1
00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:09,840
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome into another edition of Crush City Territory.

2
00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,480
Speaker 1: I'm chandeler Rome, joined as always by Tyler Stafford, and

3
00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,439
Speaker 1: today a very special guest, new Astros assistant Major League

4
00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,720
Speaker 1: pitching coach Ethan Katz. Ethan, I know you're in snowy

5
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 1: Chicago right now, but I hope you're staying warm. How

6
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,279
Speaker 1: are you and thanks for being here?

7
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:25,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm great.

8
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. It's uh, yeah, it's kind of

9
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,480
Speaker 3: cold out here, but we're making most of it.

10
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,080
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are eager to get

11
00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:38,800
Speaker 1: to know you, eager to get to kind of put

12
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,160
Speaker 1: a face to a name. You're a name that's been

13
00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,680
Speaker 1: in baseball for a while now. A lot of people

14
00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,559
Speaker 1: know about you, but maybe haven't heard a ton from you,

15
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,080
Speaker 1: and especially Astras fans certainly want to put a face

16
00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:51,680
Speaker 1: to a name. Can you just kind of give us

17
00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,920
Speaker 1: a little bit of background of how this offseason has

18
00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,720
Speaker 1: been for you and kind of how this opportunity with

19
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,640
Speaker 1: the Astros came about and what intrigued you about coming

20
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:01,080
Speaker 1: to Houston.

21
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the you know, the off season was

22
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,160
Speaker 3: kind of care I talked to a bunch of teams

23
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,200
Speaker 3: and you know, Joe reached out one night I was

24
00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,040
Speaker 3: cooking dinner, reached back out and he wanted to give

25
00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,319
Speaker 3: me out to Houston and got a chance to meet everybody,

26
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:19,000
Speaker 3: which was great.

27
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,039
Speaker 2: It was a really good experience for.

28
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,200
Speaker 3: Me when trying to make it a really you know,

29
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 3: tough decision for me in my future, but getting to

30
00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,919
Speaker 3: meet everybody from Joe, Josh, Dana, like, it was great

31
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,680
Speaker 3: and I really got to see kind of like, you know,

32
00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 3: the inner workings upstairs and how everybody communicates well along

33
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:42,400
Speaker 3: with you know, interviewing with you know, eight various panels.

34
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 3: So it was really good from my standpoint just to

35
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,160
Speaker 3: kind of get to see the organization, understand the organization.

36
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,640
Speaker 3: It's much better than doing a zoom and you know,

37
00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 3: obviously that's part of the process doing that, but like

38
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,320
Speaker 3: when you get to meet somebody face to face and

39
00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,560
Speaker 3: talk to it, it really was like, this is a

40
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,280
Speaker 3: great place. And it really wasn't on my my Ingo

41
00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,400
Speaker 3: card because I know the astros of Ventorisi done great

42
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,840
Speaker 3: job developing pitchers and you know, the people within, They've

43
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,280
Speaker 3: always kind of promoted from within, So it wasn't something

44
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,799
Speaker 3: that I really thought that that was an option or

45
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,800
Speaker 3: opportunity really and then when when they called, it was like,

46
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 3: this is this could be a great opportunity for me,

47
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,040
Speaker 3: and you know, obviously this is where I'm at.

48
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,080
Speaker 2: So I'm very excited.

49
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,400
Speaker 4: I know, with any sort of coaching or you know,

50
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,760
Speaker 4: things like that, there's a line of industry secrets that

51
00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,480
Speaker 4: we we don't want to let out. But do you

52
00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,520
Speaker 4: do you have a sense of what made you so

53
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,959
Speaker 4: valuable to Joe, Like what what is it about you

54
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,840
Speaker 4: or your coaching style that you think you bring to

55
00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,239
Speaker 4: the Astros that they were looking for?

56
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,800
Speaker 3: Well, I know, you know one thing that you know, a

57
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,040
Speaker 3: lot of teams do. They do a lot of homework, right, like,

58
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 3: so they talked to various players, front offices, coaches, So

59
00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:01,880
Speaker 3: I think they got to learn a lot about me

60
00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,200
Speaker 3: before I even walked into the building and got to

61
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,360
Speaker 3: talk to them. So I think they got you know,

62
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,680
Speaker 3: they had to hear about how I connect really well

63
00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,880
Speaker 3: with players, like all the different aspects I've been able

64
00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,560
Speaker 3: to really help players while connecting with them. So I

65
00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:17,919
Speaker 3: think that really was probably something that was very intriguing.

66
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,240
Speaker 3: That's something that's been you know, I'm very blessed that

67
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:23,919
Speaker 3: a lot of people have talked well about me in.

68
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,120
Speaker 2: This game, and players have vowed for me.

69
00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,880
Speaker 3: So I think that was like a starting point, right, So,

70
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:30,560
Speaker 3: like they kind of had an idea about what I

71
00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:32,680
Speaker 3: was about how I go about my business every day.

72
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,400
Speaker 3: So I think that that really helped me getting the

73
00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 3: opportunity to talk to the Astros.

74
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 1: You have a lengthy list of players that you have

75
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,880
Speaker 1: coach and the players that have really really succeeded under

76
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:48,160
Speaker 1: your watch, and I want to get to those in

77
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,040
Speaker 1: a minute. But something you did say is that you

78
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,000
Speaker 1: talk to a number of teams this offseason. I'm sure

79
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,480
Speaker 1: you were very highly sought after because of the work

80
00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,080
Speaker 1: you did in Chicago. I'm curious what made the Astros

81
00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,840
Speaker 1: the team that of you're talking all these teams. What

82
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,800
Speaker 1: made the Astros the place that you thought? You know,

83
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,440
Speaker 1: all right, these other teams are great and all, but

84
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:11,080
Speaker 1: I want to be.

85
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:16,040
Speaker 3: Here, well, I mean playing against them in twenty one

86
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 3: in the playoffs. I mean I can't be in to

87
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,760
Speaker 3: join them, right, So it's like it was. It was

88
00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,039
Speaker 3: something that has always been intriguing to me. I've always

89
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:25,760
Speaker 3: like watched them, even in the minor leagues, watching kind

90
00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 3: of the innovation of the astros right, Like I remember

91
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,919
Speaker 3: being in low way and and there's you know, we're

92
00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 3: our guys are hitting, we have they have a shift on.

93
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,719
Speaker 3: We're grounding into double plays when I'm thinking it's a

94
00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,159
Speaker 3: base hit, I'm like, what's going on here? They're just

95
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:40,760
Speaker 3: the head of the curve, right, And it just was

96
00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,159
Speaker 3: really something that for me, it was just kind of

97
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,479
Speaker 3: I wanted to challenge myself a different opportunity, and it was,

98
00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,200
Speaker 3: you know, just everything they've done, they're winning.

99
00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,960
Speaker 2: You know, that's that's important to me. I want to win.

100
00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,120
Speaker 3: I want to be able to see, you know, help

101
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,520
Speaker 3: guys along the way. But also they're they're very good

102
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,160
Speaker 3: pitching development program, which I thought, you know, would be

103
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,760
Speaker 3: exciting for me to kind of get on board and

104
00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:06,360
Speaker 3: trying to help.

105
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,360
Speaker 1: I wonder what your conversations were like with Josh Miller,

106
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: the lead pitch For those that are not listening, those

107
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,560
Speaker 1: that don't know that are listening, Josh Miller, the lead

108
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,200
Speaker 1: pitching coach has been is one of those guys Ethan

109
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,160
Speaker 1: that you mentioned has been in the Ashers organization forever

110
00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,560
Speaker 1: and just worked his way up. He's one of those

111
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,760
Speaker 1: kind of internal promotion guys. That every time somebody left,

112
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: Josh just kept getting going up to hierarchy. I wonder

113
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 1: what you guys's conversations were like during this process and

114
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,880
Speaker 1: whether there's some commonalities in the way you guys view

115
00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:39,640
Speaker 1: pitching and view pitching development.

116
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, me and him

117
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,200
Speaker 3: have kind of a very similar background in a sense

118
00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,880
Speaker 3: of like he's done a lot throughout the system to

119
00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:50,640
Speaker 3: kind of get to where he's at. I've done it

120
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,719
Speaker 3: through various different organizations to get there. But you know,

121
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,760
Speaker 3: we both have pretty much worn every single hat and

122
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,159
Speaker 3: so like. But just like, his personality was very warming

123
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:03,719
Speaker 3: when I talked to him and I was able to

124
00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,360
Speaker 3: kind of talk about what I've done, you talked about

125
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:06,560
Speaker 3: what he did, and it was kind of like, Okay,

126
00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,680
Speaker 3: this really gels really well because you know a lot

127
00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,600
Speaker 3: of things where I've been and sometimes in the minor

128
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,320
Speaker 3: league seing it from a different view, like if the

129
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,720
Speaker 3: cohesiveness of the two that are three nowadays is not there,

130
00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,599
Speaker 3: it really suffers on the field and for the players

131
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:24,000
Speaker 3: as well.

132
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:25,920
Speaker 2: But we really meshed really well.

133
00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:27,840
Speaker 3: I kind of talked a lot about It was more

134
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,880
Speaker 3: obviously I was being interviewed, so kind of explaining.

135
00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,200
Speaker 2: My process and stuff that I did. But we seem

136
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,240
Speaker 2: to really mesh with.

137
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,360
Speaker 3: Everything we've talked about and really looking forward to continuing

138
00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,680
Speaker 3: our conversations and working together with this process.

139
00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 4: When I hear the word mesh, I think there are

140
00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,760
Speaker 4: two possibilities. There's like, we're exactly the same, right, and

141
00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,080
Speaker 4: so we mesh because we do things exactly the same,

142
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:57,800
Speaker 4: we think along the same line, so we just divvy

143
00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,360
Speaker 4: up task. But there's also mesh in the sense of like, well,

144
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,560
Speaker 4: you do these things really well, and I do these

145
00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,360
Speaker 4: things really well, and together we kind of create that.

146
00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 4: Do you have a sense of with y'all sort of

147
00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,160
Speaker 4: I mean, I know it's been a week, but you know,

148
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,920
Speaker 4: do you have a sense of kind of which category

149
00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:17,960
Speaker 4: you would say you guys fall into.

150
00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,920
Speaker 3: I think it's a little early right now, because my

151
00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:22,360
Speaker 3: part of my job is I need to kind of

152
00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,120
Speaker 3: help him out right and kind of figure out what

153
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,440
Speaker 3: he needs and kind of not you know, they talk

154
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,960
Speaker 3: the world about Bilmur I'm taking over for right, and

155
00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:32,520
Speaker 3: so like kind of figure out what did he do

156
00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,600
Speaker 3: to kind of support Josh or how they work together, right,

157
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,920
Speaker 3: So you know, we'll have deeper conversations right now, it's

158
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,600
Speaker 3: just trying to like, hey, let's get you situated with

159
00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,800
Speaker 3: the organization, let's get you your computer, let's kind of

160
00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,240
Speaker 3: get you up and up and running. So we haven't

161
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,560
Speaker 3: had those conversations just yet, but like you know, obviously

162
00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:50,320
Speaker 3: I want to do whatever I can to take things

163
00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,640
Speaker 3: off his plate from my experiences, try to help him

164
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,040
Speaker 3: in any way possible. You know, I do have a

165
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 3: relationship with Bennett Susa, so he got to talk to me.

166
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,600
Speaker 3: We talked yesterday and we were talking a little bit

167
00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,840
Speaker 3: about everything about the Astros, and he talked about Josh

168
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,200
Speaker 3: and how great he is and his personality, and it's

169
00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,320
Speaker 3: like we have it seems like a very similar personality

170
00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,040
Speaker 3: the way he was describing it is how we go

171
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,600
Speaker 3: about our business. So I think from that standpoint, it

172
00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,360
Speaker 3: should be very, very beneficial to the players.

173
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,000
Speaker 1: Was there any part of you that, as you're going

174
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,520
Speaker 1: through this and the ad and Joe calls you, you

175
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,280
Speaker 1: mentioned like you've played against this team for a very

176
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: long time. You've been in the other dugout in the

177
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 1: minor leagues and the major leagues. You have seen how

178
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,640
Speaker 1: they have taken pictures that maybe some other teams couldn't

179
00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,240
Speaker 1: unlock and they have unlocked. Was there any part of

180
00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,920
Speaker 1: you that was just curious as to like how they're

181
00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,960
Speaker 1: doing this and maybe you wanted to to to see,

182
00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,360
Speaker 1: like maybe see under the hood and kind of how

183
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,360
Speaker 1: how this all works. Was there any party that was

184
00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,520
Speaker 1: just curious about how they keep doing this?

185
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:55,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think definitely.

186
00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:57,959
Speaker 3: Right, that's that's kind of like you want to put

187
00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,640
Speaker 3: your put your going to a place where you feel

188
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,359
Speaker 3: like you could help, but also like there's an opportunity

189
00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,520
Speaker 3: to kind of see what is different here, right because

190
00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,320
Speaker 3: I've done it, you know, running it for the White

191
00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,480
Speaker 3: Sox for five years, Like you know, that's you know,

192
00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,280
Speaker 3: now you're getting to go to a different organization and

193
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:12,800
Speaker 3: kind of see what's different. Like when I went from

194
00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,720
Speaker 3: San Francisco to the White Sox, it was a completely

195
00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,960
Speaker 3: different situation just from you know, the infrastructure, how they

196
00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,440
Speaker 3: communicate and stuff like that. So learning a different organization

197
00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,599
Speaker 3: is always new, but it's also exciting too at the

198
00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,640
Speaker 3: same time because it gives you a chance to kind

199
00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:29,280
Speaker 3: of give it an opportunity to kind of grow and

200
00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,679
Speaker 3: kind of spread your wings and try to maximize your

201
00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,760
Speaker 3: coaching talents to help the players even more so it's

202
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,760
Speaker 3: something that I'm looking forward to and kind of seeing, yeah,

203
00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:39,920
Speaker 3: because I mean there's been a lot of successful pitchers,

204
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,640
Speaker 3: There's been a lot of deep playoff runs, and you know,

205
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,199
Speaker 3: being a part of that, I'm excited to see what

206
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:46,959
Speaker 3: goes on to kind of help support that.

207
00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,880
Speaker 4: Real quickie. So I am a former teacher and coach.

208
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,680
Speaker 4: So I do want to talk about high school baseball here?

209
00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,960
Speaker 4: And did you teach it all or were you just coach?

210
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,560
Speaker 2: No? I was just coaching.

211
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,439
Speaker 4: Had they had a full time pitching coach at a

212
00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,120
Speaker 4: high school that didn't have to teach?

213
00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I I honestly fell into coaching by accident.

214
00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 3: I was The intentions were to continue playing, and I

215
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,079
Speaker 3: was playing after I got released from the Rockies, playing

216
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,000
Speaker 3: pin a ball one year.

217
00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:20,520
Speaker 2: I wanted to go back again.

218
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,599
Speaker 3: But I was working out at the school because I

219
00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:25,800
Speaker 3: knew the assistant pitching coach and he was just like, hey,

220
00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:28,960
Speaker 3: do you mind helping some of these pitchers? And I

221
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,280
Speaker 3: was like, sure, no problem, Like I enjoy talking to

222
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,959
Speaker 3: a lot of them. I'll hang out and you know,

223
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,480
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go play. And so they hired me for

224
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,880
Speaker 3: like basically a half of a semester, I guess you

225
00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:44,840
Speaker 3: could say, and then it was like, you know what,

226
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,640
Speaker 3: I really enjoy this, and I just walked away.

227
00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:47,560
Speaker 2: So I didn't.

228
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,320
Speaker 3: I just I came into coaching by accident. So I

229
00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,240
Speaker 3: was like, once I got into coaching, it was like,

230
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,400
Speaker 3: you know, part time job, and then I was doing

231
00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,800
Speaker 3: like club ball, to private lessons, to kind of supplement

232
00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 3: it everything else, and then it just kind of grew

233
00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:03,360
Speaker 3: after that.

234
00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,960
Speaker 4: So when I was coaching, I coached for like five years. Now. Granted, Baytown,

235
00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,880
Speaker 4: Texas is not the hotbed of talent that the greater

236
00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,400
Speaker 4: Los Angeles area is, so I'm aware that we're on

237
00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,440
Speaker 4: a little bit of a different playing field. But in

238
00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,439
Speaker 4: my five years of coaching, I had one kid who

239
00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,920
Speaker 4: went on to play D two college basketball, and that

240
00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:30,760
Speaker 4: kid was so much better than everyone else in seventh

241
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,360
Speaker 4: grade it was laughable, Like we could tell day one

242
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:40,160
Speaker 4: of practice like this kid is special. You had three

243
00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:45,040
Speaker 4: big leaguers on your high school baseball team, for those

244
00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,640
Speaker 4: of you that don't know, even coached Max Freed, Lucas Gilito,

245
00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:54,760
Speaker 4: and Jack Flaherty at the Harvard Westlake High School. Just

246
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,360
Speaker 4: what did that look like? As like fifteen year olds

247
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,520
Speaker 4: and sixteen year olds are facing off guys who not

248
00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:05,280
Speaker 4: only made the big leagues but are like legitimate, staying power,

249
00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,280
Speaker 4: big leaders. What what did that look like on a

250
00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:09,440
Speaker 4: on a Friday night.

251
00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,920
Speaker 2: It was you know, first of all, when I started coaching.

252
00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,480
Speaker 3: Him, I had no idea, Like I loved really kid

253
00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:19,800
Speaker 3: like Lucas's, but he was a mess when I messed.

254
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,800
Speaker 3: When I first met he was doing bullpens. He was

255
00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,600
Speaker 3: falling down as a sophomore. I mean, he's come a

256
00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,600
Speaker 3: long way, but there was high upside. The arm talent

257
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,360
Speaker 3: was through the roof. So it was like, you know,

258
00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,280
Speaker 3: Jack was a lot more polished. He was a great

259
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,640
Speaker 3: strike thrower, but the villa was a tick down. But

260
00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,160
Speaker 3: he could throw three pitches really well. We were able

261
00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,000
Speaker 3: to add a slider, which is like, you know, was

262
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,280
Speaker 3: staple to get to the big leagues. And then Max

263
00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,720
Speaker 3: was you know, a big time left He with that

264
00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,360
Speaker 3: same curve bolly he displays today. So it was like

265
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,920
Speaker 3: I had no idea I knew what really good players

266
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:59,440
Speaker 3: look like then guys going to pro ball based on

267
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,080
Speaker 3: my time playing, I had no idea they were going

268
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,959
Speaker 3: to be like, you know, there's me World Series All

269
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,920
Speaker 3: Star appearances. Like I had no idea that that was

270
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,120
Speaker 3: going to be kind of like the end result. And

271
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,520
Speaker 3: they're still, you know, writing their book, but it's kind

272
00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:16,720
Speaker 3: of you know, it's exciting. But they were, I mean,

273
00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,319
Speaker 3: they were dominant. They were dominant. I mean it was

274
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,920
Speaker 3: it was, you know, pretty special. Like we actually did

275
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,120
Speaker 3: not we won a national championship after Lucas and Max

276
00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,200
Speaker 3: left with just Jack because Jack was two years younger.

277
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,760
Speaker 3: So it was it was I and I didn't know

278
00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,320
Speaker 3: from there that I would be coaching in Pro Bowl

279
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,320
Speaker 3: and all the you know, various stops I've had throughout

280
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,960
Speaker 3: the I just was enjoying the moment and thought I

281
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,920
Speaker 3: would like coaching, and you know, we developed some guys

282
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,160
Speaker 3: and we still have very very close relationships to this Today.

283
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,480
Speaker 4: They have national championships for high school baseball.

284
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,920
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

285
00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:00,160
Speaker 4: I'm missing out again. Yeah, So, although I did, it's

286
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,720
Speaker 4: the Yankees legend Brett Marshall pitch for my high school team.

287
00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,560
Speaker 4: That's that's the only big leaguer I ever saw growing up.

288
00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,240
Speaker 1: Ethan another big leaguer. You've been fortunate to be around

289
00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,439
Speaker 1: a good bit and Dylan Cees, you know, I remember

290
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,480
Speaker 1: opening day. I believe it was twenty twenty three. I

291
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,520
Speaker 1: believe it was the I believe it was the opener

292
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,760
Speaker 1: when the Ashers got their twenty twenty two World Series rings. Yeah,

293
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,680
Speaker 1: Dylan went out there and absolutely shoved against fromber on

294
00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,720
Speaker 1: opening day in twenty twenty three. You worked with him

295
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,480
Speaker 1: obviously extensively with the White Sox. It became official yesterday

296
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:38,520
Speaker 1: that he is going to be a very, very very

297
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,040
Speaker 1: rich man for a very long time. Seven years, two

298
00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 1: hundred and ten million dollars at the Blue Jays. How

299
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,600
Speaker 1: happy are you for Dylan to get that deal and

300
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,640
Speaker 1: to secure what you know, he's been working toward his

301
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,800
Speaker 1: whole life and maybe through your eyes kind of how

302
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,200
Speaker 1: he evolved to get to that point.

303
00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I'm a static when they can really

304
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:06,200
Speaker 3: secure uh years and financial stability like that for lifetime generator.

305
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,880
Speaker 3: It's it's amazing, right, But it was, you know, it

306
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:11,720
Speaker 3: was a process that was like one of my biggest

307
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,640
Speaker 3: challenges when I took on the job with the White Sox.

308
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,400
Speaker 3: It was a very talented picture that you know, let's

309
00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,000
Speaker 3: identify what he does, well, there's a strike zone and

310
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,000
Speaker 3: just try to get as many you know, strikes out

311
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,440
Speaker 3: of him and but then really understanding that, you know,

312
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,280
Speaker 3: there was a slider that was underutilized.

313
00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,920
Speaker 2: I could really help him and it got better as

314
00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:32,480
Speaker 2: time went on.

315
00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,920
Speaker 3: You know, we made some changes with his delivery, We

316
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,280
Speaker 3: challenged him day to day, and to his credit, he

317
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,200
Speaker 3: worked extremely hard to get to where he's at today.

318
00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,000
Speaker 3: You know, we we had a great relationship.

319
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:45,520
Speaker 2: We're still where.

320
00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:47,680
Speaker 3: He called me right after it happened to tell me that,

321
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,640
Speaker 3: and I couldn't be more happy for him. But it

322
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,960
Speaker 3: was it's something he worked extremely hard. If you watch

323
00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,640
Speaker 3: the evolution of Dylan to like where he is today,

324
00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,680
Speaker 3: kind of watching even like where he was in the

325
00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:02,520
Speaker 3: minor leagues, it's it's credit, it's a great story. It's

326
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,280
Speaker 3: it's it's something that this guy was like like Lucas

327
00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,640
Speaker 3: when I met him, extremely talented, just needs some polishing, right,

328
00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,160
Speaker 3: and you know when you have talent and you're just

329
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,480
Speaker 3: a coach, is just a little bit of a support system.

330
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:18,760
Speaker 3: But it was like something that we really gelled really

331
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,360
Speaker 3: well together, and the time was right in his career

332
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,560
Speaker 3: and we were able to kind of send him on

333
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,400
Speaker 3: his way after we traded him, and now he's up

334
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,920
Speaker 3: in Canada, and he's done very well from stuff.

335
00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:29,760
Speaker 2: I'm very proud from him.

336
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,040
Speaker 4: I know the answer to this is all of the above,

337
00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,440
Speaker 4: So I'm taking that answer away from you preemptively. So

338
00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,000
Speaker 4: you got to you got to pick one of these.

339
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,920
Speaker 4: But when you're when you're evaluating a picture, when you're

340
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,600
Speaker 4: trying to help them, you know, improve, there are a

341
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,360
Speaker 4: lot of different ways to do that, whether it's watching

342
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 4: them in person, kind of seeing them there, watching on video,

343
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,920
Speaker 4: looking at mechanical stuff, and then also the analytics side

344
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,720
Speaker 4: of things of looking at you know, spin rates and

345
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,520
Speaker 4: arm extension and those types of things. Of those three,

346
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,560
Speaker 4: which one do you feel is like closest to home

347
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,000
Speaker 4: to you where you feel like most comfortable helping a

348
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:08,600
Speaker 4: picture out?

349
00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,200
Speaker 3: It is all I would say, it is all the above,

350
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,080
Speaker 3: and I know that's not the but it's something like

351
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,880
Speaker 3: you know, there's always like I'll give it an example,

352
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,000
Speaker 3: like when I got the job with the White Sox, right,

353
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:25,680
Speaker 3: like Carlos Rodin was a guy that was he wasn't

354
00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,240
Speaker 3: in the best spot. Let's just say, like just watching

355
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,119
Speaker 3: where he was, the vello had declined, the mechanics had changed,

356
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,800
Speaker 3: and you know, so I went back and I had

357
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,280
Speaker 3: to watch like YouTube of him in college and kind

358
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:38,320
Speaker 3: of see where he was to make him a top

359
00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:39,200
Speaker 3: pick and kind.

360
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,879
Speaker 2: Of okay, now let's try to restore.

361
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:46,240
Speaker 3: That, right, whether it's you know, Dylan tapping into a

362
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,760
Speaker 3: slider more like along with mechanics. So there's like there's

363
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,200
Speaker 3: different avenues where you you know, you can up usage,

364
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,200
Speaker 3: you can fix mechanics, you can change mechanics, like Lucas

365
00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:57,840
Speaker 3: completely we changed his arm actually completely from where he

366
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,440
Speaker 3: was because an adjustment was needed. So there's different variations

367
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,040
Speaker 3: of what a player might need at the given time.

368
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,240
Speaker 3: So it's just like I feel comfortable with anything. It's

369
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,000
Speaker 3: just kind of understanding what's what's needed in the incerta mode.

370
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,679
Speaker 4: So were you involved in the the arm slot for

371
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,440
Speaker 4: Giulido with the kind of short arming that that we

372
00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:21,680
Speaker 4: talked about it in our last episode of that has

373
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,560
Speaker 4: seemed to be a little bit more in vogue recently.

374
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,719
Speaker 4: Was that something specifically for him or is that more

375
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,080
Speaker 4: of a league wide thing? You know, what's the thought

376
00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:32,520
Speaker 4: process behind kind of that shorter arm slot.

377
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:39,440
Speaker 3: Well, he had a terrible eighteen I think it was eighteen, right, eighteen,

378
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,480
Speaker 3: and it was like offseason came we at that time,

379
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,439
Speaker 3: it was you know, him, Jack and Max were all

380
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,359
Speaker 3: in LA so we always worked out together. But he

381
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,040
Speaker 3: was like, that's cool, Ethn give me everything he got.

382
00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:51,440
Speaker 2: I don't.

383
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,359
Speaker 3: I something's got to change or I'm not going to

384
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,280
Speaker 3: be a big leaguer anymore. Like that, That's kind of

385
00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,919
Speaker 3: where he was. And literally I just I handed him

386
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,240
Speaker 3: applyileball and I was like, I throw this ball and

387
00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,400
Speaker 3: he was like out on my shoulder. I said, that's

388
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 3: my point, like you're not getting in good spots. And

389
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,200
Speaker 3: then like literally ten minutes, there was an arm change,

390
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,159
Speaker 3: and it happened fast, rapidly. You know, he had a

391
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,680
Speaker 3: great offseason then was an All Star in nineteen and

392
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,520
Speaker 3: that was like, you know, his descent to who he

393
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,040
Speaker 3: is today. So yeah, it was it was basically a

394
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,440
Speaker 3: one day process and then obviously there was like maintenance

395
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,399
Speaker 3: throughout the whole off season to get to that point.

396
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,720
Speaker 2: But yeah, there was that, there was a change.

397
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,040
Speaker 1: I know there's a ton of people listening right now

398
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,640
Speaker 1: that are begging us to just go down the Astros

399
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,440
Speaker 1: roster and ask you your thoughts on all these pictures.

400
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 1: I'm not going to do that to you, because, as

401
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:46,880
Speaker 1: you said, you're trying to get your laptop, you're trying

402
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: to get onboarded, you're trying to.

403
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,399
Speaker 4: Take an email phishing HR training right right.

404
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,359
Speaker 1: Like, let's I want to I want to give you

405
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,639
Speaker 1: some time to really digest what you have here. But

406
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,080
Speaker 1: I do want to ask about one guy because I

407
00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,159
Speaker 1: think he I think what he did last year certainly

408
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,399
Speaker 1: resonated around the league. And he's certainly a guy that

409
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,000
Speaker 1: maybe from the other dugout you saw evolved as his

410
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,240
Speaker 1: career is going on. But Hunter Brown, obviously top three

411
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:13,840
Speaker 1: al Cy Young final is finished in the top three

412
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,040
Speaker 1: in Cy Young voting. Just from afar, what have your

413
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,879
Speaker 1: impressions been of watching Hunter Brown? And how excited are

414
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,680
Speaker 1: you to now, you know, get your hands on him

415
00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,320
Speaker 1: and be able to work with him day to day

416
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,639
Speaker 1: and be able to see what he's like in person.

417
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:28,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's impressive, right like it.

418
00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,479
Speaker 3: He's able to do so much with the baseball along

419
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,520
Speaker 3: with like plus plus stuff and kind of just watching

420
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 3: you know, the year he had obviously not the same division,

421
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,159
Speaker 3: so I get to see him as much. But obviously

422
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 3: there's a lot of highlights of him over and over again,

423
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:50,280
Speaker 3: but extremely talented. Arm you know obviously the year he

424
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,600
Speaker 3: had the evolution of him, it kind of does remind

425
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 3: me a little bit of Dylan, just kind of like

426
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,800
Speaker 3: how he's really stepped to the scene and kind of

427
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,400
Speaker 3: really stepped up over the years. So it's I'm really

428
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:04,040
Speaker 3: looking forward to, you know, Like I said, I talked

429
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 3: to Bennisuza. He gave me like a little bit of

430
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 3: rundown of each guy and stuff like that. And you know,

431
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,920
Speaker 3: I from Afar like just watching him and how he's

432
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 3: a bulldog, he's a competitor, which you that's what you.

433
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 2: Want from the top dog on the mount.

434
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,040
Speaker 3: So getting looking forward to meeting him and getting to

435
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 3: know him a little bit more.

436
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,440
Speaker 2: But like he's he's everything he wanted in a number one.

437
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:24,600
Speaker 2: It's pretty impressive.

438
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,440
Speaker 1: He will be that. He will be the Astros number one,

439
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 1: presumed opening day starter, ace of the staff heading into

440
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,960
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, a staff that Ethan Katz will help

441
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 1: to guide through the twenty twenty sixties. And Ethan, we

442
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,880
Speaker 1: really appreciate you taking some time. I know I told

443
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:42,719
Speaker 1: you i'd keep you for ten or fifteen minutes. We're

444
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: crossing the twenty two minute marks. I want to be

445
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,639
Speaker 1: a man on my word and uh and let you

446
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 1: get on. I know you've got a busy day, maybe

447
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,240
Speaker 1: have some HR stuff to do. I don't know, but

448
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,640
Speaker 1: we appreciate this. This was great. Thank you so much

449
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 1: for your insight and look forward to seeing you in

450
00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: West Palm Beach in a couple of months for spring training.

451
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, looking forward to it. Thanks for having me, guys,

452
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:02,439
Speaker 3: Thank you.

453
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: Thanks Ethan M.