WEBVTT - Reds Pitching Coach Derek Johnson 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.400 We're excited to talk to Derek Johnson back on the show. Derek, 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:09.479 I think what was it maybe a year or has 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.520 it been two years now? 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.520 Yeah? Maybe two two years. Good to see you. 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:16.239 Okay, well, good to see you too. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.239 One of our favorite conversations last time, really getting deep, 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:21.600 deep into the weeds on the pitching side. So we 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.720 appreciate the time again. Hope you're having a nice offseason. 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.040 First off, how is everything going for you? And are 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:28.480 your off seasons kind of the same. 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:33.080 Yeah, well I live in Cincinnati. Yeah, yeah, I live 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.280 in Cincinnati, and and you know, I'm at the field 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.800 quite a bit, and you know, but yeah, typically it's 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.760 about the same. You know, there's not really a whole 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.440 lot going on here. But but yeah, it's been a 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:48.720 productive off season for us so far on the pitching 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.360 side of things. And I know our guys aren't done 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.440 quite yet. We're still trying to figure out a couple 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:55.800 more players if they can. 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:58.040 Before we get to the team. 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.280 How many times, how many times or how many guys 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.640 are actually at in Cincinnati that you watch throw or 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.160 coming in working out, because normally we hear about dudes 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.600 that are down in Phoenix, down in goodyear working out there. 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.319 Yeah, we actually just had an event Red's Fast and 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:17.360 it's a big fan convention kind of thing, so I 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.240 actually got to see pretty much every guy on the squad, 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.320 you know, throw the at least throw the baseball, if 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.280 not a bullpen, So that was good. I do spend 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:29.440 some time in Arizona down there when we can, in 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.399 the laboratory, if you will, and you know, see those 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.119 guys pitch down there, you know, every now and again 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:36.559 as well. 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:39.160 Do you think more should be done for pictures? We 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:40.600 talk about the off season. We're in the middle of 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.760 it right now. Should more be done? I'm not trying 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.200 to put more on your plate. I know you like 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.400 your job, but you also like your family. So should 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.280 more be done? Or do we let pitchers and position 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.360 players but you work with pitchers kind of just go 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.800 willy nilly, We're gonna go to tread, I'm gonna go 0:01:58.360 --> 0:01:59.040 drive line. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:00.960 Hey, talk to me in two weeks. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.880 Should teams that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:10.040 their roster spend more time with players in the offseason? 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.119 Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, and I think coaches, 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:16.880 you know, we talk about it all the time. I'm 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.360 not sure there's a clear answer there, But what I 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.800 will say is after every year, we put together a 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.520 player plan for each guy that that we know is 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.960 going to be returning, and it's pretty extensive. We do 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:32.079 a lot of work, a lot of digging on how 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.359 the year went and maybe what we could do next, 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.560 and you know, try to simplify it down to a 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.560 point where we've got one or two things that we 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.320 want them to work on. A lot of guys now 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.160 have built the labs and their complexes and their spring 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.160 training complexes, and so you know, we have all of 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.800 the capabilities pretty much that a drive line or a 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.800 tread you know, would have. I guess the question is, 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.360 you know, do they want an outside source, you know, 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.160 maybe just another set of eyes kind of looking at them. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.880 And I respect that. I mean, I think the guys 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.040 at drive Line, the guys at tread, you know, they 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:10.480 all have very good qualities about them. Probably the worst thing, 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.280 you know, if if you could point to one thing, 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.359 is they don't know the player nearly as well as 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:18.720 I do. So you know, there's there's probably room for 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.440 a little bit of both. But I do think that, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.360 you know, I don't want to just turn them the 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.920 guys loose and say, hey, have at it. You know, 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.639 now every year they all come back with one more 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.079 new pitch that you know, we've got to figure out 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:32.840 if they could use or not. And half the time, 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.680 you know, they scrap it about mid mid spring training anyway. 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.800 But but yeah, it's a it's a great question. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.720 Derek, where do you stand on pitchers throwing the whole offseason? 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.840 Because you're talking about tread and drive line, and these 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:48.520 guys throw innings and they get they do their updowns, 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.320 especially bullpen guys. Let's say they get into seventy games 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:52.880 and then they take two weeks off and then they're 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.360 at drive Line or tread or in goodyear at your facility, 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.520 and they're chucking balls as hard as they can. And 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:02.200 then guess what, it's only November, right, and in December, January, February, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:03.960 and then you got to be ramped up for April. 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.320 So where do you stand on guys taking a breather? 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:08.480 Because it seems like less and less guys take one. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:12.080 You're right, it's it's sort of a trend. And I 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.320 guess when I first got into it, it almost felt 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.200 like they take took too much time off and now 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.800 they're kind of gravitating back towards you know, not as 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.080 much time. And I think it varies on the guy. 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.360 I think if you know, he reached his max innings, 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.600 you know, there's there's probably a little bit of rest 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.320 needed on the front end of things. You know, we 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.400 had a couple of guys that were close to eighty 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.479 appearances in the bullpen, and certainly you know that guy 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.520 probably doesn't need to have a baseball in his hand. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.359 So I think timing is really important in that, you know, 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.040 one of the things that we try to do. Some 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.760 guys love it, some guys don't do it, but we 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.320 we kind of deload after the season's over. So I 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.080 actually still have them throw a little bit after the seasons, 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.799 usually about three times a week for a couple of weeks. 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:55.560 Then it kind of goes to two and then they 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.560 sort of, you know, put the arm to bed for 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.279 a while. But I think timing is really important if 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.919 they're going to go to one of those places, you know, 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.599 I still think that there needs to be at least 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.599 a chunk of time where you know they're they're you know, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.520 just kind of actively you know, in the weight room, 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.360 pilate's whatever that might be without a baseball in your hand. 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.360 So I think the the later it gets, you know, 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.240 as you get into November December, I think that'd be 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.320 a perfect time to go to tread or or somewhere 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:28.239 to do the work. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.080 You mentioned new pitches. Does anybody have a new pitch? 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:33.719 Like this is the time first? 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.599 I mean, you've got they every year they have a 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.839 new one, right, you know. I mean I'm kind of 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.720 joking on that, but but they are. They always kind 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.599 of fiddle right there. Hey, I put this two seamer 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.599 in my hand, I put this split in my hand. 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:50.800 You know, I'm thinking about a curve ball and that 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:53.840 It's fine, you know, to me, it's it's your career. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.960 You know. If you want to experiment on a pitch 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.160 that you think might help you be a better pitcher, 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:00.159 than I'm all for it. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:00.080 It. 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.160 I just think it's kind of funny too, because you know, 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.360 a lot of times they'll come in and say, I've 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.839 got that change up that we've been talking about, and 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.440 then halfway through spring training they refuse to kind of 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.880 throw the thing. But you know, I think it's a 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.920 good thing, you know, in a joking sort of way. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:23.159 Nobody likes a bloated cell phone bill. It can consume you, 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.680 it can take over, it can be very annoying. 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A 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:17.280 network is busy capable device required availability, speed and coverage 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:19.600 varies Cementmobile dot Com. 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.760 Derek, you said something interesting and when a couple answers 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:28.840 ago about I give personal posts our off season plans 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.240 to guys that we are expecting your return. Well, we've 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.040 heard Hunter Green, we've heard Andrew Aba, we've heard Nick 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:39.280 Lodolo on the trading block. So did they get their 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.280 off season planned because you're expecting them to be back? 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.600 Good segue? Yeah, and they did. They received one. And 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.200 you know, you never know what happens on the business 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.000 side of things, and you don't know for sure who 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.840 is going to be on your team probably until you know, 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:59.720 maybe even opening day. But you know, those guys, they're 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:04.440 still young enough, they're controllable enough, you know. And I 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.080 know that there's rumors out there. I hear them too. 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.400 I'm sure the players do you know. I think it's 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.720 it's just like anything else. I mean, our guys have 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:17.560 to and I say our guys in the front office, 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.240 they have to explore every option that they possibly can, 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.240 and that includes trading some of our players. You know, 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:29.400 do I hope that it happens? No, I don't. But 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.000 at the same time, you know, if it means that 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.640 our team can get better in another way that we 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.400 really need it to get better at, then you know, 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:38.560 and then I think you got to look at it 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.320 and say, okay, well, you know, we do have a 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.640 little bit of depth pitching wise, especially on the starting end. 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.480 You know, they are fairly young still, so they're going 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.600 to be you know, I think people are gonna they're 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.320 going to gravitate towards that situation, and they're they're all 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.559 pretty good, so you know, it does stand a reason 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.560 that's a possibility. On the other side of things, I 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.719 think our guys in the front office they're smart enough 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.920 too to try to do whatever they can to keep 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:09.000 as much pitching here as possible, because it seems like, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.679 you know, every single year, you know, especially in the 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.400 smaller markets, you're just going to be you're not going 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:19.000 to feel nearly as deep. A guy gets hurt, you know, 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.800 a couple guys gets hurt, and all of a sudden, 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:22.440 we don't have the same kind of depth that we 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.440 thought we did. So I think it's a lot of 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.160 just moving parts, and you know, I expect them all 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.080 to be there, and you know, when they're not, or 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.960 if they're not, then I guess the player playing goes 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:35.320 with them and whoever team they can figure it out. 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.200 Obviously you can tell me if I'm wrong, But you 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.600 basically have four guys that are solidified for those five 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:46.520 rotation spots. That last spot, Chase Burns is obviously a 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.720 guy that's up there. What do you a What have 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.760 you seen from him? What do you need to see 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.840 from him? Or the other guys that are in competitions 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.600 in spring training when it's like, all right, guys, I 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.599 know you're building up, but you're evaluating. We used to 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.760 always say when we're playing, nobody makes the team on 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:09.120 the first day of spring training practices. But you sure 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.200 as heck could get cut on the first day because 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.440 you show up and you look terrible, you don't throw well, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.959 your lax of days ago, whatever it is. What are 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.200 you trying to see from the guy who's going to 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.480 take that spot, if it's Chase Burns or if it's somebody. 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:24.960 Else, Well, I mean I can give you kind of 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:29.200 three guys that would probably be in that mold of things. 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.520 And you know you're talking about Brandon Williamson, who's been 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.719 here a little bit. He was hurt all last year Yeah, 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.600 Rhet Lauder, who was here at the end of last 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.520 year two years ago, same thing, had no bleak and 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.640 ended up just not really having much of a season. 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:46.080 And then you have Burnsy. I'll start with Burnsy and 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.319 just say, like, listen, he's twenty two years old and 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.960 he was fresh out of college basically when you know 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:55.640 when we brought him up. I mean, he barely had 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.520 any minor league time at all. He learned a lot. 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.200 I think in the time that he was here. He 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:03.040 kind of learned how to slow himself down, which is 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.240 obviously a huge thing for especially for a young guy, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.320 but he learned how to throw bullpens, maybe in a 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.320 little bit of a different way than what he was 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.720 He kind of figured out some of his timing with 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:18.600 when he was going to lift weights and going to 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:20.920 do all the stuff. And you know, that's kind of 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.480 been the I guess the battle cry around here, if 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.720 you will. I mean, we've had a lot of really 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.080 young pitchers who were they they just weren't finished products. 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.839 So we had to work a lot on just normal things, 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:36.640 throwing programs. You know, just what the routine was going 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.040 to look like. And you know, so I can go 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.200 on down the list with every single guy that you 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.960 mentioned mentioned here that that's what we had to do 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.040 with them. So you know, it's no different with Burnsy. 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.240 He kind of learned. He was kind of learning on 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.240 the fly and he had his feet to the fire 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.760 and he did a really nice job. You know, Louder 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.160 doesn't really have very much major league experience. He has 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:03.120 some he can really really pitch, and you know, I'm 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.920 looking forward to kind of letting those guys battle it out. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.400 And then you know, Brandon Williamson man like a couple 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.400 of years ago, he was pretty good and he hung 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.560 into games with us and you know, just really kind 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:16.839 of gave us a shot in the arm and we 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:17.360 needed it. 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.360 Wait, DJ, I was going to ask something completely different, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.160 and now you brought it up. Your background was elite 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:29.439 college baseball and you came to pro ball. You were 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.640 the pitching coach when I was on the Brewers at 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:37.040 the same time. And now we're hearing minor league baseball 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:41.280 could cut some of their teams because these elite college 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.240 programs are getting the players ready already. 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.040 But you just said Chase Burns. 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.440 Wasn't quite ready in his preparation in his so would 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.120 you seeing both sides of it. Now, trying to win 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.240 in the big leagues and trying to win in college. 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:02.120 Can they take care of that and the colleges take 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.720 care of what's needed for a man to compete in 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.720 the big leagues professionally. 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.000 In a lot of ways, yes, but in so many 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:12.400 just functional ways. 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:12.559 No. 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.840 I mean, you know, you think about it. Obviously, they're 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:20.800 test pitching more and they just there's just things in 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:22.840 the big leagues that there's no way a college team 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.800 could ever prepare the player for. I mean on the 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.080 physical side, sure, but it's just it's gonna be really 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:30.800 really hard for them to match that. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:36.240 All right, now, you quit on the Brewers and went 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.880 to a nice contract. I remember having a conversation with 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:40.839 you that you were like, I got to do this 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:41.679 for my family. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.640 And it's been an incredible move from the Brewers to 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:45.160 the Reds. 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:47.040 I don't know if we're going to show the chart, 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:51.199 but one of the great interns for us made a 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.680 chart from Baseball Savant that had a the basically the 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.440 graph of how the Great American Small Park, which is 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.920 a home field for the Reds, used to suck to 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.640 pitch in. And ever since you've been there, it has 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:10.440 steadily gotten tougher and tougher to hit him. Is that 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.520 a concerted effort or is that just a reality of 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.480 the pitchers you have because your home, your home numbers 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.120 for your starting rotation for your staff are much better 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.200 than your road numbers. So is there a concerted effort 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.920 to make a place where free agent pitchers say, I'm 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.720 not going there hit a fly ball. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.440 Even AJ can hit a home run there. 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:35.440 Well, I mean, I do think it's gotten better, but 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:37.400 I think it's just been more of a like a 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:42.360 mental adjustment. Back then, they were looking for a lot 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.520 of contact pitching, you know, sinker slider, guys that could 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.600 put the ball on the ground, and not that that 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.640 was the wrong way, but it certainly didn't really change 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.240 anything that they were doing. I mean, their pitching was still, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.440 you know, not probably as good as it needed to be. 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.560 When I got here there, there was one thing for 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.520 sure that we talked a lot about, and that was 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.520 swing and miss. You know, I did want to make 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.760 guys miss the ball because of the size of the ballpark, 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.320 and we've done a better job of that, And of 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.520 course we've had years where we've we've struck a lot 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.560 of guys out. We've had, you know, a lot of 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:18.360 whiff and that kind of thing. We've had other years, 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.000 it wasn't quite as much. And you know, I think 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.240 with young pitchers who throw hard, you know, you're you're 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.240 going to probably get too much walk in there as well, 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.240 which isn't a good thing in this kind of ballpark. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.160 But you know, first we don't we don't ever talk 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.080 about it. You know, it's never going to be an 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:36.720 excuse for us. We know that we play in a 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.560 ball a small ballpark. We've seen the front row homers 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:45.360 that shouldn't be home home runs. But I do think 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.520 it comes from that mentality of swing and miss and 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.520 not just contact. I mean, we want we contact as well, 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.040 but but man, if I if I could choose one 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.200 or the other, I choose with every single time, especially 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.920 in this ballpark. The other thing too is I think 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.840 when you come to this kind of ballpark and you know, 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.640 you guys both hit so you know better than I. 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.680 But you know, I also almost think that there's put 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:10.480 a little bit more pressure on themself to try to 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.320 hit a homer, which so you know, if we can 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.200 use that aggression against them, that that's gonna help us. 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:23.280 Is Hunter Green and ace. We talk about this several times. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.760 There's only in my opinion, AJ's opinion, there's only seven 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.000 to ten aces in the game. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.760 There's a lot of number ones. Just Hunter Green an ace. 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.600 It's it's a great question. And the answer to that 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.560 is he's sure can be, and he's on his way 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.640 to be. I think, like anything else, you know, when 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:45.400 you think of an ace, you think of a guy 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.360 that you know he's going to take the ball every time, 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.800 and and he's just going to grind things out, and 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.200 you know, he's everyone's going to look at him when 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.120 he's pitching and say, that's that's my guy. And I 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:05.359 think Hunter took great steps towards that last year. You know, 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.040 Unfortunately for him, he just keeps getting banged up a 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.520 little bit and and there's just enough of that to 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.840 where it's like, as soon as he can get into 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.359 that one hundred and eighty inning range, I think that 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.359 we're all going to be maybe looking at that saying, yeah, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.520 that's that's what a nace looks like. But there's a 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.800 maturity part of that too, you know. And and he's 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:26.679 now been in the league. You know, I don't know 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.119 what three or four years or whatever it's been, and 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.200 he's taken steps in every facet of that as well, 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.320 you know, and it's fun to watch because you know, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.800 Lodolo has done that, Abbot's done that. You know, I 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.600 expect that Burnsy will too. So you know, I just 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.840 think there's those stepping stones that pitchers take, and you know, 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.600 we've seen almost again kind of like underneath the spotlight 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.560 of these guys taking those steps to get, you know, 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:58.000 get to that status. And Hunter's certainly capable, and he's 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.199 a great kid, and he's become a very very good worker, 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.359 very conscientious in what he does, and he's become a 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:05.840 real pro. 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.560 We're talking to Derek Johnson, pitching coach director pitching for 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.520 the Cincinnati Reds VET in our game Guru of Pitching. 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.760 Derek, what do you think about the baseball? 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.879 Do you think it's ever going to change drastically or 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.720 have more consistency in Major League baseball? 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:23.159 It's probably not a topic you think. 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.119 About a ton, but we don't really get I mean, 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.800 like you during the season, so curious to get your thoughts. 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:30.800 No, I don't think about it a lot. I mean, 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.280 you know, it's pretty easy to see like when you 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.679 grab a baseball. Sometimes it just feels really good in 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.560 your hands, and sometimes it doesn't, and they all are 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.360 still different. I mean they are hand wound or whatever, 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:48.600 so you know, I mean, I think the balls are fine. 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:50.280 They put him in the human door, they do all 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.440 the stuff that they're supposed to do. They rub him regulation. 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:55.639 I think the one thing that I always kind of 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.840 laugh about is, you know, we're rubbing a baseball with 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.879 mud from a river somewhere I don't know, Delaware or 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.280 wherever it is. You would think that there'd be a 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.360 product out there that we could rub up a baseball 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.760 with It would actually be a little better than you know, 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:13.960 river mud, you know. I mean there's leather conditioner. I 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.160 put leather conditioner on a baseball and it's still pretty white. 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:21.200 But man, the thing feels tremendous in my hand. Whereas 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:23.280 you know, you put it, put the mud on it, 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.359 you put it in the humid door. It comes out 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.600 and sometimes they just feel real, real slick, real chalky. 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.800 It's almost like the mud made it worse. So I 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.920 don't think it'll change unless they tackify it. They've they've 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.000 talked about that before. They've never really were able to 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:43.160 come up with anything that, you know, everyone was okay with. 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:46.399 But I felt some of those tack balls and they 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:48.800