WEBVTT - itting Gameplan for 2026 Draftees with White Sox Director of Hitting Ryan Fuller 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.720 Howard, my dad was tebowed by an utility vehicle and 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:06.640 isn't surgery. Now what should I do? 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.760 I'm sorry to hear about that. It's really great that 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:11.680 you're getting him the medical care and treatment that he 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:14.480 needs right now. These are three important things that I 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.200 think you need to know. Injuries are unexpected and turn 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.319 lives upside down. I'm Howard Ankin, and I'm here to 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:22.080 help if you are a loved one. I have been 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.040 heard at work for in a car truck to write 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.480 your accident called three one two six million injury law 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:29.680 made personal. That's aken law. 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:48.520 From your favorite source for Chicago White Sox Talk, delivering news, interviews, 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:53.120 analysis and more. This is The Sox Machine Podcast with 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.440 your hosts Jim Margolis, James Vegan, and Josh Nelson. 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:01.320 Hey, White Sox director, you're hitting Ryan Puller, who was 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.920 in Arizona, as are most of the recent twenty twenty 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.520 six White Sox draftees. I know you just said that 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.520 it's better to talk about now than at the draft, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.160 but let's rewind to the draft just as kind of 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.200 for the sake of like an intro. Like you get 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.200 referenced a lot by Mike Shirley. When we're doing these calls, 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.479 can you kind of describe like what type of where 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:26.520 you try to fit in role wise between like making 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.280 your own evaluations, providing view of like how these guys 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.119 might develop, you know, trying to facilitate scouts, Like I 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:37.160 imagine it's like a lot of different you know, complexities 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.240 or competencies that you're trying to apply here and not 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:42.920 necessarily like, hey, I like this guy, so when yours 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:44.480 kind of how you how would you describe it? 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.680 Yeah? Man, I love the draft. It's one of the 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.960 most comprehensive but fun parts of the year. And it 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.279 really starts months before we get to that room where 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.800 Matt Grabowski, our R and D team is going through 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.200 sending names my way, and what I'll then do is 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.000 try not to read any reports about them, look at 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.520 the swings, all the information we have, and I'll go 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.520 through kind of make my own notes of what I see, 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:13.960 what we could work on based off their skill set, 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.360 and then all kind of go through and rank the 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.520 guys without knowing outside what people are ranking them as, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.840 and then go through filter it with what our scouts 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.400 are seeing, go through all the reports, and then kind 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.880 of make my tiers of the guys that we want 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.520 to go after, and from there really good conversations with 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:36.160 any everybody who's seen them before, but suls our scouts, 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.359 they do such a good job of preffing these guys 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.760 out ahead of time to make sure that we're not 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.720 going through just numbers on numbers. It's really targeted the 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.360 guys we want to attract and then go after. And 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.520 then once we get in the room for draft week, 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.919 it's a ton of fun to debate, go through what 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.720 the scouts have seen, what we may be missing from 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.639 the information we have, and then we get into the 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:59.919 room whittle it down to the guys we really want 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:02.359 to target, and then you see how it unfolds and 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:03.160 it's a ton of fun. 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.160 What makes it fun for someone like you? It seems 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.080 like it could be, you know, enormously stressful. Something scouts 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.600 evaluate themselves their entire year based off how three days go. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:17.840 What wom makes it enjoyable? 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.680 And you want to be incredibly respectful of what the 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.360 scouts do. This is years upon years. A lot of 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.240 these scouts have relationships with these guys dating back to 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.600 when they were in middle school, freshmen in high school, 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.560 so making sure that you're getting the full picture. But 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:35.720 what's so fun is at the end of the day, 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.640 we get to bring in twelve hitters to our organization 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.360 to make it even better. So really want to be 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.680 diligent about who we target and then try and go 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.520 after to make sure that they're lining up with the 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.400 values we have and the people we want to bring 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.800 into So not just the skill sets, but also we've 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.600 talked about the culture that Will has created, the type 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:58.720 of guys that gets you in the front office go after. 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:00.280 We want to make sure that they're going to come 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.880 in and fit the type of people we want to attract. 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.320 So more than anything else, you get to look at 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.840 these are really skillful players that we get to bring 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.280 in the organization and just continue to rise that tide. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.880 Maybe this winds up bleeding into your anecdotes, but you know, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.839 at least for you know, the top candidates, with the 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.719 three candidates for the top pick, you know, with the chelawski, Emerson, 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.800 and Lackey, you know, you're able to kind of bring 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.400 them in to the you know, stadium for workouts, assessments 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:29.120 and also just like other you know, targets, you have 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.919 what sort of measurements whether it's like maybe something qualitative 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.599 you're looking for in those instances or objective stuff. Do 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.320 you really try to like value a lot or really 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.159 key in on you know, when you have a chance, 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:42.880 like have these guys you know in houses targets before it. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.719 The beautiful part of the draft each year is the 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:50.880 information that not trust the White Sox are collecting, but 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.200 when guys go to the combine and you're able to 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.359 get Hawkeye data, so the information that we have to 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:00.000 make really intelligent decisions off of is just totally different 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.920 than what it was in the past. Or rather than 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.080 looking at a swing and saying, nah, there might be 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:08.040 bat speed, we're now able to know exactly what percentile 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.520 they're going to be in in college, what's that relative 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.360 to the big league. So we're making much better, more 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.920 informed decisions. But each workout that guys come to rate 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.440 Field is a little bit different. So Rock was more 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.880 of sitting down at launch the conversation we have with 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.880 him rather than the workout. But other guys, Land and 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.400 Tony last year we had them for a workout at 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.960 rate We're able to collect all the information using Hawkeye, 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:36.200 so we're able to literally get every piece of information 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.400 from the on field workouts, and that's been an unbelievable 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:41.440 resource the last two years for us to have and 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.040 make really good decisions off of. But yeah, the Von 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:50.000 Lackey unbelievable, Grady Emerson, the type of interview he gave 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.440 an Arizona at the combine. These guys, all three of 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.440 them quality quality people who are going to be really 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:57.880 good big leaguers. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.880 So there's that awesome you know, Jesse Rodgers, P's and 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.400 ESPN about kind of your guys process and you know 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.120 how it kind of went down to the wire, just 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.479 you know, from your suspective, well and how close a 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.600 bit was a call at top one or how much 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:14.479 you know, how close were they kind of all bunched 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:16.920 together and what ultimately kind of was you know, some 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.279 separating skills that you know, Rock brought to the table 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.279 for you that really, you know, is kind of top 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:22.679 of mind. 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:27.560 Extremely difficult decision, and you look back just that history 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.400 of the college guy versus the high school guy and 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.479 how it's played out over the years, and obviously each 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.359 decision is going to be a little bit different, but 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:37.680 you want to make sure that you're looking at the 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:39.479 high school guy the right way. You're looking at the 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.520 college guy. Okay, what's it going to look like in 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.960 three years if it were Apple's taples here? But more 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.720 than anything else, trying to treat it as both these 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.480 guys are incredibly talented, what do we think we can 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.600 do with them? And the thing we talked about, especially 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.800 on the hitting side, is there's a training age for 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.599 each guy. So one hitter maybe twenty one, another guy 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.800 might be eighteen. But when it comes to how much 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.040 they've trained, how much information they have, what adjustments are 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.760 they able to make. We really thought that Rock had 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.520 so much upside where it's obviously he's been one of 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.640 the best college performers there has been, but we felt 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.240 like talking with him, like, man, there's a lot more 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.840 that we could build on with Rock here. So we 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.360 felt like although he was older age wise, the training 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.600 age was a little bit lower in the resources that 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.160 were able to provide for him, give him a little 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.200 bit more feedback, target an instruction. We feel like the 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.080 sky is really the limit for him and he already 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:37.240 has a really high floor. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.720 Tod Father, are you hitting some games this summer? What's 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:41.040 the deal? 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.080 Of course? And it's real simple. Scottie Braun. You know 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:46.640 how it is. You go to seat geek and you 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.720 can find any deal you want in any section you want, 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:51.920 even if the game sold out. Go to seat geek 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.080 and you'll find something that you love, affordable for your 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.360 family that you can enjoy anywhere, anytime, at any ballpark 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.840 in stadium you want enjoy it. It's the best opportunity 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.920 to go to a beautiful game of baseball. 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.680 And that's the thing that you can be so last minute. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.120 Sea Geek is the official ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball. 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.560 They have you covered for all of your baseball ticket 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.120 needs the entire summer. They also have over seventy thousand 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.920 events on sea Geek that includes concerts, festivals, all kinds 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.520 of sporting events. So go check it out right now. FTFAM. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.200 The code is Territory ten for ten percent off your 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.560 next set of MLB tickets at se geek. That's ten 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.559 percent off with promo code Territory one zero. Make sure 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.679 you click the link in the description to download the app, 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.320 and then the code automatically is added to your account 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:38.280 so you can use it later. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.559 So I think it's I was equipping about it a 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:45.079 little bit, and I think it's a lot of it's 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.079 kind of reflective, like maybe the age of like how 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:49.839 paramount player development is now and how essential we think 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.319 of it as you know, whenever you're acquiring anybody trade 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:54.600 or a draft, it's like, well, what is the plan 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:56.880 of the or for him? But it did strike me, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:58.920 I have I've never covered one one before, but this 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.400 seems like probably more than past years of how much 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.480 you hear we can get this guy better on the 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.680 day one coming in as opposed to like this is 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.760 a finished product. This is you know, how quick he's 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.800 going to get the majors. It's something certainly it's been 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.640 tagged to Rock as well. So what was kind of 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.240 what's kind of what you really like when you talk 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:18.959 about like we really think there's a lot upside. What's 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.160 kind of the tools that are present here that you 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:23.400 know you really like, you know right off the bat, 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.560 but also kind of where you see that there's a 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:26.840 lot of runway for him to get better. 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.920 It's a huge credit to Getsy for getting Rock to 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.000 Chicago for that visit too, that's been well publicized now, 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:37.400 but for him to spend a ton of time with Chris, 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.400 which Josh Barfield with myself getting launch and then getting 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.600 to talk with him asking him, how do you train, 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.120 what resources have you had, who are the people you 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:48.559 really rely on in your life when it comes to hitting. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:53.640 So got a really good idea of what he valued, 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.120 what we could do, and then talk about it together. 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.120 So that's the really cool part when we were sitting 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:01.200 down of like, let's throw it out there. Here's what 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.000 we see, and especially what we talked about a lot 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.360 is okay, people are going to talk about mechanics. We 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.400 feel confident that just from the training we do, different 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.760 positions we could put you in, that stuff is going 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.880 to clean up on its own with a lot of 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.800 the guys that we have acquired or drafted. Putting a 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:21.360 plan in place, that stuff kind of irons itself out. 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.480 But more than anything, the thing we talked about with 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.080 him is the before two strikes. And with two strikes, 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.600 a lot of college guys have that two strike position 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.560 they'll get into and they don't know that literally half 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.160 they're at bats is going to be in two strike counts. 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.480 So making sure that looked at the numbers, here's what 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.160 we saw before two strikes. Like most hitters, those are 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.240 the most productive spots in terms accounts and then with 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.160 two strikes here where you were at and it was 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.480 probably lower than he thought he was. So rather than 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.080 going pre two k and then with two strikes a 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:59.000 whole different setup loading pattern, let's just go before two 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.320 strikes and that is your swing. We want you taking 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.720 it before two strikes, with two strikes and then, more 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.320 than anything else, just talking about approach with rock. Okay, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:09.800 here's what they're going to try and do to you. 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.360 Here's what they did at the end of the year. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:13.720 How do we keep it in a spot where do 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.559 the pitches have to start for you to then maximize 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.080 the spots you do damage on. So more than anything else, 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.000 it's the same plan we talk about with guys. Put 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:26.440 a plan in place for you to move efficiently, approach 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.320 that maximizes where you do damage and lets you take 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.840 the spots you need to and then let's go train it. 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.760 And it's been awesome even this past week in Charlotte 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.320 for four days and now in Arizona, putting that plan 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.120 into place and you see really good progress already. 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:43.440 What jumps out of you and seeing him kind of 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:44.079 put that in place. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.560 He is all these guys at draft camp, how quickly 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.800 they're able to make adjustments, and to their credit, we've 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.800 kind of thrown them in the deep end here. So 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.280 rather than Okay, we're going to spend draft camp getting 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.800 to know you, we spend a lot of time watching 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:03.640 a ton of video collecting hawkeye information. So when they 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:05.880 came here, they got a card and it was here's 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:07.960 your plan. Here are the drills we want to see. 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.120 Give us feedback as we go through, and we talk 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.880 about leveling up. So they go through their flips, their darts, 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.240 and then it's okay, after fifteen minutes, we're going to 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.439 do something very challenging and let's see where it breaks down. 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:22.800 And these guys have been awesome, but like all the 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.880 guys here rock you give a quick fix. Okay, here's 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.319 why that happened, here's the adjustments to make, and boom, 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.640 he's able to make those adjustments really quickly. And the 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.600 big league guys, we call it calibrating, like we always 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.040 want to be calibrating in here, constantly calibrating, like the 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.280 game is going to have you make adjustments constantly. So 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:43.760 that's the thing we got to be able to do. 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:51.320 There's I feel like a line of like baseball hardcore 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.240 data argument that like all two strike approaches aren't worth it, 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.839 that the diminished amount of impact isn't worth the improved contact. 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.160 I imagine you are less maybe extremist, but you know 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:06.480 also are probably aware of kind of like that those 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.960 type of uh, you know, what's data studies that have 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.800 been done or stuff like that. Are you more if 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:17.920 it's case by case, are you more? Maybe it's less 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.920 making physical adjustments that dampen the impact your swing and 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.640 more about approach adjustments that you can kind of do 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:25.520 to get what you were trying to get out of 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.080 a two strike approach without less than an impact. What's 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.520 what's your overwriting philosophy on you know, two strike approach 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.680 which probably you know has a lot of exceptions because 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.600 you individualize everything exactly. 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:39.440 Yeah, each case is going to be different, but you 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:42.800 alluded to it perfectly. It's not just one thing, right. 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:44.600 There's a lot of options we have when it comes 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.920 to two strikes. A lot of guys will just go 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.240 to the physical one, where it's takeaway movement, widen out, 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.840 understand the idea there. For the guys who do do that, 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.400 we say, if that is fifty percent of your plate 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:59.120 appearances with two strikes you need to be training at 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.560 fifty percent of the time too, And usually there's a 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.520 disconnect there where they take their normal pre two k 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:08.120 swing ninety nine percent of the time in the cage 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.720 and then when it comes game time in the most 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.480 pressure situation with two strikes, when you're back is up 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.400 against the wall anyways, then they're testing it out. So 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.640 we want to make sure if it is a physical adjustment, 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:21.920 we're stress testing it and training. But more than anything else, 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.960 what we talk about with the guys is before two strikes, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.680 that's plan A. That is, when we are on the hunt, 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:29.720 we are looking to get a pitch over the middle 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.280 to hit hard on a line. But when we do 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.200 get to two strikes, and that's going to happen at 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.880 least forty to fifty sixty percent of the time, we 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.360 want to make sure that those adjustments are present. So 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.480 now it could be the thought of let the ball 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.520 travel a little bit deeper. Our ball flight rather than 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.840 high through the gaps is going to be now lower, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.120 we're able to have more barrel control. So for each guy, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.080 it's a conversation of is it a physical adjustment is 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.040 a mental adjustment? Approach? And then being able to stress 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.240 testing and training is what we want to do before 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.040 we get out into the game, and it's a two 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.000 strike count where we're trying to do something new. 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:07.880 So we talked earlier this year about Cale Vannomer and 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.080 about how this year is kind of interesting for him 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.840 because I haven't looked at the numbers recently, but he's 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.120 getting like thrown more sliders in fastballs. He's basically being 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.280 pitched like he's a you know, a middle of the 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:21.440 order major leaguer in a playoff series almost, And if 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.840 he was a draft prospect, he'd probably be like, oh, 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.240 the contacts really backed up this year after like his 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.840 breakout season. So in that context, how did you kind 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.840 of view Rock's junior year versus sophomore year, Because obviously 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.040 he has the great sophomore season and everyone kind of 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:38.960 pegs him as a number one overall prospect, and then 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.560 the junior numbers are extremely good, but they don't they're 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.800 not quite as good as the previous year. But he's 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.600 obviously getting pitched like a guy who just was to 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.440 look like the best player in the country year before. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.720 How did you what were your takeaways from, you know, 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.840 viewing those years side by side, and you know, maybe 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:58.360 with the view of the player that you came out 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:02.920 with as a result. 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:05.400 You said it really well, like still an unbelievable year 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.040 that he put together. And obviously it would be amazing 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.800 if every year year one is better than your two 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.240 when you just keep stacking. But obviously, like there's learning 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.080 that it's going on, and for all these guys, it's 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.680 new pitchers that you're facing, more travel, just a lot 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.280 of new things are thrown at you, and we want 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.440 these guys to be able to make adjustments. But the 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.280 cool part, and especially when you look at like Caleb 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:34.000 Bonnamer last year at a lower level, he did show 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.160 really great contact skills. He's moving up levels, he's being 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.520 pitched two differently where we see that comes down, but man, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.640 another skill shines even more with that damage this year 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.680 where he's able to hit balls incredibly hard on a line. 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:52.240 So we have obviously, James, we've talked about decisions, contact damage. 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.400 Each guy has a different flavor. Most big leaguers have 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:59.040 two out of three above average skills. So making sure 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.360 that we see with these guys and Rock obviously shows 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.960 like really strong decision making. You see, Okay does have 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.320 the ability of when they throw it in the zone 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.879 over the middle, puts the ball forward and hits it 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.800 really hard on a line. So looking at those years, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.760 rather than just looking at the raw numbers, being able 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:19.560 to look at the skills and seeing how they held 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.639 up to And obviously he's going to be one to one. 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.120 Everybody's going to know him as he goes through. He's 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.080 going to be pitched to a little bit differently, kind 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.320 of what Bonhamer is going through now that he's a 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.399 top prospect hitting over twenty home runs right now at 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.600 this point of the year. So again, helping them understand 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.159 it's a two zero count, You're probably not going to 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.320 get a fastball right down the middle. How do we 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.560 prepare for that and still stay in our zone. So, 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.600 more than anything else, that's a fun part of these 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.600 guys learning and helping them make adjustments. 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.360 He obviously faced a lot of like try to bust 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:53.080 him in his hand, like not let him get his 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.960 arms extended. You know, as a junior year, what kind 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.160 of adjustability do you see in the swing that gives 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.560 you kind of optimism of him to kind of getting 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.080 better at handling that as he progresses. 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.880 Man, everybody talked about, you know the arm bar that's there, 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.119 feel really good about where he is. The really cool 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.120 part that Rock has is a lot of guys who 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.200 do have arm bars that are it's detrimental to them 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.119 because the arm stays stuck back. But what Rock is 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.520 so good He's able to have some lead arm adjustability 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.399 to suck the hands in when the ball is running 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.880 out of space inside. But then he also has length 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.800 to stay through. But more than anything else, you see 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.360 a guy who's at his best turning the bat from 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.840 back of the zone and it stays through the zone 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.720 all the way through. And we've talked about the home 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.480 run he hit at Globe Life too. We had hawkeye 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.080 from that too, and we're able to kind of put 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.520 skeletal overlays of here's a really good swing and he's 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.159 looking at it like, man, that's one of my favorite swings. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.879 So we already had kind of a swing signature of 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:54.880 what it looked like when he thought he was at 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.400 his best, which was really cool. And then to show 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.120 him like here are the things that we really value. 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.520 You're able to do this consistently, get into those spots man, 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.600 like the rest takes care of it. So so more 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.200 than anything else, they're going to try the four quadrants, 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.840 the ride fastballs at the top of the zone, death 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.359 breaking balls down, and then two seam running in, sweepers 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.440 running away, and more than anything, making sure that they're 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.359 starting in spots that you can handle and with rock 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:23.960 they'll go inside a little bit and then try and 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:26.159 pull you off the plate later. Making sure you have 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:27.920 a plan going in because we're not going to be 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:28.920 able to cover everything. 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.960 Howard, my Land was keypoing by an utility vehicle on 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:34.160 the surgery. 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:35.959