Speaker 1: Welcome into the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove Leak presented by
Speaker 1: df We are live at the bet MGM Sportsbook inside
Speaker 1: Tom's Watch Bar at the Bank. Still plenty of good
Speaker 1: seats if you want to come down, enjoy a little dinner,
Speaker 1: have a cocktail, and you can even wager on some
Speaker 1: of the sports. They've got hundreds of TVs. It feels like, yes,
Speaker 1: they've got a lot. We've got a packed show today
Speaker 1: along with jim Day, I am Tommy Throw. It's great
Speaker 1: to be with you. Let's warm up the stove with
Speaker 1: some snow on the ground outside. We will be visiting
Speaker 1: with Spencer Steer a little bit later on. We also
Speaker 1: have rhtt Louder on the show today. We would usually
Speaker 1: start off the show with some news of what's been
Speaker 1: going on, but there's not a whole lot that's been
Speaker 1: going on. Just rumors starting to heat up on where
Speaker 1: Kyle Schwarber could end up landing, but of course you
Speaker 1: can read those all over the internet. If we have time,
Speaker 1: we may talk about what the Reds could be looking
Speaker 1: to do at the winter meetings. Those are right on
Speaker 1: the horizon, But Jimmy right now, not a whole lot
Speaker 1: going on in the world of baseball.
Speaker 2: Not a whole lot of Reds news. But after the show,
Speaker 2: since we're across the street from the stadium, how would
Speaker 2: you like to go have a catch?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good weather for that. Yeah, with snowballs. Sure, yeah,
Speaker 1: we could fire some of those around. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how tough you are?
Speaker 1: Well, not that tough, you know. I can endure some pain.
Speaker 1: Not cold. Not cold. I don't like the cold even
Speaker 1: a little bit.
Speaker 3: I'm ready for some baseball weather. Let's get on with it.
Speaker 1: Let's do it. Well, let's warm up with some talk
Speaker 1: of baseball. One guy that has been spending his fall
Speaker 1: where it's warm. That would be Rhet Louder. Missed the
Speaker 1: whole season Reds pitcher Rhet Louder after a great rookie
Speaker 1: season with Sideline this year with an injury, but made
Speaker 1: it back in time to pitch a little bit in
Speaker 1: the Fall League. HTT, thanks so much for joining us
Speaker 1: today on the Hot Stove League. How are you doing
Speaker 1: and how you feeling right now? Well, he thought Rhett
Speaker 1: was there maybe rhtt Nope, there he is, Hello, Rhetty,
Speaker 1: Hey there he is there. There we go. Nothing like
Speaker 1: some technical difficulties to start off the show. How you doing, man,
Speaker 1: how's your how's your winner?
Speaker 4: It's filling good, can't complain. Good to be back at
Speaker 4: home for a little bit, but kind of still on
Speaker 4: the ground getting ready for next year.
Speaker 1: Well you you obviously missed the whole season, but you
Speaker 1: made it back, pitched a little bit in in the
Speaker 1: Fall League. Uh, how did how did that go? And
Speaker 1: did you feel like you were you were pretty much
Speaker 1: one hundred percent or are you're still trying to knock
Speaker 1: off some of the rust.
Speaker 4: No, it's definitely good to get back in just that
Speaker 4: game atmosphere and starting to compete a little bit. You know,
Speaker 4: it's been a while. I mean it was a full
Speaker 4: year since my pretty much a full year to the
Speaker 4: calendar day until I've been I mean I had a
Speaker 4: couple of rehab starts here and there, but getting deep
Speaker 4: into games and getting the pitch count up. It's been
Speaker 4: the first time in a while, so you know, I
Speaker 4: felt good, body felt good, and I think by the
Speaker 4: time I left and was done, I was in a
Speaker 4: good spot to where I felt confident where my body
Speaker 4: was at, and then I was ready to compete next year.
Speaker 2: Oblique type injuries are some of the hardest to get over,
Speaker 2: and you can't rush them. I've been around a lot
Speaker 2: of guys that have had the injury, and after you
Speaker 2: sustained it, it looked like it even affected you walking,
Speaker 2: which was kind of weird. They listed this as one
Speaker 2: of the more severe ones. What was it like when
Speaker 2: it initially happened.
Speaker 4: Yeah, at first, I would probably say two weeks after
Speaker 4: it was it was pretty tough. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: it was definitely the second the way I was walking
Speaker 4: and kind of just felt pretty stuck in one spot.
Speaker 4: You know, how to move pretty slow, and it took
Speaker 4: it took a while, but you know, once I got
Speaker 4: out the Arizona and it's kind of starting to be
Speaker 4: able to move a little bit, we got we got
Speaker 4: to work pretty hard, but yeah, you kind of have
Speaker 4: to let it run its course and just be patient.
Speaker 1: Now, when this thing first popped up, if I remember, right, uh,
Speaker 1: you kind of felt it for a while before it
Speaker 1: got bad. Did you have any idea this thing was
Speaker 1: going to all into the severity to where it would
Speaker 1: cause you to miss the entire season?
Speaker 4: Definitely not. Yeah, I mean there was a couple signs prior,
Speaker 4: but it was just weird things that I didn't really
Speaker 4: connect like in some of my reab starts. I would
Speaker 4: just after I would just get really sore my back,
Speaker 4: not even in the oblique area, and just the back
Speaker 4: would get really tight, and you know, once I stretched
Speaker 4: out pretty good, it just took me a while to
Speaker 4: get loose. I was fine, but I kept just finding
Speaker 4: myself just getting really sore back there pretty much stay
Speaker 4: in and day out, and it was a little off,
Speaker 4: but never a concern. I was always able to get
Speaker 4: out and pitch, and then it kind of just eventually
Speaker 4: went that one that one day in Louivio.
Speaker 2: Would you say that all that is behind you in
Speaker 2: your one right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah, No, I feel I'm lucky to be at a
Speaker 4: point right now where the oblique is not really even
Speaker 4: in in my head when I'm going out there and
Speaker 4: throwing and doing what I need to do. So that's
Speaker 4: a pretty encouraging feeling, and I feel pretty normal and
Speaker 4: I have no complaints.
Speaker 1: I always think that one of the biggest obstacles getting
Speaker 1: over an injury is kind of what you talked about
Speaker 1: right there, the mental side of it and being able
Speaker 1: to trust it. If nothing else did your your rehab
Speaker 1: outings in the minor leagues and even your your starts
Speaker 1: in the fall league kind of allow you to put
Speaker 1: that completely to rest, to where you don't even have
Speaker 1: to think about it now moving forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I mean I had a rehab start at
Speaker 4: the back end in Louisville, and you know, that was
Speaker 4: a good initial test to kind of see where I
Speaker 4: was at and it felt good. And then I had
Speaker 4: a couple outings and instructs prepping for theirs on a
Speaker 4: fall league, and you know, once I kind of got
Speaker 4: through those, I was like, all right, I can trust
Speaker 4: this thing and get after it. Just going into the
Speaker 4: fall league, just trying to get back into that compete
Speaker 4: mode some of those valuable reps I missed throughout the year,
Speaker 4: So just getting into different situations was kind of all
Speaker 4: I cared about. Carried about there and just knowing that
Speaker 4: my body was gonna hold up.
Speaker 2: You were able to compete physically, But did you do
Speaker 2: any learning by observing? Even being around your guy Chase Burns,
Speaker 2: who was in the learning process and I you you
Speaker 2: guys were in spring training together a lot. What do
Speaker 2: you think you've learned over this process?
Speaker 4: I mean, I've learned a ton from just watching the
Speaker 4: guy's play still and trying to take notes on just
Speaker 4: the game and also just about my body and how
Speaker 4: to take care of it.
Speaker 1: So it's good.
Speaker 4: I said it multiple times with different people that you
Speaker 4: never want to get hurt, but getting hurt earlier in
Speaker 4: my career like this, it kind of taught me a
Speaker 4: good routine that I'm going to carry on throughout the
Speaker 4: rest of my career. So there's definitely some positive things
Speaker 4: to take away from this. And yeah, definitely watching Chase.
Speaker 4: I mean, it was fun to watch him this year
Speaker 4: and and it was awesome to see him evolve into
Speaker 4: a couple of different roles and really just do whatever
Speaker 4: the team needed to and that's awesome. So it was
Speaker 4: fun to watch him and forward to getting back working
Speaker 4: with them.
Speaker 1: You obviously ramped up late in the year and going
Speaker 1: in it is like we've talked about the Fall League,
Speaker 1: but now it's the off season, so you're fully healthy.
Speaker 1: Now do you treat it like a normal off season
Speaker 1: or because you didn't pitch much last year, you maybe
Speaker 1: do a little bit more throwing than normal. How do
Speaker 1: you how do you treat this off season and especially
Speaker 1: now that you're fully healthy, how do you approach it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I'm just trying to get as ready
Speaker 4: as I can for spring training. I'm gonna get out
Speaker 4: to Arizona, maybe a couple of weeks before before pitcher
Speaker 4: and catcher report date, just to get hands on with
Speaker 4: some of our staff and just get ready. But I
Speaker 4: would say it's pretty normal that there's just a lot
Speaker 4: of stuff that I learned throughout the year that I'm
Speaker 4: bringing into this off season that has kind of helped
Speaker 4: me out a lot. So, I mean it looks a
Speaker 4: little bit different than all seasons in the past. I've
Speaker 4: got a lot more work to do, but you know,
Speaker 4: I'm still my main goal is to prep and be
Speaker 4: as ready as I can for when spring training comes.
Speaker 2: Where are you with refining your repertoire And for those
Speaker 2: that don't know, if you can just tell them that
Speaker 2: the pitches that you throw and what do you think
Speaker 2: you need to do to improve each?
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I throw two different fastballs out there, a
Speaker 4: sinker forcing also change up and slider. So I mean
Speaker 4: the shapes and everything felt normal, if not better in
Speaker 4: the Fall League than what I previously had. So below
Speaker 4: ticked up just the hair on the average, nothing crazy,
Speaker 4: but just happy with where I was at, So I
Speaker 4: think the main thing that I need is just getting
Speaker 4: back to the pitch calling side is something I was
Speaker 4: like really in tune with at the back end of
Speaker 4: that would have been the twenty four season. So that's
Speaker 4: something I really missing that time, something I need reps
Speaker 4: back with, and I do it all the time in
Speaker 4: my head, just watching games back, trying to see what
Speaker 4: I would throw here, what I would throw here, and
Speaker 4: then you know, just getting creative with different placements. You know,
Speaker 4: there's some pitches that I have to throw the area
Speaker 4: if you don't see it. Ton of pitches okay, like
Speaker 4: the back door breaking ball and the back foot breaking
Speaker 4: ball are the front hip sinker to a lefty. There's
Speaker 4: just some ways I can get creative, and I just
Speaker 4: need to be able when those pitches are called. I
Speaker 4: need to be able to execute them at high rate.
Speaker 1: You made six starts during that twenty twenty four season,
Speaker 1: you only gave up four runs. You had a one
Speaker 1: point one seven ERA, and your rookie year, you strikeout
Speaker 1: to walk numbers were good. So when you look at
Speaker 1: what you did in that first season, you obviously had
Speaker 1: a lot of momentum. How do you build off that.
Speaker 1: And you know so often pitchers will talk about getting
Speaker 1: reaction from the hitters and getting feedback from the hitters. Well,
Speaker 1: the hitters didn't do a whole lot off of you.
Speaker 1: So so what were you able to learn from your
Speaker 1: little taste of the big leagues there in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four to move forward? And you know you talk about
Speaker 1: pitch shapes and location, but were you able to learn
Speaker 1: much from from what the hitters told you that first year?
Speaker 4: Oh? Definitely, ton it was. It was more so like
Speaker 4: obviously the hitters. My main goal with attacking hitters is
Speaker 4: just to get him off the barrel. I get some
Speaker 4: swinging mess but that's not what I rely on. I'm
Speaker 4: trying to get the guy out as fast as possible,
Speaker 4: get him out of the box as quick as possible,
Speaker 4: and and just the defense at the big league level,
Speaker 4: and some of our guys play a special brand of defense,
Speaker 4: so it's just nice trust in those guys. And I'm
Speaker 4: really just trying to get the ball on the ground
Speaker 4: or off the barrel and week at some of our
Speaker 4: guys so we can get back in the dugout and
Speaker 4: try to score some runs. So I'm trying to be
Speaker 4: out in the fields as little amount of time as possible.
Speaker 2: Had you not been injured, I think you firmly would
Speaker 2: have been in the rotation this past year. Gonna be
Speaker 2: a little bit of competition now, it's it's a good
Speaker 2: problem to have. The starting pitching staff is the strength
Speaker 2: of this organization right now. How are you looking at
Speaker 2: going into some competition in spring training?
Speaker 4: Yeah, now, I think that's a good thing to have.
Speaker 4: Within the team, everybody's competing and pushing, pushing each other
Speaker 4: be better. But honestly, it's just I don't want to
Speaker 4: do anything I can't help the team, and just getting
Speaker 4: back on the field and competing and trying to be
Speaker 4: my best version whatever that may be. Wherever it is
Speaker 4: however I'm used, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just
Speaker 4: looking forward to being back in the clubhouse with the
Speaker 4: guys on the field, just trying to be my best
Speaker 4: version of myself. And I think we're just lucky to
Speaker 4: be in a spot where we have so many talented arms,
Speaker 4: especially in the in the rotation.
Speaker 1: You kind of talked about watching film and things like that.
Speaker 1: So for you, what is your process of trying to
Speaker 1: get better? I mean, is it is it spending a
Speaker 1: lot of time in the film room, or do you
Speaker 1: get more out of the actual bullpens that you throw
Speaker 1: flat work? What for you? What is your process to
Speaker 1: try to make those incremental improvements.
Speaker 4: Yeah, everything's important. How you do it all is kind
Speaker 4: of really important. You can't ease up in anyone area.
Speaker 4: It really depends on the time of the year too.
Speaker 4: So like obviously this time of the year, you're you're
Speaker 4: getting your body in shape and you're trying to build
Speaker 4: up those reps and bulletproof yourself. And yeah, you still
Speaker 4: break down some film and look at some stuff now,
Speaker 4: but obviously when you're in season, do you want to
Speaker 4: break down, You're gonna spend more time on the iPad
Speaker 4: looking at film rather than in the in the weight
Speaker 4: room trying to add as much strength as you can.
Speaker 4: But you know, everything's important. I would say as you
Speaker 4: get deeper into the season, some of your bullpens kind
Speaker 4: of turn into fine tuning what you already have. I mean,
Speaker 4: it's some guys do it, but it's tough to go
Speaker 4: out there and just invent a new pitch and and
Speaker 4: throw it in in the middle of a in the
Speaker 4: middle of the season. But I mean, guys do it.
Speaker 4: It's not impossible. I'm just you know, just your focus
Speaker 4: is a little bit different. So I would say it's
Speaker 4: all important and and you can't. There's time and place
Speaker 4: for all, but you just have to be intentional whenever
Speaker 4: it's that time.
Speaker 1: Well, Ratt certainly appreciate the time. Glad to hear you're
Speaker 1: healthy and can't wait to see you back on the
Speaker 1: mound this spring. Yeah, thank you, guys, All right, thanks.
Speaker 1: That is Rhet Louder joining us on the Budweiser reds
Speaker 1: Hot Stove lee big leg hair right there. Yeah, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we need to see that back on a big league
Speaker 1: count yep, big league hair.
Speaker 2: But I love watching him pitch and I love how
Speaker 2: he said, I want to get guys out as quickly
Speaker 2: as I can and rely on the defense and not
Speaker 2: rely on the swing and miss. You need swing a
Speaker 2: miss at times, obviously in situations.
Speaker 3: But I love that answer.
Speaker 1: I like the way he goes about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that love watching him. Right when
Speaker 1: he got to the big leagues, you knew that he
Speaker 1: was different, and it's because of that you induce weak
Speaker 1: contact when you get guys out early in the count.
Speaker 3: Go deeper in the game through less Bitch.
Speaker 1: Absolutely hellajah, Oh my goodness. Can't wait to see him
Speaker 1: back on the mound. He was sorely missed last year,
Speaker 1: so that is rhet louder. We've got more to come
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Budweiser reds Hot Stove Lee
Speaker 1: Gold Glove finalists Spencer Steer will be joining us a
Speaker 1: little bit later on in the show. We continue next
Speaker 1: on the REDS Radio Network, having a great time as
Speaker 1: always on the Butterweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF.
Speaker 1: We are live at the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's
Speaker 1: Watch Bar at the Banks. Gapper is here hanging out
Speaker 1: with all his friends and you can be too. Come
Speaker 1: on down and join us. Join the REDS Community Fund
Speaker 1: for the annual twenty twenty six Prestige av and Creative
Speaker 1: Services Rick Steiner Memorial Poker Tournament presented by bet MGM
Speaker 1: on Saturday, That's January the seventeenth. Play for your chance
Speaker 1: at a guarantee ten thousand dollars first place prize and
Speaker 1: other cash prizes as well. Registrations are open now at
Speaker 1: reds dot com slash Poker. I'm hoping Jimmy that my
Speaker 1: voice hangs on for the rest of the show. It's struggling, but.
Speaker 2: Sure you're not the only one of these parts that
Speaker 2: are struggling right now.
Speaker 1: No, probably not.
Speaker 2: I mean, we'd like to complain about Winner a lot,
Speaker 2: you know, because we're just a complaining society. However, this
Speaker 2: is a little early, don't you think, for the snow. Yeah,
Speaker 2: for the cold, it's set a record, so yeah, i'd
Speaker 2: say it's atally yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Little early. Wasn't quite ready for it. Although I will
Speaker 1: say this, if it's going to be cold, it may
Speaker 1: as well snow because I don't mind the snow. I
Speaker 1: don't like the cold. So if it's going to be cold,
Speaker 1: bring on the snow. We got it, so uh. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it was great talking with Red Louder and one of
Speaker 1: the things that we talked about when we had him
Speaker 1: on was the crowded rotation and the fact that there
Speaker 1: is as things sit right now unless there's unless something
Speaker 1: changes between now in March, I guess February there's going
Speaker 1: to be a battle for the rotation. Now, there's obviously
Speaker 1: some openings in the bullpen. But but Jim, I don't
Speaker 1: know that I necessarily see any of these rotation options
Speaker 1: moving to the bullpen right now.
Speaker 2: Well, you've got to have some depth, and unfortunately someone's
Speaker 2: always the odd.
Speaker 3: Man out and goes to triple A. Those that have.
Speaker 2: Options that you can do so, so it's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 2: I mean, as we sit here now, it's it's Hunter Green,
Speaker 2: it's Andrew Rabbit, it's Lodolo, it's Chase Burns most likely,
Speaker 2: although we saw him in the bullpen a little bit,
Speaker 2: that could be an option. I don't know I would
Speaker 2: keep him as a starter. You have Brady Singer who
Speaker 2: eats inting. So as we sit here now with no
Speaker 2: moves being made or one of those guys being traded away,
Speaker 2: where does a guy like Rhet Louder fit? Are you
Speaker 2: gonna have open competition? Is it gonna be between louder
Speaker 2: and Chase Burns? Would you flirt with one of those
Speaker 2: guys in the bullpen? Who's gonna be your Triple A depth?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 2: The good news is are gonna get some guys back
Speaker 2: from injury that could serve as as depth. Brandon Williamson,
Speaker 2: we talked about him a little bit last week before
Speaker 2: he got injured. He was really showing signs what's he
Speaker 2: gonna do coming back from major injury unknown. Aggie Aar
Speaker 2: is coming back who served as some depth. They re
Speaker 2: signed Carson Spires to a minor league deal. He's been
Speaker 2: a depth guy. So it's gonna be very very interesting.
Speaker 2: And along the Chase Petty could be in that mix
Speaker 2: as well. He's obviously got some He's gonna need to
Speaker 2: make some strides to be in that mix.
Speaker 3: So we'll see.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be very very interesting. It should be a
Speaker 2: strength of the team once again. And the old adage,
Speaker 2: it starts with starting pitching, and it's good place to start.
Speaker 1: They got a good group. We've heard Tito say it before.
Speaker 1: When you think you have too much starting pitching, go
Speaker 1: ahead and go out and get some more. The thing
Speaker 1: about when when you talk about some of those guys
Speaker 1: and see I think Aggieyar is one of those candidates
Speaker 1: that would be a perfect Nick Martinez type of guy.
Speaker 1: He can start when you need him to, but you
Speaker 1: can also move into the bullpen and he'd probably be
Speaker 1: a pretty good option of the bullpen. With regards to
Speaker 1: the Chase Burns, he proved last year that he needs
Speaker 1: to still learn another pitch. Yeah, he's got some progress
Speaker 1: to make now. Look, he's got an electric arm. But
Speaker 1: I think you kind of use that maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit as an incentive for him to try to push
Speaker 1: him to get to a point where he's got another
Speaker 1: pitch and another weapon to make him a quality starter.
Speaker 1: If he doesn't show you that he's got that in
Speaker 1: spring training, maybe that does open the door for a.
Speaker 2: Guy like he's got no hitter type stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh he's got.
Speaker 2: So it's you know, you kind of just let that grow.
Speaker 1: So we're back with Spencer Steer when the Butdweiser reds
Speaker 1: Hot Stove League presented by u DF Live from the
Speaker 1: bed MGM Sports Book inside Tom's Watch Bar at the
Speaker 1: Banks continues next on the REDS Radio Network. Welcome back
Speaker 1: in with the Budweiser Red Hot Stove League presented by
Speaker 1: u d F. We are well, we're rocking. We are
Speaker 1: live at the bed MGM Sports Book inside Tom's Watch
Speaker 1: Bar at the Banks with Jim Day. I'm Tommy throw
Speaker 1: Out Producer Engineer David at the Arm Bruce and Joe
Speaker 1: Waddell is running the dials back in our network headquarters.
Speaker 1: Thanks to those guys for their hard work, We've got
Speaker 1: another great guest for it talking Reds Baseball for the
Speaker 1: next half hour. And this guy a first base Gold
Speaker 1: Glove finalist this year, Spencer Steer, one of the leaders
Speaker 1: of this team. Spence, thanks so much for taking some
Speaker 1: time out of your winter to join us. Are you
Speaker 1: hanging out in Denver? I bet you got a little
Speaker 1: snow on the ground out that way. How are you doing?
Speaker 5: Hey, come on, guys, thanks for having me on. And yeah,
Speaker 5: finally got some snow. It's actually been a very mild
Speaker 5: winter so far, so I've been getting a lot of
Speaker 5: golfer thankfully.
Speaker 1: Wow golf, how about that. That's impressive. Well, not a
Speaker 1: lot of golf to be had here, Spencer. I know.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to you when you first started playing
Speaker 1: first base, and one of the things you told me
Speaker 1: I asked, I said, do you think you'll ever get
Speaker 1: used to first base? And you go, I don't think
Speaker 1: I'll ever get used to this? And the glove was
Speaker 1: a big factor. Did you ever dream that when you
Speaker 1: first put on a first baseman's mid that you would
Speaker 1: be in the conversation for a gold Glove over there?
Speaker 5: Yeah? Yeah, kind of crazy to here in that light,
Speaker 5: but yeah, it's just it was always a little bit
Speaker 5: of a just a funky position for me, just never
Speaker 5: really getting a whole lot of time over there consistently.
Speaker 5: My first couple of years was always kind of here
Speaker 5: and there. So I think last year just getting the
Speaker 5: consistent reps, you know, pregame knowing I'm gonna play there,
Speaker 5: getting my my prep work in every day at VP,
Speaker 5: and I really gotta, you know, pay a lot of
Speaker 5: that to nap And and Freddy. They did a great
Speaker 5: job with me, helping me get comfortable over there and
Speaker 5: really helping me improve as the year went on.
Speaker 2: When did you feel comfortable? Was there a moment where
Speaker 2: you just said, pretty.
Speaker 3: Good over here.
Speaker 5: I think it's kind of gradually came about, like I said,
Speaker 5: like just getting the everyday reps over there, Like the
Speaker 5: first two years, just kind of bouncing around from position
Speaker 5: to position.
Speaker 4: It's it's tough to get.
Speaker 5: Really like dialed in with your reads and your first steps,
Speaker 5: especially at the first base position. Those balls in the
Speaker 5: three four hole where you know, you take one step
Speaker 5: to your right and you end up going back to
Speaker 5: the bag, and then it gets a little it gets
Speaker 5: a little hairy getting close with the play. So little
Speaker 5: things like that really helped me when I was playing
Speaker 5: every day, just just sharpening up those reads.
Speaker 1: Do you think the fact that you weren't real comfortable
Speaker 1: over there almost made it incentivized, did a little bit
Speaker 1: more for you to do the work and put in
Speaker 1: the work to get better over there. But nobody likes
Speaker 1: to do something that they're not comfortable with, So you know,
Speaker 1: when you're gonna be over there pretty regularly, you may
Speaker 1: as well do everything in your power to get comfortable
Speaker 1: to that. Did that almost help you in a way?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it really just started in spring training.
Speaker 5: You know, when I came to spring training, my shoulder
Speaker 5: was still banged up and I wasn't throwing. I just
Speaker 5: kind of went to first base and took ground balls
Speaker 5: there because I could, you know, take a ground ball
Speaker 5: and flip it to first. So I think it really
Speaker 5: just started in spring training, getting a lot of reps
Speaker 5: over there, and then, like you said, like, knowing I'm
Speaker 5: gonna play there, got to figure out a way to
Speaker 5: to to be good and help the team out. Because
Speaker 5: I think I've said this a lot before, Like I
Speaker 5: think a lot of pride and helping on both sides
Speaker 5: of the ball. So if you're not producing offensively, you
Speaker 5: can make a difference on defense and vice versas. So
Speaker 5: they really just started in spring training with with those
Speaker 5: extra reps.
Speaker 2: Beyond the adjustment to the first basement's glob, what was
Speaker 2: the hardest part of becoming good over there? Because you know,
Speaker 2: people say, oh, just throw that gud first base it's
Speaker 2: the easiest position on field. There's no easy position at
Speaker 2: the big league level. What was the hardest part with you?
Speaker 2: Was it footwork or or was it something else?
Speaker 5: I think, I mean one of the I guess the
Speaker 5: hardest part that I ever really thought about when it
Speaker 5: comes to first base was was you know, your footwork
Speaker 5: when when getting ready to catch a throw from you know, shortstop,
Speaker 5: third base, second base, whatever it is, and really just
Speaker 5: pushing the envelope on on how far I can get
Speaker 5: off that bag, uh and still get to first and cover.
Speaker 5: So it was really just kind of testing my limits, honestly,
Speaker 5: on how far I can play over in that four hole?
Speaker 5: How many hits can I take away in that four
Speaker 5: hole when you know Maddie whoever or whoever's playing second
Speaker 5: base is shifted up the middle. So I think just
Speaker 5: finding that limit of of how far I can get
Speaker 5: off that bag and uh, you know, still making it
Speaker 5: back to first and covering for a throw.
Speaker 1: You know, I I I think sometimes uh, you're always
Speaker 1: comfortable with what you're familiar with, and maybe you don't
Speaker 1: necessarily want to go to a different position because it
Speaker 1: it is different, it's uncomfortable. But I've heard of guys
Speaker 1: that that did that and they switched positions, they went
Speaker 1: to a new spot, and then they ended up loving
Speaker 1: that and didn't want to go back to maybe an
Speaker 1: old spot. For you, I know you still like moving
Speaker 1: around a little bit and you like other positions, But
Speaker 1: did you kind of start to fall in love with
Speaker 1: with first base? Did you did you start to feel
Speaker 1: that a little bit?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I just kind of gotten a rhythm
Speaker 5: over there, and and I really took pride in and helping,
Speaker 5: you know, infillers out. I know I'm not the you know,
Speaker 5: I could have done better scooping the ball, and you
Speaker 5: know that's that's probably the one place I can see
Speaker 5: the best or most improvement. But just kind of helping
Speaker 5: guys out when when they make a poor throw and
Speaker 5: picking them up and yeah, just just taking hits away
Speaker 5: from guys. You know that that's that's a fun part
Speaker 5: of the game. So definitely, definitely really a position that
Speaker 5: I didn't necessarily love at first and and really grew
Speaker 5: to love as the season went on.
Speaker 2: First base is a unique position in that you get
Speaker 2: a lot of interaction with the dudes from the other
Speaker 2: team on first base. There's been many, many stories over
Speaker 2: the years. Anything unusual that you might have said to someone,
Speaker 2: or more importantly, any weird things said to you, anything
Speaker 2: you'd like to share in that regard thing happened unusual.
Speaker 5: That's a good question. So yeah, I mean, yeah, I
Speaker 5: mean there's plenty of conversation that goes on over there.
Speaker 5: Some of it is, you know, just hey, what's going on?
Speaker 5: And yeah, some other stuff could be weird, you know,
Speaker 5: some weird stuff. If you said, over there, baseball a
Speaker 5: tough game mentally here a.
Speaker 3: Lot of.
Speaker 5: I mean, uh, I got some things in mind that
Speaker 5: don't really feel comfortab Will Sherry on this particular show.
Speaker 5: But uh yeah, you know, you get to know guys
Speaker 5: a little more over there than you would and you know,
Speaker 5: left field.
Speaker 1: All right, how about this, it was there you deal
Speaker 1: with some good hitters over there. Good hitters tend to
Speaker 1: get on base quite a bit. You go through ups
Speaker 1: and downs as a hitter, you've got a chance to
Speaker 1: pick some guys brains on the other team. Did you
Speaker 1: Did you ever pick any hints up or or tips
Speaker 1: from guys at first base to kind of help you
Speaker 1: through a slump?
Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, yeah, yes, And no, there's there's not
Speaker 5: really a story. I guess the story that sticks out
Speaker 5: to me was an Anaheim. I think Trout had a
Speaker 5: hit or a walk something like that, and you know,
Speaker 5: a pitching change happens, and he was just talking to
Speaker 5: me about how crazy the game's gotten and how guys
Speaker 5: he's never heard of are coming in the game throwing
Speaker 5: one hundred and every guy he sees out of both
Speaker 5: and stilling one hundred. And I just that was kind
Speaker 5: of something that stuck out to me because that's a
Speaker 5: guy I grew up watching who's dominated the game of
Speaker 5: baseball the last decade, and he's out here telling me
Speaker 5: how hard the game's gotten. So that kind of opened
Speaker 5: my eyes a little bit.
Speaker 2: Hey, for the record, I'm sure you hear some unusual
Speaker 2: things from the opposing team, but probably not as much
Speaker 2: grief or unusual things you hear from when mcclean's playing
Speaker 2: second base, because you guys are chirping the entire time.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we like that fun over there. We like to
Speaker 5: have a good time, and we spend a lot of
Speaker 5: time together on that side of the diamond this year,
Speaker 5: so yeah, we like to keep it light. He for
Speaker 5: sure likes to keep it light. So we have a
Speaker 5: good time over there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, more things we can't talk about on this show.
Speaker 1: I assume that's a lot of trash down right, Like,
Speaker 1: oh my.
Speaker 2: Gosh, I hear it from the dugout, so you believable.
Speaker 1: So if he kicks one or you kick one, are
Speaker 1: you giving each other a hard time about it? Are
Speaker 1: you letting them know?
Speaker 5: I think it really depends on the situation of the game.
Speaker 5: But if it's a tight game and that one kind
Speaker 5: of hurts, I might I might wait a little bit
Speaker 5: till the next day or maybe the next inning, but
Speaker 5: ut possibly I'll let them know right away.
Speaker 1: That's good, all right? Cool h We've got more to
Speaker 1: talk to you. You got time to stick around through
Speaker 1: a break?
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, no problem.
Speaker 1: All right, Well we'll talk a little hitting when we
Speaker 1: come back. We've got more with Spencer Steer when we return.
Speaker 1: It's the Budweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by u
Speaker 1: d F Live with the bet MGM Sports Book inside
Speaker 1: Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks on the Reds Radio Network.
Speaker 1: It's the Butdweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF
Speaker 1: or Live the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar
Speaker 1: at the Banks. Visiting with Spencer Steer Gold Glove finalists
Speaker 1: this year over at first base and kind enough to
Speaker 1: stick around with us fornother segment. Spencer, we talked about
Speaker 1: the time you spent at first base, what a great
Speaker 1: job you did over there. You've also done a nice
Speaker 1: job when you've played third, You've done a good job
Speaker 1: out in left field. It sounds like this year you
Speaker 1: could be moving around a little bit again. How does
Speaker 1: that affect your preparation this offseason going into spring training
Speaker 1: or or does it affect your your preparation at all?
Speaker 5: No, I think I think it more affects like the
Speaker 5: preparation on a daily basis. When we're talking about where
Speaker 5: I'm doing my pregame work, whether I'm taking fly balls,
Speaker 5: you know where I'm taking my ground balls. So in
Speaker 5: terms of the offseason, doesn't doesn't change much on the
Speaker 5: preparation side.
Speaker 2: You guys went from the euphoria of popping Champagne getting
Speaker 2: into the playoffs, and then it was a quick exit.
Speaker 2: I mean, the Dodgers are obviously a great, great team.
Speaker 2: Now that the dust has settled, What do you take
Speaker 2: from that experience and what's going to be the mindset
Speaker 2: if you could speak for the group going.
Speaker 4: In, Yeah, I think the big thing I took away is.
Speaker 5: One the feeling of popping Champagne was like, uh, doing
Speaker 5: it with a group that you've spent every day with
Speaker 5: for the past eight months. So that was that was
Speaker 5: a pretty awesome experience. Uh, incredible feeling. So just having
Speaker 5: that feeling alone and and and wanted to chase that
Speaker 5: uh you know, feels me at least uh pretty heavily
Speaker 5: throughout the off season and obviously getting.
Speaker 4: A little taste of playoff baseball.
Speaker 5: That was that was a great experience, but like you said,
Speaker 5: it was a quick two games and didn't really stand
Speaker 5: much of a chance. So I think just going to
Speaker 5: the off season and knowing that there's still a lot
Speaker 5: of work to do to get back to that spot
Speaker 5: and then hopefully make a deeper run than that. So
Speaker 5: I think Uh, we're all fired up and and and
Speaker 5: ready to get this thing rolling. Obvious see in a
Speaker 5: couple of months. But like I said, a lot of
Speaker 5: work to do to make a deeper run.
Speaker 1: Talk about that work for you personally? I mean, I
Speaker 1: know that that your bat wasn't where you you wanted
Speaker 1: it to be last year. How do you how do
Speaker 1: you get that to a level that you're happy with
Speaker 1: moving into twenty twenty six?
Speaker 5: I think, Uh, I think one, it starts with health,
Speaker 5: you know, I think getting my body in a in
Speaker 5: a better spot going into the season, and and and
Speaker 5: making it more bulletproof for for one hundred and sixty
Speaker 5: two games is probably a number one on the priority list.
Speaker 5: And and then just continue to refine the swing and
Speaker 5: uh make it more efficient and make it more repeatable,
Speaker 5: and then uh kind of go from there. I think, Uh,
Speaker 5: obviously getting off to a good start helps, and that's
Speaker 5: something I'm I'm hoping to do this year.
Speaker 2: How would you describe playing for Terry RANCONA.
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 5: He's Ah, He's just an incredible leader. I think, Uh,
Speaker 5: just looking back to last offseason around this time, you know,
Speaker 5: the first couple of conversations I've had with him. Uh,
Speaker 5: he's just he's genuine. He uh. He cares a lot
Speaker 5: about about you as a person, and and and he
Speaker 5: makes the he makes his messages simple. He expects a
Speaker 5: lot out of you. But what he expects is things
Speaker 5: that you can control as as as a player, and
Speaker 5: that's playing the game the right way, uh, and playing
Speaker 5: the game hard. And I think, uh, like I said,
Speaker 5: he keeps that message really simple, but it's it's a
Speaker 5: it's a really impactful message. And and the kind of
Speaker 5: guy that commands the room. And when he starts talking
Speaker 5: to everyone stops what they're doing and they listen.
Speaker 1: Well, Spencer, start appreciate the time. Before we let you go,
Speaker 1: I want to I want to revisit the conversation you're
Speaker 1: talking about briefly before the break. I wrote in here
Speaker 1: something that that I thought I was gonna ask before,
Speaker 1: and I didn't ask it yet. So I gotta know.
Speaker 1: Who's somebody that you met at first base that you
Speaker 1: had a chance to talk to that was so fascinating.
Speaker 1: You're like that dude would make an awesome teammate that
Speaker 1: that you'd want to play with in the future.
Speaker 5: Oh man, that's a that's a good question.
Speaker 3: I think Oh.
Speaker 4: God, that's a tough one.
Speaker 1: There's a there's a.
Speaker 5: Lot of guys. Uh. It's like funny when you play
Speaker 5: first base.
Speaker 3: And you.
Speaker 5: When you play first base and then a guy also
Speaker 5: plays first base every day, you see him a lot. Right,
Speaker 5: That's what it seems like, right, Like if you're getting
Speaker 5: on base, there, get them on base. You're just constantly like, say,
Speaker 5: it's up to each other. I've always really liked, uh
Speaker 5: talk with Michael but from the from the Cubs, I
Speaker 5: played against him a toon when he was with the Dodgers, uh,
Speaker 5: coming up with the Twins, So in the minor leaguees
Speaker 5: played against him a ton. Anyways, I think he's he's
Speaker 5: an awesome dude. I think he's an incredible hitter. So
Speaker 5: I I think I think i'd go with him.
Speaker 1: Okay, does Freddy Freeman say much?
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's he's kind of I feel like he has
Speaker 5: that kind of reputation of being a guy that a
Speaker 5: lot of people have good conversations with. And yeah, every
Speaker 5: time I've been at first base, I wouldn't say we're,
Speaker 5: you know, doing philosophical talks about space or life or
Speaker 5: anything like that. But he's always been great to me.
Speaker 5: So Yeah, he's he's he's another girl.
Speaker 1: Test on how to hit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's actually a lot of first base out there
Speaker 5: that you'd probably get some tips from, so no doubt.
Speaker 1: Well, Spencer certainly appreciate the time. I'm sure we'll again
Speaker 1: throughout the offseason. But thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: Great to chat and catch up. Hey, can you do
Speaker 1: me a favor. I'm sure you'll see him around the holidays,
Speaker 1: But cheers your grandma and grandpa and your mom and
Speaker 1: dad for me.
Speaker 5: I will appreciate it. Guys, Thank you, see.
Speaker 1: Spence, thank you Spencer Steer joining us on the Budweiser
Speaker 1: Red Hot Stove. He always a treat to chat with him,
Speaker 1: and you know he talked about it. The body is
Speaker 1: going to be a key for him.
Speaker 3: His first how many have bats?
Speaker 2: I mean a month the season that he was he
Speaker 2: just hu months took I mean he basically took one
Speaker 2: for the team. He did because he had no business
Speaker 2: playing every day, but they needed him to.
Speaker 1: And he's a gamer. He's a gamer. He's going to
Speaker 1: answer the bell. We'll wrap things up coming up shortly,
Speaker 1: but before we go to break, we do have some sad,
Speaker 1: somber news to pass along our dear friend for a
Speaker 1: long long time, the stage manager in the Red Home
Speaker 1: television booth, Jesse Jackson, passed away last week and our
Speaker 1: thoughts were with his family. He will be sorely missed
Speaker 1: throughout the court the season. And somebody, Jim, that I
Speaker 1: know you knew very well well, I.
Speaker 2: Can't believe we have to walk in the booth without Jesse.
Speaker 2: I I've been around here since two thousand and one.
Speaker 2: Constant staple was Jesse in that TV booth. And they
Speaker 2: say that the reflection of a good man or woman
Speaker 2: is the children that they have and they raise, and
Speaker 2: he's got a fine family. His children are just wonderful
Speaker 2: and wonderfully successful. He was so proud of his grandkids
Speaker 2: and just sorely missed his news. We found out last
Speaker 2: week was a tough show. I had found out just
Speaker 2: before airtime of last week's show. Didn't want to mention
Speaker 2: it because I'm not wasn't sure if it was public yet.
Speaker 2: But what a good man, what a good man, And
Speaker 2: he will be sorely, sorely missed. And not only for
Speaker 2: the Reds. He he was a sage manager for a
Speaker 2: lot of sports round Cincinnati and you could say behind
Speaker 2: the scenes of Cincinnati Icon.
Speaker 1: No doubt, God rest his soul. Jesse will be missed.
Speaker 1: We wrap up the show next on the Reds Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Welcome back in. It's the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove Lee
Speaker 1: coming to you as always from the bet MGM Sports
Speaker 1: Book inside Tom's watchbar down here at the Banks. Give
Speaker 1: the gift of Reds Baseball this holiday season with Red's
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Visit Reds dot com slash Holiday for details.
Speaker 1: We're out of time on this show. We'll be back
Speaker 1: at it again next to do today. Let's do it.
Speaker 2: Turn the lights on across the tree, Let's have a catch,
Speaker 2: come on, let's go.
Speaker 1: Sounds great, Let's do that. That's all for us, for
Speaker 1: Jim Day and for our producer engineer Dave dy Armbers.
Speaker 1: You're also thanks to our guest today Rhet Louder and
Speaker 1: Spencer Steer. Joe Waddell has been our studio producer today.
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy Throug. Good night. Talk to you again next Wednesday.