Here we go.
No cinderguard right here on FT for the first time, making his debut, former Todd Father teammate. Great big league picture for a long time. Great to have you on man. Look look at your boy up top here just running things in the media world these days.
Hey, what's up fellas? Thanks for having me, god father?
What kind of hair? What kind of hair you got going on?
I put on a hat because I got a good sized pimple up here right now, so I'm trying to.
At least you're honest right now. I love that.
It was Harry Potter and I when I was in Charlotte a few weeks ago, I had to take a slithering hat.
Yeah, I like that.
So talk to us a little bit about what happened. You went with the White Sox. Uh did you say I'm out of here? They let you go? Talk to us about that? And now what do you got going on right now?
I mean I kind of got shafted a little bit.
Not that my performance was anything to brag about, but there was, like I don't know how many starting pitchers I had on that roster, so it was kind of just the odd man out. I only got two starts and I was kind of just hanging out there because I mean, not competing for two years and going into like the high stress environment, and let me tell you, the minor leagues freaking suck.
Yeah, it's been a while since you've been a true minor leaguer. But how much how much how much ramp up or how much leeway or do you feel like you would have needed Because if you said you haven't competed really for consistently for two years, what kind of starts do you feel like you'd need five to seven ten?
You know, I've been searching for the last three years on where it all kind of just went wrong, Like how I mean, I still don't have a whole lot of answers on I mean, I do mechanically, but.
I don't know how I got there.
How I just lost the ability to throw one hundred miles an hour. I still believe that it's that it's in there, But the mind is such a powerful tool, and the body just kind of holds on to trauma a certain way. And like when I had elbow surgery in twenty twenty, like I was like sick. Great, Like COVID's ruining the world right now, there's not much going on. It sounds like the best time to have elbow surgery.
But then about month fifteen, I had some kind of setback to where I was supposed to throw four ings and.
I'm threw one. I'm like, something's not right.
And next day I got an MRI and Todd I don't know if you remember Beam or car, but he was the one that looked at the original MRI is like, I think I see another tear to your cl and I'm like, you got to be freaking kidding me, Like I couldn't have done a better rehab. All I did was eat, breathe, and sleep recovery. I lived in my hyper bearer. I did countless ice plunges, SAWTA Sessions eight really well, and I'm like, this doesn't make a whole
lot of sense. So I think that that's when my body or my mind kind of went like, oh crap, like we might be in some trouble here, because I was thinking I might not ever play baseball again. And I never got to recover from this surgery, and I still feel like I haven't really recovered from it. But I think my body just kind of went to like big brother mode, and it's like I'm going to protect you from hurting yourself again. And then I start tinkering
with my mechanics. I probably went to ten different facilities like top notche, I went to tread, I went to drive line. I've been to the place called Maven in Atlanta. Worked with countless coaches and everyone seems to say something different. And now I'm just trying to get back to just athleticism. And like when I was really good, like I had Dan Worthing as a pitching coach, and he kept things
super simple and just kind of trusted my body. And you look at a delivery now versus where it was back twenty fifteen through twenty nineteen, and like my delivery changed a little bit, but like the main pillars or components that allowed me to be really good didn't really change. And now I'm doing all kinds of like I'm like leaning back, like, yeah, it just looks kind of out of whack. But it was just like I had too many cooks in the kitchen and it kind of just fried me a little bit.
Yeah no, that's I mean all this like watching you watch those highlights, I remember being a hitter and being like, oh man, how can I look like that. Do you feel like if you just go back, do you feel like you have the ability to just go back to who you were because you were ridiculous freak, you were so athletic. Do you feel like you're able to say, everybody out of my way, I'm going to do it my way, or do you feel like to get a job in the.
Game, To.
You know, get yourself back on the map, you have to go to all the places that you said, and you have to be able to speak the language, because I know worth them was not speaking in force plates and extension rates and spin and all that stuff. When when we played you guys in twenty fifteen, you know
that wasn't that wasn't happening from him. So can you go back to that or do you feel like you have to get in line with everybody and say, okay, well I throw a heavy ball as hard as I can up against the wall, and this is that because you did all this with your athletic natural ability, not with some gimmick like turn spin, throw on a knee, all that stuff.
Yeah, I think it all boil down to is a paralysis by analysis. So I think the like all the weighted ball stuff. I think that has its benefits for sure. The force plate mounds. I like that in terms of like just routine, but I think you can get a little too fixated on that, and like you look at de Gram or Wheeler, like I'm I don't know, maybe
they've changed their routine, but I don't. Those guys like just had the utmost confidence and trusted their stuff and just I mean in between the lines, like all they did was compete. And I don't think those guys are getting on force plate mounts or doing any way to ball programs. But that's just kind of like the new age stuff, and I kind of came up when it was kind of like transitioning through all like the eeditronic cameras. I remember the first time they brought the editronic cameras out.
I think it was like twenty eighteen or twenty nineteen, and Dave Island was the pitching coach, and like he sends us like these these pictures of the grips and stuff.
I'm like, I don't understand, Like what is this mean?
Am I supposed to post this on social media like my story or something like what's his information? And then I got like really, fixated on like the track man numbers, and I think there's some benefit to it there because I remember one time I was pitching to Jay Bruce and I think it was with the Phillies, and I threw two fastballs like at ninety eight up and in
it like had eighteen inches of ride. And then the next pitch I threw one same location, it was only fourteen inches of ride and he hit it into the Pepsi porch or whatever it's called now. But I still have the most confidents in me to get back. It'll
be a hell of a success story. And you know, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, So I'm going to continue to try, because I mean I'm in the best shape that I've ever been in, like in terms of like mobility, strength, power, just appropriate reception. Like I think I'm in the right path. It's just you know, you never think you're gonna be in the situation, but it kind of just defines the one kind of person you are.
Hey, we love ripping slab packs on arena club. I just ripped one in a ruby pack. Those are fancy schmancy kip and I pulled a Matt Shaw twenty twenty three Bowman Draft Aqua Lunar Creater Refractor card.
And I guess what. Guess what?
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What do I do?
I want to see this thing. Hold on, look at that. That's a beautiful card.
You know what.
I think that's a safe bet. I think it's gonna make you a little bit of money. I think the more more big league time he gets, I'd almost take the deal, though, I'm in it for the chase.
I like opening more packs.
I think that one hundred and twenty one can buy you a couple more slabs to open. And uh, I think you keep chasing until you get someone.
You really but that's the best part about it for me. That's right.
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Slash foul no doubt about it, And you've always been intrigod about who you are, how you go about things.
You're a big component of lifting.
I love everything about this because whenever we had our conversations, we always had good talks. And you know, anything you talked about, I was the exact opposite. I was the guy, let's go grip it, rip it, let's get in there. You ever think about you know now, you know there's so much technologies you talked about. You ever just think about just getting on the mound and saying, you know what,
screw everything else. I'm coming. I'm bringing it here. I don't need paperwork or anybody to tell me anything else. Forget about the mindset. I'm going to go on this mound when I get my next chance and just go and get after it. I don't need numbers, you know what I'm saying. You ever want to get that out of your mind and just go and say, screw everything else, let's get after it here.
Yeah.
I've tried just about everything. I've tried it all. Like I've tried to be as like mindless and dumb out there and free as much as I can not think about anything. But when I was really good, I still like thought about certain things, like when I, uh, the twenty nineteen game I pitched against the Reds, pitched a
complete game and hit a solo home run. Like there's like around the fourth or fifth inning, and I had like this little queue where I just would tell myself to screw my leg into the ground, and that like helped me load my really fuel into my legs. And then I would just think stay closed and rip it. And it got to like fourth fifth inning on it got to like I could just throw my eyes closed.
And then five days later, I'm trying that same cueue against the Padres and it's like I'm able to repeat it like one in every three pitches.
So it's just.
Now like when I try to use those cues, my body doesn't like translate it the right way. And you take one picture. I don't know how it is with hitting necessarily, but you could take like one Q. I might translate that cue from another pitcher differently than what they might like screen the leg into the ground. They
might translate that into something else. I think every athlete, I think, especially with baseball, because it's like such a controlled violence, like everybody has their cue, but it might be I mean, something completely different to another player.
Do you remember now, let's switch gears here a little fitt talk about something fun. We talk about the one time you had that little dust up in the first pitch to Chase Utley back in the day. Terry Collins come out and talk about my rear ends in the jackpot, you know what I mean, Just stuff like that. Talk to us about that whole situation. I know it's way in the past, but you know, was their talks before? You know, this is the guy I gotta get Did
you put that on yourself? I mean that video circles every year, and Terry Collins is he just he had your back and he was he was pumped up about the whole situation. You know, take us back to that time, and uh, you know, what was your mindset there? What was going on?
Oh Man's Harry is the best. I love that guy. But I mean and also I've heard like the best things about Chase Utley too, And I don't don't necessary I don't think that slide was intentional. I just think he plays the game so hard and it's such a ballplayer that that's just kind of what happened. But uh, you know, I was just I don't think I really discussed that with anybody, and I just saw my opportunity
there to take it. I think when I was younger, I also did a lot of stupid things that I didn't really think about, like throwing over Escobar's head and the World Series only I think back on and I'm like, damn, like cant believe it.
I did it, but I just.
But yeah, I was so juiced in that moment that I think Renee Rivera actually called it a change up away and I didn't even shake. I was is already going into my delivery and and then I was just kind of just taken back to being ejected and I didn't really know what was going on. I just walked off the field and I just remember walking off the field and to Grom having that little signature smurf that he has, so that that was a good time.
Anybody that you still keep in touch with that is playing during from those times, like the Grom, Harvey, any any of those guys that you're like, hey, you know, remember when this happened, or guys that you you hit up on a regular especially with the Grom throwing the way he's been. Have you kept in contact with those guys?
A little bit to grom Actually there's probably like a five minute walk from from my house, but his house is a lot nicer and he's got a couple of them. But you know, he's got three kids, maybe like even a fourth on the way. I don't really know, and so I'm win Sam fortunate enough, but I don't have children right now, so you know, I'm living a kind of different life. But I'm really spoken to Harvey in a while. Anytime I go up to New York and I hit him up. So he's up to It's always
nice to catch up with him. Thank who else a recent guys. I haven't talked to Pete really, but I think that's super cool that he's now the home run leader.
For the Mets. Yeah, that's about. That's about it. Other than like Michael Lorenzen, he's one of my good buddies.
It's difficult, dude. It's the same way for me too as well. You know, I got a couple of guys. It's I always tell people, it's like, if you're not getting Christmas cards from these guys you play with, it's really it's really tough to stay in touch with them. I mean, that's just something I'm going along with now.
I really and hearing your voice and then trying to harass you and FaceTime you and trying to get you to say my name on the broadcast.
I got, I got you hit me up.
I got my buddies telling me to say a random word on a broadcast.
I'm doing the gig. They're like, oh, you know, you.
Know somewhere randomly.
I'm anyway, remember the one time, and I want you to tell this story we talked about this earlier fun story. I remember you were messing with me on the bus one time. I forget exactly.
I don't have to get in the details prior, but I'm honored that I was chosen for this prank, as I still recovering from that experience. But uh, I think we were in me so to the the road trip before or the city before, and I was messing you in the lobby there, and then we went to Chicago, and then I'm in the training room and Mickey calls us all into the clubhouse and I think it's a team meeting, and there's this huge police officer in the
middle of the clubhouse. He's like, I'm looking for an a cindergard I'm like, oh God, what did I do? And then like the video like it's I wish we could play the video of it, but uh. I walk over to my locker and I'm trying to put like get dressed. I just have my shorts on, and it takes me, like I'm so rattled. It takes me two minutes to get dressed, and I finally handed my id's like, all right, put transmind your rack.
You're under arrest, and I'm like, I.
Just went I blacked out at that point, and like if I would have just looked around the clubhouse, I would have seen that some people were not maintaining their composure.
Half the people knew, half didn't.
And so I'm just like tunnel vision and like Wheelers like no, what did you do? And I'm like, I don't know, man like, and then the officer says something and he takes me out, puts me in this random room and there's a piece of paper on the table and I'll start looking at him reading it and I'm like, this has nothing to do with me, and then before you know, Fraser's barging in the room with its camera and then the other video is like next thing like as soon as I leave the room, he's just like.
He was together.
But yeah, I tried my retaliation. I tried to get like Brody. I tried to make it look like you were going to fail a drug test. Odie was on boards with that, but I didn't really know what the standard procedure was on that. But if I could have added Don it would have been nice. But it was like a big big brother little brother moment. And I
always family with the Todd father. My mom is from She'll say she's running Tom's River, but she was born on the naval base there, and I think they moved when she was like three months old.
But we'll take that as you knows Jersey girl.
So that was Sergeant John Connolly by the way, absolute beasts came in. He's like six seven, two hundred and seventy five pounds. All Braun put him in cuffs in the locker room. I only told a couple of people, so if you if you were to look around, some people are like, what the heck's going on? In other people like the grom like he couldn't control it. I wanted I almost kicked him. I'm like, get I.
Wanted to out at there, but you know, Oscar, Yeah, it was.
Those type of things are what makes the year special for everybody. You need that type of stuff during the year because it gets so boring sometimes in that locker room as you as we all know, so fun stories.
When I was with the Angels in twenty two to one of our young guys. But I guess things have gotten a little soft over there, and they wouldn't they couldn't make it happen.
Ah.
Yeah, well that's the way it goes. And I remember locking you in the Where where did I lock you in in?
In New York? And oh man, the sauna.
Remember you were in the sauna right by the hot tub there in Cityfield.
And yeah, yeah, okay, when he's in New York element we were in on the road in the Yankee Stadium. But no, you know, I I I'm gonna have a panic attack in there.
It'd be terrible. That'd be terrible. I would fight you.
He was only in there for ten minutes. It wasn't bad.
It made me tougher. That's good. Well. The Mets, Yeah, the Mets let you do stuff.
Do you run into Mets fans often?
Noah, Like, do you miss the you know the vibes that that the Mets fans brought, you know, during those times.
Yeah, Mets fans are everywhere. I was just in Austin with my girlfriend and we went to some like piano bar, and when we were leaving, this guy's like, oh, my mom is a huge Mets fan. I'm like, oh, you're your mom or you are you can just say so. And anytime I go up to New York, I'll just spe casually, like riding a city bike on the street, and the people will recognize me.
That's one of my favorite things to do.
That's fun. That's fun. But if you cut your hair, you think anybody recognize you?
Uh? Oh no, probably not. I don't know. I do still stand out.
You're you're You're, You're an absolute monster. But the question I have, it's kind of a good leeway, is who's the most famous person in your phone? We like asking dudes like this. But you lived in like the Spotlight, you lived in New York. You guys went to the World Series and you were four the.
Most famous person in my phone.
Wow, crap, you really put me on the spot there, And I don't know, Okay, I'm trying to come up with the cool answers.
I don't disappoint him.
But think about it, think about it, don't don't disappoint us, because I know you got a lot of good ones. I like it that you didn't say Todd because that's such a cop out because he's not that famous, only in Tom's River. But while you come up with that one, what's your favorite big league moment?
All right, Well, I don't have I'm gonna do like a phone number thing, but I've had some cool experiences. Like one of my best friends up in New York, his name is Mike Zandman, and he's really close with Michael Rubin and Michael Ruben likes having those cool, overwhelming parties. And when I right when I got released by the Guardians, I just took a trip to New York for the week, and he took me to Michael Rubin at the celebrity
Blackshack Tournament and he let me play in it. And so I go, I put my drink down at the table and I go to the bathroom. I come back and there's this woman named I think La La Anthony maybe I don't know.
Was in my seat.
So I just sat next to her and she said, oh, do you care of my friend Kim sits there. I'm like, okay, cool, So I just move over and I look over, I look up, and I just turned back. I had to do a double tack because Kim Kardashian was sitting right next to me, and I taught her how to play a little bit of blackjack.
Nice.
So my first favorite big league moments mm hmm, like a selfish one or like a team one. I can go both, Like, I guess my favorite one would probably be personal one would be either hitting I think probably hitting two home runs in one game and throwing eight innings against the Dodgers, be up there and then man celebrating on the field in Chicago to go to the World Series.
That was pretty surreal.
That the whole season was crazy, just because I think, like May right when I got called up, that team was we're not very good. We had some like a couple of guys with probably four or five guys under
two hundred batting average. And then I saw Kershaw later in that year pitch like the fastest complete game, shout out, three hit, shot out, and then we got cesspa is Kelly Johnson wanting to Rebay belief pitchers, and then uh maybe like just got steam like just or the best team, but played really well as a team, supported each other.
It was just awesome to be a part of.
Uh No, I.
Got one more for you, so obviously, Yeah, you spent a lot of time with the Mets. I asked about that earlier, and then you told us at the beginning of the conversation about you know, some of your experiences with other teams, including just recently with the White Sox.
I always like to ask this for guys that have pitched with different organizations, even if it's in the minors, Like, how different is the mindset from teams, you know, even from a strategy component, from when they bring a guy on, when when they sign you and say, hey, here's the plan we have for you, here are the resources that you have. How different is it from ball club to ball club? Because yeah, and you're coming off the White Sox, Done, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, et cetera.
Yeah, the I guess the ethos or the beliefs around every organization have been like very drastic, Like when I was with the Mets, that was one thing with like the Willpond's involved of course, and then went to the Angels and it's like, oh, we're not We're not very good, but we're in California, so nobody really cared. But then when I got traded to the Phillies, I'm like, wow, this team there, top notch, have high expectations, spared no
expense for their players. I know I gave Harper a lot of shit sorry for I guess throughout his career, much like a lot of people have.
But once I got to know.
Him, he's been He's probably one of the best teammates I've ever had.
I just remember him like that.
In twenty twenty two, if any pitcher on the opposing team got anywhere close to throw went up and in he was ripping the picture like it was awesome to see and like that took some Cahonians for sure, and they just like I remember, like everyone has known me as like the green water bottle guy, for like because I carry the Mountain Valley, like I got it over here,
and like my five gallon glass container over there. And then I went with the Angels, you know, like the long walk from where the buses drop you off in Philly to the clubhouse. They had pallettes and palettes of Mountain Valley and they're like, no, this is your team.
This is your team.
I'm like and then two months later I get traded there. So like they have like I'm big into like raw milk. I think it's a powerful superfood and like so their chef would go out and get it for me and like they're the food was amazing. I mean, Honesad had my personal chef travel with me. But from when it looked like it looked incredible, and Wheelership of that when it did Philly Cheesteaks, and then I remember like one he was complaining to today about it and Dave's like, well, what do you want?
Like Popeyes?
And we were like yeah and this so the next day David Bowski brings in like a whole table is worth a Popeyes for Wheeler.
He was.
That's good stuff. Man. Well listen, thank you for coming on. Man.
We appreciate you. You know what, You're just getting off from playing and you got a little more time on your hands. Hopefully everything works out for you. Man.
We'll keep in touch and uh we'll talk to you soon, big dog. Thanks again.
Yeah, thanks for having me, guys.
Good to see you in the little League World Series today.
Yeah, seven o'clock, big dog. You make sure you send me a text message.
Yeah, give him a word of the day.
Spamony.
Oh god man, thanks, we'll talk to you about the boat. App. That's good.
That's good.
Now, appreciate you man, Good to see you.
See you guys.
It's a layered Italian ice cream dessert. I don't even know it. Did he say it again? It's p U M and S p U M O N I Todd father, have you ever heard of it? I have ever? Okay, we're both from Jersey. You never heard of spamoni.
I thought it was that like it was you said it was layered ice cream, like almost like laired ice cream cake, right.
Yeah, like different gelato kind of colors all together cakesh Yeah. Maybe maybe I've seen it and I just didn't know that it's spamoni. I'm not the best guy to comment on certain desserts, to be fair, I'm not the.
After that there's dairy in that, well aware, well aware double do get some ice cream? You don't get no.
I I will say that that was great.
It was cool to catch up with or obviously get deep in the beginning there on what it's been like for him and how you cannot pitch for a while and then get thrown into the mix and unless you've got it clicking in five seconds, they're like, see you later.
It's it's very hard. I mean, I don't know how to do that. It's it's incredible. It's just it's wacky. I'm not gonna be able to do that one.
It's not like it's not like, it's not like the White Sox had just a just a plethora of pitch guys that can pitch. Like they're just running through guys in Triple A that are like big League ready, and they're developing him in Triple A.
I don't know.
I don't know. I'd say give the guy a chance. He has worlds of experience to a young roster. Yeah, he might not pitch that great, but what he brings to the roster I think can can help the organization continue to move forward. But he, you know what, I look at the differently.
I'm with you, Yeah, for for him, I mean, obviously Yale, it sounds like he's going to try to latch on with another spot. It's thirty two years old now two Well, but it's interesting to hear top five. I already said, like, he feels like he's got a Hundo and all that still in him, but it's just tough to find it.
He's gone through some injuries, yeah.
And especially now at the game now he's got to have that plus movement and other pitches and he hasn't been on a big league mound yet, so it's very hard.
But knowing him, he can do it.