The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Blake Taylor On His Strong Start To The Season

Episode Date: August 4, 2020

Blake Taylor On His Strong Start To The Season

This is 790 baseball direct. Direct from the ballpark. To your radio. Drippin by Texas Direct Auto, powered by Vroom. 2.30, Matt Thomas Show. We spend five quality minutes with, I think, one of our new favorite pitchers of the Houston Astros. Lefty, Zero ERA, Blake Taylor. Blake, it's Matt.

Thanks for joining us. Congratulations. You've had a fantastic start. How crazy of a ride has it been for you and your family the last, say, three or four weeks? Thanks for having me on. First of all, I appreciate it. And second of all, it's been a whirlwind of emotions. You know, a lot of crying of excitement, a lot of anxiety.

Well, not for me, but for my family, I'm guessing. And, you know, it's just, you know, it's just, it's been an emotional time. You know, I wish these emotions could be together. I could be together with my family having these emotions with them, but under the circumstances, both me and my family sat down and had a conversation over the phone, said that it was better. You know, we weren't exposed to each other and couldn't have, like, didn't have, like, in case somebody had corona.

So it's been a crazy, crazy roller coaster of emotions these past couple weeks. We should explain. You're from Southern California. So could you even like wave to your family from a car or something? Or do you just say, I'm staying in the hotel and not moving? I just said I was going to stay in the hotel in order to get to a place I needed to get to where we could see them. I would have had to have taken an Uber, which, you know, that. Oh, uh, can I do that.

You can't leave the premises. And the hotel had like a place blocked off just for players. so my family couldn't really get into that either. So it was just, we're just trying to be cautious, you know, as a family and as a team. So just trying to be cautious. Well, you've been spectacular, and boy, have you been needed. Does everybody know each other's first names at this point in the bullpen? I mean, because I don't even know half y'all.

I mean, I'll be honest with you. And I've been a longtime Astro fan. I don't know you. Half, like most, for a good amount of us, yes, we all know each other's first names because we all came from the same place. We all came from the minor leagues in the past season. And, you know, we were the new guys in the locker room in big league camp this year. So, you know, we kind of, we spent a lot of time with each other. And now we're in the big league and the bullpen with the Astros.

So, you know, we got to spend a lot of time in spring training. And, you know, it's a good group of guys out there. So I'm excited to see what they could all do this year. We could all do this year. Blake Taylor with us on the Matt Thomas show. So you spent seven minor league seasons. You find out you're being traded. for an Astro who has the best hair maybe in recent Astros history.

Did the change of pace? Was that something that you were kind of looking forward to after kind of, you know, hanging out in the Mets organization for quite some time? No, it was a, that was a shocking, that was a shocking news. That was shocking news for me, actually. You know, I woke up one day, like, I just got put in on the 40-man roster by the Mets. I was excited. I was pumped.

I was getting ready for the season for them. And then they called me and said, hey, you're going to the Astro. and it was shocking. And, you know, I did my research on the Astros and I did everything and like all of my research. And the Astros have one of the best track records for developing pitchers. And, you know, like I thought, hey, last year I had some success, but I could have a little bit, I can always be trying to get better. And coming over here, they've really showed me that, hey, this is how you can get better.

This is how we could use your strength to get you better. So I've really been getting a lot of information on all that with the Astros. And could you talk about that, Blake? Just what has been the difference from being in the Mets organization and being here? Because as you said, there is a reputation for the Astros and improving pitchers. So, I mean, has it just been analytics? Has it just been, I mean, working with Strom and mechanics or all of that. Oh, I mean, it's been.

Yeah, it's been. there's a lot more analytics than the Astros. You know, the Mets, towards the tail end of my stint with the Mets, they started to get more analytical. They were just in the beginning stages of it. So, and then going to the Astros, they were in a more advanced stage. You know, they were one of the first teams to have analytics and everything like that. So it wasn't like the Mets just didn't believe in it.

They are just getting started with it. So, you know, they're coming along. And I talked to my buddies over there. and apparently it's a lot, it's getting a lot more analytical and they're getting a lot more information. But when I got over here, it was just information I never got.

So, you know, the Astros were on top of it. The Astros were just a little bit, they were further ahead in the analytics game and just showing me everything, what my pitches do, how I could attack, how effective I am and count. And, you know, just,

and working with Stromi on my slider and working with Miller on my slider, you know, just having, drills to where I can get it to be more consistent and more shape and have more shape and have more depth. So, you know, it's a combination of everything, a combination of the pitching coaches really helping me out and a combination of the analytics side really helping me out. We know you've got to catch a bus real quick. Are you guys getting used to no fans in the

stands, the noise, the buzz? Is it still an experience for every time to go out there? Or are you guys getting more and more comfortable with it? I think we're getting more and more comfortable with it, to be honest with you. And, you know, MLB is doing their best to try and emulate a or simulate a fan base, you know, with the cardboard cutouts and the noise, the white noise getting pumped into the stadium. And, you know, it's probably going to be a really big shock again when fans are allowed back because we got kind of used to not having them right now, or at least I am. I mean, don't get me wrong, I played in the Florida State League for two years. It's a great league. it just doesn't draw that many fans.

So, I mean, pitching in front of no fans isn't like the word, like isn't like something that's never happened to me before. Stay safe, keep pitching great. We're very glad that you spent some time with us today. Enjoy Arizona and we'll look forward to visiting with you and talking to maybe some more during the course of the year. Thanks the time and congratulations. You got it, Blake.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You got it, Blake Taylor.