Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger
Speaker 1: Talker Big Day out here at Dodger Stadium. The two
Speaker 1: times two time Cy Young Award winner and World Series champion,
Speaker 1: a big part of the Dodgers October run last year
Speaker 1: is getting ready to come back for good in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six. That's the one and only Snells Zilla, Blake
Speaker 1: snell Man, how did you feel out there in that
Speaker 1: full uniform throwing the hitters like keithk Hernandez. I mean
Speaker 1: for a live BP, it was electric?
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I feel good.
Speaker 3: Definitely happy to be back, you know, just pitching again
Speaker 3: facing hitters, my bull hand. Going out there, I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm pitching my crap right now. So I was pretty upset.
Speaker 3: But once I got out there, I figured it out
Speaker 3: pretty quickly, and yeah, I'm really happy. I've been happy
Speaker 3: the whole time with where I'm at, all the balls
Speaker 3: coming out of my hand, off speed, fastball location. So
Speaker 3: definitely happy about that. And then you know, the next time,
Speaker 3: I thought both and I'm gonna be a little bit more,
Speaker 3: I'll be more.
Speaker 2: Ready to get on it.
Speaker 3: I felt like I was ready today, but the way
Speaker 3: my arm was I didn't want.
Speaker 2: To push it.
Speaker 3: I was rushing and too excited and I need to
Speaker 3: slow down and.
Speaker 2: Get back to normal.
Speaker 3: But definitely just yeah, happy to be bad.
Speaker 1: How much adrenaline did you have pumping out there?
Speaker 2: A lot?
Speaker 3: I mean I've been waiting forever to throw again, you know.
Speaker 3: I went through a whole rehab stint and then got
Speaker 3: one game in the big leagues and then just had
Speaker 3: to go through it again and just have a lot
Speaker 3: VP again.
Speaker 2: And I know how good I am. So it felt
Speaker 2: good just to pitch again.
Speaker 3: But I can't wait to stack the innings up and
Speaker 3: get back and pitch in the big leagues and do
Speaker 3: what I love.
Speaker 1: Can you describe the feeling you have pitching compared to
Speaker 1: the feeling before you had the nanoscope?
Speaker 3: Yeah, like, uh, it was just it was tough. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I didn't notice it, and until I got the surgery,
Speaker 3: and then that's I just thought there was like things
Speaker 3: that were just already get used to. And then I
Speaker 3: got the surgery and I realized, like I could feel
Speaker 3: my fingers again. I could I could like get farther
Speaker 3: extension on the ball. I could actually like bend my
Speaker 3: arm and throw the curveball. The curveball is like a
Speaker 3: thousand times better noticeably the fastball. Everything's gonna play better,
Speaker 3: and I could locate the ball easier. So I'm excited.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be a way better pitcher just with all
Speaker 3: of that and what I can do.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I can't wait. That's pretty scary.
Speaker 1: You're pretty good already, but you're gonna be even better now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm confident. Curveball is just way better.
Speaker 3: It's breaking how it used to break twenty four, twenty three.
Speaker 3: The last couple of years here, it's just been very
Speaker 3: hard to get it to break.
Speaker 2: I've had to, you know, really.
Speaker 3: Manipulate the baseball and seam shift and do a lot
Speaker 3: to get to get movement. And now it's back to uh,
Speaker 3: you know, I went to the old grip that I had,
Speaker 3: and I just have a way more range of motion
Speaker 3: and I can actually throw the curveball way better faster,
Speaker 3: and I can locate it at will.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm excited about that pitch.
Speaker 1: Knowing you pretty well, seems like your mood has gotten
Speaker 1: considerably better the last couple of weeks, even from last
Speaker 1: year when you had to go through all that. It
Speaker 1: just seems like your headspace is a lot more clear.
Speaker 2: Why is that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, not pitching, it's just sad, Like I
Speaker 3: want to say, I'm down, Like I'm so happy for
Speaker 3: my teammates and excited for all of them and the
Speaker 3: opportunities that they get.
Speaker 1: Me.
Speaker 3: On a personal level, though, it's just, you know, it's
Speaker 3: it's tough.
Speaker 2: You know, all I want to do is pitch, and so.
Speaker 3: Literally all I want to do, and when I can't
Speaker 3: do that, it's just it's very tough, and it's yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean I don't try to let it show.
Speaker 2: I mean you see it because you're around me.
Speaker 3: Uh, you know when when I'm solo and where at
Speaker 3: the field, so obviously I'll be a little more quiet.
Speaker 3: But yeah, being able to pitch, it.
Speaker 2: Just it makes me really happy.
Speaker 1: Speaking of your teammates, Justin Robleski got a long overdue
Speaker 1: call to go to Philadelphia. When you watch him pitch,
Speaker 1: what do you notice the most of why he's been
Speaker 1: so successful.
Speaker 3: I mean, he just pounds his own That's definitely why
Speaker 3: he's fearless. And you know, from from last year to
Speaker 3: this year, he's just he's can continued to get better
Speaker 3: and strive to be better, and he had the opportunity,
Speaker 3: you know, when we got hurt. He's taking full advantage
Speaker 3: of it. And even you know last year he take
Speaker 3: advantage of you know, after his bad starts, going to
Speaker 3: Triple A, getting better and then the postseason and then
Speaker 3: getting better through those and being a dominant force. And
Speaker 3: he's really just you know, willed his way into being
Speaker 3: the guy he is and who's going to continue to
Speaker 3: grow into.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Blake Snow is a man of many talents. He loves sports,
Speaker 1: and somehow, some way he's become best friends with the
Speaker 1: LAFC stars Sonny who has this babblehead tonight and he's
Speaker 1: wearing Hello number seven, Like snell Zilla, how did you
Speaker 1: become such close friends with this guy?
Speaker 2: That's his number?
Speaker 3: You know he had it first, but uh no, I
Speaker 3: was just always a fan of him. And then when
Speaker 3: he came out of the first pitch, I was like,
Speaker 3: there's no way.
Speaker 2: I was kind of geeked, and then.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was like, I gotta catch the first pitch,
Speaker 3: no doubt, I'm not.
Speaker 2: I have to.
Speaker 3: Then I met him and we just had We just
Speaker 3: always were laughing and joking, and then we just became
Speaker 3: good friends.
Speaker 1: From that, so you text yeah here and there, Yeah,
Speaker 1: do you think you'll get this signed?
Speaker 2: For sure? Yeah? For sure? Easy, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1: Okay during the All Star break. Obviously you're not starting
Speaker 1: your rehab until next weekend, so you got this whole week.
Speaker 1: You know, I could cancel plans with my family if
Speaker 1: you want to spend some quality time to get.
Speaker 2: There Zilla the seasons enough, Dave? Is that a maybe?
Speaker 3: No, that's a definite no. Just write that off. Have
Speaker 3: the plans with your family. I can help you with
Speaker 3: plans with your family, you know. If you can't figure
Speaker 3: out what to do, I'll make sure you're busy, you know,
Speaker 3: and uh, get you a Shirley temport and enjoy that
Speaker 3: off time, okay, and then I'm gonna go get ready
Speaker 3: to pitch.
Speaker 2: You know. That's what I need to do, is pitch.
Speaker 3: So I'll get ready for that away from you, okay,
Speaker 3: and then when I'll see you back on that homestand
Speaker 3: and we'll get ready to go.
Speaker 2: All right. Hey, I like that.
Speaker 1: That's a little sneak peak to when the Great snail
Speaker 1: Zilla will be back. Here's a gift for you, Zilla
Speaker 1: already already.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's your Okay, thank you, take that home.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, I'll start off the All Star break right
Speaker 1: giving this to the family.