00:00It is Kyle Higashioka. Kyle, how's it going today, man?
00:03Good, how's it going? Thanks for having me.
00:04We are rocking along. Here's a couple of things I want to let you know.
00:07You're going to hear me probably ask a lot of questions here.
00:10I do have a co-host, however, his voice just left him.
00:15Your thoughts on how much he let me down today?
00:19Yeah, I mean, you know, that's why there's two of you, though.
00:22You have a redundancy, you know. Two is one, one is none.
00:27I'm trying to tough it out.
00:31Could you give him a little credit on trying to tough it out, I guess, yeah?
00:34Oh, yeah. That's all that counts.
00:36Yeah, and, you know, and that is like, okay, let's talk about the back and forth that goes with that
00:41because, you know, growing up, we had Pudge, and it was like a one-catcher-and-he's-the-guy kind
00:46of thing,
00:47and that's all my childhood brain remembers, but it seems like the rotation at catcher is a more prevalent thing,
00:53and it's more useful to you guys' body.
00:55Would you rather catch 162, or do you think that, no, that's just not going to happen?
01:00Well, I mean, you know, if I'm being honest with myself and, you know, with all of us other catchers,
01:07there's not a lot of guys who deserve to catch every day, you know?
01:11No, I mean, it's just such a tough position to be really productive at.
01:17I think a lot of times we are better served in a more platoon-type role, you know,
01:26where we're kind of putting a better chance to succeed or whatever, just stay fresh, whatever.
01:33Yeah, and that's what I, that was, I mean, I was trying to give a lot of love to the
01:37catchers last year
01:38with Cal Raleigh having the type of season he was having, and so I kept arguing his side for MVP.
01:45Kevin was definitely against that, and since he can't argue with me about this,
01:48it's easy for me to say, but he was, I was like, I understand Judge's numbers,
01:53but the thing that y'all do physically, I don't think anybody in the world understands
01:58what being back there for nine innings is like.
02:02It's pretty brutal, huh?
02:04Yeah, it can be.
02:05I mean, it's definitely a lot easier if you're winning and you're always ahead, but yeah, it can be tough.
02:13It's definitely tough over the course of a full season, so what Cal did last year was extremely impressive.
02:19Now, one of the things that any time I flipped on the game last year,
02:23I always knew it was you at the plate because of the white gloves.
02:26Were you always white batting gloves guy, or does this become a style over time?
02:31Are you sticking with it this year?
02:34I mean, I try not to be too much of a pain, so I just have them ship me, you
02:39know, one color.
02:40I figure white kind of is just pretty universal, so try not to, you know,
02:48get them to ship me all these crazy colors or whatnot.
02:52Hold on, so you could ask for the crazy colors, but you're just, you're a gentleman.
02:57You're a nice guy, that's why.
02:59No, I'm just a plain Jane guy.
03:04Okay, so we talked with Jared Sandler earlier, and he said, you're going to laugh really hard with Kyle,
03:10but it's the driest sense of humor you've ever heard.
03:13Is this a reality when it comes to you?
03:16I don't know.
03:17I just, I guess I just say stuff.
03:21I don't know.
03:23I think people are more laughing at me.
03:26Oh, no, Kevin.
03:28Kevin.
03:29No.
03:30No.
03:31They're laughing at me today.
03:33Yeah, it's definitely a Kevin today.
03:35It's definitely Kevin that they're laughing at.
03:37And with, because we have a great listening audience that really does have a good time with us.
03:42We've established a rapport over time with them, so it's a lot of fun.
03:46Kyle, this group of pitchers working with these guys, can you kind of give us a breakdown of the personalities
03:52and the professionalism or whatever it is about each one of these guys?
03:57We'll start with Nate.
03:59We got to talk to him a little earlier in the week, and everybody that we talked to about him
04:04is just like,
04:04that dude right there just always has a plan in place no matter what.
04:09Can you kind of give us a breakdown on what Nathan Ebaldi is all about?
04:13Yeah, I mean, he's unbelievably prepared every single day, whether it's physically or mentally.
04:20He's the hardest working guy in the clubhouse, so he's definitely one of the team leaders
04:25and definitely the leader of the pitching staff, and he's just an incredible role model
04:31for a lot of the young guys to take after.
04:34And when it comes to, like, y'all's plan and developing the plan for the game,
04:39does he just kind of say, I know what I want, or is there a lot of back and forth
04:43and conversation?
04:44How does that work with you guys?
04:46There's a lot of back and forth, because he does his own research.
04:51I do my own research, and we kind of just talk it over in the tunnel between innings,
04:55and we come up with a cohesive game plan so that we're not out there kind of trying to get
05:01on the same page.
05:03Okay, and when it comes to that, sometimes you're like, no, my research is correct and yours is incorrect,
05:07or is there ever a battle like that?
05:11I don't think I'd put it that way.
05:14You know, we just – there are certain times where he's really adamant that he wants to do something,
05:20and there's other times where I'm adamant that we should either not do something
05:25or we need to do something different.
05:28And I think, you know, together that's one of the reasons that we work well.
05:34Is there a little, like, Rochambeau decides this, a game of risk?
05:38How do y'all decide?
05:39They'll just kind of –
05:42Yeah, we just talk it through.
05:44We just try to, you know, talk through all the possibilities,
05:48and then we'll settle on a game plan that we can commit to.
05:52Okay.
05:53Well, here's our suggestion is if you do want to include some of those kind of battles,
05:58a thumb war or something like that, those always come in handy around our studio just in case.
06:03So I'm just letting you know how we work.
06:05Like today, I'm getting that conversation for sure.
06:09All right, so DeGrom, we have not ever had a chance to talk to him.
06:13Like we've never – seriously, like we've walked in and we've been like,
06:17hey, Jacob, and he's like, no.
06:18And so there's always this like, oh, man.
06:20And I'm just kind of curious what kind of personality he is because the talent is amazing.
06:26The talent is amazing, but I just don't know the guy that well.
06:30No, he's awesome.
06:31He's one of my favorite guys.
06:33We sat together on the plane all last year, and just getting to know him more
06:40and, you know, knowing what kind of guy he is, he's great to be around.
06:44So we have a lot of fun.
06:46What is the best way to crack that egg then?
06:48How do we get him to kind of open up to us for the next time that we're around him?
06:54I don't know.
06:57I don't even – I don't really know how I kind of crack the egg.
07:03I guess I'm just on the team, you know.
07:05Yeah, and he was like, I guess I've got to talk to this guy.
07:07Maybe you guys should try to make the team.
07:10Okay.
07:12Okay.
07:13Okay.
07:14All right, hold on.
07:14Step one, start playing baseball again.
07:18All right, so I've got to get back into the groove of that.
07:20Be younger.
07:21Be younger at 43.
07:23It's going to be a little bit of a chore for me, but I think I can do this.
07:27Do I just call CY up, or do I need to – where would you say to start my approach?
07:32Yeah, definitely maybe like a fantasy camp.
07:36Oh, the fantasy camp they have out here is awesome.
07:39Yeah.
07:40That's a great idea.
07:40I think that might be step one.
07:42And then Jacob DeGrom.
07:44That's how it's going to work.
07:45I like that.
07:46All right, so Mackenzie Gore, all right?
07:47So I'm going through this rotation.
07:49Mackenzie Gore, have you gotten to know him quick?
07:52Because my co-host, while he can't talk still, when we had Mackenzie Gore on,
07:56he reminded Mackenzie Gore that his senior year he only gave up one run,
08:00and then Mackenzie told us that that was in the state championship game,
08:04and they lost by one run.
08:05So that was a tough one for my co-host.
08:08Yeah.
08:10No, he's been great too.
08:12He's just, you know, super competitive.
08:16Just from what I've seen this spring, he's never really satisfied with where he's at.
08:21So I'm really excited to work with him more this year.
08:24And then Leiter, like we've gotten to know Leiter a lot since he was drafted here,
08:30and every year we catch up with him and we've been watching his progression.
08:34The hope for him, I think this year, we just kind of had the conversation is,
08:38is he in that all-star conversation?
08:40Is he kind of just on his way to it, or is he getting ready to be that kind of
08:45guy?
08:46When you're behind the plate and that guy's on the mound, what do you see in coming at you?
08:50Yeah.
08:51He's definitely got the stuff to do it.
08:54It's just, you know, this game is all about learning every time you step foot on the field
08:59and getting better and constantly improving.
09:02So I think, and he's really committed to that.
09:06That's something that he, I think, excels at.
09:08So I think you could see that going forward through all last year.
09:14So he's got everything it takes.
09:15It's just, it's about going out there and doing it.
09:19But that's kind of how we are in that fifth spot, too.
09:21And then, dude, what a wild job.
09:23He's sitting there and he's got this whole plan built out for DeGrom,
09:26and then all of a sudden he's got three to six more pitchers he might catch that day.
09:30Is that like, you just, is it just as simple as I'm just back there catching?
09:34Or is it, no, there's a study for each one of these guys and each one of these hitters, too.
09:40Yeah, I mean, for me, it's, you got to know all the hitters.
09:43You got to know what they do well and what they struggle with.
09:47And then you kind of align that with the pitcher's strengths and weaknesses.
09:52Once you get a feel for your pitchers, you kind of know what they do well.
09:57So it's not as much studying them as it is studying the hitters and then knowing them,
10:03knowing your pitchers, and just trying to match those up.
10:06So you are admitting that catchers are the smartest baseball players out there?
10:11No, that's not true.
10:13That's not true.
10:15We do plenty of dumb stuff.
10:20Okay, I was also, I was told by a friend,
10:23Corey Seeger suggested us talking about you in the weight room.
10:26Now, I have no clue exactly where this goes,
10:30but do you have a clue what Corey Seeger's theory on you
10:33or feeling about you in the weight room is?
10:36I don't know.
10:41I like to spend a lot of time in there.
10:43Oh, really?
10:44Sometimes I get distracted, though.
10:46You know, sometimes the workouts will drag on forever.
10:51But I don't know.
10:54Is it you get stuck watching TV or are you just like, no?
10:57No, I'll just, I'll go off on a tangent and start talking to people.
11:02So then like a 30-minute workout will turn into like a two-hour workout.
11:06But that's worth your time right there as long as the conversation was good.
11:09Kyle, we really appreciate your time today, man.
11:11We really love watching you play.
11:13You're doing phenomenal stuff.
11:14It's always can't miss when you get up to the plate.
11:17So have a great season, man.
11:19We look forward to it, all right?
11:20Thanks, guys.
11:21I appreciate it.
11:22There he goes.
11:23Kyle Higashioka, Rangers catcher right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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