Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: We're in the Dodger clubhouse, and not too many guys
Speaker 2: that do radio interviews with us comb their hair shower
Speaker 2: and are imperfect groom status. But Eric Lower, who's nine
Speaker 2: to zero with the Dodgers, has certainly come prepared. Thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for the time.
Speaker 3: You're welcome every time.
Speaker 2: How about Andy Pa has He doesn't really smile that often,
Speaker 2: but when I mentioned your name, Andy Pa has had
Speaker 2: a smile from ear to ear that says a lot
Speaker 2: about you.
Speaker 3: It might just be you, because I see him smiling
Speaker 3: all the time.
Speaker 2: That could be it. Maybe he just doesn't smile at me.
Speaker 3: I think that might be it. He's a pretty happy guy.
Speaker 2: You've played with a few center fielders in your time.
Speaker 2: Where would you rank Paz as far as defensive center fielders?
Speaker 1: Shoot, he's definitely at the top. He's one guy, and
Speaker 1: that's one thing that I definitely appreciate. When an outfielder
Speaker 1: has a really good arm, that's something that you know,
Speaker 1: just gets me going. And especially when a guy's fat,
Speaker 1: some tracks things down and you can tell that he's
Speaker 1: out there trying to make every single play. And throw
Speaker 1: guys out every time, Like that's something as a pitcher
Speaker 1: you just really appreciate.
Speaker 3: And you loved it.
Speaker 1: Like anytime a ball goes out there and you know
Speaker 1: a guy might be going home, You're like, just throw
Speaker 1: them out and throw them out paes, Come on, you.
Speaker 3: Can do it.
Speaker 2: Why do they still run on Paz I'm not sure
Speaker 2: if they're getting the scouting reports with all this data.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: There should be a hard red light anytime a ball
Speaker 1: goes to center field.
Speaker 2: Do you think you could score from second base on
Speaker 2: poes lower?
Speaker 3: No chance, No way.
Speaker 2: How about just third?
Speaker 1: Maybe third may I'm not I'm not that slow, but
Speaker 1: I don't know. It'd probably be a close play.
Speaker 2: I mean, you've been in the league for a while.
Speaker 2: Did you ever have ad bats in the major leagues?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, I got, I got a show homer. Oh yeah,
Speaker 3: who did you hit off of? Chris Paddock guy a
Speaker 3: guy that I came up with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's wild. So you were with the Brewers. He
Speaker 2: was pitching for the Padres.
Speaker 1: I assume yep, he was with the Padres. Still as
Speaker 1: with the Brewers. That's actually that's my future jeopardy question,
Speaker 1: is I was the last Brewers pitcher.
Speaker 3: To hit a home run. There we go before they
Speaker 3: took away the picture's hitting rule.
Speaker 2: How about that we just learned something new about Eric Lauer,
Speaker 2: who's a very private person.
Speaker 1: I'm not as private, but I mean I keep some
Speaker 1: cards close to my chest.
Speaker 2: Hey, I I uh full disclosure on Dodger Talk last
Speaker 2: night after the game. I did mention our interaction in
Speaker 2: Philly when I asked you what have the Dodgers done
Speaker 2: to make a click for you? And you gave me
Speaker 2: some answer that was from the moon because you didn't
Speaker 2: want to tell me. Are you willing to tell me now?
Speaker 2: Don't tell me about your changeup or your cutter or
Speaker 2: your mental skills.
Speaker 3: Coach.
Speaker 1: I think it's more like, was it what I explaining
Speaker 1: to you the language of lower that one?
Speaker 3: Was that the comment that I made it was Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think honestly, that's really been the most freeing thing
Speaker 1: for me is that I can I feel like I
Speaker 1: can speak my mind to the pitching coaches and they'll
Speaker 1: understand it. And that's like the hardest thing for me
Speaker 1: is you know, getting my feel and my point across
Speaker 1: of what I'm feeling versus what I'm doing and then
Speaker 1: them being able to recognize exactly what I'm trying to
Speaker 1: say and speak to that rather than just going off
Speaker 1: on their own tangent and their own thoughts and feelings
Speaker 1: and like it. It really brings everything full circle so
Speaker 1: that we all truly truly understand each other.
Speaker 2: I remember talking to Mark Pryor before your first start
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers, and he said, there's no mechanical overhaul.
Speaker 2: It's more about finding pitches that play off your fastball.
Speaker 2: And it seems like once started to the curveball last night,
Speaker 2: it was your change up. Has that been part of
Speaker 2: the language of lower Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely like moving things around. How are we
Speaker 1: gonna how are we gonna play off the fastball? And
Speaker 1: what can we do to you know, not necessarily confuse
Speaker 1: the hitters that much, but like just get them off balance.
Speaker 1: And I think that's kind of the biggest point of
Speaker 1: pitching is disrupting timing. So trying to make sure that
Speaker 1: I'm tunneling well and have multiple speed ranges of.
Speaker 3: Pitches is huge for me.
Speaker 1: And it's it's been some days it's the curveball, some
Speaker 1: days it's the change up.
Speaker 3: Now I'm developing more.
Speaker 1: Of a I don't want to call it a sweeper,
Speaker 1: but like a sweepy slider.
Speaker 3: So, you know, just implementing that has gotten me to.
Speaker 1: Every every mile an hour range that I want, so
Speaker 1: I can kind of, you know, mess with timing a
Speaker 1: little better.
Speaker 2: Is that Connor McGinnis that is teaching you the slightly sweepy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he came up with it.
Speaker 1: He's the he's the guru, the mind behind everything of
Speaker 1: like pitch design, and one day he was like, he
Speaker 1: was like, here, just try this.
Speaker 3: I know you don't like this kind of grip, and
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't love spiking any because my I pushed so
Speaker 1: hard into the ball it just it ends up like
Speaker 1: hurting my finger. But we've found a spot where it
Speaker 1: doesn't hurt and I can throw the crap out of
Speaker 1: it and it works, So I'm gonna keep throwing.
Speaker 2: It, I would say, so. Eric Lawer undefeated with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers are nine to zero when Eric Lower starts,
Speaker 2: and I love how you remind everybody from Dave Roberts
Speaker 2: to Mark Pryor to all of us that the Dodgers
Speaker 2: have not lost even with an opener. When Eric Lower pitches.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a it's a good feeling.
Speaker 3: It's nice knowing that, you know, when I.
Speaker 1: Go out there, when anybody goes out.
Speaker 3: There, really we always have a chance to win.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a testament to our offense, to
Speaker 1: our defense, to our pitching.
Speaker 3: It's just it gives you that much more.
Speaker 1: Comfortability when you get out on that mound to know
Speaker 1: that you know, our guys are gonna score, they're gonna
Speaker 1: put up runs, they're gonna play a great defense, and
Speaker 1: all I have to do is execute pitches. And if
Speaker 1: somebody does put the ball in play, it's eight out
Speaker 1: of ten times going to be an out. So it's
Speaker 1: a really freeing feeling when you're out on that mountain
Speaker 1: knowing like I can, I can do what I have
Speaker 1: to do and not worry about what's going on behind
Speaker 1: me because I know they got it.
Speaker 2: That's the voice of the well groomed Eric Lauer, who's
Speaker 2: nine to oh are the Dodgers there?
Speaker 3: Nine and oh?
Speaker 2: When he pitches, I will say this, you probably don't
Speaker 2: even know what I do, right, You have no idea
Speaker 2: what I do.
Speaker 3: I know you talking to a microphone.
Speaker 2: Exactly, but I host the postgame show and take calls
Speaker 2: from fans. Yeah, big revelation, right, you told me something
Speaker 2: about yourself. I'm telling you what I do. And fans,
Speaker 2: Dodger fans in this short period of time, have expressed
Speaker 2: to me the emotional attachment they have to Eric Lawer
Speaker 2: and don't want you to go anywhere.
Speaker 3: I don't want to go anywhere.
Speaker 2: I know, I know. But what you said after the
Speaker 2: game last night, not a lot of guys would admit
Speaker 2: just how what front the Dodgers were with them. Where
Speaker 2: are you at today as we get closer to Monday,
Speaker 2: How are you handling all that?
Speaker 1: I'm trying to stay off social media as much as possible,
Speaker 1: because I know my wife's on top of that and
Speaker 1: she's telling me everything that's being said and all the
Speaker 1: thoughts and predictions and whatnot out there.
Speaker 3: And I mean I knew coming in, like.
Speaker 1: I said, it was, I wasn't doing great to begin
Speaker 1: the year, and I wasn't in a great spot when
Speaker 1: I came over here. So I think if I wasn't
Speaker 1: able to accept that, you know, this might be the situation,
Speaker 1: they might, you know, be testing me out see something
Speaker 1: that they think that they can help me with and
Speaker 1: they definitely have to just get me back to where
Speaker 1: I should be. And you know, my goal was to
Speaker 1: come in and you know, make the decision really hard
Speaker 1: for him, if that was their plan all along, it was,
Speaker 1: it was to make the decision really hard and being like,
Speaker 1: are we actually willing to give up this guy? And
Speaker 1: I think I've done a pretty decent job of that
Speaker 1: so far. And you know, I've I've gotten pretty close
Speaker 1: with the entire team, the staff, like everybody around here.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm more than more than hoping that I
Speaker 1: don't get traded.
Speaker 2: Yeah, same here. The radio guy likes you a lot too,
Speaker 2: So I hope in Chicago on Tuesday, you're still wearing
Speaker 2: Dodger blue. But obviously there's a lot of moving parts.
Speaker 2: And like I said, everybody has grown an emotional attachment
Speaker 2: to Eric Lawer. So thank you, and we'll see you. Uh,
Speaker 2: I'll see you tomorrow at least, right we'll be where
Speaker 2: our feet are.
Speaker 1: I think, so, I hope so at least, but you know,
Speaker 1: I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Hey, thanks a lot for the time, lour thank you
Speaker 2: for showering too, for this interview.