PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jake McCarthy joins the show

Starting point is 00:00:04 Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-BACs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I'm your mayor, PHNX. This guy next to me is the one and only thunderstick. He's also the vice mayor, Jesse Friedman. Derek, we don't always do shows on Friday. When we do, we bring special guests on the show. Yeah, it's a big deal around here.

Starting point is 00:00:26 By the way, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King's Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app. And Jesse is right. Today is a very special day. We are here on a Friday because we are joined by a very special guest, somebody that is becoming a fan favorite amongst all of you. It's the one and only Jake McCarthy. Jake, thank you so much for joining us, man. How you doing?

Starting point is 00:00:46 I'm doing good. Thanks for having me, guys. Hey, it's been a pleasure to watch you and this very talented outfield play for this team. I guess our first question is how has it been playing with your fellow younger guys that have kind of all been. in the minor leagues around the same time together. Yeah, it's been really fun watching their success. We've all kind of come up together through the system, you know, with the exception of what, Stone,

Starting point is 00:01:15 who we signed like a year or two ago. So, you know, it's been really fun to, you know, see all these guys develop. And, you know, we've sort of pushed each other, you know, along the way. And, you know, I'm just lucky to be surrounded with guys like, you know, Varsho and Pavin who are a year older than me and a couple of young guys who were, you know, a few years younger than me, maybe the same draft class.

Starting point is 00:01:35 So, you know, I feel like I'm fortunate to be right in the middle of it. So we have been calling you on social media, Rake McCarthy lately, with your success. Also, Jake the Rake. We have a couple of memes, I guess we need to debut and show you since we know you probably haven't seen them. But can you throw those up there, Jacob? We want to get your thoughts on some of these. We got the Rake right here. We also have this beautiful.

Starting point is 00:02:01 one right there of raking. But I just wanted to ask you, like, have you, have you had any nicknames before in your career? Have you been called the rake before? No, I think the Reno, Twitter account, Twitter account might have called me a rake before. Yeah, but sure. Your reach is pretty impressive, because I've seen my friends have sent me those, those names. Yes. So I think, I think they think I'm doing the editing. Yeah, no, that's perfect. I'm posting them, but at least you guys are taking credit for it. Jake, you've had just an outstanding season all in all. And I know over the last couple months, you've certainly taken things to the next level.

Starting point is 00:02:44 I believe in your most recent stint since getting called up from AAA, you're at 335, slugging 500, 17 stolen bases in the span of like two months. It's just really been incredible the way that you've come on over the last couple months. what's been working for you? How do you think you've been able to have all of the success that you've had here? You know, I just think I'm not trying to do too much as, you know, as cliche as that sounds. I think, you know, really in this year when maybe my, my at-bats were limited, you know, I was trying to do too much in a small sample size. So, you know, just trying to, you know, trust the process to give you guys another cliche.

Starting point is 00:03:25 But, you know, just trying to, you know, keep it simple and, you know, swing at the pitches and you know regardless of where I'm in the lineup or what position I'm playing or you know dh whatever I'm just trying to you know contribute to whatever we got going on so uh you know it's kind of helped me take pressure off myself and especially like you guys said with other guys having success around me it seems like you know when it's been a group effort it's it's you know it's been a lot more fun how has working with this coaching staff been because we've kind of heard a lot of guys say how much they've enjoyed Lovolo and Joe Mather and everything like that. So what are your thoughts about working with them and how they've kind of helped you progress?

Starting point is 00:04:07 Yeah, when I got called up last year, I remember, you know, Tori calling me into the office and saying, hey, man, you know, be yourself, you know, you're, you know, you're the new guy, but, you know, feel, you know, comfortable, you know, you're welcome. So, you know, it's nice to kind of, you know, just be able to be myself. And I think, you know, a guy like Mather, I've, I knew him, you know, right when I got drafted because he was, I want to say he was the manager in double A. I know he was a hitting coordinator in 2019 because I was doing some work with him. So it's kind of nice to have, you know, all these familiar faces. And, you know, on top of the coaching staff, a lot of the

Starting point is 00:04:41 older guys in the team have kind of, you know, embraced some of this, the younger guys that, you know, continue to get called up. So, you know, it's been a very, you know, friendly environment to, you know, I'm excited to come to the field every day. So, you know, I'm enjoying it. And I'm, you know, It's been fun winning more often, especially with these guys around us. Jake, I know I guess things didn't ultimately work out in this particular moment, but it takes guts to steal home in the ninth inning, right? And you were, you were right there. Yeah, he was okay with that.

Starting point is 00:05:16 He said he liked the move, obviously. It was a good move. It was a good move. Obviously, I wish my lead was a little bigger, and we spoke about that. but sorry not to interrupt but that was one thing he came up to me he said i love that i love the aggressiveness so you know to get that nod of confidence was was you know huge what what does it do i mean obviously you're incredibly fast it's like 98th percentile sprint speed or something according to according to what some of the numbers say and you're not the only one right i mean corbin carroll

Starting point is 00:05:46 alec thomas there's so many guys on this team that have that level of elite speed what do you guys think that that does for you and just, you know, keeping defenders on their heels, you know, making the defense kind of work and not get too comfortable out there. Yeah, you know, playing the outfield and even a little first base, like when when guys are bringing it on the base path, it definitely puts pressure on you. I think a few times I've taken second base on balls to the outfield. And, you know, I understand how difficult to play that can be, you know, have to throw it on the money when the guy's thinking too straight out of the box. So, you know, I just try to try to apply pressure just like, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:26 Alec and Corbyner are flying down the line. You know, Varsha is always putting down bunts. So it's, you know, I just think it's another facet of the game that maybe when we aren't outslugging teams and we need a quick pick me up, it's, you know, the hustle plays that have kind of, you know, gotten us to another level. Yeah, no, it's been, it's been a lot of fun to watch from a fan perspective, especially that because it really does seem like you guys do make a difference. It does seem like that pressure makes, you know, the defense obviously have to make a play in the moment.

Starting point is 00:06:57 And maybe in some cases, like you said, they know that you're looking for two out of the box. So it's just been a blast to watch you guys. Like Jesse said, your speed. I guess I have to ask you, have you actually raced any of these guys? Has there been a foot race yet between you and Alec or Corbyn or anybody to see who's fastest? No, and there's a lot of talk. And, I mean, it's usually coming from me. but after seeing the past few weeks, I'm officially humbled.

Starting point is 00:07:25 I've seen some of the metrics or the numbers on the way that takes off. So, you know, he flies. So it's really fun to watch him, especially, Ron. There was something like, what, is it, 30 feet a second? I don't mean, I'm moving 30 feet a minute. So, I mean, that's a whole other thing that I can't wrap my mind around. But we did have a lot of fun in that game watching you with campaign, your biggest fan. And that's just been a budding relationship that we want to see more of.

Starting point is 00:07:55 But how has it been having that support from someone like him? And not only that, but kind of him has a good luck charm for you guys when he seems to be around. Yeah, I think he said he's 3 and 0. Yeah. Yeah, it's just, I guess he came to a game last year where I might have played well. And then he came to the Phillies game. We're at a couple extra base hits. And he's just like with that 30 guys, my favorite player.

Starting point is 00:08:18 So now we're best friends. But it is really cool that, you know, guys from, you know, the sons come out and support us. And it's exciting when he's on the field, celebrating walkoffs with us. And I finally got to meet him the other night. We had messaged very briefly after the Phillies game a few weeks back. But, you know, it's really cool.

Starting point is 00:08:40 He told me he's trying to get into baseball, trying to follow it a little more. And, you know, if he keeps bringing us wins, we got to keep him a first. Get him a front row seat, man. Get him there every game. Season ticket holder. Yeah, but I mean, you guys are kind of in the same position a little bit, right?

Starting point is 00:08:55 Like the sons were a young, exciting team, and they started to put it together. And it feels like a little bit there that there is some similarities to the way that things are coming across or coming across for you guys. But we did notice the shirt. We liked the shirt, but we had some questions about the shirt. Can we put the shirt up, Jacob? All right. So, my only drive, I really can't jump that high, so I'm fine with the hops. I might be faster than them.

Starting point is 00:09:24 Yeah, that's where we particularly notice this, this little bit of an increase on his side, definitely. But the hops definitely below 50%. We needed, you can get like a little bit, like a little, a little, a lot more than that, but not much. I'm glad he gave you so much credit for the flow, though, because the flow, of course, you guys have some incredible hair on this team. Yours included, but is that, that seems to be another topic amongst the fans of how how good the hair is per player across this team. Yeah, I tell you what, Gallin's got pretty good hair. I just go out in the headband, man. It's kind of hard to, he seems to handle a little better without a hat or a headband on. I like to cover it up and just let it come out of the back.

Starting point is 00:10:09 So genuinely, I think most of the most of the questions that we got from our listeners when we said that we were going to have you on, most people just wanted to know like about your hair care routine or like how you pull this off, what shampoo you use. Yeah, it looks like that. So do you have any, do you have any tips for any of our listeners out there? No, not. I don't really have a particular, you know, shampoo conditioner. I will say I shower before the game and then I throw on the hat when it's wet. And that seems to get a little. A few more curls in the back. There you go. There you go, folks. Very limited, yeah. I want to ask Jake also just about your progression just kind of over the last few years. And I know that, you know, there have been some ups and downs over the course of your minor

Starting point is 00:10:57 league career. When you look at just kind of the progress that you've been able to make here this particular season, I'm curious like what the impact was for you of kind of being sort of an up and down guy this year. I know you had a couple of minor league stints earlier in the season. How is that, like, how has that impacted your psyche throughout the year of, you know, being up and then being sent back down and then coming back up again? Yeah. It's, you know, it's, it was definitely a lesson to be learned. I think, you know, earlier in this year, like I told you guys, I was trying to, maybe, maybe I was pressing a little

Starting point is 00:11:32 bit trying to make, make an opening day roster or trying to make the most of limited A-Bs. But, you know, Once you kind of accept that, you know, there's so much in this game that you can't control, I think it tends to become a little easier. And that's obviously a hard lesson to be learned. No one likes getting sent down or failing for that matter. But, you know, all it can really take care of is my approach and in my mindset. And, you know, always trying to be, you know, positive and, you know, things that I can't control, like hustling and being competitive, whether it's at-bats, base path, defense, whatever.

Starting point is 00:12:08 So, you know, kind of letting go of, you know, I could be sent down, traded, whatever, all, you know, all of the above. And just going out and saying, hey, you know, I'm in left tonight. I'm going to do my best to help, you know, contribute to a win. So it's easier said than done, but just, you know, trying to take it day by day, you know, game by game at bat by at bat. And that's kind of helped me kind of just, you know, be, have tunnel vision of just, you know, trying to take care of what I can take care of and letting the rest kind of, you know, figure itself out. we know your family is a big baseball family how how was how much have they impacted you and and kind of not only your success but we know baseball is kind of a marathon as far as getting to the major leagues and and just the entire career so how big has their support and

Starting point is 00:12:57 you know just them being involved in baseball impacted you yeah i've i've been really lucky to have family that's you know they're always they're staying up on the east coast watching me i could probably count on my my hand how many you know football basketball baseball games they've missed in my lifetime you know i've always had yeah a parent at my game or even like my grandparents uh you know siblings so their supports have been the best and having two to uh you know two people my brother and my dad my brother's over in japan right now he he was uh he debuted with the giants in 2020 during that weird covid year yeah my dad had a brief stint and uh professional baseball and he played baseball at South Carolina. So I feel like everything I've experienced, they've kind of done,

Starting point is 00:13:42 you know, previously. So having, you know, a sounding board and just, you know, people to ask questions who I'm so close to. So, you know, they're going to shoot me straight. So it's been certainly an advantage for me in my career to kind of, you know, be able to have that resource. You had, you, you, you made your minor league or your minor league year would have been during that weird COVID year, right? Something like that, that you kind of, um, that that year, for you was kind of an odd oddity. How was that for you and kind of staying ready to play baseball throughout that whole process? Yeah, it was certainly a weird year for all of us.

Starting point is 00:14:20 But, you know, I didn't go to the alternate site. And Rick Short, actually, you know, one of our hitting coaches here was just, you know, talking to me about things that I can get better at. And he said one of them was, you know, my exit veloes and just driving the ball in general, I wasn't doing a great job of, you know, hitting the ball hard. So I wanted to make it a point, you know, in my batting practice and my preparation, it was batting practice every day because there were no games in 2020. But I just wanted to come back and show that, you know, I'm a speed guy,

Starting point is 00:14:53 I'm a contact guy, but I could still, you know, run into one every once in a while. So I just wanted to make it a point when I came back that, you know, if my opportunities are going to be limited, it's not going to because I'm not, you know, driving the ball or, making an impact in that way. And, you know, it helped. You know, I came back and I was driving the ball a little more. Maybe, you know, the swing got a little too big, you know, got a little too aggressive at the plate.

Starting point is 00:15:16 But, you know, I just wanted to make it a point that, you know, if there's something I need to, you know, there's a deficiency here, I could resolve it. Sure. Jake, is it tough having like 14 left-handed hitting outfielders on the same team? Well, I mean, when we're all playing well, as long as we're, you know, helping if we're winning more, you know, I love it. So that's that's another question that seems to be, you know, going around with, you know, what are you guys going to do with all these outfielders?

Starting point is 00:15:46 And I don't think any of us look at it like that. You know, obviously there's only three outfield positions, but we're all rooting for each other. I'm not in there tonight, but, you know, I, you know, there's no rooting against each other in this situation. We're all, you know, like I brought up earlier, We've all come up together. We're all rooting for each other. So, you know, as long as it's contributing to wins on the field, I don't think any of us, any of us really care. We're not worried about that.

Starting point is 00:16:10 We've seen you guys rooting for each other. We've seen the crane kicks going on. And I understand that that is, that is started by Alec Thomas. But we have a little meme, I think, someone made of that, because that's something that people have really started to adore. You guys are all on the beach doing that. But so, so what's this about and how is this caught on with you guys? Is it just the just?

Starting point is 00:16:33 I said in the post game. What's that? I said in the post game with Ballet Sports, it's, Alec does something and it looks cool and then I try to do it. It doesn't look as cool, but there's really no, like there, I think there's an NFL player who is, it may be John, John Michie. Oh, okay. Yeah, he did that at Alabama or something.

Starting point is 00:16:57 I did the Jalen Waddles on my fantasy football team. So I've been waddling the past few days. Yes. There's not a ton of thought going into any of this. Just kind of you see something funny to do it. You know, some of the guys in the dugout do it. And next time they get an extra base hit. But it's been fun.

Starting point is 00:17:15 And those pictures you're showing me are pretty funny too. Well, it's been fun to watch. And I think that's the thing is you guys really do look like you're having a great time. I think when we see you guys in the outfield with the gloves on your head, celebrating and everything. You guys, you guys just really look like you're having a great time playing the sport. And I think that's something that is very endearing to the fans. They love to see it.

Starting point is 00:17:33 They love to watch you guys have that fun. And it's spreading. I think fans are really finding themselves kind of coming back to this team, especially after the tough year they had last year. And you guys are kind of a completely different team now than you were then. So it's kind of been fun to watch this transformation and, you know, led by you guys, led by the young guys. Yeah, I appreciate that. You know, it's more fun when, you know, it's a group effort.

Starting point is 00:17:59 and this game is meant to be fun. You know, obviously we're here to win and, you know, and compete. But, you know, it's way more enjoyable when, you know, it's not too serious. And, you know, we're all together just trying to have a good time. Last thing for me, Jake. We couldn't help but notice that you went to Scranton High School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, like right in the heyday of the office, if I'm not mistaken. Are there any connections there that we should know about?

Starting point is 00:18:24 Are you a big fan of the show or anything growing up? Or is it obnoxious to you? Or that? You were there. No, I actually didn't watch it until I got to college. It's one of my favorite shows after having, having watched it. But I knew I went to college. Because Pete, in Scranton, it's like not as like the office.

Starting point is 00:18:46 Yeah, it's about, you know, Scranton. But like, it wasn't until I left that people were like very fixated on it. So I would meet someone like we're doing orientation, you know, we're doing a, ice breakers in my dorm. And I say I'm from Scranton and everyone's like, oh, like the office. Like the office. I didn't realize until I took like a step out of Spranton that how like unique that was. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:11 So I was like, all right. I'm getting sick of like people referencing, you know, all these, all these quotes from Michael Scott. I'm like, I think I need to say. I don't have three time in my dorm. It's, I think it's time I sit down and watch it. And yeah, it's hilarious. I haven't, because it got taken off Netflix.

Starting point is 00:19:28 I actually haven't watched it in a while, but I'm definitely a big fan of it. Yeah, yeah, we are too. And it's one of the few things this guy's seen. But hey, man, we appreciate you so much. Thank you so much for joining us. And best of luck, not only the rest of this year, but we're definitely looking forward to seeing you guys have a big year next year. Yeah, I appreciate you guys.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Thanks for having me. All right, see you, Jake. Thanks, Jake. Well, that was fun. That was incredible. I don't know how else we can follow that up at this point. but it's great to talk to him. I'm glad we got to share the memes with him because if he's being texted those memes,

Starting point is 00:20:03 we wanted to take credit absolutely for those memes. We're always a little scared to share those things players because, you know, we're It's awkward. You never really know how they're going to react to behind your back for a while. And that's kind of it. But he's tremendous and this outfield's been tremendous to watch. It's been a bunch of young guys that have really done a great job of not only, I don't know, rejuvenating the excitement of this team.

Starting point is 00:20:25 But like, honestly, there's. Their defense is incredible, offensively. You know, Jake's now hitting over 300 this season. And I would not be giving him the night off. That's just my opinion. But I'm sure a lot of people feel that way. Exciting. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:20:38 Exciting night, though. Again, they're going to be facing the Padres. They still have a good chance to ruin the Padres chances. I know we're going to talk about this on Sunday, but since we're here right now, Dre Jameson. Drey Jameson. Incredible. Incredible.

Starting point is 00:20:51 It's against the Padres. What else were you expecting? Is against the Padres. I was not expecting. That's exactly what I was expecting and he delivered. But another scoreless outing, the fourth scoreless outing by an Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher making their debut in the MLB over the last four seasons. So it was just incredible to watch. He did a great job of keeping the Padres off balance.

Starting point is 00:21:11 And to be honest, it's hard not to be excited about the future of this team, both offensively with guys like McCarthy and everybody in the outfield and with what Dre Jameson is doing. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's kind of, it's getting to the point where, you know, Zach Gellon, Merrill Kelly, Ryan Nelson, Drey Jameson, Brandon fought right around the corner. Is that five? I think that's five.

Starting point is 00:21:35 That's five. That's five. That counts as five. That counts as five. That counts as five. That counts as five. That counts as five. So you're getting to the point where the rotation of the future for this baseball team is,

Starting point is 00:21:44 is kind of starting to take shape. And it's not necessarily to say that, you know, 20, 23 is going to open with exactly those five guys. There's other guys in the mix. You know, Madison Bumgarner is, you know, still here for a couple years. There's Brandon fought in the comments again. Call me out. Yep, yep, there you go.

Starting point is 00:21:57 Just wait. But yeah, I mean, you're getting to the point where it's not just the position player side of this team that's coming together. It's like, oh, man, this starting rotation could be pretty darn good here as soon as pretty much next year. We're kind of starting to see the beginnings of that right now. So it's an exciting baseball team, Derek. Like, it is just an exciting baseball team. It is fun going out there and watching these games every day. Not to mention playoff implications.

Starting point is 00:22:23 You want playoff implications? well, they could spoil the Padres playoffs. Right now, they could get them on the wrong foot. A game and a half back, Milwaukee is behind the San Diego Padres. Diamondbacks have three more games in the series for with the Padres. So it's a good chance for them to stick it to an NL West rival and give another team that we really kind of don't like much in the Milwaukee Brewers a chance to step in there.

Starting point is 00:22:46 But, hey, it would be great to just rid the rest of the playoffs of the NL. West so that we're all in the same, you know, we're all in the same boat together here during the postseason. make sure if you don't get a chance, if you haven't had a chance to go out and watch this team, you don't have many more opportunities. This weekend and next weekend against the Giants is it. So make sure to grab some tickets.

Starting point is 00:23:05 If you don't want to get tickets, remember cold beer and cheeseburgers is open. No reservations required. Here you go. First and first serve. So plenty of opportunities to go see this baseball team and have some fun before the season ends. We thank you guys so much for being here with us in the chat. We thank Jake McCarthy again for joining us. That was incredible for him to come.

Starting point is 00:23:24 through on a Friday and you guys coming through on a Friday. So thank you guys again so much for joining us. You can get us on Twitter until then. I'm at cap underscore Kman with a K. This guy over here is at Jesse N. Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you again for being here. Big thanks again to the rake. And Jesse, on behalf of Jesse and myself, we thank you guys. Remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you talk to a guy that's hit over 300 on the Diamondbacks right now.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jake McCarthy joins the show

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