It's the Dodgers in white Sox getting said for first pitch here at camel Back Ranch, and we're joining right now by a man that made his major league debut last year for the Dodgers, and he's getting a lot of opportunities early in spring, and that is Dodger catcher Hunter. Fiducca Hunter. Thanks a lot for the time, appreciate it.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Let's get one thing out of the way. When I see you in the morning and I say, fiduc is that inbounds or out of bounds?
It's in bounds. You know, I've heard every variation of my last name and a lot worse than that, So no, it's it's all fair game.
Hey, I love this wall that you guys have here, all the young guys, the guys that are trying to make their name in Major League baseball. What's it like for you to have a locker mate like Dalton rushing to your left and a couple of lockers down another catcher in Chris.
Ok, it's awesome. Two great guys, some of my favorite teammates I've had. And yeah, it's good. You know, at the end of the day, we all have the same goal, and you know, helping each other out, and you know, helping each other get better every single day is the ultimate goal. So it's it's been good so far.
Is Oki like the grown up in the room between you three? Uh?
Yeah, I mean we all? I mean yeah, I guess you could say that. You know, both Dalton and Rush are great teammates, and you know we hold each other accountable and you know, help each other each day get better and you know, always bouncing ideas off each other and you know, trying to you know, make it to the end.
What's the spring felt like for you? You're in big league camp again, you major major league debut, you got your first major league hit, you played for the world champion Dodgers. How does Hunter Fiducca feel this spring? I feel good?
You know every spring I come in, you know there's one goal and is you know, get better each day, no matter what the scenario is. You know, it's awesome that I'm getting these opportunities and you know, getting my name out there and you know, getting able to catch some of the new pitchers and getting familiar with their
game and pitches. And that's always good because you know, you know, you never know what's gonna happen during the year, and you know, you get caught up and you don't want to be blindsided by all the new guys and you know, not be too comfortable with all their pitches and what they do and you know what makes them ticks. So it's awesome opportunity getting able to catch these guys and get them to know them.
Have you caught Roki Sazaki?
I have, Yeah, I called him. I think it was like his second or third bullpen. You know, he only threw you know, fifteen pitches or so. But you know, I got to catch Otani yesterday. That was my first song, geting to catch him. So I checked everyone off the list so far. So it's it's been good so far.
I was watching that bullpen session the other day and he was directing traffic, telling you where to set up.
Right, Yeah, so I don't. Everyone kind of has their own like hand signals and you know, a way to tell you what pitch is coming, and it's a little different with uh, you know, Roki Otani and Yamamoto. So that's another part of getting to learn the pictures and their hand signals, and it's yeah.
What a great experience in a bullpen session to catch Otani. What was it like? Was it better than what you even heard about?
Yeah? Uh, you know, at first he was kind of easing into it and you know, getting to fill for everything, and then later on in the bullpen he was kind of letting it loose and it kind of caught me by surprise. So yeah, it was an awesome experience, you know, getting to see his different pitches, and yeah, it was. It was awesome.
It seems like you're you're really getting to with Will Smith's injury, You're getting an opportunity now to do things that you may not have had an opportunity a year ago at this time.
Right, Yeah, it was kind of the same scenario as a two years ago in the World Baseball Classic with Barnes and Will being out. You know, I got opportunity to get in there, and you know, all you could ask for is just make the best out of it and do your thing.
Yeah, you're doing it. You got the you got the beard, the grizzly beard to compliment that great looking stash of yours. Hunter Fraducca, thanks a lot for the time and continued success the rest of the way.
Thank you. So much,