Speaker 1: Welcome to Dodger Talk and great to have you on
Speaker 1: a show that so many were calling and asking about
Speaker 1: you last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Hi, guys, I'm happy to be here. Thank you
Speaker 2: for having me. I'm excited for this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm excited too. I mean, I feel like I
Speaker 1: know you already with the way everybody's been pumping you
Speaker 1: up to me. What was last year like for you
Speaker 1: to have that type of season at Triple A.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. I mean, it was a fun year.
Speaker 2: We had a great team too, So it was just
Speaker 2: a lot of swing changes and approach decision decisions that
Speaker 2: I made like during the offseason and really committed to
Speaker 2: during the year. So being able to see it all
Speaker 2: pay off and see the right results was really cool
Speaker 2: for me, and then just just continuing to try and
Speaker 2: build on it.
Speaker 1: Your season actually started with Team USA the Premiere sixteen
Speaker 1: where they were playing in Japan, and your manager was
Speaker 1: Mike Soosha. One of your coaches was Dino Eble, who's
Speaker 1: the Dodgers third base coach. How much did that experience
Speaker 1: help you get ready for the season and the one
Speaker 1: that you had the big, you know, coming out party
Speaker 1: that you had in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: Yeah, incredibly. I mean those those guys, that whole staff,
Speaker 2: including them, like the baseball knowledge was insane, so so
Speaker 2: being able to pick their brains and talk about things
Speaker 2: whether you're on the field or not, like watching something
Speaker 2: happen and kind of learning from them, seeing the way
Speaker 2: they see the game was huge and I tried to
Speaker 2: take advantage of it as most as much as I could.
Speaker 1: How much did Rich Hill try to buddy up to
Speaker 1: you being from Massachusetts and try to brow out that
Speaker 1: you guys are boss Bostonians.
Speaker 2: As one of the first things we talked about, and
Speaker 2: then we became We became pretty close throughout that tournament,
Speaker 2: and we've actually been on a couple of flights together,
Speaker 2: whether it's coming home for All Star Break or heading
Speaker 2: back out, so we've been able to kind of stay
Speaker 2: in touch and it's been awesome.
Speaker 1: Ryan Ward is joining us, Yes that Ryan Ward is
Speaker 1: joining us on Dodger Talk. You can follow him on
Speaker 1: Instagram our Ward oh twelve on Instagram and really get
Speaker 1: to know him through social media. Get to know him
Speaker 1: right here on Dodger Talk, and you will get to
Speaker 1: know him during this upcoming season because he is going
Speaker 1: to be in Big League camp. You are on the
Speaker 1: forty man roster. Did you believe the Dodgers were going
Speaker 1: to add you to the forty man roster or did
Speaker 1: you believe that they were going to you were going
Speaker 1: to move on and get an opportunity with another team.
Speaker 1: What were your feelings after the season.
Speaker 2: You know, I really wasn't sure what was going to happen,
Speaker 2: especially with the Dodgers. I mean, they make so many
Speaker 2: moves you never really know what's going to happen. So,
Speaker 2: you know, I was kind of just sitting there on
Speaker 2: that last day of kind of just sweating it out,
Speaker 2: wondering which way it was going to happen, what was
Speaker 2: going to happen, which way it was going to go.
Speaker 2: And I eventually got the call that they added me,
Speaker 2: and I was excited. I mean, forty man Dodger or
Speaker 2: forty man roster for the LA Dodgers is no little thing.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited to get back out there and get
Speaker 2: on the field and just continue playing and having fun.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know how you felt, Ryan, but
Speaker 1: I'll let you in on something. You may have heard
Speaker 1: me say this when you were on hold, but literally
Speaker 1: every day for the last three months of the season,
Speaker 1: as you were exploding and having your tremendous year. I
Speaker 1: literally got a phone call on this show, or somebody
Speaker 1: would stop me at the stadium, or even some broadcaster
Speaker 1: would ask me. Every single day I had a Ryan
Speaker 1: Ward streak going where somebody would ask me about Ryan
Speaker 1: Ward and why he wasn't called up to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you got that more than I did. How
Speaker 1: did you handle all that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was getting I was getting a
Speaker 2: lot of dms from people, you know, asking why I'm
Speaker 2: not up there and all this stuff. But you know,
Speaker 2: it's a tough spot because like I can't control any
Speaker 2: of that stuff, so so me thinking about it and
Speaker 2: pondering it is something I try not to do. Obviously
Speaker 2: I think about it all the time, but I try
Speaker 2: not to like sit there and think about it twenty
Speaker 2: four to seven. You know, just just focus on My
Speaker 2: big saying is control what I can control, and that's
Speaker 2: going out every night and doing my best. You know,
Speaker 2: can can control moves that are being made or decisions
Speaker 2: being made. I can control how I prepare for the game,
Speaker 2: how I play in the game, and that's kind of
Speaker 2: where I direct all my focus.
Speaker 1: Do you use it as fuel for motivation. Do you
Speaker 1: play with a chip on your shoulder because you still
Speaker 1: haven't got that call yet?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I feel like I've always played with
Speaker 2: a chip on my shoulder. It's just something that you know,
Speaker 2: gets the fire lit underneath me and just pushes me
Speaker 2: to be better every day. And I just try to
Speaker 2: go out there and carry that ship around and leave
Speaker 2: it all out there every night, whether it the preparation
Speaker 2: before the game, the play during the game, looking at
Speaker 2: stuff the next day about the game before and trying
Speaker 2: to make changes and you know, just continuing to build.
Speaker 2: So I'm always trying to find ways to be better
Speaker 2: and push myself to be better.
Speaker 1: Since you are from Boston, obviously a crazy sports town,
Speaker 1: especially for the Red Sox. When you were growing up,
Speaker 1: did you have a favorite player on the Red Sox
Speaker 1: or on another team who who inspired Ryan Ward to
Speaker 1: want to become a professional baseball player.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, obviously Red Sox fan. Growing up, I
Speaker 2: was a big, big David Ortis fan, just because I
Speaker 2: was I was a lefty. He was the lefty power guy.
Speaker 2: Like it was. David Ortiz was like he was an
Speaker 2: icon around here. So David Ortiz for sure was my
Speaker 2: favorite Red Sox growing up. I mean I watched them
Speaker 2: all the time. And yeah, i'd say David Ortiz for sure.
Speaker 1: Were you old enough to remember Dave Roberts stealing that
Speaker 1: base in two thousand and four.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I've watched that thirty for thirty documentary a
Speaker 2: hundred times, you know, d like least four or five
Speaker 2: times in a row and then they shit and the homer,
Speaker 2: all of it.
Speaker 1: Have you have you spoken to Dave Roberts? I know
Speaker 1: you haven't been in big league camp. Have you had
Speaker 1: many interactions with him? Uh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been in I've been in big league camp
Speaker 2: for I think the past two years. That's free.
Speaker 1: I apologize. I must have introduced myself to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, no, no, no, yeah, but.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Alex Friedland and Gavin Stone try to dominate my time.
Speaker 1: I forget, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair, that's definitely fair. So, yeah, we've had
Speaker 2: a couple of conversations like during spring training for sure,
Speaker 2: here and there, But no that that's never came up.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure I'm sure will at some point, but
Speaker 2: just hasn't yet.
Speaker 1: Ryan is our guest. He was the Pacific Coast League
Speaker 1: player of the year in twenty twenty five, looking to
Speaker 1: make a big impact for the Dodgers in twenty twenty six,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure this has got to be a huge
Speaker 1: step closer to you realizing your dream. Ryan. With the
Speaker 1: Dodgers outfield situation in flux, especially in left field, you
Speaker 1: got to feel optimistic that this is going to be
Speaker 1: the year that you get an opportunity.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I mean especially with kind of like you said,
Speaker 2: being put on the forty man like gives you a
Speaker 2: real shock or int that they can do it during
Speaker 2: the year with all those news and everything, but being
Speaker 2: on it already is huge, and you know, like trying
Speaker 2: to get my body into the best spot it can be,
Speaker 2: strength wise, getting all my recovery done, get my swing
Speaker 2: right in, you know, just trying to show up with
Speaker 2: my foot on the pedal all the way to the
Speaker 2: floor and then just give it everything I got and
Speaker 2: leave it out there. But trying to have fun with
Speaker 2: it too, you know. I mean, you can't go in
Speaker 2: there and then just play under pressure from myself day
Speaker 2: after day. It's because it's that's gonna hurt me. So
Speaker 2: just trying to have fun with it, enjoy it and
Speaker 2: learn from all those guys and talk to the guys,
Speaker 2: and I kind of like earlier I said, pick their
Speaker 2: brains about certain things, and you know, just improve and
Speaker 2: chase my dream every day.
Speaker 1: No doubt, you must be doing something right. Ryan Ward
Speaker 1: to hit thirty six home runs for Oklahoma City last year.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I got to ask you this,
Speaker 1: since you were part of the organization last year. Where
Speaker 1: were you watching number one, the eighteen inning game when
Speaker 1: Freddy hit the walk off home run? And number two?
Speaker 1: Where were you watching Game seven of the World Series.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the eighteen inning game. I was at home, and
Speaker 2: I was having flashbacks too, because the before I got
Speaker 2: dropped about dollars, they played the Red Sox and had
Speaker 2: like that seventeen eighteen inning playoffs. Yeah, so I was
Speaker 2: having flashbacks to that while I was watching it. But
Speaker 2: a Game seven, I was actually at my buddy's house.
Speaker 2: There's a group of us all sitting there watching the game.
Speaker 2: So it was a really cool environment to be able
Speaker 2: to watch it. I mean, that was one of the
Speaker 2: craziest Game sevens I think I've ever seen in my
Speaker 2: life any sport. So we able to watch it with
Speaker 2: some of the guys and have something to celebrate with them.
Speaker 2: Was pretty cool, was.
Speaker 1: That In you're talking about some of the guys that
Speaker 1: you were teammates with at Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: Well, we were. I was with friends from home back
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts, but a lot of us from the OKAC
Speaker 2: team or in a group message and we're all texting
Speaker 2: throughout all the games and everything. So it was cool
Speaker 2: to be able to like integrate my OKAC friends and
Speaker 2: my friends from home, and everyone's kind of rooting for
Speaker 2: the same thing. So it was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: How invested did you feel watching the Dodgers in the
Speaker 1: World Series.
Speaker 2: I felt pretty invested. I mean a lot of the
Speaker 2: guys I've played with because of they're either down in
Speaker 2: rehab or during spring training or I was down in
Speaker 2: a stay hot camp for all the series up until
Speaker 2: the World Series, so I was there staying ready in
Speaker 2: case something happened. So I was pretty invested in what
Speaker 2: was going on with them.
Speaker 1: Did you see this coming with Roki Sasaki when he was,
Speaker 1: you know, making his way back at Oklahoma City before
Speaker 1: he came back in September and did what he did
Speaker 1: in the postseason.
Speaker 2: When he really got going and kind of got his
Speaker 2: strength back, and it was in a role down in Okay. See,
Speaker 2: I mean, nobody was touching him. He was he was
Speaker 2: throwing strikes, he was town his only throwing hard. His
Speaker 2: splitter was unbelievable. And I was just kind of like,
Speaker 2: we're all kind of sitting there like, oh, like I
Speaker 2: think he's ready. I think he's ready to go back
Speaker 2: up there. It was really fun to watch while he
Speaker 2: was down there.
Speaker 1: That's so great, great perspective from a guy that everybody
Speaker 1: wants to see make his major league debut this year
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers, and that is Ryan Ward. Thanks a
Speaker 1: lot for the time, Ryan, can't wait to see you
Speaker 1: again in big league camp, like I have the last
Speaker 1: couple of years. And uh, i'll i'll, I'll box out
Speaker 1: Stone and Freedland and say, hey, we need some alone
Speaker 1: time here, all right, let me focus on this guy
Speaker 1: from Boston.
Speaker 2: That sounds good to me. Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: No, my pleasure. Thank you for the time. And we'll
Speaker 1: see you in a month.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see in a few weeks.