Speaker 1: Joining us now on Bucco Banter is newly acquired Piri
Speaker 1: infielder Jacob Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: Jacob, welcome to the show Man.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: What's it been like so far adjusting to a new team.
Speaker 3: It's been kind of crazy because show up in the
Speaker 3: middle of a doubleheader, meet the guys in the in
Speaker 3: the win line, giving high fives, right, and then just
Speaker 3: playing two games.
Speaker 4: I mean I didn't.
Speaker 3: I only got into the second game, but then going
Speaker 3: on break, so then I trying to remember everyone's name
Speaker 3: while I'm gone for three days, four days, and then
Speaker 3: coming back and now we're in it again and excited
Speaker 3: to play.
Speaker 5: Jacob, let's take it back to college twenty twenty two
Speaker 5: College World Series. That was awesome getting to experience that.
Speaker 5: How did coach Bianco and ole miss prepare you for
Speaker 5: pro ball?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean they What really prepared me for pro ball
Speaker 3: was not knowing anything until the night before. I didn't.
Speaker 3: I thought it was bad in college until I got
Speaker 3: into pro ball.
Speaker 4: You really don't know anything when you're.
Speaker 3: Here until right before. But it was good, like he
Speaker 3: prepared us, like practices, games like I mean, I definitely
Speaker 3: felt more prepared coming from college than I did coming
Speaker 3: out of high.
Speaker 2: School any trash hocke yet with mangum uh.
Speaker 3: He said, he said, he forgives me.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, well what's it?
Speaker 1: What was the journey, like, I mean from getting drafted
Speaker 1: to debuting this year, talk about the adjustments that you
Speaker 1: had to make and what you've learned overall in your
Speaker 1: pro ball journey so far.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So my first two four years pro ball, I
Speaker 3: wasn't the best. I put in like below average seasons,
Speaker 3: but I was the whole time. I was trying to
Speaker 3: figure out like I set up in my swing and
Speaker 3: like lining my body up is coming out of college.
Speaker 3: I was when I wouldstride outstride and then my hips
Speaker 3: would go towards the space dug out before I started swinging.
Speaker 3: So I was losing space and I was disconnected. So
Speaker 3: for two years I was trying to figure it out.
Speaker 3: And the last week of the season in twenty five
Speaker 3: so last year, I my dad had been telling me
Speaker 3: to start trying to stride closed.
Speaker 4: Maybe it'll line me up. And I was like, I.
Speaker 3: Can't strike close, like I'm going to strike towards the ball,
Speaker 3: Like that's not normal. And he showed me videos with
Speaker 3: like Alec Thomas and Corbett Carrol and he had been
Speaker 3: telling me to do this like since the beginning of
Speaker 3: the year. Last week of the season, I was like.
Speaker 4: Fine, I'll try it. Like I'm already not doing.
Speaker 3: The best, might as well try something. And it was
Speaker 3: like a light bulb moment for us. And so once
Speaker 3: I started closed, my hips like were almost like were
Speaker 3: better than it's ever been without doing anything other than
Speaker 3: stepping just barely closed, and my hips were able to
Speaker 3: turn correctly. So they really made the off season more free.
Speaker 3: Rather than trying to figure something out, we had it
Speaker 3: like kind of figured out, and then we were just
Speaker 3: I was able to just work on other things. So
Speaker 3: and then coming into the off season are coming into
Speaker 3: screen training and getting with the White Sauce guys and
Speaker 3: having the conversation of like what I want they want,
Speaker 3: mixing them and getting to where we're at now.
Speaker 5: Going back to the day of the trade, you you
Speaker 5: got taken out of a triple A game in Charlotte.
Speaker 5: I actually called him at the moment I saw on Twitter.
Speaker 5: I was like, I think we're gonna get Jacob Gonzalez
Speaker 5: because the talk about trigging that thirty fourth pick was
Speaker 5: ramping up, especially the day before the draft. But talk
Speaker 5: about the emotions hearing that you got traded. What was
Speaker 5: going through the mind at that time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it was a crazy day. I got
Speaker 3: options the day before and I had asked to get
Speaker 3: back to playing over the weekend before the break and
Speaker 3: triple A so flew back. Then I landed at midnight,
Speaker 3: woke up, did a normal day, started getting ready for
Speaker 3: the game, played three two and a half innings, and
Speaker 3: get pulled and they pointed at me and I had
Speaker 3: to like, turn around, make sure he's playing that.
Speaker 2: Guy behind you, Like are you sure?
Speaker 3: So then I ran off, thinking someone got hurt, because
Speaker 3: that's the only way you can go back up. I
Speaker 3: didn't even think trade. And I get in the locker
Speaker 3: room and our and our trainers like, hey, just stay
Speaker 3: by your phone. I'm like, oh, so something's happening, not
Speaker 3: someone didn't get hurt. I mean, it was pretty crazy.
Speaker 3: I sat in the locker room for like two and
Speaker 3: a half hours before I got told I was traded,
Speaker 3: So just wondering, Yeah, just sitting there talking in the details, Yeah,
Speaker 3: just watching our game, watching the White Sox game, and
Speaker 3: just talking with whoever was passing through the clubhouse and
Speaker 3: then I got told and it was cool. It's cool.
Speaker 3: It's a cool feeling to be like feel be wondered
Speaker 3: that guys, so, and I was just excited once I
Speaker 3: found out.
Speaker 1: What's been the initial conversations with either Ben Charing, Dane
Speaker 1: or Donny Kelly anyone on the staff about your role
Speaker 1: that you're playing with the Pirates.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think any into the spot, I
Speaker 3: could play for.
Speaker 4: Anyone the break.
Speaker 3: I'm not really sure on the roll, but I'm just
Speaker 3: here to try to help us win.
Speaker 5: Speaking of that, I mean you spent time all over
Speaker 5: the infielder zero space that you feel most comfortable.
Speaker 3: At, Yeah, for sure, shortstop and then the middle. But
Speaker 3: I mean I got to play thirty some games at
Speaker 3: first base this year, so I mean I would say
Speaker 3: all four are pretty good.
Speaker 1: Going back to your swing in the approach, what are
Speaker 1: you looking for on a day to day basis? Are
Speaker 1: you going into analytics and game tape on opposing pictures?
Speaker 1: Is it more of a feel thing for you?
Speaker 3: Walk us through that, like are you saying my swing
Speaker 3: or like like your approach? Oh? Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 3: do my routine to just get to feel what I
Speaker 3: want to feel. And then in the game, I don't
Speaker 3: think about anything other than like, all right, it's mostly
Speaker 3: beyond time for the fastball and just compete up there?
Speaker 1: Does the stride itself, like when you're closed off, allow
Speaker 1: you to stay through the zone a little bit longer
Speaker 1: and create more space?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: So how the best example is when I strike close
Speaker 3: my hips turned correctly. When I was striking.
Speaker 4: Normal, I would go this, my butt would.
Speaker 3: Come this way, and then I would turn, so I'd
Speaker 3: be losing connection. So like instead of being here, i'd
Speaker 3: be here, so I lose connection. So I don't know,
Speaker 3: just worked and I have been stopped.
Speaker 5: Since every prospecting young player faces adversity at some point
Speaker 5: in your career, you talked about facing it earlier on
Speaker 5: how important is the mental side of the game to you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the bet the The thing for me
Speaker 3: with the two years of struggling was like I would
Speaker 3: show flashes of doing like like good while not doing good,
Speaker 3: like I never felt good in the like I felt
Speaker 3: good in the box, but like I never felt like
Speaker 3: this was it but like so, and then I would
Speaker 3: should like do good with it. Then it would stop
Speaker 3: doing good, and so I mean, I just look at
Speaker 3: it like, if those are my bad years, then it's
Speaker 3: probably a good thing because it like it's some people's
Speaker 3: like good years.
Speaker 1: And so what are What's some stuff that pirates fans
Speaker 1: can learn about you? Any hobbies off the field, stuff
Speaker 1: you do on your off days.
Speaker 3: Hang out with my wife, play video games?
Speaker 2: What are you playing?
Speaker 3: College football? Okay?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Who are you running with? Just little alma mater?
Speaker 3: Oh no, that's too easy. I'll go right now. In
Speaker 3: college football twenty seven? I got Eastern Michigan rebuild.
Speaker 5: Oh are you the coach?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 5: Okay, I love that. Are we upset with Lane Kiffin?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 3: I mean he wanted to leave.
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't blame like, not that I don't blame it,
Speaker 3: but like if he doesn't want to be here, then
Speaker 3: he's fine.
Speaker 4: Go like, yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 3: I don't. I'm not too worried about it, Jacob.
Speaker 5: Last question for me, how exciting is it to join
Speaker 5: this organization that's building around the young core you could
Speaker 5: that you can add to like a Connor Griffin.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean this it's a cool, cool team to
Speaker 3: join right now. There, It's definitely a cool situation coming
Speaker 3: from the previous years to now and we're in a
Speaker 3: we're in a good spot to make a run out
Speaker 3: of this thing.
Speaker 2: What's the walkout song this year?
Speaker 3: I got Can't Tell It All by OV and I
Speaker 3: think it's like lacree.
Speaker 2: Okay, gotcha?
Speaker 1: Is there a process you go through like bumping it
Speaker 1: in the car through the offseason thinking about it?
Speaker 3: My wife picked it for me last year and I've
Speaker 3: just been running with this since.
Speaker 6: Beth Seats had the parents getting let me run the base. Yeah,
Speaker 6: my time is like my money because I can't afford
Speaker 6: to waste. Oh why see? Is alloyan to my date?
Speaker 6: To my dates? Or the stick by the plate City