- 1 day ago
Paul Toboni joins The Sports Junkies to break down the latest Washington Nationals news.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00What's going on, fellas? How are you guys?
00:01Good morning.
00:02Some growing excitement with you guys at 27 and 25.
00:05We were talking earlier that one of the biggest turnarounds for your team,
00:09kind of month-to-month, has been the pitching.
00:12What has changed from the pitching?
00:14I know the numbers say you're striking out more guys, walking less.
00:18What have you seen from the pitching staff overall?
00:21Yeah, they've been great.
00:24Simon and the whole crew, obviously, the whole player group has been great.
00:28And, you know, honestly, I think we can make it pretty complicated.
00:33To me, it's pretty simple.
00:33Like, we're just doing a better job getting ahead of hitters, putting them away,
00:38and we're staying off the barrel.
00:39So, Cade was awesome last night.
00:43A bunch of guys have been really good.
00:45So, hopefully, we can keep it rolling because offense is obviously playing well.
00:49And, man, when we're giving up, you know, 2-3 on any given night, we're tough to beat.
00:54Yeah, Paul, last six starts, all right?
00:58Last six games, the rotation has a 1 ERA, 36 innings pitch, 4 in runs, 39 strikeouts, 7 walks.
01:06I mean, that's pretty freaking good.
01:09I mean, short sample size, I get it.
01:11But, man, with the fact that you guys are pummeling the ball,
01:15and now that the starting pitch is starting to come around, man, that's pretty impressive.
01:19No doubt.
01:19Yeah, and I think the other thing is, man, against some good teams, too.
01:22You know, Atlanta, like, that offense in Atlanta in particular is really good,
01:26and the guys threw great during that series.
01:29So, like I said, hopefully we can keep it up here.
01:32And we've got a couple, obviously, today's game, but then a couple tough series ahead.
01:36But they're big ones.
01:37So, got to keep throwing it well.
01:39And, Paul, no more stark difference than Zach Littell.
01:42In April, he had an 8.37 ERA.
01:45His ERA in May, 2.19.
01:48And I remember when we had you on earlier, you said it's going to take him a little time
01:52to assimilate, you know, get comfortable.
01:54It's like spring training starts, yeah.
01:55And now we're seeing that manifest itself.
01:58Yeah, absolutely.
02:00And I actually think Zach said it.
02:02So, if you guys remember, we opened for him the first game of the series,
02:08and we went up big that first inning.
02:11And I think, you know, when you go up big, you just get in the attack mindset
02:15because you don't want to let teams back in the game by walking guys.
02:19But he was in that attacking mindset, and that's how you go seven innings
02:23and give up one earned in K7 or whatever he did.
02:26So, we just got to bring that mindset out every day, and we have been.
02:30So, like I said, we've got to continue to do it.
02:33Are you stunned at where you are right now?
02:36I mean, I think the Vegas number, and I'm sure you don't pay attention really,
02:39but it was like 64 and a half.
02:41You guys are going to go way over that.
02:43I don't know where you're going to end up.
02:44But it's unbelievable where you are.
02:45Are you surprised at all?
02:50You know, I don't think I'm surprised.
02:52What I will say is that it's been really fun to see the expectations
02:58these guys have for themselves, you know,
03:00and how this team has come together as a team.
03:05because, I mean, listen, you said it, right?
03:08Like, we lost whatever we lost, 96 games last year.
03:12It'd be like an NFL team going like 2-15, right?
03:16The jerk GM trades away a couple guys,
03:18and they still come into the following year with real expectations
03:22that they're going to make a run.
03:24And like that series in Atlanta, right?
03:26We win two out of three.
03:27They're one of the better teams in the league.
03:29But these guys are pissed they didn't sweep, you know?
03:32And so those expectations, they're not a given.
03:36And they hold themselves to a high standard,
03:39and it's really fun to be around.
03:40And I say that for both the coaches and the staff.
03:42So, you know, like I said, we've got to keep playing well
03:46and don't want to get too high or too low here,
03:49but keep playing well.
03:50And the last thing I'll say is I feel like we're getting better
03:54as each series goes on.
03:55You know what I mean?
03:56I mean, this is still a young team,
03:57and we've lost some really tough ones,
04:00but we're getting better as the year progresses.
04:02And if we can continue to do that, you know,
04:04week after week, month after month, we'll be in good shape.
04:07When you sent Brady House down,
04:09was it primarily because of his defense?
04:13He had a team high, eight errors, I believe, at the time.
04:17You know, you've had other guys.
04:19Obviously, Meade had two home runs the other day.
04:22What was the primary reason you sent Brady down?
04:25Yeah, a couple.
04:27You know, I think the biggest one being that Brady could help us right now
04:34on our big league team.
04:35I've said this a couple times, but he's 22 years old.
04:39We're not going to play a guy on the short side of a platoon
04:43when he's 22 years old.
04:44You know what I mean?
04:45So he just has to be playing every day.
04:48You mentioned the defense.
04:49Like, the defense was better, I thought, but he's still –
04:53I mean, this guy has a chance to be a goal glover.
04:54I really believe that.
04:55So going down there, playing every day, approach at the plate,
04:59like I think, you know, that has some room to grow,
05:02which is exciting to me.
05:04Like, this guy, I think when he's 25, 26 years old,
05:07is going to have really refined some parts of his game
05:11that allow him to be a really good player.
05:13And he's a really good player right now.
05:14We just – we need him playing every day to hopefully realize
05:17his potential moving forward.
05:19All right.
05:19So talk about James Wood and how locked in he is right now.
05:23Just kind of looking at his numbers, Paul, in his last –
05:26well, just call it the month of May, which is about, I don't know,
05:2923, 24 games, something like that.
05:32Hitting .326.
05:34He's got five dingers, 13 RBIs.
05:37He's striking out a little bit less than he did in April.
05:40He just seems a lot more comfortable.
05:42He's got 10 hits in his last six games, including seven in his last two.
05:46I mean, against Cleveland.
05:49I mean, Cleveland's – I mean, that's a division leader with good rotation.
05:54And we talked about it, Paul, you know, in April when he was kind of struggling.
05:58He was striking out a lot and swinging some bad pitches.
06:00And you rarely see leadoff hitters or six, seven power hitters.
06:05So just kind of talk about what he's done.
06:07And I'm sure that the coaching staff has helped him a lot.
06:10But just talk about his last, you know, 25 games or so.
06:14Yeah.
06:14First of all, I'm happy you're bringing it up because it can get lost that, yeah,
06:19we have all these different guys contributing on a nightly basis.
06:22But, you know, you can get – you kind of fall into the trap of like, oh, it's just Woody.
06:28Yeah, this is the Woody of last year.
06:29Like, he's just doing his thing.
06:30When in reality, he has been like – he was a monster last year.
06:34He's been a complete monster this year.
06:36And he's – I mean, he's been one of the best players in the league.
06:41And he's doing it by just, yeah, swinging at really good pitches.
06:46And then we all know his power.
06:47But when he gets one left over in the middle of the plate, or even not, like last night,
06:53man, he's getting to it and he puts a charge into it.
06:56And that combination of just being able to, you know, force pitchers to the middle of the plate
07:02and then when you leave one in the middle of the plate, like you got this 6-7 dude
07:05that's putting a charge into it, it's not fun throwing against.
07:08So, you know, that's been really fun.
07:11And then we've talked about it, but defense has made huge strides.
07:15The way he's running the bases has been great.
07:17He had that stolen base the other night.
07:18But he's just – he's playing great.
07:20We're so lucky to have him.
07:22He's – yeah, I mean, he's everything that we could ask for and more.
07:26All right, so talk about Dylan.
07:28Only been up for a few games since you guys sent Brady down.
07:32But can you talk about his performance and what you liked?
07:35He did hit a home run in the Braves series.
07:37Yeah, I think he's still getting his feet under him a little bit.
07:42But, man, the big message I think we're just giving Dylan in the early going is
07:46don't be up here and be cautious, you know what I mean?
07:49Like you're such a great athlete.
07:52Go out there and play free and go have some fun.
07:55And, you know, I think we're starting to see that a little bit more.
07:59He obviously had the homer the other night.
08:02He had the double off the wall, which probably could have been a homer in another park.
08:06But he's just – he's coming on to himself, and I'm really excited about what he's going
08:12to bring here in the future, not just offensively too.
08:16He can really run the bases.
08:19You saw it last night with that infield hit he had.
08:21Like he moves down the line.
08:22He's just – he's a really fun athlete.
08:24So the more we can tap into that athleticism, the better.
08:28Are you looking at the standings at all?
08:31Oh, he does.
08:33Yeah, of course I do.
08:34So, you know, I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't.
08:37Well, we were talking about – I don't know how much you can talk about here or how much
08:41you can admit, Paul.
08:43But if you guys are in the mix, let's just say you're within three of the wild card near
08:49the deadline.
08:49Are they one and a half back now?
08:51One and a half now.
08:51And obviously it's, you know, you've still got 110 games left or whatever.
08:55But do you guys think you'll be looking to add if you guys are in a wild card hunt?
09:00I would think so.
09:02Yeah, we don't honestly –
09:04Or is it too early to ask that?
09:06I don't know.
09:06Yeah.
09:07Well, no, you can ask whenever you want.
09:09I'm not sure I'll respond to it the way you'd like.
09:12But I just – we try and not look too far ahead.
09:15You know what I mean?
09:16And we'll deal with that, you know, if and when we get there.
09:22The big thing I would say is from the moment that we hopped on board, we said it.
09:30Like, we want to be really stubborn on this vision of creating a really good team over
09:34the, you know, a sustainable period, right?
09:36But at the same time, you've got to be flexible on the details.
09:40And if we prove that we can get going sooner, around, later, then we've got to adapt, you
09:45know, and – but also, at the same time, we don't want to do it at the cost of, you
09:50know, like, future years and being good then, too, right?
09:53So, at some point in time, like, the rubber's going to meet the road where you've got to
09:57make a decision on some of those tradeoffs.
09:59But we just want to be – we want to be really responsible while, at the same time, listen,
10:07like, this team might be pretty darn good.
10:10And we want to take advantage of it if we can.
10:13And so, we're going to be mindful of that when the time comes.
10:17But right now, we're just trying to win games.
10:18You know who else we've got to give props to here?
10:20It's K-Bear.
10:22I just pulled up his game log.
10:24He's hitting .353 in the month of May.
10:27And, you know, last year he had that – he had the concussion issue and he – you
10:31know, when the Nats acquired him, we thought, okay, really good defensive catcher and has
10:37got a good bat.
10:38We didn't really see it last year.
10:40I'm not sure exactly why.
10:41Maybe it was because of the injuries.
10:42But talk about what is he doing differently because he's killing the ball.
10:46He's got, I think, six multi-hit games in the month of May.
10:51He's been huge.
10:52And not just offensively.
10:53Like, defensively, he's been – I mean, he's made huge strides.
10:56And so, that's tougher to see, I think, like, on a nightly basis because it's just – it's
11:02kind of boring.
11:03Like, watching a guy just steal strikes over and over and over again behind the plate.
11:06But then you look up, whatever it is, 50 games in, you're like, man, this guy's been
11:10really good back there.
11:11So, defensively, he's been awesome.
11:13Offensively, you hit on it.
11:14Like, for a guy that, you know, hasn't been around league average in past years, he's been
11:21above league average this year at the catching position, which is tough to do.
11:26And he's doing it in a pretty unique way.
11:28He's still not walking a ton, but he's getting to some power to the pull side.
11:34And Borgie and the rest of the hitting staff have been great with him.
11:37And I think, you know, really empowering him to do that because he doesn't have to be this
11:44slappy, you know, singles ground ball hitter to the opposite field.
11:48When the time calls for it, he can be.
11:49But, you know, let's tap into some of the strength and do some damage.
11:54And he has been.
11:55Joined by Paul Tabone, the president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals, who
11:59sit at 27 and 25, two games above 500.
12:03So, about a week ago, Bears Verluga wrote an interesting column in The Athletic.
12:08And it was kind of about your friendship with Marcus Semien, which dates back to Cal.
12:15He was your teammate there, and now he plays with the Mets.
12:18I think he's made the All-Star team two or three times.
12:20And one thing which jumped out at me is, I guess he was busting your chops that you used
12:24to try to make the Kevin Mitchell play all the time, the barehand catch.
12:29How successful were you back in the day?
12:31Was this just a BP thing?
12:34When were you doing this?
12:36Yeah, this was, that was funny.
12:38He brought that up.
12:39This was a BP thing.
12:41I mentioned it, but growing up in San Francisco, you know, growing up a Giants fan, that play
12:46is kind of like one of the historic plays in Giants history.
12:51So, if you haven't seen it, you should look it up for all the listeners.
12:54But, yeah, Kevin Mitchell's running down the left field line, and he overruns a ball and
12:58reaches back with his bare hand and grabs the ball.
13:00So, when you're not, I guess when you're not producing in games, you've got to figure out
13:04a way to make it fun and light for the team in BP or pregame, whatever it is.
13:10So, we used to mess around and do that, and it actually made me laugh the other night.
13:15I don't know if you saw that ball that Meade hit in Cleveland where the guy with the Australia
13:20sweatshirt on, like, jumped and grabbed that ball.
13:23I was like, dang, man, he just, he's Kevin Mitchell the ball better than I ever have.
13:27So, yeah, fun times, and that was cool that Barry wrote that.
13:32And, yeah, Marcus, Marcus, great friend, great former teammate, and really happy about the
13:38career that he's had.
13:39The other thing I didn't realize, I think I said you were 27-25, you're 29-27.
13:43Two games above 500 either way.
13:46You've had two hip surgeries already?
13:49Oh, three.
13:50Wow.
13:51You're still changing me.
13:51Oh.
13:52You have titanium, or what's going on there?
13:55No, almost, like, similar to a shoulder.
13:58You can, like, tear your labrum in your shoulder, you know, which is a tough injury for your
14:02shoulder.
14:02I did it a few times in my hip.
14:04So, yeah, like I said, I came into Cal as a shortstop, and I walked out of Cal, like,
14:11hobbling, playing the corners.
14:12Oh, yeah.
14:13Wow.
14:13Are you a golfer?
14:15I'll probably go, like, every, maybe, like, once or twice a year.
14:19I mean, he's got four.
14:20I love doing it when I go.
14:22Okay, yeah.
14:22He's got four young kids.
14:23He and his wife have four young kids.
14:24I know you've got four young kids.
14:25I think it's all boys, right?
14:27Yeah, and it's like you tell you, like, I tell my wife, like, I'm working till whatever
14:30midnight or later, every night, and, you know, she's wearing the brunt of it with the kids,
14:37and then on a Sunday, I'm like, hey, I'm going to go golf for five hours.
14:39I don't think she's going to go over a while.
14:41That's right.
14:41I'm going to go over a while.
14:42It's a tough pull.
14:44Been there.
14:44Hey, Paul, real quick, before we let you go, we know Jake is on the, Jake Irvin's on the
14:4915-day.
14:50Can you give us an update on Josiah Gray?
14:54Yeah.
14:55Josiah's back throwing.
14:57Well, let me hit on Jake first, actually.
14:59Okay.
14:59Jake, you guys might know this, like, so he felt it a little bit after his last start
15:05in the back of his shoulder.
15:07He's going to be, we're hoping that this is just going to be the minimum in terms of
15:11his stint on the aisle, and more than anything, like, we want to take care of this dude.
15:17Like, he's going to be in the middle of whatever success we're having going forward, and we
15:21need this guy throwing meaningful innings in July and August and so on.
15:25So, and then JoJo, yeah, I was just texting with him the other day.
15:31He's just going through his progression.
15:33He's feeling really good.
15:35Similar, like, you know, with the injury he had last year, and then when it flared up
15:39at the start of this year, we didn't want to push him just because, man, we got to look
15:46out for him.
15:46So, he's progressing, and while we want him back soon around or later, we're going to
15:52let how he's feeling dictate the time here, and then hopefully he's coming back helping
15:59us when we need him.
16:01And he's down in Florida rehabbing?
16:03He's down in Florida.
16:03Yeah.
16:04Yep.
16:04Okay.
16:05All right, Paul, good stuff.
16:06All right, 1-10 today, right?
16:08One o'clock game today.
16:09Yeah, you got it.
16:10All right.
16:11Perfect.
16:11Good luck.
16:11Thank you, Paul.
16:12Appreciate it, buddy.
16:13Sounds good, fellas.
16:13Yeah, thanks for having me on.
16:14Yeah, it's Paul Tabone, President of Baseball Operations for the Nationals, joins us every
16:18Wednesday at 9 o'clock.
16:20Later on this hour, Paul Rabel will join us, lacrosse legend, here on the Junkies.
Comments