00:00Rice we got asked about the hat. I mean there's part of the fun of spring training, right? Yeah, absolutely
00:04Yeah, just there's a lot of kids signatures up there. Yeah, I just honestly spur of the moment thing
00:10I was like, how about you sign my hat? So
00:13Started with one kid and then it went all the way out. So
00:17Camden was the first one and then just kept going from there and now I don't even know man
00:21I got a lot. We got a lot of them. We got a Grayson Noah Isaac
00:25All these guys man gunner they're all coming out here Connor too
00:29So I mean obviously you guys have a job to do and you expect
00:33Elite performance, but this is also a game and creating memories as part of what your job is to right?
00:39Uh, you know, I I don't know if it's like I feel like I'm doing that
00:42I think if anything they're creating memory for me because at the end of the day, you know baseball is gonna
00:47You know, it's gonna eat you up spit you out and it's gonna keep going. So
00:51I don't want to just be eaten and then just forgotten
00:54I also want to you know, keep these memories and take them with me
00:57And I think this is one of them that for sure, you know resonates in my heart
01:00You know
01:01I always wonder when you the way the season ended last year that lingers with fans as a professional athlete
01:07Do you are you able to kind of compartmentalize that and move forward?
01:11Maybe in a way that some of some fans aren't quite ready to do yet. Sure
01:15I think you have to you know, if you you know, let it stick stick sit with you. Excuse me
01:19It'll just like it'll suck it'll make this next year
01:22Brutal as well and it'll you'll start thinking about some things in the past
01:25But you know to that point like you don't completely forget about it
01:29You understand what happened and how that felt so that motivates you to do better and to work harder each and every day
01:34To not let that happen again offseason. What were you working on this this in these off months, man?
01:40I got what I got married. I know you got married in January. Congrats to you and Svante. Thank you. Thank you
01:45Yeah, we just know we just had a lot of fun, you know
01:48Get my mind off of baseball and take advantage of those offseason moments and spend time with the family
01:52With your friends and that's what we did man. We traveled I went all over and had a beautiful time new
01:58Hitting kind of coaches this year
02:01How do you expect your approach is gonna change?
02:05You know
02:06It depends on the pitcher every day for the approach aspect of it
02:09But in terms of just the swing, I think it's you know, just continuing to work off the fastball
02:14That's a big key always if you can't hit the fastball then how are you gonna hit the other stuff?
02:18so
02:19Just work off the fastball and be on time and be aggressive in the zone
02:23The infield has been sort of the question mark in the offseason who's gonna play where where are you gonna play?
02:28Where do you where do you want to play?
02:30Yeah, I'll play wherever man. I want to play for the Twins. That's that's my goal. So
02:35You know, I think I think we've been talking about it's gonna be on the dirt and you know recently I was told third base
02:40So that's where my mindset is right now is I'm gonna play third every day and be that guy and be a cornerstone
02:46Literally and figuratively for this team and help us win the championship defense is it you know
02:52Obviously in that third base spot when somebody smacks the ball over there. It comes really fast. Oh, yeah
02:57It's a reactionary position for sure
02:59so you're just working on a lot of angles, you know making sure you cut the distance make that throw a lot easier and
03:05You know have a lot of fun doing it man. It's baseball you at the end of the day just play catch
03:08Enjoy the moment. I'm playing next to a platinum gold Glover over there and at shortstop. So I'm gonna enjoy watching the show over there, too
03:15Rocco did mention that sort of the heart of this team is Carlos and buck and that people
03:22Everybody looks to those two to sort of set the tone
03:25How do you feel about that?
03:27Feel great, you know, I think that's how the team should be built off of you know
03:31It's these guys have big contracts that makes the most sense, you know, they're here for a long time
03:36When you think like, all right, what kind of leader do I want to be do you look around?
03:40Baseball and or look around this clubhouse and think all right, this is the kind of guy I want to lead the way
03:45I want to leave sure. I think for me I just got to be myself
03:48You don't have to you know force leadership. You don't have to
03:52You know, you just accept it if it comes to your way
03:55I think it's something that like we have 26 different leaders in this room. That's the way I look at it
03:59And so, you know as we come together, you know, maybe one day it's Brock Stewart that comes up and says hey guys
04:04Let's do this. Hey, you know, keep your heads up. Let's go or Joe Ryan or Pablo Lopez
04:09There's a lot of leaders in this room that I look up to personally
04:12But you know for me it makes it a lot easier when you talk to the position guys
04:15So Carlos and Buck, you know, they're guys that are doing it each and every day
04:19And I feel like you when you look around the league potentially most leaders are the ones that are playing every day
04:25You know, whether it's shortstop centerfield, there's whoever it is. It's the guys that are out there doing it each and every day
04:30Which no harm no foul to the pitchers, but when you go out once a day, you know once a week
04:34It's just different. It's just a different thing
04:36I think their pitchers should lead the pitchers like, you know, Pablo's a great leader for our team and on the staff
04:41He's gonna lead our staff get us going and I think Carlos and Buck combined
04:44You're gonna help us, you know lead the team and get us going
04:47Can't wait to get back out there and do it, right? Absolutely. Yeah, we're doing it. It's already day one. Let's go
04:51Day one is just about done. So awesome. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thank you
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