00:00It is time now for the Rangers player show here on the fan brought to you by Golden Chick
00:05and Globe Life. For over 125 years, Globe Life has helped protect families when they need it
00:10most. Globe Life make tomorrow better. As joining us now, Rangers reliever with a
00:17sub three ERA in each of his last three seasons. First season here with the Rangers, three saves,
00:23a .5 whip and a 0.0 ERA. Jacob Junis joining us now here on the fan. Good afternoon, sir.
00:31How the
00:31heck are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me on. Well, thanks for joining us. Congrats on your
00:37success. Now, are we clear to call you the closer? It seems like the shoe fits there pretty good.
00:42Yeah, I don't know. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. Whenever my name's called,
00:47go out there and put up some zeros for the squad. I don't know about calling me that yet,
00:52but just trying to go get it done when my name's called. How does it feel for you with the
00:57game
00:57on the line and everything? Is it different or do you like it? How do you feel about it?
01:03I try not to overthink it, really, man. I pitch in all different sorts of situations in my career.
01:10I started for a while. I did long relief. I was middle relief. I've had a little bit of experience
01:15throwing in some leverage games last year. I've had a save or two here the last few years,
01:21so I've been in pretty much any situation that you can imagine in a ball game.
01:25Yeah, I guess just really just trying to take it one day at a time and go out there and
01:30get it done.
01:31So what made you want to join the Rangers? What did they tell you when they called you up?
01:37They really liked who I am, the way I throw, the way I attack hitters, throw strikes,
01:42and try not to walk guys around the zone. Also, for me, it was big that they had had so
01:49much success
01:49on the pitching side of things in the last year or so. At least last year, I was put on
01:55notice that
01:55they had a really, really, really good pitching staff. When I talked to the coaches, it seemed
02:00like a great fit. For me, I live in Arizona in the offseason, so having Arizona spring training
02:07and being somewhat closer to home, quick flight, hour 45-minute flight from Dallas to my home in
02:14Arizona was a big deal, and playing in the AL West on the West Coast a lot of games, that
02:19was a big
02:19factor for me.
02:21So we had a really good conversation with your teammate, Tyler Alexander, and we went through
02:26the evolution of his facial hair and just his hair since he's been in the league. I'm looking at a
02:31picture of you back with the Omaha Storm Chasers, and you look completely different. So how has this
02:37gone when it comes to the beard, the hair, as you've gone about your Major League career?
02:43Well, when I was with the Storm Chasers, we had a strict no facial hair policy in the minor leagues
02:50with Kansas City. They were pretty strict on the rules, you know, pants up, you know, keep the facial
02:56hair shaved, no long hair allowed. They were pretty strict on that stuff. So that's why, even though I
03:02could grow a beard back then and would have loved to have a beard and some longer hair, I just
03:07wasn't
03:07allowed to until I got to the big leagues. So yeah, I definitely didn't have super long
03:12hair like I do now. That kind of happened the last four years or so, where I just kind
03:17of started growing it out. But yeah, for those shape-faced minor league photos, that's the
03:22reason why.
03:23Now, how would you describe your long hair? Is this rocker long hair? Is this like country
03:28red hair? Is this hockey long hair? What kind of long hair do you have?
03:34I mean, it's long on top and shaved on the sides. It's so long that I usually have to pull
03:39it up
03:39into like more of a bun when it's not coming out of my hat. But you know, I don't really
03:45have a name
03:45for it. It's kind of just a style I've been rocking the last couple years. And you know, it looks
03:50good
03:51in the baseball cap. I know that. It just feels right with the baseball cap on.
03:55Jacob Junis here with you on the fan.
03:56Yeah, it looks badass, dude. You're wearing the hell out of that thing. And you got the sweet feet too,
04:00like light on your feet, seeing you get off the mound, making plays, the athleticism.
04:04Like, what is your background, bro? Is it only baseball or did you do some other stuff?
04:09I mean, they were definitely testing me in Baltimore, man.
04:14A couple there in a row where I had to sprint over there and make a play. I usually try
04:20to
04:20stay away from the ball as much as possible after I let it go. But my background athletically,
04:26I grew up playing basketball. Played it all through high school and still love following
04:31basketball, NBA college and whatnot now. But definitely don't get to play as much as I get
04:37older and the career has progressed on the diamond. But yeah, definitely basketball helped me stay
04:44athletic and build my foundation as an athlete and helped me on the baseball field for sure.
04:49You're talking about a basketball career. You averaged 19 points a game as a basketball player?
04:55Yeah. Yeah. I was a, I was a first team all state basketball player my senior year of high
04:59school. I could, uh, I could shoot it and score a little bit. And, uh, yeah, that was probably,
05:05probably my most natural sport growing up was basketball. My dad, he never played baseball
05:10growing up. Um, he was a basketball player. So basketball came pretty natural, um, shooting
05:15hoops in the backyard with him and stuff. So, um, yeah, love basketball to this day.
05:20Did you start out as an infielder initially and then change the pitching? How did, how did,
05:26was it, do I get that right? I did. Um, I was going to go to college, uh, and be
05:31a two-way
05:32player, at least give it a shot. Sure. Um, I grew up, I grew up playing, playing infield and,
05:37uh, just kind of started pitching more my junior and senior year of high school. I always had a good
05:42arm. Um, and growing up in the Midwest, uh, you don't face a ton of great pitching. So I think
05:50they
05:50saw that, uh, my future was going to be as a, at least professionally as a pitcher. And I decided
05:55to hang the bat up once I got drafted and decided to sign. And, uh, I think that was a
06:00pretty good
06:00idea. Were it, were any schools looking at you for hoop? I did. Yeah. There were some smaller
06:08division one schools and division two schools that, uh, that would send me letters and stuff.
06:13I never really took any of it that serious, uh, cause I always knew baseball was going to be my
06:18ticket and what I was going to do at the next level. But, uh, yeah, there was a little bit
06:21of interest in basketball. It's Jacob Junis here with you and that's in Illinois, right? So
06:26were you growing up? You're a Bulls fan probably. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yep. Grew up, uh, Michael Jordan
06:32guy. And then obviously my year was more like Derrick Rose when I was in high school. So those
06:36Derrick Rose, Joe Kim Noah, those teams, uh, that were battling the Browns in the playoffs. Yeah.
06:42That was kind of my, my time was, it was, it was Joe Kim Noah right about how bad Cleveland
06:47is. Cause I know you were a guardian at one point. Back then I would agree with him, but
06:53after playing there, after playing there last year, I have nothing bad to say about Cleveland
06:58at all. I actually really enjoyed the city. Uh, the organization's phenomenal. Um, I had
07:03a, I had a, uh, a ton of fun over there and have no bad things to say about Cleveland
07:07at
07:07all. And then Jacob, it, it, it's six, three, nearly two 40. You can sling it. Obviously
07:14you're an athlete, you're hooping. I'd have been trying to get you on the field as a quarterback,
07:18you know? And I think if you'd grown up in Texas, there's a pretty good chance you would
07:21have. Now, what do you think about football? You, you big fan or I did? Yep. I follow
07:26football. Um, as for my playing career in football, uh, maybe if I did grow up in Texas, we could
07:33have given that shot. But, uh, where I went to high school, I was like, we were, I don't
07:38know what it was, but our, our program was predominantly just God awful. We, we would
07:43go 0 and 10 or 1 and 9 year after year after year after year. And, uh, yeah, I just
07:50never
07:50wanted to go out there and really get beat up every Friday night. Yeah. So you're a smart
07:55basketball. Yeah. So you're a smart guy too. Not only a good athlete, but you're a smart
08:00guy. IQ. Yeah. High IQ. High IQ in sports. Yeah. You have to use the common sense on that
08:05one. Are you a bears fan as well? Yes. Yeah. This year was awesome, man. Finally
08:11into the playoffs again and seeing Caleb kind of take off and the new coach and then, uh,
08:17they got that thing figured out. And I think, uh, we got some good things working over there.
08:21Okay. More, more likely Jacob Junis goes full Caleb Williams and paints his fingernails
08:25or that skip Schumacher goes full Ben Johnson and rips his shirt off in a post-win celebration.
08:31Uh, I think there's a better chance of skip ripping his shirt off.
08:34Jack. I don't know if I'm going to be paying my nails anytime soon, but, uh, Oh, Hey, I'm
08:40not, I'm not knocking Caleb at all. Whatever he's got to do to go out there and, and get
08:44us a win on Sunday. I'm all for it. Did you ever work with a catcher that painted his nails
08:48like for, for the science and stuff? Yeah, definitely. That's just, that's a pretty common
08:53thing of like, they put stickers or some like light out on their, on their hands. Uh, luckily,
08:59uh, we got pitch com now. Pitch com. Yeah. For sure. And like the greatest invention of
09:04all time during my career. So. Well, let me ask you this is pitch com in the hat. Is
09:08it somewhat uncomfortable or do you just get used to it? No, you don't really notice
09:13it. I guess you, you might notice it as soon as you put it in your hat and then put
09:17your
09:17hat on. It's a little bit more snug, but, uh, never really noticed it when you're out
09:22there. Um, now they have like this little thing that they, they cut it a little bit
09:26and it has a little tube that sticks in there and it helps it kind of move around
09:30at all. So yeah, you don't, you don't really notice it. How are you liking the ABS challenge
09:34system? Uh, it's interesting. You know, um, I think it's, I think it's a good thing. You
09:40know, it's, uh, it's been fun to watch so far and it seems like the fans are pretty dialed
09:45in every time there's a, there's a challenge on the board. So, um, I think it's good.
09:51You know, I think it keeps, uh, everybody accountable and definitely adds a little bit
09:55of a excitement to the game. Do you think it shows we could do, we could do it without
10:00the umpires actually being back there? Um, I don't know about that. You know, I don't
10:06think, I think there's still gotta be some sort of human element to it, but, uh, I think
10:11this is a good first step at kind of having a little bit of both and, you know, who knows
10:15what the next steps are if they're really trying to go to full no umpires, but I think
10:20having the umpires out there, just like, it feels right. It would feel weird if we
10:24were just playing the game by ourselves with, you know, no human element to it at all.
10:30It's a way to stay on the good side of the umpires for now, at least. Absolutely. Good
10:33answer. The four-year-old saw your ear piece the other night and said, I didn't know they
10:39were listening to music out there, but, but I was, I was wondering, I, could you guys
10:44pipe some music in there? Have you ever, have you ever thought about doing that? Maybe get
10:47little tunes while you're playing or something like that? In the, in the pitch com or what
10:52do you mean? Yeah. And the pitch com earpiece? You know, I have no idea. I know that they
10:57can change like the voices. They can do it English, Spanish, and they can do some stuff
11:01to it. So I don't know if you'd have to talk to one of the tech guys over here with
11:05the
11:05Rangers and see if they could do that. I don't know. And then obviously we got to ask you
11:09the Kansas city versus Texas barbecue question since your time with the Royals. Do you have
11:13a take on that? I don't. Not yet. I haven't, uh, I haven't got to experience the, the Texas
11:20barbecue yet, but once I do, um, I'll, I'll for sure let you know, I've heard great things.
11:25Yeah. Smart guy. Once again, he knows how to do this. Darn right. He's done this before.
11:29Tato in the ballpark, man. They'll take good care of you. Get that brisket Sando, bro.
11:33What would be your music of choice in, in the pitch com if you could do that?
11:37Um, I like, uh, like electric dance music, EDM music. So, you know, keeping it, uh, yeah,
11:43keeping it the, the, the beat, uh, upbeat and the vibes good and happy and feel good. Uh,
11:50yeah, that's my, that's my jam. Now, do your kids watch you on TV while you're playing? Do
11:54they come to the yard? How do you, how do you, they're probably still in Arizona, right?
11:58Yeah. The, they're in Arizona. They're still doing school and all that stuff. And they'll,
12:02they'll pop in and out of Texas and come visit and whatnot. But, uh, yeah,
12:06my wife and, and kids, they, they, especially us being two hours ahead, um, time wise, they
12:14get, uh, you know, they put the game on after school, after they're done with sports and,
12:18and homework and stuff. And they're usually tuning in, especially me being in the bullpen
12:22now with a option there, uh, a possibility of pitching in any game. They kind of got to
12:28tune in all the time now as we're, if I was starting, you know, they, they probably only
12:31have it on once a week.
12:33So do they get bummed out when, when the Rangers go up like eight one or something? Cause they
12:38know you're not coming in now, or how's that go? I think, I think my wife loves it. So she
12:42doesn't have to have a heart attack. Well, this has been great, Jacob. Congrats on all your
12:47success. Welcome to Texas. Hope you stay a long time and give them hell. We'll be pulling
12:52for you. I appreciate it guys. Thanks for having me on. There he goes. Jacob June is here with
12:56you on your home of the Rangers. The Rangers player show brought to you by golden chick and
13:01globalized.
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