- 2 days ago
Paul Toboni joins The Sports Junkies to break down the latest Washington Nationals news.
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00:00hey paul sorry buddy no it's all good what's up how are you guys i'm good doing all right
00:05hey i wanted to ask you about your pitching staff in general um when you took over how did you
00:12go
00:12about kind of acquiring guys and putting together this pitching staff yeah i mean um well i think
00:21it starts with just identifying like our the current roster right so we knew some guys that
00:25we had in house we're going to be filling a number of these uh rotation spots and you know kate
00:31and
00:31and uh jake and and then a few others in the pen as well um and then it just you
00:37know it leads into
00:38like hey uh what's the amount of money you're going to spend uh who in the market kind of
00:43fits those price points and who do we think are the right guys to uh to uh give these dollars
00:50to
00:50and then you know we just kind of go from there so um yeah mixed results so far but uh
00:57hoping that
00:57we can um you know continue to push it forward here in the future so paul zach littell with another
01:02rough outing yesterday he's given up multiple home runs and five of his six starts so far he's a career
01:08era guy right on four he's sitting at 7.85 right now what are your takeaways from his struggles so
01:14so far i know that you've mentioned that since he signed kind of late on march 10th that that's
01:19at least one of the factors yeah i think that's part of it um i think um i think zach
01:26probably
01:27would would tell you that he got away from from what's made him good um you know at least early
01:32on and uh and then he's trying to make his way back to to what does make him good and
01:38so he um
01:39you know yesterday i thought was actually the first three outings i thought or uh three innings i thought
01:43were um pretty darn good and then it obviously fell apart quickly but um you know his bread and
01:49butter is obviously he he really fills up the zone gets ahead of hitters and uh you saw when it
01:54started to unravel a little bit last night he walked a couple guys and then be beside the
01:58misplay and just one thing led to another and it got out of hand so but to circle back you
02:04know i
02:04think like just if he can repeatedly get ahead of hitters like he was the first three innings last
02:08night um even if he gets burned with like uh you know like buchette did with first pitch um
02:13of the bottom of the first and taking him deep like i still think he uh you know his stuff
02:18will
02:18play and and the way he uh he pitches will play if he just can like i said consistently get
02:23ahead of
02:24hitters what is going on with the defense um i'm just kind of looking at the fielding percentage in
02:32the league we're dead last in fielding percentage uh last last night there was a huge error and that you
02:39know zach was giving up some hits and walking guys but four of the runs he gave up were unearned
02:46yeah so i think um the fielding percentage is is definitely one thing like in in a big part of
02:52it
02:53um the bottom line is like our guys just need to uh yeah we need to be better um i
03:00think there have
03:01been some really good things in that you know i think what that doesn't capture is we're getting
03:05to a lot more balls and so we're giving ourselves more opportunity to convert outs we are converting
03:09more outs but the our struggle has been like yeah like you referenced the the balls that that we are
03:15getting to like are we uh converting them into outs at a rate that that uh we should be and
03:21um it's like
03:22i said from the start i think like kind of a superpower of this defense is uh you know is
03:28that they can
03:29like uh they're really athletic they can get to balls from a catching standpoint like they're doing a
03:33great job receiving uh now i think it just turns into like hey these balls that we're that we are
03:38getting to like let's make sure that we're uh we're making these plays so we don't leave our pitchers out
03:43there hanging you know when you have a stretch where you're playing 17 games in 17 days how much can
03:49they practice that uh we do it i mean we uh the guys work really really hard um and uh
03:57i think that's
03:58been something that uh it's been a little bit of an adjustment for them they've just uh you know
04:03we're doing a lot of early work every day and um you know particularly on the infield side like
04:10smars and tyler smarslock and dick estevez uh just yesterday as well like they're they're out there uh
04:17you know working them early uh the you are right though like when you play 17 in a row uh
04:23you you want
04:24to try and give them uh you know a blow some of these those days but uh that doesn't mean
04:29that we
04:29can't we can't work really hard like we pride ourselves on on working hard and uh we're going
04:34to continue to do so and hopefully you know week after week and month after month we'll be able to
04:37look back and say like man these guys have gotten better uh as time has gone on paul during that
04:4217
04:43day stretch you made roster transactions on nine of those 17 days do you need like an assistant to
04:49help you remember all the moves i mean is your head swimming with all the the new guys coming
04:54in and out of the clubhouse at that point i mean do you lead the league in in transactions
04:58do you know yeah i don't i don't know uh i don't know if we do um but you're like
05:03i think you hit on
05:04it in that uh man when you're in that that stretch where it's 17 days um in a row of
05:11playing like you
05:12uh i know we talked about it last time around but with alvey like uh it was a good example
05:17of hey
05:17you're bringing up a guy that uh is really going to help you and hopefully throw well um but then
05:22you
05:23know the secondary piece of it is gosh if if he can um you know go four or five innings
05:28and give
05:29the pen a reset uh that's much appreciated and much needed so um you know that's in large part why
05:35we
05:35do it the other piece is like you know when you do have a guy that throws two innings let's
05:40say he's
05:40probably gonna be down for for two days right and so if you want to be able to use that
05:44that piece in
05:45the pen those those next two days um you got to make a transaction uh bring someone else in that's
05:50fresh and uh so you can have the support um that you need so cade goes tonight against peterson
05:59cade was really good his last time out um well yeah he was solid gave up two runs over five
06:06um allowed seven hits he's been pretty good his last couple starts i know he had a couple
06:10inconsistent starts there um against pittsburgh and st louis but what are you expecting from cade
06:16tonight against the mets yeah cade i thought was like you said i thought he was great uh last time
06:21out uh that's a really good braves lineup and he uh i think he caged 10 and and didn't walk
06:26any
06:26right which is obviously tough to do against them so um i feel like you know the last few starts
06:32um
06:33he's starting three starts ago it's like every start he's gotten better and better and better
06:37and um and so you know i he's someone that uh because he has a couple years of service time
06:43like people look at and i know we talked briefly about this but they're like man this guy is his
06:47uh
06:48has a ton of big league experience under his belt when in reality uh he doesn't you know so um
06:53i know
06:54we don't think about him like a like a rookie um but we almost should and that like hey because
06:59he's
07:00got less than 20 starts under his belt um in the big leagues like these uh these starts are uh
07:07you
07:07know an opportunity for him to get better and better and better uh with each given one so um what
07:13are we
07:13hoping for today man i think just uh you know going right at these guys and um they got i
07:19know they've
07:20been struggling but they got a a pretty good lineup and so um being able to attack them from the
07:25get-go
07:25and then um you know put guys away i think it's something that kade did uh really well last outing
07:30and we're going to hope that he uh he does today talking to paul taboni president of baseball operations
07:35for the washington nationals since we're talking uh pitchers what is the latest with josiah gray
07:42yeah uh he's uh he's uh rehabbing uh down in florida um hoping he can um you know start ramping
07:50up
07:50here soon um he uh a couple days ago he was throwing uh he's throwing plios and so he's he's
07:57like he's um he's making his way he's progressing uh still going to be a bit uh like i said
08:02right when
08:03he uh did go down in the first place you know it's not just like hey that this injury happened
08:08it's
08:08like you know with the context of what he was coming off of uh we just wanted to make sure
08:13to be
08:13uh extra careful here so uh we're going to look out for josiah and um get him back when he's
08:19ready
08:19and hopefully that's sooner around and later paul props to nasim nunez leading mlb in stolen bases
08:25right now with 13 do you ever like sit in your office and daydream and think man if this guy
08:29could
08:30hit 250 he would steal like 80 plus bases or do you just accept that you know he's doing a
08:36good
08:36good job on the base paths as is and he'll probably wind up hitting in that 220 230 range
08:42no i think i think nots is a better hitter than what he's shown uh this year he would tell
08:47you that too
08:47uh he's you hit on it like the base running is awesome uh the defense as you guys know is
08:53awesome i think he has a chance to be a gold glover in a couple different positions on the
08:57infield if if given the opportunity but in order to like really maximize those opportunities you gotta
09:03you gotta be getting on base so um not just hey can he hit 250 but also can he walk
09:09at a clip where
09:10he's finding himself on first because it seems like every time he is he's he's on second and uh maybe
09:15even on third so you know a couple pitches later so um yeah i think a big part of that
09:20is making
09:21sure that he's doing a really good job swinging at strikes and not chasing outside the zone and then
09:26also his uh you know his ball flight right like making sure that he's uh he's really staying on
09:32the line uh he obviously ain't james wood you know and when he's hitting the ball high in the air
09:37it
09:38ain't going 10 rows up so uh making sure that he's staying on the line and giving himself a chance
09:43to
09:43uh be on the bases at a really high clip i think will allow him to uh get the 80
09:48bags that you speak
09:49of you surprised that there have already been a couple of uh managerial switches including alex
09:55cora who you worked with in boston yeah i think anytime that happens it comes as a surprise um
10:02yeah the boston one obviously uh you know it's it's uh close to me i mean i all those guys
10:08are my
10:09friends uh all those coaches ac obviously even brez you know brez is a good buddy and and uh sam
10:16all
10:16those guys so uh tough situation what i will say though is on the flip side uh you know the
10:21silver
10:22lining of it is these guys that have come up chad tracy the manager over there and uh jose flores
10:27moving into the bench control i don't know if you guys even know these names but chad epperson
10:31all these guys are they're really really really great um great guys great baseball people and uh
10:37to see them get an opportunity in the big leagues has been really cool so um yeah wishing them the
10:42best and uh and i'll continue to stay in touch with those coaches that uh have been let go because
10:47i mean it ain't it ain't a fun spot to be but um they'll be good landing on their feet
10:52can i ask you just a quick question on you know wood is got the 10 bombs and he got
10:58there a few days
10:58ago right and we had a conversation i kind of mocked jp for saying you know why couldn't he hit
11:0250
11:02uh-huh he could hit 50 couldn't he i think i was wrong well in terms of on pace yeah
11:08i mean like
11:08he could i'm not saying he will or but i'm just saying like he does have the i called him
11:14i called
11:15him a superstar and he quibbled and maybe it's a little early to call him a superstar but
11:19he definitely has that potential yeah yeah i don't you know obviously i don't want to put any
11:25crazy crazy expectations on on woody but uh what i will say is that uh he can he can do
11:31things that
11:32not many other players uh it's gonna say in the league really in the world can do um and so
11:39uh
11:40yeah like you i mean you guys see it like when he uh when he takes a pitch on on
11:45the outer third
11:45or even on the inner third and hits it like 15 rows up to left center field like it's just
11:50not many
11:51people can do that so um you know is he gonna go hit 50 i don't know you know i'm
11:56not sure anyone
11:56knows but does he have the potential at some point in his career to hit 50 like yeah absolutely
12:00and uh i wouldn't put a cap on it too he's just such a uh such an awesome kid great
12:06worker great
12:07family whole deal like he's he's uh he's a really special one that we're uh we're just really happy to
12:13have within our walls and paul i mean you weren't here last year i'm sure you know this anyway but
12:17his knee was really bothering him last year for probably like the second half of the year he just
12:22kind of played through it and i think that really affected um you know just just his numbers you know
12:28from mid-july on and he's healthy now his knee doesn't bother him so he took care of that in
12:34the
12:34offseason so i think that's another reason why he's off to a good start yeah i think that's that's huge
12:39and i think it's uh man obviously like you know some level of injury is going to happen to everyone
12:46that plays in this game it's a growing schedule whole deal but uh i think that's also part of
12:50growing up in the game you know what i mean like understanding what your routine has to be like to
12:53make sure that you're not feeling uh in this case like knee pain whatever it might be i you know
12:59i've
12:59just seen it over and over and over again the guys that are you know 35 years old still in
13:04the big
13:04leagues like they're they're really dialed in that respect and like all of us i think when we're in our
13:09early 20s right we think we can just get away with doing what we've done our full lives and uh
13:13i'm not sure it works that way so uh woody's been awesome in that respect as have others on the
13:19team and um yeah hopefully that helps uh keep him healthy uh as time goes on what do you do
13:24with
13:24your world series ring i haven't uh i haven't i haven't even looked at it probably in in years
13:33um i haven't worn it uh i don't know those things are so darn big now you know when you
13:40wear it
13:40it's like uh it's a little bit of like a yeah look at me type deal right all right uh
13:45i don't uh
13:47i haven't worn it in a bit but uh obviously some awesome memories from uh 2018 and um and yeah
13:54hopefully uh at some point here in the near future we can uh we can repeat it in dc yeah
13:58nice hey paul
14:00i'm gonna be at the game saturday so uh i'm gonna look for you i'm gonna be sitting in there
14:04come
14:04kick it do you watch the game the games in the same suite that mike rizzo watched those do you
14:10remember you know where that is yeah when i'm there uh i do um and then uh but i'll bounce
14:16around a
14:17little bit i'll uh you know we'll be we'll be down in the stands and uh other places in the
14:21yard so
14:22we bounce around yeah i'll talk to kyle and uh i'll definitely say hi yeah sounds great that'd be
14:27great that'd be fun all right man very cool it's paul timoni president of baseball operations for
14:31the washington nationals we'll talk to you next week see you buddy he gone he gone he gone yeah
14:38i'm gonna go look for paul well you better look for him early i noticed you didn't tell him you
14:42were planning on jetting out the game early i'm gonna look i'm gonna look for him pre-game
14:48during bp that's the smart smart move bp yeah i think i'm gonna get on the field for bp nice
14:54you
14:55love that oh yeah who doesn't love access well i mean my carl will bring you over there my boy
15:01kenny wood is that's right father and he yeah i mean he always goes down there on the field i'm
15:05gonna hang out with him and watch james w j dub hit bombs in batting practice i keep forgetting was
15:12he a senior when you were a freshman at richmond playing basketball no no or you or you didn't
15:16cross paths he came in a year after me so uh you didn't really know him i didn't i'm i
15:23didn't know
15:23him that year but i got to know him the the next two or three years richmond connect because i
15:28was
15:28still going down to visit my boys yeah gotcha yeah and we became friends we we kind of lost touch
15:34and then um we kind of hooked up after the fact he lives in cakes his neighborhood oh i run
15:40into him
15:40all the time yeah you definitely look up oh yeah he's a he's a mountain of a man he's a
15:46huge huge guy
15:47at one point james wood's father kenny was the all-time he's a baller in high school
15:53he went to a public school he was the all-time leading public school hoopster it's pretty high
15:59school public school and now i'm sure it's been broken since but at one point he was back in the
16:02maryland in new york he's from new york did your coach dick tyrant scream at him like he screamed
16:08at you yes screamed at everybody well maryland would be great too yeah but new york's pretty good yeah
16:12yeah i mean he's pretty impressive yeah coming up next we will talk some nba playoffs with antonio
16:18daniels former washington wizard here on the fan
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