Pitch And Moan: Catching Up With The Giants

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Yeah, there should be some passion.

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Baseball.

Baseball.

Baseball is important.

Welcome to Baseball is important.

Reporting live from Scottsdale, Arizona at San Francisco Giant Spring training camp.

I got a chance to interview some of the players and new manager Tony Patelo today.

The vibe at the camp is, you know, they think anything can happen.

They really believe that they have a shot at competing in the NLS, which obviously is a very,

very competitive division with the Dodgers leading the way, certainly.

But the vibe is good.

The energy is positive.

There are a mix of a young team plus a lot of veteran presence.

And certainly with first year manager Tony Patelo as well.

Got a chance to talk to him.

He had some good things to say about Bryce Harper and Girokoshay.

Talk to Harrison Bader.

He was really thoughtful on where he sees this team headed, where he sees himself headed.

And of course, rounded all out by talking to old friend Adrian Hauser, who officially has a

Pukin Rally t-shirt that was born on baseball isn't boring in our interview last year.

Vibes good.

Energy is good.

And of course, the weather in Scottsdale is tremendous.

But enjoy the interviews.

Thank you.

Tony, I appreciate your time.

How are you?

I'm doing well.

Enjoying spring training.

The weather obviously you can tell from whatever vantage point you've had is pretty good.

So you are a first year manager with the San Francisco Giants first year in Major League Baseball.

An article came out recently.

You're talking about Bryce Harper and his influence with you and what you've learned from him.

Can you explain that a little bit?

Explain that a little bit more about what he's taught you and what he's given you.

Goodbye, son.

Yeah, I think in general, baseball is a great sport to just have conversations and

you know, dive into different topics and you voice your opinion and

debate and things like that.

And so, fortunately, I've known him prior to this experience and had great conversations that way.

But the more recent ones with him or other guys that are in the big leagues,

they've helped give me a vision of what this thing looks like because I have never

experienced it before.

So, it gives you a level of comfort that you have.

If you've studied for a test, you know, maybe you've got a little bit of a study guide that

you can lean on.

So, you know, there's never been one thing that's like specific where that's my new

number one rule as a coach or anything like that.

I think it's been general and definitely been beneficial.

So, Garrett Crochet was, you obviously coached him at Tennessee.

Pretty big picture these days, huh?

He's a big person.

He's a big person, a big picture.

I mean, how proud are you to see Garrett Crochet and see what he is in the big leagues?

Incredibly proud and so much so that during my free time, which is kind of rare in the summer

when you're doing recruiting, took some family members.

We went and watched him pitch in the Yankee Stadium and I just felt like,

for a guy that's about to win a Saiyong or potentially,

would like to be a part of history, but more importantly, just get a seal.

I hadn't yet seen him in uniform and that's the way it is for a lot of guys

that I've coached, but he's a special one to us because he chose Tennessee and believed in

the people as opposed to the brand name because at the time, you know, we had just got the job.

And then he developed in a short amount of time.

I don't know that I've seen more growth out of one guy just in a bunch of different areas,

including his talents, which led to him going, you know, as high as he did.

And that draft is a personal to me too because it was during COVID and a lot of scouts

took a lot of time from our coaching staff to figure out, who is this guy?

What can he be and, you know, Mike Shirley put in as much time as anybody?

And it's no coincidence he's the one that drafted him.

Well, that is a wonderful story.

I care, Chris.

Obviously, it has talked wonderfully of lengths about how great you are.

So I do appreciate your time.

Tony, and go luck this season.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

Harrison Bader, welcome to the show.

How are you?

Good to meet you.

I am doing well.

Thank you.

So, brand new San Francisco Giants, what did you work on this off season?

Get you ready for the 2020-26 season?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, just consistency is always really important.

So when I think about that, just continuing to approach every at that, every pitch,

with just a bad understanding of what's going on and then kind of my viral approach to the pitch

specifically.

So working different parts of the zone, I think we take a lot of information for everyone's

with season.

I think last year there was a lot of trouble dealing with kind of crossfire lefties,

change ups that are kind of on the black on the outside corner for me.

So just continuing to just kind of group those lanes and anticipating when I think they might show

up and feel comfortable enough through repetition to kind of attack those pitches better and have

better numbers on them.

And then just continuing to reinforce what I do well.

The pitch side really kind of love looking for different parts of the zone that I know I can

handle very well.

So, you know, both just, you know, continuing to practice what I do well and also just taking

some information from last year to kind of make those numbers better and just ultimately being

a complete player and as consistent as possible.

So, yeah, I mean, listen, it's an everyday effort.

It doesn't stop with the off-season or the start of spring training.

So the process has continued, but I think the focus is there, yeah.

So what is, you mentioned laying off pitches that, you know, maybe you struggle with a little bit.

What are those pitches that you've been kind of honing in on to make yourself a little bit

sharper at the plate?

Yeah, I mean, listen to the numbers, speak for themselves.

Teams that are going to be playing us have the information as well.

So I'm not saying anything, it's not known already by our opposition, but

So you're obviously a new San Francisco giant.

What is the vibe going into camp for this team?

That you've seen so far?

Yeah, you know, so I wasn't here last year, but there definitely was a

some energy about obviously making last year better this year.

I think, you know, we're given an opportunity to go out there and compete with a lot of the same guys.

I think every year we learn stuff for good or for worse.

So I think what these guys kind of went through and listening to them talk about what they want to improve from last year.

The energy has been great.

And again, listen, the difference between where they were and maybe where they wanted to be could have simply been six or seven games,

you know, in their favorite.

When you work backwards from that, I think small details kind of play a part in that.

You know, one game here, one game a month.

After six months, they kind of rear its head and you end up kind of 500, 500 baseball.

So I think the small details of the main focus and with that comes a lot of

repetition, comes a lot of, you know, more attention to detail, which I've certainly felt that

was moving in camp. So listen, again, this theme here never really ends and it's an everyday thing.

But I think going into it with understanding how important the small details are, I think allows this camp to be super focused.

Kind of centered around the level of determination it might take to have those games where maybe it was one loss or one pitch

in the wrong direction kind of go our way. So everything's been great, you know.

What has Tony even tell us obviously a new manager new to Major League Baseball?

What is he kind of implemented in camp so far?

Yeah, I think he I think he's been doing a really good job of blending, you know, where he came from coaching a high level in SEC

to kind of understanding where he is now surrounded by major players.

You know, I still reference as a player a lot of things that I learned in college playing in SEC from my coaches.

I'm specifically coach Brad who talk about all the time, but you know, it's okay to reference things we learn that kind of molded our game, especially at a younger age.

It's always really important to remember those things and then use them as kind of whatever you need to kind of keep moving forward.

So he's been doing a great job of kind of blending what made him super successful at Tennessee with this new opportunity at the major level.

We're surrounded by major players, so there's a certain energy maybe about, you know, the level of work or whatever it might be.

But I think it's important he's done a really good job of remembering, you know, why he was so successful.

And, you know, besides that, just just the energies there, the passion is there, the desire, the want to win, the willingness to do whatever it takes.

That those are all awesome things as a player, you know, under his management that I certainly love and I can get behind and whatever happens in the game,

but I can certainly, you know, dive into that energy with him because I'm I'm coming from the same cloth.

So listen, he's been great. I'm excited for him.

And yeah, listen, we take a day by day here, but the season's been a lot of fun for us.

So I'm excited for for informing and for us all to kind of do together.

So you're now in the NL West.

NL West is obviously very competitive with teams like the Dodgers, certainly, which are kind of the kings of the West right now on the new

the Padres. You have you guys as well, that third wild card spot.

I mean, we're kind of as open to anybody.

I mean, where do you see the giant sort of competing, you know,

how do you, what are your thoughts on what the Dodgers are doing?

That's the kind of puts you on the spot, but you know, now that you are going to be a big rival of theirs,

you're going to be seeing them a lot.

So any thoughts on the Dodgers and kind of how they've gone about their off season and the past couple of off seasons?

Yeah, you know, I think it's important to always play your opponent as if they're the best opponent in baseball.

I think that raises your floor as a team and certainly individually,

you take every opponent the same way, you don't treat anybody more important or less important than the other,

you know, it's the major leagues and anybody can be you at any given time.

So I think just again, as the season progresses, just continuing to raise our floor from our preparation,

from what to expect out of our opposition and playing kind of the Dodgers every single game.

I think it's a great test for us.

And I think it'll prove to us over the course of season if we truly belong in that playoff hunt, like you mentioned.

In terms of how it all shakes out, it's a long way away.

It's a very long season.

And a lot of things happen between now and when that discussion kind of really begins to take form.

So again, I think that the main thing is just knowing that we have a lot of talent in our clubhouse

on all sides of the baseball and just playing out our game

as if every opponent is the best opponent in the league.

So having them so close, I think, is a beneficial aspect for us.

And we can really see what, you know, what we're up against.

And I think we can learn a lot from our position as we always do and just kind of go from there.

And with regards to what they've done for the off season, I mean, they've, you know, they've

said that they want to sign players and obviously you need talent.

There's no doubt in it that they tell them always prevail.

So they've gone out and they've done what they've done and they've

signed a lot of really good players and they have a lot of money in the books, obviously.

And I think it just shows that, you know,

it takes that level of commitment to players from a momentary standpoint

to fill your clubhouse with talent.

But at the same time, we have a lot of talent in this clubhouse too.

And it's important to understand that, you know, the clubhouse is sacred as it is,

you have to protect it.

So regardless of how much money is in it or not, I think the day we've got to go out there and win it.

So I'm excited. It's a great test at all times.

And yeah, never been in the division, obviously, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Well, one final question for you and I do appreciate your time as a veteran player,

and you're a veteran player now at this point, right?

Being a part of another spring training.

Do you have any great spring training moments that you look back on as maybe your younger self?

Yeah, I don't know. I think, I just really enjoy the, like, the build up, the anticipation.

I enjoy doing the small little things that kind of prepare you for a season.

Yeah, it's my 10 spring training.

So I think the biggest change, I guess, is kind of like my timeline.

I've always done a really good job of being ready for day one.

I was spring training and just realizing how long the season is and really kind of shaving off

the stuff that I don't necessarily need to do on a daily basis to prepare.

I think from then to now, I'm doing a lot more focused and intentional work.

I guess we're ready to go out there and be the best player,

whereas when I was young, I was in there at 6am before the summer's up and trying to get in

before older guys were there and the culture's changed a little bit.

But at the end of the day, I just enjoy every moment of it.

The game has brought me to so many different places and that's what it's about.

It's just your pursuit of the ball, so I love it and I want to do it forever.

So yeah, it's just another stop along the way to continue to prove that I belong.

So I love it wherever it takes me.

Well, I really do appreciate your time, Harrison, and collect the season.

Thank you so much.

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Right.

And the best part?

They accept discover.

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So now that you are in, what is this for you?

Is that you're a spring training?

What number?

See, total spring trainings.

Like 14 or 15 maybe?

That's hard to believe, isn't it?

Big league spring trainings.

It's been like 10, I think.

It's been on there at 10 or 11?

So you've been around for a minute then.

That's what you're saying.

Yeah.

Look still young guys.

Still young yet.

You are still young guy.

That is true.

We will always consider you kind of a good person.

Exactly.

So obviously you've been a conservative veteran right now.

What is the vibe in Giants Camp so far this season?

A lot of the work that we've been using a lot around here is energy.

You know, it's been very energetic around here.

We've had some games where we've come back.

You know, everybody's been, you know,

high spirits ready to come to work every day.

And it's been a lot of fun out here.

Like to hear that.

What is there something that you're excited about to

hitching wise or stuff wise that you were working on the offseason

or even doing spring training?

That you're going to do for the Giants?

I mean, anything like that?

Oh yeah, you know, just kind of kind of try to replicate

what I was doing in Chicago last year.

I felt like I was able to kind of capture something there

and was able to kind of work on down the offseason

and kind of get my foot in the ground right now

and headed my direction for this year.

So as a veteran player, do you have any fun spring training stories

from your younger days that you want to share

or any learning memories?

Because everyone thinks that spring training is like this grind, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Which it is, which it is, but like I'm sure there's been times

where you've had good moments or funny moments or so.

Oh yeah, and there's always, you know,

you got the camaraderie with all the guys,

meeting new guys, you know, hanging out with them

and doing kind of stuff, you know,

getting out and playing some golf last year

was able to go play grass clippings here and

attempt these, so you know, those are part of

part of good fun.

That's always good.

And like that's like, you are a golfer, obviously.

I try.

I try.

What's the best you've ever shot?

78.

It's pretty, it's pretty good.

It's actually quite good.

What course was that?

It was actually out here.

It was one of the built-more courses.

I have pretty dopey maybe, so.

Okay.

So then you're used to it.

Yeah.

Let's do it.

So one final question here.

This is the most important.

You know, we talked about this in Chicago.

We're going to get a Pukin Rally in San Francisco.

Hey, you know what?

Just, just since you're here.

Oh, here we go.

This is perfect.

Oh, come.

Sister and all got me this as a gag gift for Christmas.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

So it's just perfect.

So you'll, I'll be wearing this in San Fran, a lot.

I am so excited for this.

That is tremendous.

That literally made my day.

Well, hey, during it's always wonderful to talk to you.

We appreciate it and collect the season.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

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