00:00Obviously a lot of talk about kind of getting that swing and miss out of your
00:03game from last year to this year. How did it happen? I just you know I worked hard
00:09the offseason. It was my number one goal. It's just to put myself in the best
00:12position to see pitches and committed myself to it and then spring training
00:17just kept with it and the guys have been great helping me you know maintain that
00:21progress and feeling good. How much of it is pitch recognition versus any actual
00:26physical adjustments that you had to make? I think I think they come together you
00:30know because if you're not in a position to see the baseball well then you're not
00:33in a position to make good decisions. I don't think I was in a position to make
00:36good decisions last year. I'm sure if you looked at some video you would but I
00:43haven't even looked at much stuff from last year mostly just focusing on new
00:46changes. Last one for me is just big league camp just the way that went for you could
00:50you have been any more pleased with how that went and what do you think kind of
00:52led to that? Yeah I mean big league camp was awesome. It was just an opportunity
00:56to get to know a lot of the guys on the other side of the organization and spend
01:01time with them and I you know it it went well objectively it was just fun. I'm
01:06excited to get to know those guys you know hopefully more down the line and it
01:11was great but for now the jobs here and I'm gonna get it done. How important was the
01:14time that you had here at the end of last year for you going into this year kind of
01:18just a barometer of what to expect? It was you know it's great being able to play
01:22here because you know the culture of this you know this team especially is you
01:26know focused on winning and that's you know the number one goal for all of us
01:29every time we get into this clubhouse. So I guess getting comfortable for this
01:32couple weeks was awesome knowing what the surroundings are and now I'm just
01:36ready to you know grab it and run with it this year. Did you notice a distinct
01:39difference from high A to double A? Anything stand out to you? No like crazy
01:45distinct difference you know it's just more like you know we're happy to be
01:48here and you know double A is one step closer and everybody's you know gunning
01:52for that and it makes coming to work every day a lot more fun. I know you can't
01:55control the outside noise or the comparisons but obviously there's always the talk of Aaron Judge
02:00comparing to you and last year's Jason Dominguez, Austin Wells, all those guys started the
02:05year here. Is it hard to kind of block out the outside noise and keep
02:09your feet where they are instead of looking too far ahead and have all the chatter of
02:13potentially making it to the big leagues not too far from now? I find it easy to
02:18block out the noise because it's just like once you set yourself into a routine
02:21playing every single day it's like that's you know what your life is going to be
02:25and you just have to focus on that and just take it one day at a time. When you
02:29look at what your success in Major League spring training and then of course you
02:33take a look at the success of a lot of the guys who are here like Volby and Wells and
02:37Dominguez you know what does that do for you or how does that motivate you going into this season?
02:41It's you know it's super cool to know a lot of the guys that have played here
02:45recently have you know made their way up there. It's definitely a motivating factor
02:49knowing that it's you know possible to start here and end up where you want to be
02:52and for me it's it's just one of those things I feel like if I take care of what I need to take care of
02:57throughout the season things will happen and yeah go from there.
03:02What was the coolest moment for you in big league spring training?
03:05Coolest moment in big league spring training?
03:07I think coolest moments like there's there's a bunch of stuff sprinkled around like it was like you know
03:14small conversations like you know days where Juan Soto was hitting before me and I got to see him go through his whole routine
03:19or days that Giancarlo was hitting before me I got to watch them hit batting practice that kind of thing
03:24or like Garrett Cole you know stopping me having a quick conversation about you know something completely unrelated to baseball
03:30you know it was all those little things I think were really cool.
03:33Did you kind of emphasize maybe wanting to be a sponge around some of those guys or maybe some of the instructors
03:37like a Willie Randolph or some of them did you kind of emphasize that in your kind of approach to spring training?
03:41Absolutely I mean I just compared it to I have three older brothers and it was like you know you learn a lot just by listening and watching you know
03:49and for me that's how I was raised and that's something I'm going to continue to do I think the rest of my life.
03:54Was there a biggest takeaway that you got from being around that group?
03:57Yeah that they just they show up every day wanting to do their job and wanting to win
04:01and that's you know the most infectious thing I think in a clubhouse is that desire to win.
04:05Second year here do you kind of maybe impart some of that and maybe some more of a leadership role here with some of the other guys while you're here?
04:13Yeah to an extent I mean ultimately you want to be someone with a good face every day that shows up and wants to work
04:18and I think you know my goal this year is to be one of those guys that's going to be consistent especially in the clubhouse.
04:23I think you mentioned in the last season wanting to get back to working on athletic moves
04:27becoming you know more of a pure athlete in the offseason just take us through kind of what your routine was like in the months after the season.
04:33Yeah I mean in the first first month after the season was you know just decompressing getting away from the game a little bit
04:39and for me like workout wise for like the first first month really month and a half was just doing as many push-ups and pull-ups as I could every day just for fun.
04:48You know just wanted to and just doing sprints and that kind of stuff and a lot of the other stuff
04:54as I progressed through the offseason was mostly just about stability with my core through my hips using my back a lot better
05:00and then just making sure that you know I'm explosive because ultimately it's the athletic explosive moves that you know hit the ball hard and do things well.
05:09Was there a coach or teammate or somebody that you really connected with a lot in the offseason?
05:13Yeah I connected a lot with teammates. Ben Rice is a good buddy of mine. We connected. He came out and visited me in Nashville, trained with me for a couple days.
05:23That was pretty fun. Went to a hockey game. But you know for the most part we're all getting our work done in different places
05:30but just being able to collaborate a little bit was nice too.
05:32What do you define as success for you this year?
05:35Playing as many games as possible this year is going to be success because I feel like if I'm just on the field
05:40a lot of stuff will take care of itself.
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