Subpar - Zac Gallen talks playing golf on the road in season, getting called up to the big leagues

Episode Date: February 27, 2024

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, MLB All-Star Zac Gallen joins Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz for an exclusive, in-studio interview. The stud Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher talks his experience at the WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am, how position players react to him playing golf on road trips and his team's incredible run to the 2023 World Series. -- Genesis, proud sponsor of the Genesis Invitational and GOLF's Subpar. Make the Game Your own. The Genesis GV80. Learn more at Genesis.com -- Subscribe Now: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt5ESUx6omMUsMoEKvMTzlA Shop The Birdie Juice Collection: https://fairwayjockey.com/collections/birdie-juice Follow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golf_subpar/?hl=en Follow Twitter: https://twitter.com/golf_subpar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

All right, here we go. Another episode of Golf Subpar with Colt Nost and Drew Stolz. The Mexican Open at Vedanta is in the books. And a young fella, PGA Tour rookie gets the job done. Jake Knapp, becoming the third rookie this year already on the PGA Tour to win, which matches the total all of last year. But it wasn't smooth sailing for the fellow from California. No, it was not.

In fact, BG, good to be with you. And, yeah, like going into that final round, A, it's the perfect golf course setup for Jake Knapp. He hits huge bombs, cruises at like 190 ball speed, great golf course set up for him after that third round. You're going in the final round like this thing could be a runaway, it could be a snooze fest quickly. Then it looked like he might not even be winning after seven holes. And then we had it. I ended up getting some pretty good drama down the stretch from that.

But it ain't winning on the BJ tour at any event, much less for the first time. But this is, you know, we talk about the changing of the schedule and the signature events and things. Like this is kind of what you hope to see in these non-signature events is like the new guys, the fresh guys, a rookies like a Jake Knapp, who has potential to be really, really good. And golf, like, this is our kind of first look at Jake Knapp. And, dude, that golf swings fun to watch, dude. It is long, it's old school, kind of,

and it's got a shitload of speed in it. Yeah, I mean, I saw what he did on Saturday, making 11 bird. He's cruising. Everybody was saying, like, this could be the next big star in the game of golf. And then I sat down and watched it all on Sunday, and my God, did he have it at 10 and 2,

white knuckling, like, just get this bitch to the house. I'm blaming. I felt so bad for him the way he started. I'm like, because he wasn't just hitting it a little bit offline. It was miles offline. I mean, we had duck hooks, we had slices, we had a scold iron shot on the first hole. I was like, this could be a disaster. But he riding the ship, won it with his short game on that back nine.

You know, I'm very, very happy for the guy. I remember we had James Nitties on our serious XM show before who covers the corn fairy tour. Asked him like, who's a guy to watch coming off the corn fairy tour? Said Jake Nat. So props to you, Nitties for nailing that one. It's a huge win. This is going to change his life, change his schedule, all the signature events, the Masters, Maui, everything that comes with it is awesome. The good news was he didn't have the likes of Scotty Schaeffler, Max Homa, Jordan Speeth kind of player trying to chase him down.

But hey, a win's a win. Yeah, part of that's what he did on Saturday going out making 11 bird. He's giving himself a big cushion. Like, it is going to be hard to close it out for the first time. For anybody, by the way, even these guys, you just mentioned the big name guys. Like they got to start somewhere, you know, and you got to win some of the lower level events for you even get into the bigger events

and I have a chance to win those. But man, his talent levels high, that golf swing. He's got so much speed. To me, watching him in that final round, I was like, it looks like he's trying to swing in slow motion. Like, he's trying to not hit it hard. Like, he's trying to slow everything down. Yeah, like, you don't need to hit it hard.

And then he was hitting it crooked. And at one point, I was like, man, if I was this caddy, I was like, dude, stop trying to guide this thing. You've been hitting a great all weeks. Keep sending it. But, yeah, the way he hit it off the tee in that final round, Those are big fairways, by the way.

This isn't like hitting two at Harbor Town or something like that. You can see some of the highest fairway percentages of the season out there. But, dude, I don't care. He got it done. Typically winning your first one ain't easy. It wasn't for him. But he closed the deal. And look out for him going forward.

Like I said, this is kind of the cool thing about the non-signature events. I think we're going to get a lot of stories like this throughout the year. And his story is cool, too. Like, well-documented. Former Bouncer just a couple years ago needed some money. Did that for a long time. It kind of gave him a new appreciation for playing golf. He was a bouncer at a place called the Country Club.

Good spot, which is a lot of brawls. A lot of brawls at the country club. I did see someone tweet that he should wear all black, like a security guard on Sundays. I think that'd be a good look. Yeah, he could get a little sponsor. Maybe a yellow jacket, when it rains, get one of those event staff jackets out there. That'd be a good sponsorship deal. Shout out.

With what you said about the non-signature events, like, I hate all the haters out there that tweet, oh, I don't even know who these guys are. I mean, this field is so terrible. Well, you know what? For the most part, most of the guys coming off the Corned Ferry Tour, we don't know who they are. I mean, we do. We follow golf nonstop. But for the rest of the world out there that just tunes into the PGA tour, like, the people in the signature events earn their way there. And that's why we know about them. These guys get to know these names because they could be the future

stars of the game. They might not, but they damn sure it could be. We didn't know who Patrick Reed was and he came out of college, was Monday qualifying every week, did it like five or seven times in one season, ended up winning. No one knew who he was before that. I mean, you can go all the way back to like Dustin Johnson won at Turning Stone his rookie year and needed like a a big week just to keep his cart at that point. I'm pretty sure at the time, people were like, oh, Dustin Johnson, like, this isn't a good field, you know, some rookie one. Like, you got to win these lower level ones to, very few guys just come out and start winning majors or contending in majors or winning big-time events. A, it takes, like I said, it takes time to get to earn your

way into those events. And B, it takes some experience, like, being in the hunt a few times before you close one out. So, like, it's just the nature of golf right now with how long the schedule is. You're not going to have the, you know, 20 of the top 25 in the field every single week. They can't play all those times. So you're going to have weeks like this. And quite frankly, I think it's a good opportunity for these guys, like a Jake Knapp, to get in there and have a chance to win and not have to beat the Scotty's and the Rouries and all those guys and the Collinmore Cowers and JT's.

Like, get your feet wet. Learn how to win against some of the other guys that are still world-class players, but they're not that. And then it gives you some confidence and you work a way into it. But dude, he's fun to watch play the game. I'll play that. And his upside is big. If he gets that driver going anywhere the way he hits it, like he can be a threat.

And he's played good golf at Tori, too. Look, not many people knew who saw Thigala was when he came out. Finish his third at Phoenix Open in front of a raucous crowd. Now everybody loves him, and he's a fan favorite every time he tease it up. Yeah, it takes time. Like, you don't just come out unless you're one of these weird guys. You know, Ludwig Oberg, like, he skews the scale. Colin Morcow came out, started winning right away.

Like, there are those guys, but it's very, very few and far between. So it takes time to become a star. So, I mean, dude, quite frankly, I watched more of that golf tournament on Sunday than I did Riviera, like coming down the stretch. you know, after like Hodecki had that thing won. I was like, I thought yesterday's was more fascinating. I thought you would always stay locked in since your boys' broadcast. Yeah, I figured I'd just get the highlight real.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Appreciate it. You probably shitting on Nance a little bit, doing something. Yeah, there's things in the books. We were one viewer away from winning an Emmy. You cost us. I know, dude.

You got to earn me. You got to earn me. But I'd say this, bud, speaking of golf news, there's a name that a lot of people know about. A lot of people have been wondering about for a long time. Officially official. Now, Anthony Kim, back in the world of professional golf.

Going to be making his debut at Jedda on Lipp. I said Jeddah earlier today. That name, good job. That name messed me up a little bit. Jetta. AK back, though. Down in Saudi Arabia, excited to see Anthony Kim back. Look, he's a guy.

I've been begging for, I think, a year and a half for him to come on the show, wanted him to be sitting in this chair, right in between us, and hoping that he was going to make his return on the PGA tour. There was a lot of talks, him possibly going back to one of them, either the PGA tour or Liv. Liv got a hold of him. They got some deep pockets, and he'll be teeing it up. I've heard some rumors that he'll be playing as a wild card in a couple events.

Then just recently, before we came on here, I heard he'll be playing the final 12 as a wild card over at Liv. So either way, I'm very excited to see what Anthony Kim does. It's been 12 years since we've seen him play competitively. I've seen a lot of videos of the swing over the last month or two. Looks as good as always. But competitive golf is obviously much different than at home with your boys, slap them around in money games.

But look, Anthony Kim, He definitely helps move the needle. I said on our Serious XM show, I love John Rom, huge John Rom fan. I think if this event was in America or anywhere where we could watch it live, it would crush John Rom's debut at Live, because I think that many people are interested to see what Anthony Kim does. I said on the radio, I don't think there's a bigger needle mover in terms of immediate attention right now. Now, whether that hangs on for months and months or years and years, I don't know.

I think a lot of that depends on how Anthony plays, but I don't think there's a bigger needle mover for one week right away than Anthony Kim. And I can be damn sure the PJ Tour did all they could to try to get him play on that past champions. I'm sure sponsors exemptions were lined up around the block. I think Liv's probably a safer landing spot, financially speaking. He's got an insurance policy, you know, that'll probably go away. I think there's probably more guarantees that live. That's safe to say.

But right now, from the time he sticks to tea in the ground, I don't think there's another guy in golf that will garner more attention than Anthony Kim the first week. And listen, I get that the backers of Liv are from Saudi Arabia, so they want them over there in their country. I'm just shocked for a guy that's as big a star as he is in the United States, that they didn't have his debut be over here. Where can garner tons of eyeballs, go up against the PGA tour, and try to compete with him in the ratings. I'm a little surprised by that. I'm surprised by a lot of things they do, but hey, this is a great get for Liv. It's a huge haul for them. We would have been saying the exact same thing.

If he announced that he was playing in the next PGA tour event, we'd be like, wow. what a coup for the PGA tour. You know what I mean? So I think if I had a theory, like you mentioned, 12 years since he's played competitive golf, I personally have pretty low expectations for I was going to play competitively, not just the first week, but for a while. You know, like we look at Will Zaltors, took some time off like, dude, we got to give him some runway.

It's been 12 years for Anthony Kim. I don't expect him to go light the world on fire. I think maybe part of not debuting in America is like, let's keep him over here for a little bit, let him work off a little bit of the rust, and then give them, I think I'll have two starts before they eventually come to Miami. which is the week before the Masters, and then that'll be like the first boom, domestic appearance for Anthony Kim in tournament golf.

But it's a big haul for them. This guy, like, he's been Sasquatch, man. Like there's sightings and it blows up the internet and all that, and people want to know. I'm honestly more excited for, wish it was right here on our show, but the first time he sits down and talks and just like, dude, what have you been doing?

We'd love to hear that from Anthony. And I think all golf fans across the world probably want to hear it. Listen, if I can watch it, I'll be tuned in. There's no doubt. Without question. extremely excited to see what the game looks like, you know, what his personality is like now. This is a guy that I was really close with, you know, spent a lot of time in college, early on in our professional's career hanging out, playing a lot of golf together.

One of the most talented humans I've ever been around. I'm excited for him, man. It's going to be great. I don't expect it to be completely smooth sailing for him right out of the gate. I mean, 12 years is a long time, but I'll tell you what is smooth sailing sleaze, the genesis. Oh, my God. If you're in the car market, bud, I got news for you. No matter where your next adventure takes you, the Genesis GV80 is up for it.

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Very nice read. Oh, thank you. Smooth. All right, let's get to our guest. Listen, I know we are a golf show. We have a diehard golf audience. Sometimes our non-golfer episodes don't do as well as we would like.

If you don't listen to this one, you've lost your damn mind. because this guy is a stud. He's one of the starting pitchers for the Arizona Diamondbacks, one of the best pitchers in the league. This was the first time I met him, and I think I just found a new best friend. I love this guy.

This episode is one of my favorites we have ever done. Let's get to it. Here's Zach Gallen on Subpar. All right, folks, we have got a ball player with us here today. One of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball. First Team MLB, fresh off a World Series appearance. We got WM Phoenix Open Pro Am appearance, The Milkman, Zach Gallin.

What's going on, brother? How are we doing, fellas? Good to have you, buddy. Yeah, I'm glad to be here. Thank you so much. Sorry about your loss in the World Series. I'm a Texas guy. That's tough.

I was a game. What pitch did Rom throughout game four? Three. Whatever he was, whatever game that was, I was there for that. How did you think he did in that? You got to see the action up close. He was impaired with the jacket a little bit. Yeah, but you had to wear the jacket.

He was in the clubhouse before the game, and he's like, should I wear it? Should I not wear it? I was like, you got to wear it. You got to wear it. wear it for the yeah he was telling us like there's a lot of rules and stipulations about wearing that like how when you wear the jacket you have to dress I'm like you have to wear it like doesn't matter just get it in the air yeah there are a ton of rules he came in here after he won had it on had a pair of Jordan's on and it was in our video and his

age is like uh you got to bring that up cut the feet out you can't wear sneakers with it no sneakers he was like I wear slacks a tie like a special tie like it was it was cool to get around him in here like because you just figured like you have to you have to you You have to call and let them know. You got to get it clear. And ask them, I'm like, dude, I won the thing. I want to wear this everywhere. Yeah, it's crazy. I would just figure it would be like happy Gilmore where you're just like wearing it everywhere around town. You know what I mean? Go the grocery store? I mean, yeah. Why not? The steam room in that thing. Yeah. I would just won the masters. I wear like a robe at the house. It's like I'm just wearing it around, you know.

Yeah, yeah. A lot smoking jacket. You got the Eastside golf t-shirt on. So you're obviously a big golf fan. Scale of one to 10. How big a golf fan is that gallon? Big, I mean, I guess it depends on how classify your fandom probably a seven like i don't i can't follow it so much but like to big events like it's on the clubhouse like you know all the majors and stuff like that we have them on the clubhouse and you know trying to follow along as best i can yeah big enough that you play the wm pro am we're just talking about that experience a little bit how was that and you got a little bit of a shit draw with the weather but it actually ended up being a pretty decent little wednesday it was this it was a solid day like we were saying before like i got like the last two i've had the

COVID year and then this one with the rain so yeah I mean it's a special event it's cool like just to be a part of it you know it's it's a great event but the rain was tough but shout of glory was yeah who did you get paired with I was with Brandon Wu and then supposed to be J T. Poston who I played with last time which is cool he's a I think he's a pretty big baseball fan I think his brother he said maybe he's like a baseball agent or something like that so we had some we had some stuff in common last time and then his caddy was awesome so like I was looking forward to playing oh dude you had a loved him. Yeah. His cat here in Fleon actually stays at my house during the WM Phoenix

that's crazy. The man's got some pipes he can sing. He's a lot of fun. He's a special one. Yeah, I was looking forward to it. So I was bummed that we got rained out, but yeah, the postman and the milkman. That would have been a nice little fucking duo right there. But you got the shot at glory. I was stressed about shot of glory because I was like, dude, the weather shit. None of the celebs are going to stick around and be like, hey, we might have this, we might not. They're going to get on planes and go home. And also I was like the fans. I don't know who's going to be there. Sure enough, you get to that thing. There wasn't a seat empty in that thing 20,000 strong. Packed. Like I was shocked. Like we were saying like I had buddies

are like we're still at 16 just like party. And I'm like, all right, let's just go over and hang out. And then we find out my caddy, Marty was he was taking my bags up. And I think he ran into Fuge and Phelps. And he was like, they're still doing shout of glory. Like tell Gallant if he wants to do it. Like I'm like, all right. And he's like, it's going to be like a 1.45 shot. So he brought two clubs. And we were just like carrying him around at 16. Like people were like, what do you? I'm like I had to do shot at like 30 minutes so it was like we kind of turned into like a little bit of a joke but yeah it was uh it's I mean I was I was shocked that people were still there all everybody those those Wednesday tickets aren't cheap so if you have one you're gonna go out there you're

gonna enjoy yourself but you went down to shot of glory so all the celebs go down hit a shot close to the pin wins something holding one's a million bucks a lady charity yeah money to charity take us through your shot how to go what were the nerves like leading up to it yeah I was I was pretty nervous like I don't get nervous when I pitch because it's something I'm like, at all? No, I'm like used to doing it. Like, I get more like anxiety. Like I just want to get it to go. Like I let's just get it going. Like I'm, I'm never really nervous. Never been that way. It's just like, all right, like I've done my preparation. Let's just get this thing going. Like, but the guy I was like, all right, there's people here. It's a tough. It was like a

balling alley down there. It was so tight on that tea. Yeah. Crosophobic. And what kind of yardage? I think the pin was 144. If I remember correctly. We didn't have my, that was the one thing on Marty. I was like, he said, I didn't bring, I didn't bring the shooter. And I was like, all right, we need to find somebody who has it. So somebody shot, I think it was Adrian Beltray's caddy and he was like, I got it at 144. I'm like, all right. So it was downwind. I'm like, just going to be a little bit adrenaline. So like all this things like, I can't imagine like, you know, trying to factor in, you know, how many shots guys play in a major, or in like a weekend event. It's like 200 and some odd shots. So it's like. But yeah, it was, I think I, I hit like 10 feet from the pin, spun it back.

I wound up staying on the green. So like I was, I was pumped about that. But I just didn't want to kill somebody. I was like, just get in the air. Just don't skull on. Just don't shank it. So, yeah, I was relieved that it was on the green. Most importantly, who was the worst? Cold cuts hit a pretty special. I haven't paid attention for a handful of guys

because it's such a shit show up there. But, like, cold cuts hit a knife that never really went above belly button height. I think it would have gone 272 yards if you hadn't run into something with a pitching wedge. But there was no, like, were you there? It was last year, one of the, the Bachelor. Can't remember his name. Apologies to The Bachelor. He showed up, never plays golf, barefooted, overalls,

split grip, grip, practice swing, takes a dick this big, ball teed up this high, and the cameraman get eight yards in front of him and barely off his line. And he damn near killed the dude. And that, like, shut down the production for a while. There was none of that this year. They needed a, the photographers needed a helmet. Somebody apparently after I hit drilled a photographer. I don't remember, I missed it.

I was doing an interview one of the local TV stations. or whatever and I came back and I was like did you see that I'm like what happened he's like somebody like right in the inner thigh god the nuts are yeah look out interesting you gotta need to wear a cup and a helmet cup and a helmet to go to the shot of glory yeah it's like it must be whoever draws the shortest straw has got to be the cameraman so you might die but we're also going to get a couple usable shots I was talking speaking to co-cuts I was talking to to bob and he was like that was like I never had anything like that before I was like yeah it was a literal bowling alley out It was like, those dudes were freaking out before.

It was awesome actually talking to like, dude, this is, because it was more, A, you have the 20,000, but B, that T was so overcrowded and it was so congested. Like, you didn't have room to breathe. It just had to be like, for people that don't play golf, like that's suffocating. Yeah. It shocks me, like, I mean, we go to every PJ tour event. Those guys are the best in the world. So they line close there. We go to Tahoe or this event here.

I'm like, you people realize these people, they're not good at golf. This is not what they do. Like, you're just begging to get killed right now. It's not a good environment for like standing really close. There's Brian Erlacher with a three wood from the rough and they're like, let me, and they stand in the same place. They wait for Roy Macoroy. Yeah, it's like, what are you doing?

He's in here for a reason. My girlfriend was standing her, my girlfriend and her friends were standing right behind the camera guy on the left side and thankfully there weren't a lot of lefty golfers, but like after the second one, I was like, hey, you guys might want to just move down a little bit. Like, just give me a little space. I can't have you wear one on the forehead. Yeah, like that just won't be good. I got a wrap.

Yeah. I got a wrap. So can you just slide down just a little bit? Yeah. We got to tighten that up just a little bit. Who are some of your favorite golfers to follow? Oh, I mean, I don't know. I mean, what Wyndham's been doing has been awesome.

I got to talk to him a little bit at the Dream Day on Tuesday. And just kind of hearing his story, I think is like a super cool thing. You know, I can respect just grinding and then finally trying to break through. and then like have your moment he's been on fire um i don't know homa's not he's a dodgers fan so i'm kind of like die hard yeah so i was like he was sitting behind the dug out actually like one of the games earlier this year and i kept looking i'm like why do i know this guy why don't i know this guy and then i come back and i was like oh i think that's homo

so it's like i was hoping i got to play with him in the pro ham so we could talk some shit about the dodgers and whatnot um rory's always you know sick to watch just because it's rory so it's like i mean i mean i'm I mean, any, like, anything that, like, guys that have, like, just pure swings, like, I just love watching. I'm trying to soak it all in as best I can. Have you gotten to be buzz with any, like, there's so many of them around here and you're getting into the golf scene.

Have you gotten to play with any of them or develop friendships with any of them? None other than the guys I've gotten to play with in the pro. I'm got to play with Poston. Brian Harmon was really cool. The first time I played in the program, I played with him. Yeah, I mean, all those guys are. They're just like... He threw out a great first pitch.

I was going to say, sneaky. Great first pitch. Good representation for golfers. He threw out the first pitch. Where? East Lake. I think was it during East Lake? Yes.

He won the Open Championship, so they come back East Lake Atlanta. Sick. And he threw one out and it was nice. It was like, quick, boom. Left me too. He could tell he thrown in there. Yeah, yeah, no. He helped me.

It's funny. I guess I got, I'm like biased because I was, I had a fried egg and the last time I played and he was, I couldn't get it out. And he was like, all right, try this. Like, close the club face soup. And I'm like, It was cool for him just to like to take 30 seconds, like, hey man, try this. And like, so I'm on the like, I don't know, fourth hole in the bunker.

And he's just like, I got like a little chipping lesson from him. So I was like, I like following him. And then my buddies at home know, like, that's your guy, huh? That's your guy. I'm like, he probably doesn't remember me at all. But I'm like, yeah, I'm partial that because I got to play with him. He remembers. Best friends with the Open champ.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, sorry. You think it's a cool deal to play with them as golfers. And I can guarantee you, like, all of them think it's a cooler deal. Like, yo, I'm actually, I'm playing with like a dude. dude like you think you're like fish out of water like no dude they love that no i just try and stay out of their way i'm like listen like even when i even i play with brandon woo this year and i'm like

i don't want to go like because i don't know what those guys are trying to accomplish in the pro i'm like if they had a baseball similar type of thing like i would be very intentional but like also understand like you know you try to interact with the people there so like i try to stay out of their way but all those guys are yeah they're awesome they just you know come up and like to shoot the shit. Speaking of Wyndham, he's made a gazillion dollars last year and a half.

Just left Whistbarok. He's up there playing 82 year old Mike Young and Jen right now. Trying to get a little more cash. By the way, that's the shittiest

you can make is playing Mikey and Jinn. He's a dumbest bazillionaire now of all time. Mike Young will kill you. He's going to take all your U.S. Open money.

It's going to be great. He's going to need that champion story. He's going to be the only dude to blow through it. He's not going to buy a single fucking thing is the thing.

He's going to lose it and shitty gambling. He's not only with house money right now. He's the worst gambler in the world. Would you waste your money on Mike Young at Whisk Baroque? Yeah, gin, poker, he thinks he's nice at poker. He shows up to the caddy games and loses his ass. He's terrible.

He loses Ellis on their year-long gin little pool that they got. We'll get you set up with it. If you like Dub as an easy, easy setup. And watching his stuff, like you play with some nice dudes in those things, but like his is different. He, I didn't, like, on TV it's hard to tell. Not how good guys are, but like, I didn't really really, is how long he was so he does that like because he's not he's smaller than me so I'm like all right

like the year before was John Rom and I'm like I know John Rom can like sling it out there and then Wyndham steps up and they haven't hit balls the dream day I'm like he's hammering balls here I mean when he goes I mean he's top three or four yeah if he wanted to try to like lead it and be the long I think he could yeah I would be real fucking close the freak athletes in that sense like I think that's like super impressive this is cool though because he's in perfect balance Like he doesn't look like he's falling over and he has 190 ball speed. Yeah, I'm like, which is just disgusting. It doesn't look like anything.

And you watch it. You're like, it's just not coming down. Yeah. It's just out there forever. It doesn't even look like he's going out at that heart. He was, he was sailing balls over that tent downrange at champions. I was like. Yeah, that range.

Oh, that range. This is crazy. I'm like, yeah, this guy. I didn't realize he was that long. It's like, when we go to Colon. I caddy for him a couple years at Colonial. We go to Colonis. It's a notoriously like small driving range.

he can't even hit three woods he has to swing slow motion drivers and hit chips and stuff he's like dude it's kind of weird going to the first two it's the only term i ever go to where i haven't hit like an actual driver i never had that problem no i was like dude i just send it all day and then i send it again sling it's it went over the trinity what kind of handicap you carry uh i think i'm at eight eight right now i was down to like a seven but i i have no business of being a seven i can't put so like i lose my wallet when we're on the road really yeah that's a great question because All the pitchers, you know, they've been known traveling with their clubs and everything. You get some days off on road trips.

Are you one that travels with the clubs and how often you play? Almost every trip my clubs are on there, unless it's like a three-day trip to San Diego where it's like no off day or like on pitching or something like that where I'm like, it doesn't make sense for me to bring them. But I would say 90 to 95% of the trips I'm bringing in. I didn't know that was still, I didn't know if that was like still a thing. You had to be like Smoltz, Glavin, Maddox level like era. to do that.

It's, I would say it's probably dependent on the org, but like our manager, Tori is the man. He's like, listen, if you guys need to do whatever to get away from baseball, like, I understand the grind. He's like, if you guys want to go play golf, like, just make sure you're ready to play. I like him. Yeah. What a dude. Oh, he's the man.

That's a hell of a recruiting pitch. Yeah. Say you pitch or say you're pitching three days from down, you're on the road. Do you have to go to the stadium and, like, get some work in before you go play? Or is it just, hey, this is your day. Go do what you want. No, it's usually in the mornings. We'll play.

So, like, that's the only thing. sleep so you're figuring out which one's which so like I've had some early wake-up calls to play some sick places but you try and figure out like all right do I have a bullpen that day because I got get there a little bit earlier to warm up and do all this stuff but like if it's a day like if I just pitched and I'm not throwing and I just have to do some recovery like you got a little bit more time to get to the field but yeah I mean outside of days before I pitch and day before I pitch and the day of like I'm I'll try to play that's sick what's the best city your favorite city to for playing oh um Pittsburgh's is a is a good one where do you go on we played we

haven't played Oakmont yet they've they've been closed you want to feel real shitty about your game yeah you want to hate that's what I heard it'll eat your my buddy that played for the pirates so it's a good golf he's but plays a big slinger like left or right he played oakmont and he was like he called me right he's like dude I played out of my ass he was like I scrambled a 78 he was like it was the greatest day of my life yeah that's he had a yeah but if you can't putt if you can't do anything dude you can't it straight the rough sucks the greens are impossible like the whole it's and they keep it really that's the cool thing is like from what i'm told i've only played it once but they keep it like tournament condition virtually the entire time they're

open so you get like the real like they say they can like host us open on a week notice that's crazy the place that i played where i really got my lunchy in in terms of putting was olympic club ever played it got to be a good player to win her ever played that that's a little slap dick course I'll say it so you know we're going to get a self-suff charge so you don't have to do it I'll do it for you because I'm a good partner Colenio Sam there yeah sick yeah and then they were talking about tearing it up and redoing it because they're like this place a piece of shit that place was bad that course is so fun dude oh and we had a cat this is where I knew I was in for it I was like the cat that we had was this guy I want to say his name was manny but I don't hold me to it he'd been there like 40 years and he's like I've been here

four years, I still don't know how every pot in this corporate. Like, I was like, what? He's like, yeah, he's like, just all this stuff that gets in there. He's like, if you don't hit the right speed on the right line, he's like, the grain. He's like, it's just going to eat you alive. And I check the scorecard. I was like, yeah, holy shit, they kicked my teeth in out. And it's short. And you look out and it's 69. 75. But it's San Fran, but it's 8,000. I haven't played San Fran. I figured that's the city you would have said, just because there's so much good golf. And they're all close. Yeah, that's another good one. I mean, where else do you play up there? We played Olympic club

We played Cal Club The Cow Club is the sickest Yeah I love Cal Club Presidio is like a small like little spot Like that was the first time I played golf in San Francisco We couldn't we didn't have anyone that could swing like one of the big ones yet So we went on and played Presidio

And that's like a cool like little like funky track that you're like Are you got to play like you got to be solid out there So there I mean we have so many guys that have connections that have played around So like we kind of piece it together throughout the year It's like there's some solid spots we've gotten to play. When you go out and you bring your sticks and I'm assuming there's other pitchers on the staff that go out and play with you or somebody's not going out by yourself. What are the other players?

What are the field players think? Are these like these fucking guys? Yeah. They work one every five days. They get to play golf. Like they're the biggest pansies. Yeah, they're like, oh, how was golf today? Oh, I can't imagine.

Yeah, they're stretching and lifting. They're like, I'm on game 140 of 141. And you're like, yeah, sorry, man. You should have been a pitcher. Sorry, you should have been, yeah. When I was a kid, I had no idea all my brothers, because I played both when I was a kid. Like all over until college, they were like, that was it. Like, no more playing the field.

And my brother's friends were like, you want to be a pitcher. I'm like, why, it's boring. You play one every five days. And they're like, you're going to get to a point in your career, hopefully, where you go, thanks for telling me to be a pitcher. Yeah, you get a lot. You get them one out of five days, play some golf. Play golf. You get all the glory.

Yeah, so like, it's, no, it's sick. What do you think as a player when you see, like, what the Dodgers are doing right now? I know you hate the Dodgers. but like Shohei Otani they're signing all these guys they're basically trying to buy a world series but show hey 700 million dollars me what are we doing that I I'll tell you this I wasn't shocked about show hey signing the Dodgers at all like to me I didn't see him leaving our division it was either he was gonna go there or like I had the Giants as being the dark horse like so I'm like I was prepared to face show hey how many every time is we play them 13 so it's like I was prepared to face him

50 times like you have four bats a game so yeah I what the number is what shocked me was like I mean, dude, like seven, holy shit. And they're deferring like almost all of it, right? Yeah, 680 of it. It's nice when you make whatever he makes off the field. That's if you need it, but you can afford to do that. Yeah, it's like, I mean, I respect it. Like he wants a win, he wants good players around him.

So like you have to sacrifice some of those things. It's like, but I think he'll be all right with his off the field money. Is he the guy, if there's one dude that you just dread facing like, fuck. Like fear might not be the right word, but you're, you know, he's, he don't, fear might not be the right word, but you're, you're, you're like, damn, this could be, like, this is tough. He's up there. He's, there's certain guys for sure that you have to, like, I'll change my scouting approach a little bit, just like, just certain ways that I've avenues.

I got to be able to disguise pitches or set up, you know, different parts of the abat. But like, yeah, he's one of those guys is up there. That line-up's tough. I mean, Mookie's tough. Freddy's tough. Like, it's, that line up's going to be a challenge for sure. But, I mean, that's what you want. It's like, you want to see how you stack up against those guys.

So, yeah, I mean, he's a tough, he's a tough at bat for sure. Set a nice market for pitchers, too. Granted he does other things, but like, hey, he's 700. You know what I ain't? What does that make it fall like me? I can't hit 40. You got to root for those contract. Yeah, as I said, he does a little something other than pitch too, but, yeah.

He pitches. He's a freak, man. How with Trout and him, like, were the angels never better? That just blows my mind. I don't know because, like, it wasn't like they didn't spend money either. Yeah. It's like they were trying to bring guys in. It's just like, I really don't know.

It's wild to me. Yeah. Culture thing? I don't, I really don't, because I, I don't really know. Like, I've had a couple guys play over there, but like they were like, the culture's great. Like they're like, Otani's great. Trout's great. Like, all those guys are awesome.

It's just like, I mean, you got to worry about them. And they're playing in the AOS. So it's like, they got to worry about the Astros every year. So it's like, I mean, they're not playing a soft division. Not that any division is soft, but it's like, yeah, I think it's going to go down as one of the biggest mysteries and like sports. It's like, they didn't play a playoff game. Not, Otani never played. Trout's played in one, one or two playoffs games.

Yeah, O'Donnie's never played a playoff game. Yeah. Oh, damn. Nice, short season gets paid a gris. Smartest dude. I love that's the way you look at it. Smartest dude in business. Yeah, dude, he gets more time off and makes more money.

Tell me who's the dumb dumb. You're a New Jersey guy, so as Trout. Did you guys ever, did you bump heads, like coming up? No, well, we actually played for the same travel team. Trout's a couple years older than me. But, yeah, we, so Trout was like, the guy. were kids so he's like you heard about him from is he like one of those kids like you heard about a kid from whatever town was from like yeah so his um our travel our the guy who ran our travel program

it was his father who started and then the son was our coach and then trout's coach he would do travel was on the 17s I think when we were 12 so we were the first like little league team he coached and we remember hearing about like they're like yeah this kid trout's going to go in the first round like you kind of hear about him but you're like not really sure because it's a 12 you're like you know what but like yeah we'd heard about him he'd be in the facility like working out and like then you start to hear these stories and like the first time i started to put it together he was like i'm going to trout's draft party tonight or he was up in the MLB office and we're like huh he's like he's gonna be a first rounder like yeah and it was it's cool and then he wound up coming back when was what

my senior year we did like a signing day like thing or whatever and they retired his number he just won the rookie of the year the MVP i forget exactly it was so he came back so got to talked to him a little bit, but I haven't crossed paths with him since. So I'm looking forward to like chopping up with him and kind of like talking about like, you know, guys that, like we grew up playing for and like just the area and stuff like that. Yeah, so you are both from New Jersey. Actually, I'm good buddies with Justin Upton who played at the Angels. And so they were on a road trip there in Minnesota at the same time we were for 3M. He's like, hey, come out and have drinks with Trout.

And Trout's heard. He's not playing. I'm not playing. Yeah. So I didn't know what to expect. Like, I mean, this is a superstar. I don't know. He was so cool. we had so much fun he loves golf it was I was blown away by how like he's just a normal dude that has somebody really freaking good at baseball yeah he's just

it sounds like very super down-to-earth guy like I mean it's just yeah you hear nothing but good things and he's designing a course right now with Tiger up up in New Jersey's guys on course oh yeah that's right yeah he apparently is a good golfer like he's I've seen the top golf video of him sending it to the ozone have you played silver leaf yeah okay so the 10th hole we're out there playing me him and up.

The 10th hole is the hard one up the hill towards the deal. He's like, what do I do here? And I was like, I'll just hit like a two iron down there short of it because I mean, he smashes it. Yeah. And so we get up there, he's like, why didn't I just hit driver over the ditch? And I was like, well, I've never played with a dude that can carry it 360. Like, I never.

Why are you handcuffing me? He was like, bum ass. Shit, man. I didn't know like that was even possible. Yeah, next time I'm just going to say hit it on the green. Dude, his speed is absurd. That top golf video went like crazy viral. him lazy.

And by the way, you can't hit it hard with those clubs. And those balls. Like, dumb down balls. Proper equipment, a ball. It's a piece of shit. I mean, he can hit it crooked, obviously, but when he catches it, my God. It is stupid. He's a thick, dude.

I mean, he, I mean, talk about freak athletes, like, freak athlete. And sometimes you feel like the hitters, like, I think that's even more impressive because, like, to be able to grind on your golf swing, but then also worry about your baseball swing, too. Like, we have a lot of guys that are like, I don't, I don't play during the season. like hitters specifically that you know they're like I just don't want to mess with my swing it's like totally opposite isn't it yeah I don't know all the mechanics of the baseball swing but from what I hear they're like no it's not good for my baseball it's not good for my swing yeah

I've only played with a handful of guys maybe even one Carson Kelly who was our catcher here the last five six years he's a really good golfer he probably plays like a plus one and he's about the only position player that would like was like legit and would like play like during this like during the season. But, yeah, a lot of guys tend to just go, I play in the off season. Yeah, it makes sense for them. I mean, obviously.

You might want to do that. Pitchers, go play all the time. Exactly. It's like, we're going to take a brief break from this week's interview to remind everyone about our YouTube channel. If you are listening to the audio only, make sure to go to at golf subpar on YouTube and check it out. If you are watching and enjoying the show,

make sure you do us a favor by liking this video. Subscribing to the channel and making sure to turn on notifications so you don't miss a thing. and leave us some comments or questions to let us know what you think of the show. We'll do our best to answer them all. Thanks again for listening. Now back to this week's interview. I want to talk a little bit about because some of our best stories on here, guys,

we call it Jicky Jacks, which is like for many tours and stuff, the minor leagues. You played in the minor leagues. You played for one of the greatest teams, New Orleans baby cakes. Unbelievable names. You should have never left. I mean, you did a good job for yourself, but that's a sick franchise. We're going to get to some minor league names earlier. My new favorite franchise.

But New Orleans baby cakes is incredible. You got any good minor league stories? Well, I've been telling this story a lot lately because people, I don't know why, but people have been like, you play for the baby case. So cool. And I'm like, yeah, I did. I was there. I spent begrudgingly too long there.

I wish I was not there very long because you're AAA. You're like, I just want to get to the big leagues. But we had this guy and I was never there, but I'd heard about it. So there was this, in the big leagues, all your gear travels with you. Like they put it right on the plane and gets there. In the minor leagues, they have to ship it like in truck. So like the truck would come pick it up and then take it to whatever city you were going to. So they had this, I think FedEx would deliver our stuff.

And this FedEx guy, it was like on schedule. Every time you come pick up, he'd be like, baby cakes, sounds like a softball team. And like the clubbies would be like, dude, you told the same joke two weeks ago. And they said the guy like every time we would come in and be like, yeah, oh, softball team. And he's like, and the guys would like, they would just get so tired of it. And I heard about it. I'm like, yeah, that's tough. I think it's the sickest name in the world.

So how long are you? It's softball. Yeah, it is a good name. Yeah. How long did you have to live? How long were you in New Orleans? So I was there all of 18, and then I was, I got called up in June of 2019. So like, you know, good how many every months?

Yeah. Eight months out of the total two years. In Orleans. Yeah. I feel like you either love New Orleans or you hate New Orleans. I wasn't the biggest fan. I mean, it's dirty. The sun is hot.

The summers are like, you bake out there. There's nowhere hotter in the world than that swamp. There. Swamp heat. Little Rock, Arkansas is another place that. plate has been like so hot the travelers yeah yeah yeah yeah they got that like river or lake or whatever out in right field and it's like it almost like the humidity just comes right off of that and just sticks right on the field and it's like yeah that place is hot new Orleans the good thing about

the normans being hot it's like you don't have to warm up like as soon as you go outside you're like all right I'm good to go yeah like five minutes run around for a little bit yeah you're good to go right so june 2019 did you have any idea the call was coming that you were going to get called up to the big leagues what was that moment like when you finally achieve that dream yeah I was I was having a good year in 19, like got off to a really good start and was like first month of the year. I'm like, all right, it's got to be coming soon. And we had a meeting I remember in, I think it was El Paso. And the, the great place. Yeah. It's a luxurious lifestyle. Yeah. It's actually sorry. It's so much like the mini tours, dude. Yeah. Yeah. That's like, that's why I

when I hear about guys playing the meeting tours, like, I'm very like, like, I can feel like I have sympathy for those guys come like it's a grind like it first like for sure it's a grind so we were in actually we're in san antonio manager comes in after the game and we just won so it was weird to have like a team meeting wherever he's like all right team meeting he's like we got somebody going up to the big leagues and i was like finally man it's like i'm going to the big leagues they call up another guy and everyone like kind of looked at me and they were like huh they're like i mean they're like how and a fact they're like how was that not you i was like i don't know i guess they you know there's all kinds of different stuff yeah it was it a pitcher yeah it's

another picture oh yeah yeah so it was like there's stuff that goes to the 40-man roster and just kind of logistics stuff like you know you come to find out the business side of it so I'm like all right whatever so I started getting calls from like my agents they're like don't do anything different like when guys like are having a good year and they get passed over like guys want to start to change something and feel like oh I need to strike more guys out or I need to start throwing or whatever they started calling they were like it was almost like every other day they're like don't do anything different like you're good just stay worried at just just try and stay healthy I'm like, all right, sounds good.

So come the week before I got called up, we were in El Paso. And I get worried that another guy gets called up in front of me. And I'm like, at this point, I don't know what else to do. Like, do I need to get traded? Do I need to? Like, I don't know how it works. So I was pretty bitter about it. And I had, some people probably still have the screenshot, but I made a tweet about, like,

I didn't say anything. All I just said was just L-O-L. Because, like, at that point, I was pretty displeased about it. So, like, to all the kids out there, do not. Don't tweet when you're emotional. Yeah, when you're emotional. But like, it was still very cryptic because people were like, I was like, oh, it was about the airplane or whatever.

But like I was, I was pretty fired up that I didn't get called up. And now the coaches start coming to me and they're like, hey, we just want to make sure, like you're all right with the organization. Like we see, we see what we're doing. Like just it was logistics. I kind of called bullshit on it. But I made a start in El Paso like two days later. We go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I'm on the plane.

and this was cool because I kind of I wanted it by surprise like I didn't want it to be like oh like now it's my time and that that was really cool because I was on the plane I was watching this movie I think it's called snatched or snatched like whatever and the manager comes up Keith Johnson comes to Tass me on the shoulder and I'm my headphones in he's like he says when you get off the plane you're going to be a big leaguer so I take my headphones out I'm like what you said like I thought he like I had no idea what he said he's like when you get off this plane you're going to go home you're going to pack your bags you're going to st louis tomorrow i was like what so i sat there for a whole hour no service like couldn't tell my family just like sat on it and like it's like a late night flight and like my teammates are starting to kind of figure out what's going on and

they're like look at me like give me thumbs up and like yes i sat there for an hour and i got off the plane all the guys were there and like kind of like give me hugs and like dab me up and and it was cool got home called my family like two in the morning and i was like i'm going to the big leagues i have a flight like six a m tomorrow and like i'm going to the big lees i have a flight like six a m tomorrow And, like, they were all, like, I didn't sleep. I know my mom didn't sleep. Like, they were all trying to figure out how to get the St. Louis. And, like, yeah, it was a pretty cool moment.

Like, everything that had kind of, that was sour before it, like, just made it all worth it. That's incredible. No service, no nothing. Yeah. That is going to the show. Yeah. I was like, oh, fine. I get out of, I get out of here.

Like, let's see what the show's like. I'm, I'd rather go play the El Paso Chihuahuas again. Yeah, they probably had a thicker name. They actually, no, they're chihuahuas. Are they? I know what they are. Yeah, my wife's from El Paso. Oh, there we go.

It's a sick stadium. Their stadium is it right in downtown. It's actually is nice. It's a badass stadium. They draw a good crowd. It's a cool place to play. It's a bad place to pitch. It's a jet stream to center field.

It's tiny. Like, when I first got called AAA, when I, like, my first year, they, I got my licks in there. I was like, ooh, I don't know about this. This is ball jumps here. Like, when you're in AAA and you're like a guy that is expecting at some point in the near future to get called. Is it like game to game? Like if you get shelled in a game, you're like, oh, fuck, that just set me back two months. Yeah.

Is it like that much game in, game out? Or they just see like, this kid's going to be a big league or let's get them up here. I think, yeah. I think there can be. I think it depends on like just the body of work. Like if you had two months of just dominating and then you have a bad start, they're like, all right, they would, what I've heard is they would rather you have a little bit of failure and kind of see how you bounce back from that.

Like they're not going to necessarily, you know, oh, he has one bad out. like oh he's not ready for it's like they would rather you have a bad outing and then go on like a string of like three or four more good starts but if you start the string the bad starts together and like okay maybe he needs a little more work i'm like just kind of learn there's certain things that like they want to see usage in like certain pitches maybe like if you're like oh he needs a third pitch or he needs a fourth pitch like is he using that a lot is he getting good success so like yes and no i think relievers and starters a little bit different too um but yeah there's there's a lot more stuff that goes into it than just like yeah i don't know if it was like day to day like you know that

a bad round would say he needs a couple more months or whatever you it's definitely i think they like to see the failure like to bounce back from failure can you handle it because i mean you're going to get up to the big lees and you're going to have failure i mean it's a game of failure so they won't yeah all right take us through that you get the call you fly to st louis how many days until you started and what was the first start like yeah so i got up um i want to i feel like i got called up on wednesday got there on Wednesday and just kind of went through all like doing the media stuff got to play catch and then went home that night like they sent me because you're not all to be in the dugout because you're not technically I don't know what the word is authorized or whatever you have to be in dugout so I went

home got a good meal and then got to sleep and like I mean you can't sleep before like I mean I went to bed at like two and I tried as best I could turn the lights off lay in bed and you're just like sitting there kind of answering text messages and like I finally just fell asleep and then pitched the next day on a Thursday and yeah my whole family. I had like 30 people come out, which was really cool because like that's not an easy trip from Philadelphia, like to Missouri, like to get out there. And yeah, I saw all my family before the game.

But yeah, it was it was a blast. And I grew up a Cardinals fan. I got drafted by the Cardinals. So to get to play in Bush Stadium, like, I was like, yeah, it was, it was awesome. How'd the first one go? It was solid. I think I went like, like five in a third, five and two thirds. Give up like one run, two runs where it was. Yeah, it was, and I got to, I mean, I played with all those guys, like the Cardinals guys, like, coming up in the minor league. So it was cool to get to face them and kind of like see those guys and like still be able to share that day with guys that like I grind it with and, you know, A ball and double A and stuff like that.

But it was, yeah, it's, it's cool. I mean, Bush Stadium. I mean, it's a big stadium, but it looked 10 times bigger that day. And that's a fun, that's a sweet place to play or watch baseball. It's an underrated stadium. It's one of those places, and I don't know how it's underrated, but every time I go there, I'm like, this is a cool. I find something new in the stadium, like the backdrop or whatever, like how many, you know, tears they have there. And it's like, this place is sick.

What's the vibe like from the dudes on the team when like, you're the new kid, you get called up, you're the rook. Are they still, is it like the old days? They're like, hey, Ruck, carry my bags and stuff like that. Are they freeze you out in the locker room? Is there any of that? Or do they just like embrace you? Yeah, no, they, I will say, I think it differs on the organization.

Like, some guys just have like a super old kind of mentality. and they kind of do that a little bit. I didn't really get crazy hazing either place, like Miami or here. Like tour our manager here is like really wants everyone to feel comfortable. And like you don't want to do that. Like you still have some things where like veterans get a little bit more, I don't want to say preferential achievement. But like just things like you've been in the game a while.

And like you're just, you know, you get certain things or whatever. But like he's very cool about like guys being comfortable. Like you don't want to make anyone feel like they don't belong. But yeah, I mean, you have to do all like the regular stuff. Like they make get up on the bus and you got to tell stories or like sing and stuff like that. So like they want to haze you a little bit. And like but it's more about like just bringing you into the team. And like everyone's done.

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I didn't have anything like that. But like, did you sing? I did. What? I sang country roads by John Denver. That's a good. That's a classic.

It's good. Do it right now. Yeah. Start from the top. I had that earlier today. Somebody was like, what's, what song you sing by heart? And I was like, I could sing country. I'm pretty sure I could I could do the whole thing and I was like but don't put me on the

spot like I can't but where is it on the bus you got to do it on the bus yeah you get up on the mic on those like coach oh yeah so it just sounds like shit no matter what exactly so it was like my thought was like all right I need to sing something because I wasn't the I feel like I had gotten some like kind of tips from other guys like all right listen you're gonna want to sing something that like everyone can kind of sing along too it's that way like as long as you're doing a good job they'll join in so like that was my thought I was like all right everyone knows this song like I could at least at least the southern guy know the song. So that was my thought. So I did it and they said I did a good job, which I was

pumped about. Yeah, that's a safe song. Yeah, safe song. But the guys who go like way out of their element and do something and kill it, it's like the bus goes wild. Or I know they like give you a song. Like you're going to sing Britney Spears. And you better try hard. Some do. Some like if you don't have one, like then guys pick them. So like to, you know, any rookies out there like have a song. Like yeah, I've heard. There was a story I heard about a guy who had, he was going to do the thong song. was his song shit and that's a tough look yeah and he wore a thong every getaway day because he was going to take it's like he like whatever he wore like i don't know pants like whatever and they were somebody said to him like how did you know you were going to sing that he's like

no i've been wearing this song all year just knowing that like so i don't know who it was yeah waiting to sing the thong waiting and and the person who was telling me was like said the bus erupted said it was like one of the best they've ever seen um so like a guy I was like that. I respect that. I was just like, I'm going to stay in my little lane right here. I know we both love Hard Knocks, and they always have the rookies sing on Hard Knocks. I was Aidan Hutchinson sang Michael Jackson, I believe, for the Lions. And it was like unbelievable. Like, he absolutely crushed it. Some of the guys are terrible. Yeah. But smart choice, picking a song that everybody knows. Yeah. And I had to do it twice. I did it with the Marlins.

That was my next. You got to keep doing it even though you're not a rook anymore? Well, no. So I did it with the Marlins. I called up in June. I did it like maybe the next trip. or whatever it was. I'm like, all right, cool. And then I got traded like two months later to Arizona. And I'm still a rookie, like, but I'm just on a new team. And they're like, you got to sing. And I'm like, all right, I got on my back pocket already.

Like, I already rehearsed this. I'm tweaking my performance at this point. Yeah. So I was good on that sense. Smart. Yeah. That's one thing like for golfers, like you never know what it feels like to be traded. Yeah.

So like, what's it like when, I mean, I'm guessing you probably didn't know what's coming. All of a sudden, manager comes in. He's like, hey, bud, we're shipping you. somewhere else yeah both uh i've gotten traded in the off season and i've gotten traded during the season and both are like equally as as crazy because you're not like neither did i see the one when i was in st louis to miami i was actually down in in jupiter where the cardinal spring training was and we'd heard there was a trade that was going to happen and we and it was the marlins and the cardinals and it was going to be marcella zuna and sandy alconstra were like the two pieces that were known and then we'd

heard like there's other pieces or whatever and i remember seeing the tv being like like man that sucks for everybody's going to get traded not do I get traded two hours later as I touch down into the Charlotte air I had a connector touchdown I still have my phone not on like airplane mode and it starts to buzz and I'm like that's weird I look and it's one of the guys from my agency I'm like that's not a good sign so I let it go to voicemail I listen to it and he's like hey I'm sure you heard the news already and I'm like huh he's like this is going to be a good opportunity for you I get a bunch of text minutes I check Twitter and my name is everywhere and it's like you got traded all this stuff and I'm like my mom calls me she's like did you just

get traded and I was like I think so I was like because the teams don't call you like unless you're like a big time guy and it's like hey we've been shopping you're going to trade like if you're a young guy mine line guy like that's how you find out it's like Twitter or your agent yeah not even anyone from the club nope you like sometimes you'll you'll hear from the team that that acquired you they'll call you and say hey we're really happy to have you like we're excited all this stuff like But yeah, usually fine from social media. Oh, no shit. It's not like, hey, you got a week.

It's like, well, pack your shit. You don't live here anymore. Yeah. And so that's how it was when I got traded from the Marlins because like that was during the year. Like I pitched the night before us. I come in and they're like, hey, we want to see you in the office. And our pitching coach had been doing things where like he'd go over the start

we'd the night before. So I'm like, all right, we're just going to do that. And then we start going to the manager's office. I was like, this is weird. I'm like, the manager's going to be on the pitching meal. Like that's kind of odd. So I'm sitting there and I started doing math. I was like, oh, fuck.

I was like, they're sending me down. Like, so I blacked out the first like two minutes of the meeting. I'm like, damn, I'm like, I pitched really well. I'm like, but I guess Pablo's coming back. So like, he, you know, they need a spot or whatever. I was like, maybe I was just tuned back in to see what this rest of this meeting's going about. And they're like, so we really appreciate you.

Like we're going to, we went ahead and made a move. Like, you know, we went and acquired another player. And I was like, wait, hold on. I'm getting traded for like 10 minutes of the meeting. I had no idea where I was going. I thought you were going down. Yeah, I was like, oh, sick. At least I'm like, well, hopefully I at least go to the big leagues of the team I'm going to.

So, finally at the end, I'm like, so where am I going? Like, oh, you're going to Arizona. I'm like, all right, cool. So that was at like 1.30. The media doesn't come in on 2.30. And like, you can't say anything. So I was like the first to know in that instance. I called my family, I called my agent.

I'm like, hey, I just got traded. Like, what do I do? And they're like, oh, yeah, you'll be in contact with the other team. Like the team is the team that traded you is kind of like, all right, you're like their problem now. like they're going to handle all the logistics all that type of stuff that's a weird process it's not how i would envision it going and no matter what i would think no matter what you say and you love st louis they gave you you your start and all that as a competitor like you never forget the teams that trade you and you want to kill them every time you face them i would i would imagine 100% like more than anything yeah

because you're just like all right like you didn't what whatever you didn't see in me i'm going to show you now look at me yeah so it's like it's for sure like but now i've got no point where like I try to move off. Like I always have it in the back of my head, like the chip on my shoulder, but it's like, I'm trying to come with something a little bigger now. It's not that small, like whatever. But yeah, I'm a vindictive bastard. Now they love seven dudes over for you too.

Like, no, bitch. I was already there. You made me move. Yeah. So it's, I have perspective when it comes. I mean, not many times you guys get traded twice before they turn 24. Yeah, that's wild. But now, I mean, look, you're starter for the National League and the All-Star game.

You start game one of the World Series. I mean, shit's going pretty good right now. It's going solid. I like to think a lot of those things I use as fire, like just kind of fuel the fire of like, all right, just remember the negative sides of what happened and like don't allow it to happen again. So yeah, I mean, things are going solid,

but there's still work left to be done. How wild was this year? Because y'all were not a team that was picked to possibly go to the World Series. And y'all shocked everyone, made it they ended up losing to the Texas Rangers, but still, to make it to the World Series, I mean, I'm guessing at the start of the season, that probably wasn't, you know, that much on y'all's mind.

Yeah. Maybe it was the players. I mean, it's so it's funny. Like, every time the season starts, like, it starts zero, zero. Like, everyone has that, like, thought of getting into the World Series. And, I mean, I will say that we had that thought. But at the same time, like, we really tried to assess our culture in the last couple years. And, like, that was something that was, like, really big for us.

It was, like, let's get our culture right. We know we have the talent in this. room that like we can be successful but like to I mean there's definitely certain teams that go like yeah we're circle in the world series ours was like let's just try try and play good baseball and like win baseball games and see what happens and we got up to a really good start in the first two months of the year I mean we're leading the division for like I don't know how long maybe a month and guys like all right they started to have some belief and then I think kind of the because we're a younger clubhouse like we got just maybe ran out of gas a little bit going in the all-star break and it

was like, all right, we need to reassess, like, what's going on here? What's our problem? What's going on? And, like, it just didn't seem like we clicked at the right time. Like, everything, like, where it was the bullpen, starting pitching, hitting, like, it all just kind of slumped at the same time. And we were like, all right, we know how good we can be. We've seen it.

Like, let's just buy ourselves enough time to get into the playoffs. And then as soon as we clinched, it was like, all right, we're here. Like we did, people didn't expect us to go to playoffs anyway. And it was like almost this freeing experience. Like house money. Exactly. It was like, we're playing with house money. and I was like, let's just see what happens, man.

Like, we're in, like, we're in the playoffs now. Like, we got to shout the one in the world series. That's why baseball, I feel like maybe more so than any other sport compared to golf. It's like, dude, momentum is like, you start getting confidence as a golfer. Like, guy might have done nothing all year. And then all of a sudden something clicks and he has a rounder. Then it's another round. And you're like, oh, my God, that's a different dude.

It's like the same thing. I feel like with baseball, when these teams get going and they start going on these just crazy stretches where they're just not losing. And it's like, dude, nothing changed except the juice in that locker room. Yeah. I mean, it's, like, it just, you just start compounding all that stuff. And it's like, and it's sweet. You get the belief of like, no, I could do this.

Like, I've gotten that guy out in this situation. Like, yeah, we, 100% we could do this. Like, so, and it's, I mean, people talk about it's like, the playoffs is like, it's just who, like, you got to get hot at the right time. Like, I mean, you see teams that go in there on paper that are stacked and, like, they just tend to struggle at the end. Like, whether they don't have, like, the chip on their shoulder or whatever it is. But, like, we just got hot at the right time. Like, everything just clicked. Like, our bullpen went absolutely.

insane at the end of the year and it was like as a starter that makes your job so much easier be like all right i just got to get six innings or seven innings and turn it to the end of like back into the bullpen it's like all right this is a win and like our offense is like we just have to get instead of being like all right we need 10 runs a win night it's like we just need four we need five runs whatever it is and just trying to scratch across those runs and like yeah and then guys started to believe like all right we could do this like we went to milwaukee and we swept them and I was like, all right, we could do this and then go to the Dodgers. And it's like, we've played in that environment before.

Like, we've seen that team. So, like, not to say we were, like, comfortable, but, like, we knew what to expect, like in terms of the whole environment, the team. We played them and they kicked our teeth in, like, the last five times we played them. And guys, it was almost like, we scored in that first inning, the first game. And guys were like, all right, we belong here. Like, we could play.

And then you just saw it, like, guys, like, they just, yeah, it's contagious, like, for sure. That's so cool to hear. I want to know, because, I mean, like, Listen, game one of the World Series, you're getting the ball. And I'm sure you knew for a couple of days, like you were getting the ball. What was that night before like? And then the morning waking up knowing like, damn, dude, I'm about to be starting pitcher in the World Series. Yeah, it's kind of wild.

The whole playoff thing is weird, like, because you're just, you're on edge mentally the entire time. Whether you're not pitching at all, like, you're just watching the game. You're like, oh, shit, I'm on. Like, if this ball falls in, this homer, like, we could lose this game. So, like, you're, I almost feel like not like I was walking on like a zombie, but I just was like so, like, focused on everything and like I wasn't really letting the external type of stuff effect and the the night before like I don't really remember because the day the day before the World Series it's a media day so you're kind of moving around doing interviews doing all the stuff and like trying to find a time

to get your throwing in and get your lifting or whatever it is you're trying to do to get ready for the day the next day so the day before was just kind of like it almost worked out that I had so much going on and like I didn't think about it it didn't hit me honestly that I was pitching a world series until I was on the bus going to the field and we had like a 10 motorcycle kind of cop like whatever whatever they call it yeah police escort and I was like holy shit I'm going to pitching game one of the world series like I'm like this is insane like it really didn't hit me until like four hours before the game and then like which I think it's a I don't know I was probably that's probably beneficial it's like all right you're not sitting there thinking about all the time

like I try to go through my routine and get my you know all my scouting and everything done I was like do it the same. But at the same time, like I have a trouble, like, I kind of a tendency to kind of not lean into those things. So like, I challenged myself throughout the playoffs. It was like, lean into this. Like, lean into the playoffs. Like, don't just be like a robot. Like trying the emotion part of it. Like, you never know if you'll get back. So it was like, all right, I'm going to try and lean in. So I was like trying to allow those emotions to like, you know, come over me. And it was, it was an awesome experience. Let me ask you a philosophical question. Because I think it ought to be good. Pitching especially, probably most closely mirroly

the feelings of like a golfer, an individual golfer. You're out there by yourself. You got the ball. As you versus a hitter, nobody else matters if you do your job, right? And more than anything, you have tons of time to think. Tons of time in between pitches. Same thing with a golfer. He hits a shot. He's got to walk the whole time. He's just thinking. So when you're going to try to get at your best, game one of the World Series, for instance, like, what do you do to try to like lock in mentally? Can you feel things that you do differently when you're at your best versus when you're not? For sure, I'm very meticulous about like how I, how my body feels, like how the ball comes out on my hand.

Like, I'm, like, when I hear golfers talk about, like, how the club feels in their hand, they can tell if things are off. Like, I assimilate to that because, like, I could feel. And, like, it's almost sometimes maybe to a detriment that they're like, you're feeling way too much. So, like, I can definitely know how that feels like, I want to feel right. Because, like, if I can repeat my delivery and all those things in the ball because I'm on my hand.

hand the right way like I can go out there and basically throw the ball wherever I want to so when you're not feeling that way like I try to just you know resort back to like my process of like all right this is my routine of like things I need to do like all right I need to make sure my warm up routine is this I did my scouting here and like make sure I go out there and prepared with like the most information I can have that way it's like all right now I'm just going to let my talent kind of take over essentially so it's like try not to overcrow your mind with a lot of stuff but like I'm definitely more on the cerebral side than like just go out and play so like i i battle with that like trying to just play the game but then also like don't forget like what kind of got you here

in the sense so yeah it's interesting because that's the only thing close to golfing i think yeah like for golf it's like one day you go out you stripe it you got to do it again the next day and some days you just wake up and you're like god this feels terrible you ever had times on the mountain which is like uh this could be a problem today yeah i like i i battled this whole year like not feeling right. And I don't know if I got, I don't know if spoiled's the right word, but like the year before I'd went on such a run

in the last like two months of the year that I felt like incredible. Like it, I could make the fix in a matter of two to three pitches like when I'm playing catch. And I'm like, all right, I know the feel and I had a different cue like a swing cue like swing thaw.

I was like, all right. And I would go to like, our coach had like a whole entire sheet of list that I would give them like each day I play catch. Like all right, I felt good. Nothing right down. Or I didn't feel great today.

But like, when I thought about this. this, yeah, I got that right. So this year I was kind of grinding, like, just trying to feel right, but also going out there to just like try and make pitches. So it was like, this year was a little bit more hard, like, it was harder mentally. Just like, all right, I don't feel great, but I still have to go out there and make pitches. And like, that's kind of where the detriment comes. Like, because I could throw, I could practice and throw forever.

And like your arm is not the healthiest thing to do that. So like, it's kind of been a learning experience of like, all right, learning how to. get better even though when you don't feel great. And it's like the same thing. Like you said that you're out there striping it. The next day, it's like that's where my feel comes in. Like I want to have that. I want to know the lane that I'm in.

And if I can kind of stay in the lane, I can make the adjustments easier. So it's like, yeah, it's, I could definitely overcomplicate it for sure. That's fascinating. That's just like a golfer. It's like everyone's great when they, everything is when they're clicking on all cylinders.

Any dude can go out there and shoot 62. And you might never heard of him before. But it's like that hardly ever happens. Yeah. So what do you shoot when you feel like shit? Can you grind out of 69, 70? Yeah. And stay in the mix.

Like, and that's crazy. I mean, you were, what, third and side young last year? And you're like, I didn't feel good for most of the year or whatever. That's wild. That's what people were like,

that's probably like when you're at the next level. I would say, like throughout the year, I was like, I don't feel great. And they're like, you just went seven and he's get one round. What are you talking?

They're almost like, fuck you. Like, you're being an asshole. I'm like, no, I'm serious. Like,

And it's probably because I know what it feels like. So I've like kind of just seen that like and what it takes and like all that stuff. And like maybe I'm wrong for trying to desire and get that feel again. Because like a lot of guys aren't not feel like they're not fuel oriented. So it's like maybe I don't know. So like yeah, I'm kind of like it's I don't know. I'm not I'm not spitting in the face of the baseball guys. I mean like no, I wasn't.

But it was like no, I know what it feels like. I know where it's at. And I'm like I'm grinding to get back to that. that's what I know is like the next step if I can harness that and be able to do it 34 times a year it's like all right we're on this on here look what I mean look what Hedekie just did Sunday at Riviera he got done and I know there was a translator involved so it could have been a little mixed up but Amanda asked him like how did it feel like we're used in the zone he's like I felt like I hit it like I shot three over yeah like you just shot 62 dude yeah like you just shot like I'm like you just shot like I'm like you just like I shot like I shot like three over yeah it's like how do you're one shot the course record yeah I would love to feel like I shot like I shot like three over yeah But like, you shot a 93. What are you talking about? That's great. That's awesome stuff, man.

That was fascinating. I like that. Let's get to the E9. Yeah, let's do it. E9, 9, whatever, goofy questions that we got for you all over the map. We mix this up, the first question we asked everybody. Since you're a young fellow, we're going to ask this, who's your celebrity crush? My celebrity crush?

My girlfriend asked me this all the time, and I'm like, I don't, when I was a kid, it was Selena Gomez. Now I think I'm on the Ana DeArmis train. On a DeArmis. Who is that? Is that a singer? No, she's in, she was in like Knives Out. You see that movie?

I'm going to look this up right now. Google her quickly. We normally have computers out of it. Now we have a new set and in order to put a computer. Just in case someone lists the smell. That's her last name? De Armas. De Armas.

She was in knives out. Let me see the spelling on this fucking thing. A-R-M-S, I think. Show me this when you see it. We're all. This is a sign that were washed and old. You'll know another sign. She was in a movie with Ben Affleck too, I think.

Selina as a youngster. When I was a kid, like, and my family, eight? Yeah. My family would give me shit. They're like, oh, there's Selena. Like when she started dating Justin Bieber. Yeah, yeah. Can you compete with that?

I was like, no, I can't. I mean, it's just. Can't now. Yeah, I'm going to look this up later. I can't find out of yet. Check those DMs after we dropped this thing. I think Selena listens to this bitch. No, yeah.

So, yeah, I don't really like. Yeah, no. We're not trying to break it up. Sorry, honey. Yeah, I was, I don't really have one. She's like, who? I'm like, I don't know. Like, I kind of just, so that's been my, like, default answer.

That's my, my go-to. Did you find her? No, I'll work on it. We need a computer. I can't spell, apparently. Yeah, that was, that was. By the way, the pronunciation wasn't the greatest thing. On a day armas.

It's the, it's the South Jersey. Let me see. A-R-M-I-S. Yeah. Big A, yeah. R-M-M-S. Say that again? R, no, D.

D. D-E. And then A-R-R-R-R-. M-A-S, I think it is. The Amos. Oh, yeah. It's my age. They're bad.

This looks more believable. You think you've got to lock in on it? The first one I was like, some like 54-year-old lady from. Oh, is it. Oh, dude, look. This is a, look at our new. Oh, found out. You got a type.

You got, as I was saying, I was like, maybe I, but you want to hang out sometime? No. Okay. Okay. Thanks for that. I don't know what this is, but she's now in the list. Yeah. I love this new screen.

This is, I didn't know you guys had a script. We shout out producer, mark real quick for the quickness on that i feel like rogan right now hey pull the clip god we need to get windham in here and have all his ex-girlfriends up there at one time would be great we don't have the bandwidth for that we don't have the internet we got the shit is it's in it's awesome all right good call on that all right all celebrity guy all right here's my next one as a unc guy during your time at unc or you can do all time you can do lifetime too if you want we do both all right the duke basketball player you hated who like the hated duke guy who was it um when i was that um when i was that you

there. Well, what's crazy is my fandom kind of, I wouldn't say dissipated as I got to UNC, but like I wasn't like into the rivalry as much. And like, I don't know if people know this. Like the Duke UNC rivalry is like pretty much basketball only. It's a little bit for football and baseball, but like more so as a whole university, it's state. Like it's NC State. Like that's our rival in just about every other sport. When I was a kid, it was JJ Reddick. Like, like that's, when I was there, I think Austin Rivers was maybe there the year before I was there. So, like, that was probably the guy. He was a, that was popular.

Yeah, that was the guy. Everyone hates JJ Redick. Yeah. I love JJ. He was my favorite of all the time. And now I think he's, I like him even more. Yeah, I think he's sick on TV. He loves golf, by the way.

But it's just so funny that every North Carolina, I hate JJ Redick. Dude, he was the first dude. Like, he was doing Steph-ish type stuff before Steph. He was shooting from plays. Him and, um, the dude from BYU. Jimmer. Jimmer for that. Dude, they were shooting from places. Around the same time, too,

that I was like, what are we? This is video game shit. He's so good. He was so nice. That's why. Like, that's why people don't like Leitner because he was so good. Yeah, you don't hate the shitty guys. You love him.

You know, that guy is. Who cares? And then Grace Allen was another guy that I'm sorry. Oh, he might, yeah, he's just easy. And now he's a Phoenix guy. You'll probably run into him. Yeah, I won't. But we won't tell him when he comes on.

He's coming on next. Sick. No, I'm kidding. You can tell him he came after. Yeah, perfect. fucking hates you. No, yeah. I mean, I don't know. All right. Next one. I've heard before each start your routine is rather detailed. Give me a little idea of what your routine is like leading into a start. Did you actually hear this? Yeah. Here's your source. Should I say? They're everywhere,

dude. I'm curious. We got ears. We got boots in this town. Only because I'm curious, because some people might know how detailed it is. Some of him, oh, he's just very meticulous. Okay, well, this sounds bad because I don't know if he's still a part of the team, but Mark Reed. All right, yeah. So, yeah, Reed would know for sure. He would, yeah.

Sorry, Mark. I love you. Reader's awesome. I play golf a reader. Putts told me a little about it, too. Yeah, so, all right, so my routine is kind of evolved over the years. But I'll get to the field. Let's say we played 640, our home games here.

I try and get to the field four hours before. As soon as I get to the field, I shower. I trim my beard because you're playing on TV. You got it. Got to look proper. Wash my hair, shampoo, make sure it looks right. And people are like, this guy. What it's wrong with this guy?

But a vein. But trust me, I had a, in 21 after COVID, we all just said we were going to grow our hair out. And I saw pictures of my hair. And I was like, what was I doing out there? Like someone didn't stop me. So now I'm like, watch my hair, make sure I look presentable on national television when I'm playing on TV. I do that. Um, then I'll go in.

I'll get my scouting done. I'll finish the rest of the scouting. I'll sit in the, in the food room. I have 95% of the time I sit in the same seat. I'll eat. Um, finish my scouting about. Same meal? No, I, well, it started to gravitate towards, um,

the way that we have cooked for us, cooking on wood, they're awesome. The guy Franco, he's, he knows I love his burritos. So he's like, you want burrito? And I'm like, yeah, sure, I'll eat a burrito. But like, I tend to not ask him all the time. I'm like, I feel bad. I'm like, oh, just whatever's out here. So he makes a burrito.

I usually eat the burrito. And then I'll probably finish. So 6.40, I get out on the field at 6 o'clock. I need an hour to, like, warm up. So, like, I try to start my warm-up process at about 5 o'clock. And then I'll go through, like, whatever my different warm-ups are. Like, get my arm ready, get my legs ready. Make sure I have the scouting stuff.

Send it to our guy. I can put it on the iPad that I have it. And then just go on and start playing catch. I'll play catch from 6 to 615, 610, 615, go out and get on the mound and then try and walk in by like 630, 635. So, yeah, it's, it's, I will say, this year I was like, damn, I was like, the shower and trimming my beard is like just getting, like, it's getting monotonous. I was like, I need to figure it up. But like, it just started to become part of my routine. And I try not to, like, I want my, one of my process and my routine to be so strict.

I want no superstitions. I was so superstitious as a kid, like, oh, I pitched by, I put my right sock on right. And it's like, that just clouds me mentally. And I'd rather just be like, I know what I'm going to do. And this is like, I wear the same. I wear it. The shirt I wear when I don't pitch four out of five days a week and I have a different shirt. This is probably about the only superstitious thing I do is that I wear this gray like Nike shirt when I pitch.

Like, so that's, yeah. I love to trim the beard before every start. Yeah. I'm going to do it or do you do it? I do it. Yeah, I do it. Yeah. But it's funny, like, I'm going to get into some more superstition things, but like athletes,

we had Dan Marley on, and I played golf with him. I was like, dude, this fucking guy sucks inside out. Then he comes in here. I'm like, this guy sucks, his left socks inside out. This is just so weird. I mean, I was like, Dan, did you know your socks inside? Oh, yeah, I'm doing it for like 25 years. He goes, had a blister one time.

Trainer told me to turn my sock inside out, a little more cushion. Scored like 40. Done it ever since. So he does it in everyday life now. Still, playing golf. Yeah. His socks inside out. He only wears the same socks.

It's all the Jordan socks, like the little low ones that just cover the ankle with the Jordan on it. One's inside out and one's not. And he does it every single day. All he does is play golf. That's routine. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome.

That's awesome. That's a way you got to do. I respect that. I mean, that's crazy. Yeah. If you like snuck in while he was sleeping and put it on right side up, he loses shit. You wouldn't be able to break a hundred the next. That's true.

Yeah. If you can't function with it, like, I do. I will like go on the superstitious thing like there's certain things that I'll notice that I'll do like two starts in a row and I'll pitch good and I'll find myself going all right well I wore those cleats last time I pitched well but I really want to wear these cleats and I'm like no no I got to wear the cleats I don't like that I'm not gravitating I need to break the superstition it's like I wore I wear a snake skin belt this year with our like serpienti's uniform and I was like man I really need to pitch well with these things if I get shelled them it's going to look like shit and it was like thankfully it worked and I was like

all right, now I need, I don't want to pitch like shit, but I was like, I need one that's like, doesn't go like great. It's like, all right, good. Now I could just disassociate with the whole thing. And like, all right, now it's, yeah, it's as a baseball player, you get super serious. So I try to break any of those I can. Yeah, because as soon as it, like, if you're in a situation where you don't have it, it's like, you're mentally done.

Yeah. They suck, actually. Yeah. Like, I used to have a golf ball thing. And I was like, dude, I don't have fours. So it's over. Yeah. It's like good with threes.

Yeah, it's, it's tough. I mean, I wear it like, I do wear the same like undershirt, like stuff like that. But that's like a, and I will freak if I don't have it, but I could pitch without it. It's just like, I would just rather I have it. Well, while we're on this, let me just go to the next one because I'm fascinated by this. Give me one of your teammates or just someone you've heard about the craziest superstition they have. Oh, man, the craziest.

Baseball dudes are the most, too. Guys are, yeah. I mean, I had a teammate in college that like, pitched well and I forget what the meal was like chicken and rice or chippole or something like that or no you know what it was he did eat he he ate the same meal but I could I could say that's like a routine thing guys like to eat the same meal just because like mentally you digest it well whatever it is but this guy pitched well and had left a spoon up on the counter like from whatever he was eating on cereal or whatever and just left it and shove that night and then every night

since that he pitched he left it like the night before out on the thing so i was like that's a little odd like trying to remember that's the spoon is what did it yeah exactly it's like 100% it's like when you're kidding they're like oh put your spoon on your pillow like for snow it's like i'm like i don't know so yeah that's the craziest one that i've heard someone goes flips that up he gets shelled gets crushed the spoon yeah you don't kill everyone who moved my spoon yeah who touched my spoon i love the superstitions like we had derrick anderson i mean his was unbelievable like he would pick everyone up they'd play the same song on the way of the stadiums put like you said left sock on first then right i mean this everything i had that in high school it was that's that's when i started to be like

all right i can't do this i won't you'll be ocd like you flip the light switch three times before you can't leave a room dude you can't exist anymore at some point no you keep going you'll talk yourself into playing bad too exactly like i didn't like i did it like i had the same force i remember exactly when it was it was in my junior high school in south jersey they have this big this big tournament called the Diamond Classic and it's when all like the public schools and private schools, you kind of qualify for the tournament or whatever. And we were going to play the semifinal, I think it was, or the championship, I forget what it. And the four songs that played before, like, they ended at the perfect time as soon as they got on the bus. And I went out and played well. And we

won. And I was like six. Like every time I pitch, I'm going to play it. So I would try and time it up to where when the song was over, I could get out. And it was like, that's when I was like. And then I didn't do it. I pitched like shit. I was like, I was like, I. it's not right. And then I timed it up and I'm like, I can't do this anymore. Like I look myself in the mirror and be like, I can't. It's just not going to work. It's hard thing to break. It's hard to break. To break away from that. I'll give you one along those same lines, I guess, before I get into a couple different ones. Give me best prank you've either been a part of or seen in like a major league dugout. Oh, um, the gum on the hat is like a, as a standard one from

Carolina. You had a good one in Carolina. Who was the dude in the background dancing? I fucking love that. Taylor's, so. He was, he was moving, bro. I'll give you some insight into the back of that. So yeah, we had played South Carolina the year, the couple weeks before and Utah Jones was a freshman infieler that year and he did, our coach was getting interviewed. He did this banana phone thing, which was hilarious. Like the timing of it was awesome. I don't know if he meant to do it that way, but they got the whole thing.

So that kind of went like semi-viral. And our coach was kind of like a straight-edge type of person. He doesn't like any mess around, but we were throttling South Carolina. So he was like, all right, whatever, it's cool. So come a couple weeks later, I'm getting interviewed by ESPN. We played Notre Dame. And he makes a joke, like, all you guys who are going to do the video bomb, like whatever, make sure you got your best material ready.

And the kids were like, oh, that means we're allowed to like, we could do it. Like, all right, cool. So for like four hours, they were deciding what they were going to do behind me. My good buddy, J.B., who was a sophomore that year, he was in the rotation. with me. He's like, hey, let me put a piece of gum on the top of your hat. I'm like, all right, sounds good, whatever. And then sure enough, the three freshmen in the back, Taylor Sugg, Logan Welch, and Utah Jones went nuts. And Taylor Sugg did the whole dancing thing. His hat fell off. He was like a campus celebrity for like the rest of the year. The local news came and they were

doing this whole entire thing for like a week. And then at that point, our coach was like, enough. We got to stop. We have to cut this out. It's getting too much of a distraction. So yeah, He was, he back when like, he went viral, he gained like, it's so, like, lame to say, but like, he gained like 2,000 followers, like overnight. Like, they were letting him into the bars when he was like, young. Like, he was sick. Maybe they were letting him in the bars. I don't know.

I'll show it to you after we get done. Dude, dude, dude, this kid's going wild. What's that kid? What's he do now? Is he still playing? I don't think he's still playing. He was playing. He was trying to, but I haven't seen him since, but yeah.

He had good stuff too as a freshman. Yeah. Just dealing right behind his interview. It's good. And it pops up. like it was going like every year I would get like 10 notifications people like oh look at this video and I played with teammates here like I've watched this video so many times and they're like I had no idea that was you and like it says my name at the bottom yeah I'm not watching yeah I'm not

watching yeah it was good he could dance and people loved it yeah it was nice yeah it was I like I like him next time I see him I let him tell him I'm a fan all right next one I'm not the only one but when you hear Zach Gallin you kind of think Zach Gallifanacus a little bit which Incredible show between two ferns. Unbelievable. Okay. If you were going to have your own show, what would it be called? I don't know.

Next to one fern, maybe? Next to one. Yeah, I don't know. Between two fans. You could be fans for fan and dudes. Yeah. Because you fan batters. That would be solid.

I actually like that. Fans. I don't know. I mean, if you guys, anyone else, they would probably something to do with milk. I don't know. A milkman. Yeah, a couple of gallons. Where does the milkman come from?

So that started when I was at UNC too. Like all this comes back to UNC, I guess. I don't know. Apparently, there was a guy, this guy, Turner Waltson, who did our TV. Sometimes he would fill in on on TV. They would do like, he would be like to call a commentator or whatever. And he started calling me the milk man. And like, I just always assumed this because my last name was like gallon of milk.

I'm like, all right, cool. Yeah, is it not? No, I come to find out a couple years after. Like I was talking, I don't know if my mom or him or whoever it was, they were like, no, he's saying that because he's. He's like, the milkman always delivers. So he was, it was almost like a good thing. He was like, you pitch in a big spot.

Like, you come up when we need you. And I'm like, all right, so like, cool. Didn't gain any traction until I got here. And then people started, I don't know where they found it out. Like they were, when I was in Miami, they were calling me B man because I got stung by a B one time in a game. Yeah. That's a shit name. Yeah, that's brutal.

It was awful. These idiots aren't creative. It was so brutal. I was like, they were like, you like B man? I'm like that. Because I got stung by a B. Like, all right, cool. Everybody's got stung by a B.

Yeah, but I did throw the hardest pitch in my entire career. So, like, oh, he's got like, it's like Spider-Man, but B-Man, I don't know. But then the Milkman thing somehow caught traction here, and I was trying to put it off as best I could. And then I'd said that KCR, you know, PR guy, I'm like, dude, if they're going to call me, like, let's just lean into it. So we did some stuff for like the Arizona milk producers last year. And like, you can't stop a moving train once it happens. That's good. I like it.

That's an endorsement waiting to happen. All right. So it's like a double entendre kind of, like double meaning. gallon of milk and also you always deliver yeah all right i still think you should have a show someday b-man is a shit and have zack galaphnakis on it i would love that's that's two fans i think that's solid dog because you're always fan of people you know yeah because you're good fan those those those those fans like you know when you don't have AC oh i was saying like the box fans i was seeing like big ones at like the golf like the industrial size fan yeah and just make it

be hard to hear your guest yeah that's a good point they're a little loud yeah that's a good point all right scream at each other we'll work on that yeah that could be the whole show If you're going to say, what? And then the show ends. You don't even ask a question. It's 30 seconds long. All right, thanks, dude. All right, my next one.

You need to have seen the movie Summer Catch. I'm assuming you have. Okay. Are the house moms in the actual Cape Cod League as friendly and accommodating as they are in the movie's summer catch? Good question. If so, the greatest league of all times. Yeah. So I actually wanted to play in the Cape because of that movie.

You played for that team, right? I did. Yes. Sadly enough, you find out that the field that they filmed it at is not actually the field that you, so I got there. I was like, this is in the field. Like, where's the movie field at? Where's Jessica? Exactly.

I was like, there wasn't any Jessica Beals back then. That's bullshit leak. But I will say the houses are very much like the houses that you see in the movie. It's like, whole, these people were, they got some money. There's some wealth up here. The house moms were, to my knowledge, were not as friendly as the movie. Your house moms at least. mine where they were they were very sweet ladies they they bend ever backwards for you that's

that's really what may sounds like they are yeah sounds like they're just like they do that the host families are what make that league go it's the people are are they're awesome the families I mean they open up their house to like you know kids like college kids and like they come in they love the league I had a I put up their two years I had a blast I met some of my best friends I'll have for the rest of my life I mean the coach just texts me like not too long ago like I still stay in contact with them. Oh, sick. But to my knowledge, no, the house moms were not, at least to me.

It's disappointing to hear. Yeah, I know. Cape Cod moms, if you're listening. You need to pump those numbers up. Watch the rookie numbers in this racket. I was always like, dude, I just played baseball to go to Cape Cod League. Jessica Biel runs around. Also, if that doesn't work out.

Yeah, crazy moms everywhere. You're sad to find out there. There's target rich environment. No, Jessica Bills. The Sunny Hannah amateur of golf. Yeah. It was different at that thing. You know what I'm talking about it.

All right, last one. Name me, like, obviously, all the hitters have walk-up songs. One that, when it plays, gets you going on the mound. Ooh, I'm trying to think it has good ones. The one I can remember back from college was this outfielder from Miami had trophies by Drake. Right when it first came out and they had a good sound system. So that would bump. I think his name was Dale Carey played outfield for them.

Yeah, it was that one, it's a solid one. So when I hear that one, it's solid. Anything Little Wayne, like, like, I mean, right above it is solid. Like, yeah, I'm trying to think. There's a, guys have a lot of good ones, but the classic, like, Drake, like, good ones are usually fire me up. I can tell you the sound system at y'all stadium works. It sounds like bottle blonde on steroids.

It's loud. It's so, I mean, I feel so old. I'm like, oh, my God, this is so loud. That was because so often, we had kind of talked to them. They're like, it's kind of like a. moored in here like it's a little like it's light and we're like can we turn it up and then we had like got a taste around medicine and was like getting frackly and it was like didn't sound good they're like you guys wanted it loud and we're like yeah we kind of made our bed we got kind of lying in

it now in the world series it was we got a new sound system though so hopefully it's like sounds clearer and they don't have to turn it up like insane to hear but we had kind of been on the like the I don't know what you call that not the front office but like we were like listening the energy in here we need to get it got to have energy yeah guys you know you could you hear that you can hear the people talking in the crowd over your walk-up song which isn't what you want you want to get fired up you want a hit her to come up in a big spot and like their walkout song is going crazy i used to live in dallas and elvis andrews was a good friend and we had this beer pong bet that if i won i got to pick his walk-up song for a week and he bitched out and wouldn't

let me do it after i won that's not good i know i was going to pick just random things i'm a barbie girl i knew you're just stupid stupid stuff i would never bet that i would never bet that That's a great bet. That's a great bet. It's really fun. That's a ball. Whatever you had to put up to count of that is, it needs to be substantial.

I can't remember. I knew I wasn't going to lose, so it's fine. That's fair enough. I let you catty for me. For free. Yeah, you can get my golf balls.

But that's a good bet. I've had my walkout for since my freshman college. Yeah. I've had a little way and I've had let the beat built since I was a freshman in college. I will not change it. Like, and it's great because like every year, guys is like,

oh, what should I do? I need something sick. And I'm like, same one as last year. just write it down so you know where it's at. Until we play golf and then we gamble on it. I can tell you, we could gamble on just about anything else and that's probably the one thing I don't. Just one game?

It's an ode to my brother. It's his favorite song. So like it's kind of like, yeah, it's kind of like our thing. So it's, yeah. Well, maybe one of your teammates. We'll get them to bet that with me. That's fine. Yeah.

We'll see what you got. Yeah. We'll play with Wyndham. We'll let him pick one. Yeah. It'd be soft as shit. All right, my last one. This is, I'm fascinated by this.

Let's say you're not, This assumes you're not the starting pitcher at the time. Bench clearing brawl breaks out. It's fucking free for all. What's the protocol as a pitcher during a bench clearing ball situation? Like you got to show up for your boys. I would think in some capacity, but in real life you're like, I don't know. Yeah, number one on any.

So how do you do it? Do not get hurt. Yeah. That's like the one thing. Like I'm not talking shit, but you know Archie? Yeah. Archie Bradley. Archie got hurt during a bench clearing brawl this year.

What are you doing? He's the type of dude I feel like that wants to get in that, you know what I mean? Like he's not going to be able to sit in the outside. Okay, he didn't even get hurt in the brawl.

He got hurt falling over the, railing. Oh, just getting to the bra. Archie, I love you. But like, just getting to the bra. Dude, you got to get at least get there if you get hurt in the bra.

That's a tough look. But when I saw him, I actually saw him on the all-star break and I was like, what are you doing? He's like, I got hurt. I'm like, what do you mean? So how did you go back

and look at it on Twitter? and he's like, I'm like, Archie, what are you doing? So number one, don't get hurt. Like, that's the one thing. Ultimately, like, you're just really trying to break it up. Like, that's the thing. You got to be out there for your boys, but like, don't get hurt and you got to have your head on a swivel.

Like, don't get sucker punch. I think it's like, find the other pitchers from the other team and, like, both of you pretend to, like, pull each other off. Like, dude, if wouldn't for you, I'd be busting heads. Usually you get guys that, like, you'll have guys on your team that know the guy on the other team that's, like, in the thick of it. and then like they kind of try to separate it but i've only been in three in my career and funny enough the first two happened i was with the marlins we're playing the debacks four days before i got

traded this guy christian walker wears a pitch on the elbow from this guy tayron her guerrero on a team with like a hundred and three so it was like didn't feel good yeah we're broken i'm like oh shit this is the first brawl like awesome nothing really happens you kind of just like everyone's you know whatever, a little bit of pushing. Do I get traded four days later? We're in a bench clearing ball, like not a week later. I'm like, damn, the divax just scrap all year. Like, all right, I guess.

I mean, the Raiders. I guess. And then, yeah, and then we had one with the Dodgers a couple years ago. But like, I've never been in one that's been like, you've never been on the mound for one. Like you hit a dude and it started it. No, because like, I don't, I think that would be dicey. Yeah, that's dicing.

They're not getting away from that. They tell you, they're like, listen, like a lot of the infills like, just give us time to get there. Like, because like, we don't want to. . around yeah so like but i'm not a huge fan of like hitting guys as retaliation like i'd rather just strike you out like then i put you on base and like you punch you didn't break your hand like that's a problem i mean at granky he got hurt a couple years ago he like broke his collarbone like it can only

go sideways like unless you just land like a haymaker and then you like no one ryan robin ventura exactly yeah texas legend wailing love it just fucking just come on with us yeah come on bring your bat with you that's are the best part he just drops his glove yeah come on Let's see what you got. And then just like, almost like your little brother. Yeah, dude, it was like a nuggie, but a punch. Yeah, it's like, I got you. It's like, that's country strong right there.

Yeah, that's old man shit. Yeah. I love it, man. Well, that was a lot of fun. This was fucking awesome. Yeah, congrats on a great year. Thank you. Keep it rolling and let's tee it up soon.

Yeah, for sure. Thanks for having me. Yeah, we'll have you back. I appreciate you. Absolutely. Thanks, too. All right, Sleez. That was a fun one, man.

We've done a lot of interviews. That's up there with one of my favorite. Zach Gallen is an absolute stud, and I'm a fan from right now. Huge fan. I got to meet him, hang out with him a good bit at the Phoenix Open this year. Like, you would never know. Even when I walked out, I didn't know, like, honestly, who he was. Like, oh, dude, that's Zach Gallen.

Like, he's completely under the radar. It was as nice as they come. Loves golf. When I come on the show, he's like, yeah, dude, let's do it in person. He's like, right now it's a great time, you know, before they get cracking and spring training. But, dude, he's about as good a dude as they come. He said, dude, like three times and six words. Yeah, he's a dude.

He's a bro. you know what I mean? And his golf game is awesome, like for a golfer, nine times or nine handicapped, but I loved hearing about how they still, I thought it was kind of like an old school thing where guys would get to play on the road if you're like a Maddox of Glaven,

like that level of guy, but they still get out on the road. Being a pitcher in baseball is one of the best gigs in the world. He said 95% of the time he's got the clubs when they are on the road, so he loves to play. I love that he said he kind of is a fan of Max Homa, but he's a Dodger fans,

So that kind of puts him a little bit further down the list. But got to play some golf with him. He's a great dude, man. And to wear number 23 at North Carolina, that's a bold play. I know it's baseball, but still, that's a legendary number around Chapel Hill. I thought it would take, like, permission from MJ. And I got retired in basketball. Like, you just want to wear Carolina Blue and 23.

Like, we need to make sure MJ's on board. But he's one of the guys that could get it. And I cannot wait to get to New Orleans to pick me up a New Orleans baby cakes hat. The minor league baseball teams need to run marketing for every new family. Like, Liv should have been like, hey, you guys come up with some sweet names. You know what I mean? I agree. There's so many good ones.

So many good ones. But I hope y'all enjoyed that, man. That was a lot of fun for us. And best of luck to Zach and the Diamondbacks. He's a stud. Hope they finish second to the Rangers again. Again. Again, I know you're a huge.

You're such a huge Ranger guy. Who's that shortstop they got? I used to be Alexander. I don't know who it is anymore. Yeah, shout out Rangers. Oh, it's Corey. Oh, Corey. Good ball player.

No, he's a stud. Corey Seeger. There you go. Isn't that their shortstop? You could literally name anyone. It makes $350 million. There you go. Also a good gig.

Andy was the MVP. All right. Well, that was the MVP of the World Series. All right, that was a lot of fun. Let's get to some picks this week. You actually took Jake Knapp as a dark court last week. How about it? How about it?

How much you make on it? Dude, I don't. You don't. You don't know what to tell. I mean, yeah. All right. Well, let's get to the cognizant. You're all the golf on the golfers.

My old. Deceas. He's still there, left side of 11 Fairway. Hate this place. Cold shivers every time I watch it. PGA National. Used to be the Honda. One of the longest tenured sponsorships on the PGA Tour, but now the Cognizant.

Really good field down there. Roy McElroy. Tied up. Justin Thomas, among others. As a favorite, I'm going to go to a guy is a little further, 35 to 1. So you get some nice value. After Rory, it drops a lot. Yes.

But you got a guy that has top tens, the last two times he's teeted up at PGA National. He's my brother from another mother. I actually got paired with them at the Phoenix Open on Saturday and Sunday. Give me Big Shane Lowry. Big Shane. Okay. Came close. Almost got this thing.

Mother Nature kind of jumped up. He got absolutely host. Bit him in the ass. A couple years ago. So shout out Shane Lowry. That would be a popular one. I'm going a little further down the board as well. I'm going 30 to one.

But I had a guy sneaky playing some of the best, most consistent golf on the PJ tour. Three top tens and a top 20 in his last five. starts. It just seems like he plays well every single week that he's going out there. Caddy is a friend of the program. He's a friend of the program. J.T. Posting. James Tyree. James Tyree is the official. That's the government name. His first miscut in ages was actually here at the W.M. Phoenix Open where they missed by a shot. But good news is he bounced back and got himself a top 10 out of the Genesis. Good time to play with him. And Fleaner enjoy himself as he should. And he did.

And he did. In the festivities. Love J.T.'s game. And it's so great talking to Fleaner about him. he's like my guy, he's been catting for him, I think, three years now. He goes, he's gotten so much better at golf in this offseason. It's, I believe he's ninth on the FedEx right now. Yeah, he's rolling. It's sneaky. Like, no one brings his name up in terms of, like, who's having a great year this year, but he's just playing good every single week very quietly.

All right, my dark horse, I'm going to go with a guy that nobody puts it better than him. He's played well here in the past. I think he missed the cut here last year, which is a little bit of a problem. But you got to hit in the fairway at PJ National. You got to hoop a lot of par putts because golf was a freaking. A shi. A shit. And not many do that better than Denny McCarthy, who's going off at 60 to 1.

Rolls the Rock, his time is coming. We've been saying it for a long time. My dark horse is kind of of the same mold. It's going off at 55 to 1, similar to JT, playing really consistently well this year. Last five events, two top tens, two top 20s. He's a really straight driver, and he's one of the best iron players in golf. Tom Hogi, come on down, 55. Oh, your frog.

See, yeah, I'm going completely biased. Tom Hogi. I like it. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch. I can't wait to see the cognizant. Now, PJ National is just weird calling it that. I should always want to call it the Honda. But it's a fun golf course to watch because there's a damn train wreck around every corner.

It's terrifying. I mean, you can shoot 65 and you can shoot 85 really quickly around there. And also, best of luck to Anthony Kim this week. Good to see him back. 12 years. Wish you the best of luck, my man. Hope you play really well down there. All right, Sla, that was a lot of fun.

That's going to do it for us. We'll talk to you on next week's subpar.