Speaker 1: Joining us now on bench. Banter is infielder for the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Pirates. Jared Triolo, Jared, Welcome to the show Man.
Speaker 2: How's it going?
Speaker 3: Good? Good?
Speaker 1: How's it been so far this season? Obviously we'll get
Speaker 1: into the series a little bit. But new clubhouse, new manager.
Speaker 1: You've been with the team for three years now, Different
Speaker 1: vibes with different guys around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4: You know, I think, you know, DK being here from
Speaker 4: the start was good for us, and we came out
Speaker 4: and we won a lot of games early, So I
Speaker 4: think that's, you know, helping the vibes.
Speaker 1: How important is it to have the type of guys
Speaker 1: that you have in the clubhouse obviously, Oharan Law being
Speaker 1: that veteran presence mixed with the guys that have been
Speaker 1: here before in order to keep that type of winning culture.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's what we needed, you know, guys
Speaker 4: who could just step right in and fit in with
Speaker 4: with the group that we had here and that. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and they came in and contributed right from the get go.
Speaker 1: So is there anything different that you've seen with Donnie?
Speaker 1: Obviously you had him as a bench coach. Now he's
Speaker 1: the skipper. Is there a different vibe with him on
Speaker 1: a day to day basis, you see him handling things
Speaker 1: differently or is he kind of the same guy day
Speaker 1: in and day out.
Speaker 4: He's pretty much the same guy. You know, he'll still
Speaker 4: make his jokes and kind of be loose and hang
Speaker 4: out during VP and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2: So I'd say, the same guy.
Speaker 1: How important is it to have that positive presence or
Speaker 1: guy that maintains that type of consistency because it's a
Speaker 1: long season, man, and there's a lot of games that happen,
Speaker 1: a lot of things that happen, a lot of injuries,
Speaker 1: and people can be very reactionary on a day to
Speaker 1: day basis, like a seasons done, seasons back on, and
Speaker 1: then you know, things change from serious to series.
Speaker 3: How important?
Speaker 1: How important is it for're a manager to have that
Speaker 1: type of consistency and then how do you guys handle
Speaker 1: that in the clubhouse in terms of just like the
Speaker 1: ups and downs of the season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's exactly right. That's kind of what
Speaker 4: you're looking for and a manager, you know, someone to
Speaker 4: look to it as the leader of the team, I guess,
Speaker 4: and just kind of be that consistent, you know, throughout
Speaker 4: the whole year. So it's definitely important, and it definitely
Speaker 4: you know, play apart and some of the guys in
Speaker 4: the clubhouse, So I mean, when you can get that consistency,
Speaker 4: it's it's definitely beneficial.
Speaker 1: How have you guys been handling the injuries as of late?
Speaker 1: Obviously Spence is coming back, but O'Neill, O'Connor, now Rhino
Speaker 1: goes down for.
Speaker 3: A little bit.
Speaker 1: How tough is it to deal with that in the
Speaker 1: grind of a major league season and then trying to
Speaker 1: bounce back the next day.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's tough obviously, right know, yesterday is a big shot.
Speaker 4: But I mean that's kind of what comes with with
Speaker 4: the major league season. One hundred and sixty two games,
Speaker 4: So obviously you never wanted to happen. But I think,
Speaker 4: you know, we have the guys to step in and
Speaker 4: you know, fill some shoes and keep us going in
Speaker 4: the right direction.
Speaker 1: We talked to Gonzo a couple of years ago now,
Speaker 1: and one thing that he said he admired about your
Speaker 1: game and I know you guys are close, but your
Speaker 1: preparation on a day to day basis and just staying
Speaker 1: within yourself no matter what's going on. How much pride
Speaker 1: do you take in your preparation going through the field,
Speaker 1: and do you have certain routines that you don't straight from. Uh.
Speaker 4: Yeah, routines are definitely you know what keep you consistent
Speaker 4: throughout the year. And I think for the most part
Speaker 4: of the same exact thing every single day. So it's
Speaker 4: a little monotonous, but I think you know, you kind
Speaker 4: of just need some solidarity and something like that to,
Speaker 4: you know, help in one hundred and six to two games.
Speaker 1: Does that change being the player that you are, knowing
Speaker 1: one day you might be a third short second, you
Speaker 1: might be playing some outfield.
Speaker 3: Does that preparation change?
Speaker 1: It all based on where you're at in the lineup
Speaker 1: or where you're playing in the field.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, hitting changes, you know a little bit
Speaker 4: here day to day, but I mean for the most part,
Speaker 4: it's the same. And then defensively, you know, infield is
Speaker 4: pretty much the same. If I get word that I
Speaker 4: could be in the outfield soon, you know, I'll go
Speaker 4: out and shag during VP and you know, get reps
Speaker 4: out there. But I mean it's it's mostly the same
Speaker 4: for the most part.
Speaker 3: Has that been different playing a little bit?
Speaker 1: I mean you got some time in center field, so
Speaker 1: I mean, are you coming for Jake's job or what's
Speaker 1: going on there.
Speaker 3: How do you feel out there? That's a big jump.
Speaker 1: People don't realize roaming all that land out there could
Speaker 1: be a little bit different.
Speaker 4: Yeah, first time in centerfield Yankee Stadium was pretty sick.
Speaker 4: I think I was only out there for three out Yeah,
Speaker 4: but no, I mean I didn't get much action, but
Speaker 4: I felt decently comfortable.
Speaker 3: Playing the corners too.
Speaker 1: Something that you're comfortable with, or even in the off
Speaker 1: season that you think about, like, hey, I could be
Speaker 1: deployed in any type of scenario.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just being ready for any situation that comes up.
Speaker 4: It's usually late game, so games usually on the line,
Speaker 4: are close, and yeah, just being ready for those moments.
Speaker 1: What about the consistency at the play We've seen in
Speaker 1: the past couple of years make adjustments later on in
Speaker 1: the season and see that consistent heart contact or getting
Speaker 1: on base, and this year seems like you found that
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier. What has helped you find that
Speaker 1: consistency at the plate? And you know, how do you
Speaker 1: deal with maybe sometimes where you're not feeling it or
Speaker 1: you need to make an adjustment.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's it's just kind of you know,
Speaker 4: daily prep work and how you go about the day before.
Speaker 4: And obviously I think selfishly, I, you know, want to
Speaker 4: hit some more homers and drive the ball of the park.
Speaker 4: But I think, you know, the role in the team
Speaker 4: is kind of just to get on base and set
Speaker 4: the table for you know, all the big boppers we
Speaker 4: got on this team. So that's kind of been the mindset.
Speaker 1: Has your hand placement always been like right above your
Speaker 1: head in that spot because it seems like from here
Speaker 1: you're not getting like an extensive load.
Speaker 3: It gets like from the top of the head almost into.
Speaker 1: The slot ready to hit right away. Is that kind
Speaker 1: of the mindset? It's like, all right, let's get this
Speaker 1: bat into the hitting zone as soon as we possibly can.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a little bit of thinking.
Speaker 4: I've tried, you know, a whole bunch of different starting
Speaker 4: points for my hands, and they feel most comfortable off top,
Speaker 4: and I feel like I can get the barrel to
Speaker 4: where I want it to be when I started there.
Speaker 2: So that's kind of what I've been rocking with.
Speaker 1: Is it more so like you're I mean, you're a
Speaker 1: bigger guy, like longer levers. Is that keep it a
Speaker 1: little bit more consistent than for you.
Speaker 4: It could be that, Yeah, I don't know. I just
Speaker 4: I feel comfortable with them up there. I think I've
Speaker 4: done it through the minor leagues and you know, tweaked
Speaker 4: a little bit here and there, but just wherever I
Speaker 4: can get the barrel of the ball most often is
Speaker 4: kind of where I want to leave them.
Speaker 1: Second year with Haig as the hitting coach, have you
Speaker 1: guys gotten on the same page of like terminology and
Speaker 1: how like your verbiage is on a day to day basis,
Speaker 1: Because when we had him on the show, he's saying like, hey,
Speaker 1: maybe getting the leg up for O'Hearn is not the
Speaker 1: same as getting the leg up for Spence, right, So
Speaker 1: you have to find different ways to talk to guys
Speaker 1: in order to understand their hitting language. Do you think
Speaker 1: that you guys have gotten on the same page in
Speaker 1: terms of, hey, this is how I like to be
Speaker 1: spoken to or how I want to make adjustments and
Speaker 1: how I understand hitting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4: I think last year he scared some guys with some
Speaker 4: bourbons who's using so this the spring, you know, he
Speaker 4: was asking everybody how how they like to be talked to,
Speaker 4: and you know it was kind of like a girlfriend relationship,
Speaker 4: But he was like, how do you communicate with this
Speaker 4: sort of stuff and what do you what do you
Speaker 4: want to hear from me? And you know, I told
Speaker 4: him I liked and you know he's been good so
Speaker 4: far this year.
Speaker 1: How are those hitting meetings going into each game? Like,
Speaker 1: what's the game prep? Obviously you're looking at what the
Speaker 1: starting pitch areas, what the arsenal is, but what's really
Speaker 1: the deep dive in terms of prep when you're going
Speaker 1: to approaching your at bats.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just seeing what guys throw and where they like
Speaker 4: to throw it, what counts and you know what, what
Speaker 4: kind of action the pitches have and just taking that
Speaker 4: all into account and then you know, digesting a plan
Speaker 4: out of that.
Speaker 3: So, how do you guys feel as a team right now?
Speaker 1: Obviously going through a little bit of a rough stretch
Speaker 1: here after the All Star Break.
Speaker 3: Got off to a hot start.
Speaker 1: In Cleveland, but hit a little bit of a lull.
Speaker 1: How do you guys fight through this in order to
Speaker 1: get back on track.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, we're just stick together and you know
Speaker 4: trust that, you know, we've got the guys step up
Speaker 4: and when the moment comes, somebody somebody runs with it
Speaker 4: and then we ride that momentum.
Speaker 2: That's kind of the plan.
Speaker 3: Walk up song this year you went back to some Drake.
Speaker 1: You have some of my favorite walk up songs in
Speaker 1: the team because you're more on like my style.
Speaker 3: Hip hop rap music.
Speaker 1: Do you want to see that change a little bit?
Speaker 1: I feel like we need some more consistency one through nine.
Speaker 3: I'm not feeling the country music. Man.
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but are are you a
Speaker 1: big Drake fan? And then if so, like, how do
Speaker 1: you go about choosing the walk up songs?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I like country music. I could never do it as
Speaker 4: a walker up song, So I'm with you on that one.
Speaker 4: But I'd always been Travis Scott. Yeah, minor League's coming up,
Speaker 4: but that was kind of my thing. And then try
Speaker 4: it out, you know Shebang this year and Jimmy World
Speaker 4: last year the year before. So I'm kind of all
Speaker 4: over the place with Drake. That's kind of where I'm at.
Speaker 1: Start a process we go through, like we bumping it
Speaker 1: in the headphones or in the car to make sure
Speaker 1: that it's gonna sound good over those speakers, or it's
Speaker 1: more just like a vibe vive check for you.
Speaker 4: No, it's it's months in advance, thinking about it at
Speaker 4: all all hours of the night, because I mean it's important,
Speaker 4: you know, lighten up to play.
Speaker 2: You gotta you gotta feel something.
Speaker 1: So going back, let's talk a little bit about just
Speaker 1: being in Pittsburg.
Speaker 3: You've been in the city for a little bit.
Speaker 1: Any favorite spots around town, whether it's like a coffee
Speaker 1: or a restaurant that you like to go visit, keep
Speaker 1: yourself kind of even keeled throughout the year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a big strip guy, so the strip disher,
Speaker 4: the noise is good, Pamelas for breakfast, what else, Ben
Speaker 4: Kelly was a couple of times.
Speaker 3: Good spot if you can get in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much anywhere in the strip though, I mean,
Speaker 2: is that's a good restaurant.
Speaker 3: Coffee spots, coffee.
Speaker 2: Not a huge coffee. You got it?
Speaker 3: Okay, gotcha? Gotch.
Speaker 1: You what about anything that you want to see from
Speaker 1: this team or that you expect from yourself, or goals
Speaker 1: that you set moving forward for the rest.
Speaker 2: Of the year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we need to start winning games, and
Speaker 4: we need to start today. So that's that's kind of
Speaker 4: the goal.
Speaker 3: I love that, man. Well appreciate you joining the show.
Speaker 3: Best of luck tonight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 3: At the parents came, they let me run the base.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my time is like my money because I can't.
Speaker 3: Afford to waste. Uh. Wifey is a lawyer. Take my
Speaker 3: date to my dates or the stick by the blazing
Speaker 3: it