he would take forever in
00:29:24
the batter's box, Yeah, because there's some of those guys that
00:29:27
would. And yes, what's your?
00:29:29
What's your, yeah. Would that frustrate the heck
00:29:33
out of you as a pitcher? A guy who like stands would,
00:29:36
would step out-of-the-box. Just take his time.
00:29:40
Honestly, not me personally, I just, I, I, I just like working
00:29:44
quick. So I'll get ready, I'll be ready
00:29:46
to go and stuff and I'll just sit there set and waiting for
00:29:49
him and stuff like that. But I mean, it doesn't really
00:29:52
get under my skin. I just more of the mindset of
00:29:54
like, hey, let's get this going, let's get out of here.
00:29:58
Right. So I got to ask you take me back
00:30:04
to the College World Series. What was that experience like?
00:30:10
We won't go to the moment yet, but just in general, what was
00:30:13
the experience like? What was the what was the
00:30:18
atmosphere of the College World Series like?
00:30:21
Give us a little little glimpse into that.
00:30:24
Yeah, no, I mean, it was. I'll remember it from pretty
00:30:27
much the rest of my life. It was fantastic experience,
00:30:31
especially as I played at Arkansas.
00:30:33
And so something like that. Nebraska, Omaha, NE is not too
00:30:37
far and we packed out the stadium.
00:30:39
There'd be, I remember we were playing Oregon State in the
00:30:41
finals and there was like 28 fans, 29 fans and I would
00:30:45
guess 2021 thousand of them were Arkansas fans.
00:30:47
So you got, it feels like a homes game there and it was a
00:30:50
lot of fun and stuff like that. So totally.
00:30:53
Was this was this 2018 right before you went into the minors?
00:30:59
Yeah. So 2018 was the year that you're
00:31:01
probably thinking of with the drop pop fly, but we also, 2019
00:31:04
was my last year at Arkansas and we also went to Omaha that year.
00:31:07
Didn't make as deep as a run, but it's still a great
00:31:10
experience nonetheless. So you got to go twice.
00:31:14
Yeah. That's that's cool.
00:31:17
Yeah, the Omahogs thing is real. That was the kind of the mantra
00:31:22
that they've you see a lot of the Omahogs shirts and and they
00:31:27
go over there because the fan bases for Arkansas is kind of
00:31:31
like, well, I, I would say it's the best in college baseball.
00:31:35
When you look across college baseball, they have incredible
00:31:37
facility. They have incredible fans, they
00:31:40
travel and so they get they get so up for it.
00:31:45
I I could definitely see that being like a an awesome
00:31:48
experience. And because they did, they made
00:31:50
it like home games, right? They did yeah, for us while
00:31:53
we're there. And I mean, I would put Arkansas
00:31:55
is definitely up there in the top four or five for fan
00:31:58
experience and stuff. The Mississippi State also they
00:32:01
I mean, they've got a ton of fans, LSU has got a ton of fans,
00:32:04
ton of fans. They all travel pretty well.
00:32:07
And but when it's Arkansas definitely supports their team
00:32:11
well, very well too. So.
00:32:13
Yeah, they do. They do.
00:32:15
And a great facility. It's like it's even better than
00:32:18
I lived in Northwest Arkansas for a while and they, it just
00:32:22
got better and better. I was in, I was there last fall
00:32:25
for a a football game and I went by the baseball stadium and it's
00:32:29
awesome. It's a yeah, It's a really
00:32:32
amazing college stadium. Yeah, and I see, I still see
00:32:36
they're still adding stuff all the time.
00:32:37
They just put a new video board up down left field line I
00:32:39
believe. So it's just that's right.
00:32:43
It's been very good. And Arkansas while we were
00:32:45
there, and I mean, I guess you kind of still consider it with
00:32:48
how football is done, but we always called it a baseball
00:32:49
school because baseball was one of the better programs.
00:32:52
There, that's exactly yeah, it's absolutely a baseball school.
00:32:58
They're consistently top ten and and always make it a run.
00:33:02
It seems like. I know my my friends that are
00:33:04
Arkansas fans and family members, they're hardcore.
00:33:07
So, so I got to ask when the pop fly went up, were you like, we
00:33:15
got this, it's over. Yeah, so I mean, when it
00:33:19
initially went up, it was one of those things I start back
00:33:22
pedaling towards my catcher just because, you know, post game
00:33:24
routine, you go tap up your catcher and then get ready for
00:33:27
the the hog pile as we call it. But yeah, no, it's kind of one
00:33:31
of those things where it's like, oh, I did it, it's over and then
00:33:35
you see it drop and then immediately you're like, OK, I
00:33:37
got to get back into that zone and it's kind of tough to do in
00:33:40
the time so. So just set the set the stage
00:33:43
for our listeners because a lot of them won't know what you're
00:33:45
talking about. I don't, I don't want to rehab
00:33:48
like reopen old wounds or anything mad.
00:33:50
Open old wounds for bad well. I'm, I'm over and I've gotten
00:33:55
over pretty quickly so. He had to get over and he had to
00:33:59
live it very intensely there for a while.
00:34:01
I'm certain. Yeah.
00:34:04
So they were what? I mean it was 2 outs of the 9th
00:34:06
right? Yep.
00:34:08
No, that was that was the last out to win it and win it and
00:34:10
then it it dropped. Two outs of the ninth game two
00:34:15
of the College World Series, best of three.
00:34:17
Arkansas had one game, one pop fly pop fly foul ball down the
00:34:22
first baseline. In between 3 Hog players, all of
00:34:27
whom good players, all of whom normally make the play, and they
00:34:33
all just kind of didn't communicate and didn't for
00:34:37
whatever reason. Yeah, and it fell.
00:34:39
And so the inning got extended. So after the inning got
00:34:41
extended, what went through your head?
00:34:44
Yeah, it was just one of those things like you tried it.
00:34:46
I was fully bought into being the closer and stuff.
00:34:49
So I was trying to get back into my closer mindset like I've got
00:34:52
this, I'm the best and I'm going to punch this guy out.
00:34:55
I had him, I believe after that drop pop fly or drop foul ball,
00:34:58
it was 2 strikes. And so I was like, OK, I just
00:35:01
need one more to get it. Next thing you know, he bleeds
00:35:04
one between short and 3rd. And then Trevor Larnett comes in
00:35:07
and he hits a laser top spin line drive that gets out of the
00:35:11
park and you know, things change very quickly for me.
00:35:17
What was the feeling going into game three?
00:35:21
Were you guys still up? Were people like relatively up
00:35:24
or was there like a a haze over everything?
00:35:27
Were you like? I hate to talk for all of my
00:35:31
teammates, but it we, we're pretty down.
00:35:34
I think I, I think we knew Oregon State was a very good
00:35:38
team. I mean, they had five first
00:35:40
rounders in that line up and stuff or four or five first
00:35:43
rounders. But I, I think we knew we just
00:35:46
missed our chance to, you know, take two from them right there.
00:35:49
And it was Game 3 was going to be very tough and we're
00:35:53
definitely feeling that going into it.
00:35:56
Were you watching this? Did you watch the team this year
00:35:59
that went to to the to the College World Series Arkansas
00:36:03
team I watched. Some of the games I've been
00:36:07
slacking on, watching my Razorbacks.
00:36:09
I need to watch more basketball now they're starting, but
00:36:11
getting, especially going into March Madness.
00:36:13
But right, I watched the games I saw, you know, I saw the line
00:36:17
driving to left field that was misplayed and all that kind of
00:36:20
stuff. So I was, I was wondering if,
00:36:22
if, like, if you had like flashbacks going through your
00:36:25
head whenever, whenever that happened because that was like
00:36:28
such a freakish play, like on so many levels.
00:36:33
It was like the fact that you know, the ball was misplayed was
00:36:37
strange, the way it was misplayed and then how the ball
00:36:40
kicked it. Was always crazy.
00:36:41
Like it went to like the farthest part of the ballpark
00:36:45
away. I was like, how did that even
00:36:47
happen? Like, I mean, it's in the left
00:36:49
field corner all of a sudden. That's yeah.
00:36:51
No, it's, it was definitely. I mean, you think about it, you
00:36:55
can obviously put the resemblance there, but I also
00:36:57
think getting from the bracket play in Omaha to getting to that
00:37:02
three-game series, it feels like two whole different worlds.
00:37:05
It's almost like a separate like you have to win that Omaha
00:37:08
bracket and then whereas like you have regional super
00:37:11
regionals, College World Series, it almost feels like a fourth
00:37:13
one to go to the finals. And so totally there was some
00:37:16
resemblance, but in my head I was like, you know what, They
00:37:18
weren't, It wasn't like they just lost the national
00:37:21
championship. They they still have a lot of
00:37:23
baseball to play to win the whole thing.
00:37:25
Yeah, that's right. The stakes were not as high.
00:37:28
The stakes weren't as high. So tell me what it what it's
00:37:30
like? What's your, how your mentality
00:37:32
changes because you closed the whole time at Arkansas and
00:37:36
you've, if I remember correctly, you've closed some in the
00:37:40
minors. You've also, you know, come in
00:37:42
in middle relief. Does your mentality change when
00:37:45
you are like middle relief or a loogie kind of role versus when
00:37:52
you're the closer? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a
00:37:54
different mentality just even between college baseball to pro
00:37:57
baseball because college baseball, like I didn't really
00:38:00
pitch midweeks that much. I might get an inning here if I
00:38:02
didn't pitch much on the weekend.
00:38:03
But you play those three games on the weekend and then you got
00:38:06
four days to reset before you play again.
00:38:09
And pro ball is just, it was different because after my first
00:38:13
year you play six games a week, you get Mondays off.
00:38:15
But I mean, just depending on how they use you.
00:38:18
But also in the minor leagues, the roles don't necessarily
00:38:21
matter as much. Not to say that they're not
00:38:25
trying to win in the minor leagues, but they care way more
00:38:28
about development. So if you're a guy they just
00:38:30
want to see you get an inning in, they'll throw you in the
00:38:32
six, they don't mind. It's really not until you get to
00:38:35
like AAA, and it's usually the closer role is a good indicator
00:38:39
of the next reliever going up. Whoever's closing in AAA is
00:38:43
usually the next guy getting called up because they're the
00:38:44
guy doing the best. Usually is how it goes.
00:38:47
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
00:38:48
Because at the other levels they really are just like, hey, we
00:38:51
got to get this guy some work. We need to work on XY or Z.
00:38:56
We're going to get him in this game.
00:38:58
Because you do hear him talk about in the minor leagues,
00:39:00
you'll hear him talk about like, hey, these three guys are likely
00:39:03
to pitch today, you know? Yeah, which you don't ever hear
00:39:07
that in the in the majors. It's always like situational and
00:39:10
you know who's going to get up against 2 and that's the thing.
00:39:13
It's the starter and then all up in the air after that.
00:39:17
Yeah, yeah, minor leagues, I've had a few managers who were
00:39:21
pitching coaches that'll come out and tell you like, hey,
00:39:23
these are three hot guys. Like they're our priority to get
00:39:26
into the game. You're say Jason, just random
00:39:31
name like you're the just in case guy.
00:39:32
Like if things start going South in one of these innings, like we
00:39:35
need you to be ready just in case.
00:39:37
But yeah, they a lot of minor league teams will do it where
00:39:41
they kind of schedule out the pitching and stuff.
00:39:43
And also another good indicator for AAA getting called up is if
00:39:46
they start throwing you back-to-back days a lot, they
00:39:48
start using a lot. They want to make sure that they
00:39:50
can abuse you and you're still going to recover and be able to
00:39:52
pitch. And so that's also some good
00:39:54
indicators. That's interesting.
00:39:57
That's really interesting. I was going to ask something
00:39:59
similar. Along similar lines, do do you
00:40:01
think a lot of the minor leaguers are put through kind of
00:40:06
some mental strain? Also, I'll call it to see how
00:40:09
like mentally prepared you are to.
00:40:12
That's probably a little bit of physical preparedness to
00:40:16
throwback to back days, but do you think they put you through
00:40:18
some like mental exercises too to see if you can hang with
00:40:23
major leaguers that are maybe going to light you up the first
00:40:26
time they see you? Yeah, no, I really haven't,
00:40:29
especially in the pro ball. I haven't seen much of them.
00:40:32
You know, trying to test people mentally.
00:40:34
It's really like if you pitch well enough to get to the big
00:40:36
leagues, you've earned your cup of coffee as they call it, and
00:40:40
if you perform well during that, you'll stay or you'll get called
00:40:43
up again and stuff like that. Really college baseball is where
00:40:47
they try to like they'll kill you in the work, in the weight
00:40:50
room and stuff like that. Trying to get your mentality and
00:40:52
get you mentally strong. Interesting.
00:40:55
More so than than Miami Lake Ball.
00:40:57
So do you see a difference in the guys that come up straight
00:41:00
from high school versus the guys that go go through college
00:41:04
first? Yeah, so there's definitely a
00:41:08
difference. You can especially a guy who
00:41:10
goes to, you know, LSU or Ole Miss or Arkansas, Mississippi
00:41:13
State, any of those big Power 5 schools, Power 4 schools.
00:41:17
I mean, if you're a high round pick coming out of college, like
00:41:20
they leave it to you, they're like, hey, go do your thing.
00:41:23
We drafted you. We know what you can do, like go
00:41:25
do it. The high school guys, sometimes
00:41:27
they're drafting on projectability and stuff like
00:41:29
that, but they don't have all the.
00:41:31
The. Little things that they need to
00:41:33
know and things they need to do, so they trying to train them to
00:41:36
be a professional. Yeah, they got to do a lot more
00:41:38
teaching, right? Yeah.
00:41:41
And just going over like not all your high school coaches are
00:41:44
going to go through all the different kind of bump plays you
00:41:47
could run or all the different 1st and 3rd plays and or just
00:41:50
anything like that. Like they just know how to play
00:41:53
baseball. They don't know necessarily all
00:41:54
the little things that go into it.
00:41:56
For sure. Yeah.
00:41:57
So your second year as a pro, COVID happened.
00:42:03
Tell me what that was like as a second year guy.
00:42:08
I mean, like, you know, everything kind of shut down,
00:42:12
right, Because miners were now you were on the they had a taxi
00:42:16
squad, right? They had like a a group of guys
00:42:19
that they they did keep active, but otherwise the rest of the
00:42:22
miners were were shut down. I was so, yeah, that was that
00:42:26
was an interesting year. So we went spring training,
00:42:28
everything was normal. And then like a week or two into
00:42:30
spring training, they just sent everyone home because of COVID.
00:42:34
That fell on a weird timing for me because I had just gone to
00:42:37
the ERI had kidney stones. And so I was stuck down in West
00:42:40
Palm Beach just taking painkillers, trying to pass this
00:42:44
kidney stone. And I was stuck there because I
00:42:45
couldn't drive. On painkillers.
00:42:49
Eventually got that all figured out and then, you know, a month,
00:42:53
month later, two months later or whatever it was, yeah, I get the
00:42:56
call. I'm part of the alternate sight
00:42:58
squad, the taxi squad, and we were in Fredericksburg that
00:43:01
summer in it. I I'll.
00:43:03
Remember that it was a great summer just being around all
00:43:06
those guys and stuff, and they treated us like big leaguers
00:43:10
there, so it was awesome. Oh, that's cool.
00:43:13
Did you guys do? What did you, how did you stay
00:43:15
ready? I mean, you weren't playing
00:43:17
games, right? It wasn't necessarily games we
00:43:21
had, there's plenty of pictures at the alternate site.
00:43:23
And then we probably had, you know, 8 to 10 position players
00:43:28
with a catcher or two and we would just throw live at bat.
00:43:31
So nobody in the field. Or maybe you'd have like a short
00:43:33
stop there and a center fielder. But they weren't, they weren't
00:43:36
the hitters weren't running it out and stuff like that.
00:43:38
And so we're just facing hitters.
00:43:40
And I remember I there's a guy named Carter Key.
00:43:43
Boom. I faced him probably 30 times
00:43:44
that summer. I totally remember Carter key
00:43:49
boom. Absolutely.
00:43:52
Yeah, I got a, I've got a couple of outside of baseball
00:43:56
questions. What kinds of other stuff do you
00:43:59
do to occupy your time when you're not playing baseball?
00:44:04
Number one is probably fishing. I just actually.
00:44:08
I could have I could have buddy that from his Instagram.
00:44:12
Yeah, I actually, just a couple months ago, I had a kayak I got
00:44:16
for my birthday when I was like 14 and I left it at my buddy's
00:44:19
house here in Navarre and just, and it's been there for like the
00:44:22
last 10-12 years, whatever it's been.
00:44:25
And I just reached out to them like, hey, you still have my
00:44:27
kayak. Went over there, got it.
00:44:28
And I've been kayak fishing, catching a lot of speckled trout
00:44:30
and some red fish and stuff like that.
00:44:32
That's awesome. Yeah.
00:44:33
And then other than other than that I'd I like to do some hobby
00:44:37
woodworking, try to get after kind of like how my Papa was.
00:44:40
Totally your your your grandpa was an awesome woodworker.
00:44:46
Yeah. When you're, when you're working
00:44:49
six days a week during like the season, what does that 7th day
00:44:53
look like? Are you, are you just excited to
00:44:56
stay home and kind of chill? Or are you anxious to get out
00:45:00
and do something like fishing or or another hobby and just kind
00:45:03
of take your mind off baseball for a while?
00:45:07
It really just depends on where you're at and stuff.
00:45:10
So when I was playing up in Rochester, NY, most of the teams
00:45:14
were 4/4 to six hours away. So you'd be back on that Sunday
00:45:18
night game, the last game of the series.
00:45:20
But then playing in the PCL, you play, you know, you'll be in
00:45:24
Seattle or California or Texas or Nevada or New Mexico and
00:45:29
stuff like that. And so you're flying all over
00:45:31
and sometimes you're not getting back to Seattle until it's 1:00
00:45:34
in the morning. So you just go sleep in and just
00:45:37
kind of be lazy on your off day. Yeah.
00:45:40
Sure, that's what I do on all my off days too.
00:45:44
Exactly, exactly. And then offseason on a typical,
00:45:50
obviously this offseason has been different for you having
00:45:53
injury, but in a, in a regular offseason when the season ends,
00:45:58
are you just shutting it down like not throwing for a certain
00:46:01
period of time and trying to recover?
00:46:02
How does that work? So yeah, if season ends, usually
00:46:07
mid-september for minor leagues and stuff, so I'll usually take
00:46:10
about a month off. I'll just, you know, go enjoy
00:46:13
it. So I've actually spent most of
00:46:15
my offseasons, I've been up in Arkansas.
00:46:17
And so I'll just take a month. I'll go do some fishing, won't
00:46:20
think about the weight room, won't think about throwing
00:46:22
baseballs and stuff. But then it's really just
00:46:25
getting ready for the next year once, once that month's over.
00:46:28
Is that like a do you train five days a week, three days a week?
00:46:33
What's your training regimen look like in the offseason?
00:46:36
When I was up in Arkansas for the offseasons, I would
00:46:38
occasionally go back over to the University of Arkansas and do my
00:46:41
stuff there. And I want to say we would work
00:46:44
out usually three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and
00:46:47
then you, but when you're throwing and stuff, you're going
00:46:50
to usually throw like five days a week and maybe take the
00:46:52
weekend off or something like that, OK.
00:46:54
So you also have some other exciting news, correct?
00:46:58
I believe along with the unfortunate one year anniversary
00:47:03
of your injury, you have you have something else to do this
00:47:08
July, don't you? We do it away my me and my wife
00:47:13
are having a baby and we actually just found out
00:47:16
yesterday we're having a baby girl so.
00:47:18
Hey, congratulations. That's awesome.
00:47:23
Thank you. That's super cool.
00:47:25
Chiz doesn't know what that's like, but I've got two
00:47:27
daughters. It's fantastic.
00:47:30
I've got I've got a son too. But girls, girls are fun.
00:47:35
Cruise your guy. He.
00:47:36
He can. He can give you the girl advice.
00:47:40
Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.
00:47:42
That's very cool. I didn't, I didn't know as a
00:47:43
girl. So that's very cool.
00:47:45
Yep, just found out. Excellent SO.
00:47:48
You'll have to trade in your fishing pole for a shotgun.
00:47:51
That's right. That's right.
00:47:54
You'll have to learn to clean that shotgun when the guys come
00:47:57
over, Matt, Right. Yeah.
00:47:59
You can. You can.
00:48:00
You can. Fish for the next 15 years or so
00:48:03
and then then you got to. Right.
00:48:06
Yeah. Then you got to get
00:48:07
intimidating. Yeah.
00:48:11
No, I've got I've got some time to think about it and figure out
00:48:15
what kind of act I want to put on as a dad.
00:48:16
So. Yeah, that's right.
00:48:19
Perfect. No, that's, well, that's
00:48:22
awesome. Congrats.
00:48:24
Thank you. Well, thank you for taking time.
00:48:27
I really appreciate it. This has been awesome.
00:48:29
This is a treat for us and for our listeners to get a little
00:48:33
behind the scenes on some of this stuff.
00:48:36
We will all be rooting for you. So we'll definitely be updating
00:48:42
your status here on the shrewdness as we as we get news
00:48:46
and hopefully, hopefully you'll be up and running this year if
00:48:51
everything works out and jump on someplace this year and looking
00:48:56
forward to to watching you pitch.
00:48:57
Awesome. Yeah, I appreciate that.
00:49:01
If everything goes too well, yeah, hopefully we'll be
00:49:05
throwing the hitters and stuff in July and then trying to get
00:49:08
my way back onto a team by then. Excellent.
00:49:12
Terrific. Make time for us if you, if you
00:49:15
find yourself in the big show this September or something,
00:49:18
we're going to expect a a curtain call interview maybe in
00:49:23
the offseason or something. So we're rooting for you for
00:49:26
sure. Yeah.
00:49:27
I'll plan for that one. Absolutely.
00:49:31
We're planning for it too man Thanks.
00:49:33
Again, for taking time. Yeah.
00:49:37
So Matt Cronin, formerly of the Rainiers, rehabbing his elbow.
00:49:44
We'll see where he lands this fall.
00:49:46
Chisel, keep us updated on his progress.
00:49:48
Seems like he's been around a few years now.
00:49:51
He's kind of got the lay of the land.
00:49:53
Love to see him get the break he needs to make the big show.
00:49:57
That'd be great. Totally.
00:49:58
He's a hard throwing lefty, there's not a ton of them
00:50:01
around. I got to think he gets an
00:50:03
opportunity here at the end of the year if he's feeling like
00:50:06
it. And who knows, maybe September
00:50:09
call UPS, he might get a might get his chance at the big.
00:50:12
So we'll be tracking it for sure.
00:50:14
We thought this would be a fun spring training treat for
00:50:17
everyone so hopefully you guys enjoyed it as much as we did and
00:50:22
we will be back next week, hopefully with Dex.
00:50:27
Yeah, he's got a a spring training report for us next
00:50:30
week. He's been touring down there in
00:50:33
surprise or near surprise. And that's right, Got some good,
00:50:37
good stories to tell. Check out the socials.
00:50:40
We posted a few few highlights that he recorded when he was
00:50:44
down there, but he'll have some stories for us and we'll get
00:50:48
coverage into some of the other stuff that's heading on.
00:50:53
Particularly the March Madness is getting ready to to kick into
00:50:57
high gear. So we'll probably have some talk
00:50:59
about that and then some more baseball talk as well.
00:51:02
So until then, you guys know what to do.
00:51:06
Make sure you stay shrewd. Stay.
00:51:07
Shrewd. Take care everyone.
00:51:47
Yeah.