Hour 1: Is Pressure Good for this Mariners Team to Thrive?

Get in the freaking auto! From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports. Brock Heward and Mark, Matt, Marcus, sorry about just that, Mike. Heward, not exactly Joe Capp there in the pocket. Now here are your hosts, Brock Heward and Mike Salk. Alright, here we go, Brock and Salk show, Seattle Sports on 710seattlesports.com. the old Seattle sports app, podcast platforms, 97.3 HD2 and YouTube. There really are a lot of ways to find us, interact with the show, and just kind of be with us, watch us, listen, all of that. Today's going to be kind of all over the map. We're kind of pulling double duty and moving things around, but I think it'll ultimately all be worth it. Okay. So here's how it shapes, kind of works out. Here's the script. We'll see if we have a third down that kind of messes it up early. First 15 plays. Yes. I think I have this all straight because we've been doing some taping, and then we're going to tape some more stuff. Here's what I think we've got. Logan Gilbert at 615. This is from yesterday, but we're going to rerun it. While you guys are listening to Logan, and we needed something long enough for this, we're going to interview Julio Rodriguez. Whoa. Okay, so we'll talk to Julio. Julio? The only one and only. We'll talk to Julio. We'll play Julio for you at 7.30. Yeah. We'll bump Blue 88 probably to 8. We believe at 8.30 we'll have Bryce Miller. And then Shannon will probably stop by around 9.00. At 9.30, you guys are in for a treat, I would say, because my dad will be here and plans to answer, are you smarter than a fifth grader questions, which Maura has prepared. So that's the day. And he's kind of proclaimed that he's the guest of the week. I would say. You know, Cal, Logan, Julio, Julio, Julio. Nope, Larry Salk is the guy. Yeah, now he did ask for Lifeline so my mom may help. And my friend Joel's son, Jackson, who is in sixth grade, I think would be kind of a nice helper also for these questions. So that's kind of the day. And then Maura, I told her on the drive over, I said, Maura, you interrupt me any time this morning. when you get a height, weight, length, hand size, body fat, it's a combine. All right? If we got something really intriguing that's coming down the lane. I'm not sure anyone else finds that as intriguing. You just make sure you let me know, Maura. Just out of curiosity, when she does, what will the volume level be? It'll be great. It'll be totally perfect, just like last night. Oh, she's so mad. Did you see that look? Oh, my God. She just glared at me. She should. She legit glared at me. I did not lose volume control last night. No, you did not. You should kick them in the shin, Maura. Kick them in the shin. why are you looking at me that way zero you lost zero volume control was i the only one because a couple of us did a tasting before you got there and i think justin and brockman yeah yeah you got a problem with that i don't huh you have a problem with last night song if i i was watching you got a volume control problem right now no i was watching Salk like watch me and then look at Jesse. You were just waiting for it. You were hoping it was going to come out. Honestly, I swear to you I wasn't. I promise I was not. I really wasn't. It didn't even dawn on me because you were like I'm not drinking at all. We're going to be at somebody's house. I'm not doing that. And then all of a sudden I heard. More did have a couple. I love it. More is the best. How fun. It was really fun. The four of us said, oh she's mad. Yeah she should be. She's going to kick you right in the shin. Oh, Maura. And she was watching you. You thought you were watching and listening to her. She was watching me. She's like, hawk. Oh, yeah. I feel like it's a completely different situation. Everyone was having fun and telling jokes. That's right. And it was kind of loud in general. That's right, Maura. Thank you. Last year, I was screaming across the room. You were not doing that. Yes. You were not doing that. No. That is very true. It was so fun. Did drop a plate. Yeah. Well, they broke a glass before you got there, too. There was a lot of almost broken glasses. not on my end that's pretty funny anyway what you were just waiting you were just waiting to try to share a little tidbit and a little takeaway from last night that was i i don't know is i get old maybe this is a good tell the people where we were well this is a getting older thing right this is truly one of those just like losing my some of my vision i think the other thing is i'm getting older is i love a good story i can just sit down and listen to people tell stories and then when you've got someone like chef john howie and his wonderful wife and they've got all their history in the restaurant business and back to palisades and you know the bellevue location and how all that came to be and now he's got the distilleries like it's just i think i could have sat there for five or six hours and just listened to his path and his journey and the ups and the downs i mean restaurant kind of like sport and he at one point had a sport restaurant oh by the way that i had gift cards too that was my first payment in media 20 years ago risk and the competitiveness yes some of the people coming after your job some of the people you can never sit still you've got to constantly evolve his recipes you know just there is some and some boomer bust nature to it man like all these wonderful prospects that we're looking at all this amazing young talent here what happens out of 10 of them so how many of them just make it and hit it and flourish and become cal and julio So for every Cal and Julio, there's, what, six or seven other top ten guys that just don't ever make it? It does also jump out, though, and we're going to move on from chefs, and we'll get back to baseball here in a moment, that it does help. Not every chef has a big personality. Yes. But a lot of them. Just a presence. Yeah, they have a presence. And having the good fortune to have been around some of the bigger names in Seattle, John Howie, Ethan Stoll, Tom Douglas. I mean, they all share a presence. When they walk in the room, they can entertain a group. They can tell a story. Some are more comfortable with it than others, but I think you do feel that element. There's a leadership element. And while you were watching Maura, and Maura was watching you, obviously, I was watching some of the tricks of the trade. I'm sure. I was seeing what he was doing, some of his recipes, some of the ingredients over there. And, man, that was good. It's delicious. Thank you for the invite, Brooke. Yeah, that was pretty fun. He did almost burn the steaks. Almost. He nailed it. He caught it just in time. My gosh, you just can't help yourself. But he didn't. They were delicious. Yes. They were unbelievable. Yes. But he came running in like, ah! They were on fire! I was like, this is going to be the greatest story of all time. Yes. This legendary steak chef burned the steaks. And then, no, they were awesome. They were totally amazing. I think it was about 45 seconds away from catastrophe. That would have been one of the greatest stories ever. You'd be telling that story for the rest of your life. I got to have dinner at a top steakhouse chef's house, and he totally screwed up all these steaks. Can you imagine how funny that would be? But instead, he totally nailed it, and it was awesome. And, yeah, that's why he's John Howey. Anyway, all right, let's probably break a minute. I would break a minute early. Yeah, just to make sure. Yeah, I'm going to bet that he'll be right on time. No, you don't think so? I'll tell you this. There are a lot of superstars out there in the game of baseball and other sports. Yeah. But in football, when you want to have a guest on, they get marched over by the staff. Correct. So football players never know what time it is. They don't know what they're doing. Well, they know when the next meeting is. But their life is so dictated to them. Totally structured, yes. And so they just go from this is where I have to be and this is where I have to be. And so we don't really get to see any of the who's responsible and who's not. Baseball players, especially at spring training, they're kind of on their own schedule. There's a couple times they've got to hit or do this, but for the most part, they're on their own schedule. And that becomes even more pronounced when you're a Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, somebody who's been around for a while as a top-tier veteran. these guys are incredibly accessible accessible and responsible about it i'm gonna guess if we walked across the street and this is not a shot and maybe they're all great guys but from what i've heard the padres facility which is like they share right here right across the field i don't know if fernando tatis and those guys are quite as accessible having been around the red socks i said this yesterday other than dustin pedroia and nobody else was really all that prompt and accessible and willing and all of it. We saw Julio. We scheduled this interview. I think it was Tuesday. But you were also probably real annoying. No. Like at 26, 25. No. Probably. No. I went over to Julio. Hey, quick conversation. What day is good? Let's do Thursday. Set up a time. Next day, hey, Julio, tomorrow's still good? Yup. He walks in today. You saw him? Yeah. Walked right in. What time are we doing it? 7.15? Okay. Well, done. It is a gal, obviously, and Logan, all these guys. It really has been a really. We have it pretty good. We have it pretty good. Well, I just want to let people, let them know and let people know that we appreciate it. It's nice being able to cover guys who operate that way. So, all right, as I said, we're going to take a quick break. We'll give you Logan Gilbert, who's awesome, and he does talk about his future with the Mariners. I think you'll want to hear it. And about the group chat that he has with the rest of the pitchers. Moore is about to kick me off the show group chat. I can see it, so I've got to be a little careful. and then we'll interview Julio on tape. We'll play it for you at 7.30 and we'll go from there. Cool? Everybody good? We're at Spring Training. On one, on one. Ready? Seattle Sports. Right. On 7.10. From the Quantum Fiber Studio, you're listening to Brock and Sock. Weekdays 6 to 10. On Seattle Sports and 97 FM HD2 All right we roll on from Mariner Spring Training Facility here in Peoria Just the best just the absolute best week And one of our favorite parts of the week is our annual conversation with Logan Gilbert. I don't know how many years we've done this now, four, five, six years. It's a lot. It feels like it. Before you were even up in the big leagues. Right, yeah. Now here you are. How are we doing? Time is flying. It's been great. It's good. Good to talk to you guys again. Well, you're like an adult now, too. I'm like, you got a wife, you got a kid. Congratulations. Thank you. Brock, Michael, Gilbert. Yeah. That's right. So nice of you to name him after us. You guessed it, yeah. Wow. I know you're going to get a lot of questions about you. Brock loves babies and loves marriage. He's going to talk to you about all that. Can I ask you the real question? Yeah, sure. You got a Frenchie, right? Oh, yeah. How's the dog handling the baby? What's that relation? Oh, boy. As a confirmed and devout Frenchie owner and fan. Frenchies are the best. They are the best. how's the Frenchie handling this and is he still getting enough attention? Yeah, the hard-hitting questions right away. This is big. Yeah, we weren't sure but bringing him home, she's been great. There definitely was an attention shift that maybe took in a little bit of time but yeah, it's great and the Frenchie's handling it well, so very mature. Do you remember to make sure the dog gets a little extra attention? Yeah, yeah. Mom's always with the baby and enough time. I get it. It's very difficult. She needs her time. They both need their time. You've got to make sure you give the dog some extra pads. Right, yeah. You have to. Thank you. Have you felt like the dexterity it takes to hold the child, to change the diapers? Has it added any new pitch mix? Any new grips and stuff? Anything? Foreign substance. Yeah, it's definitely a workout at times. I'm actually more of a natural lefty, which is probably good. So I usually hold them over there. Figured out the grips and the holds and all that. So just like baseball. Isn't it wild, though? Like the first. You remember this. like the first few weeks you're just like what yeah we really have a child right like we're really in charge of this and then no sleep and you're just kind of in twilight zone and it's gonna last forever yeah yeah it's a it's a thing it's a crazy feeling yeah and you wake up every day i feel like at the very beginning and it like clicks for a split second right away you're like oh wait we have a kid like because you're still not automatic yet no you don't know how to hold them I mean, my wife's a natural, but it took me a lot of time for the diapers and the holds and all that stuff. It's been the best thing. It's awesome. There's two kinds of dads. And Salk and I are very different, just about in every way in life, right? In this regard, too. There's kind of two sorts of dads, I think. Those that really enjoy the baby face and then those that really abstain from the baby face. No. Whoa. There is a – no, that's not true. Which one's which here? Some of us don't enjoy the baby face. That's right. But didn't abstain. Okay, sorry. We did all the hard work. We just didn't enjoy it. Kind of, yes. But those that enjoy it and those that don't enjoy it, where are you on that spectrum? Oh, I love it. I do. I love it. I can see that you'll get to play with him more and that fun stage of him realizing what's going on, playing baseball, playing everything. But I try to be really careful not to wish time away or think that stage will be so great because we're in the most amazing stage right now. And I know I'm going to wish for it back one day and people always tell me that. So I'm trying to be super present, even though you blink and he's already four months and looks different. It's crazy. Logan, I'm glad you said you were a natural lefty because I was just over here talking to a few folks and we were watching you do your routine. And I was like, Logan's got like he's a left handed person. Just looking at you with all the things you're doing. It's very lefty. Yeah. So that's fair. How does that work? Maybe we've asked you about this before. You know, Billy Wagner was a righty. He broke his right arm, started pitching left. He became a Hall of Famer. How did you start throwing right-handed? I didn't know that about him. Isn't that crazy? Natural righty. I think it's just natural for me. I mean, I picked up a lot of sports righty, not everything. So I just, it's random, I think. But like normal things, writing and eating and brushing teeth and stuff is lefty. But a lot of sports things are righty. So I don't know. It could have been fun to be a lefty pitcher, but it just wasn't in the cards for me. Well, I was also going to say, so we taped this interview, and you were a little late, which is okay. This is not about giving you grief. In fact, it's quite the opposite, because as we were sitting here kind of waiting, I was like, God, you know why Logan's late? Because he and all of the other starters are having so much fun hanging out, doing their thing, talking together. They're just back reunited for the first time just, what, last week or a week or so ago. And just seeing that bond and all those conversations, I know they're not all about baseball. I'm sure a lot of them are not, but it is pretty cool to see you guys and that bonding experience that you all have together. It is. Yeah. Yeah. They are some of my best friends for sure. And I noticed that even more in the offseason, too, because it's like I realized, man, I don't have a ton of friends back home and all my best friends are here with the Mariners. So I would hate to ever leave because it's just fun hanging out. Yeah. Like we talk baseball for sure, but people probably think we talk more baseball than we do when we're just hanging out off the field and stuff. So did you see those guys throughout the offseason at all? Not really, no. Everybody's so spread out. We would talk on the phone and text and stuff like that, but I didn't really get to see many people. What is the name of that text thread? Five guys. Five starters. Maybe Emerson's on it. I don't know. I don't think we – There's no name? Emerson's in there. No, I don't think we named anything. That sounds like you don't want to tell me that. Not yet. I don't blame him. I wouldn't make that public either. Can't answer. Is Cal on the text thread or not? He's on one and he's not on the other. There we go. How much does Cal get talked about in the one he's not on? That's why he's not on. Well, we need to say something we don't want him to see. Are you just going to? I mean, go ahead. Well, just along these lines. I'll be the good-looking one over here in the corner. Because you just said it that you hope you never leave because this is where all your friends are. It was right around this time last year that Cal signed his deal, maybe just a few weeks later than this, and made the decision to stay long-term. I know we talked to you. Other people talked to you last year, and you said that you were certainly open to that. Has there been any progress towards a long-term deal here in Seattle? I really haven't heard much lately. And, yeah, I kind of thought that with Cal last year. You never know how things are going to work out. But every year it's crazy. We're just talking about how many years it's been already. I'm starting to feel old. And then free agency is right around the corner. And it's exciting but unknown at the same time because this is all I've known my whole life. and my best friends here and stuff like that. So, again, I would love to stay here. I haven't really heard much, but, you know, maybe a good tryout here in spring training and things work out. You never know. Is it unique from your experience with peers and friends and other organizations? Is what you guys have here from that friendship and from everybody watching each other and rooting on each other, do you find that that is unique? Or if we were in 29 other spots, like, no, most of the rotations and most of the guys are close like we are. I think a lot of people probably say something similar, and this is all I know, but I would have to imagine it's different because most all of us are around the same age, have been with one org the whole time. Other teams might have a 15-year vet and then a new guy and then all this. We were kind of year after year after year, a lot of us, and Louie was the one traded over, but he's been here for years. It feels like all I know is him in a Mariners uniform. So I think we're all really close, and I can't imagine everywhere else is like that. I think I asked Cal about this, but, you know, four of you guys, Emerson would make five, born in America, grew up in America, and then you have Luis, who's just a completely different life experience. How does that mesh? How does that, what does he bring to the dynamic of the five or six of you? The funny thing is him and Bryce, who are probably the farthest apart, are probably the closest ones out of the five. that somehow they relate and get along and laugh more than anybody else. So he's another one of the guys just like anybody else. When we talk about baseball, we talk about his fishing in the offseason, his boat and all that stuff. So I don't know. You can be from different parts of the world, and the game just brings you together. And he had his third girl, right? Three girls. So Emerson had his. What did you say, Emerson, like a week apart? A week after me, he had a boy. Louie had another girl. So I think he's going to keep going, I think. It sounds like he wants that boy. Yeah. What are we working on here outside of the fun stuff? And if you have time, I know you've got a wife, kid, Frenchie. I think now is the year that we finally – I think I get to – I'd like to experiment with the orb and some of the stuff. Get you on there. Yeah, I'd like to kind of – With the water in it. Yeah. R2-D2. That's what it looks like. Kind of feel what we're doing here. What is the next step for you? Just purely pitching, purely baseball-wise, this process of spring, what's next? Yeah. Yeah, well, first on that, it's fun for me every year because more and more people do the water ball and water bag stuff. Yeah. So I feel a little bit less weird because I start looking around and there's other guys in the org. They have other water balls and bags in there. I don't have to bring my own. It's like we're graduating. It's getting better and better. More people are doing it. So I feel a little less freakish, a little bit. You're sort of like the guy who found the band like before everyone else did. I told you it was real. Oh, you guys only like their new stuff? I was listening to the first album. Yeah, exactly. I can try to take the credit at least. For the pitching side, I'm trying to have a cutter again. I threw some in the game yesterday. I'm trying to have more behind-in-the-count options. I've been pretty good getting ahead and when I'm ahead. If I can take a little bit of pressure off the fastball slider and behind counts, that would help. So the cutter does what? Does that turn a little different way? It's kind of like just off the fastball and a little left. It's built more against lefties than righties, but I might do both. I threw it in 24, mixed bag. First half it was good. Second half it wasn't as good. I have different theories on why, but I'm trying to bring that back. I'm trying to throw more curveballs too. And, again, worked on that yesterday and felt pretty good. I messed with a changeup in the offseason. I don't think that happens. Okay. But it was fun to mess around with And I even worked a sinker in the game yesterday that first strike another behind in the count option I don have high hopes for that but it did make Cal really upset that I threw it so that was a win in itself. He hates it. Why is he hated? Just another pitch? Yeah, he just likes tried and true. He doesn't like when you mess around with all this stuff. I have a funky grip. It's kind of a funky pitch. So he likes things that he knows are normal. That's a sinker you said is kind of funky? Yeah. How would you characterize your year last year? Was it a good year? Was it not? I'm trying to – like, it felt like it had different moments and paths to it. It was your first year being banged up, right? Yeah. First time on the I.L., yeah. Yeah. So how would you characterize your year? I thought it was good. All right. What did you think? There were parts of it that were great. Unfortunately, you were hurt for some of it, and I don't know. I wasn't sure how frustrating that was. Oh, this is great. This is now back-to-back days. Oh, man. Now I offended Logan. Kiss off Cal yesterday. Only I can offend Logan, but literally the nicest guy in the entire organization. What did you say to Cal? Oh, I just asked if he could catch 120 again. He was like, yeah. Why would you even ask me that? He's like, well, I don't know. I'm going to bring that up to him later. Thank you. Please. Yeah, by all means, make me look worse. Thank you. Yeah, you should ask him that. He really likes it. Did you hear this Jamoke on the radio? He didn't think you could catch 120 games. Yeah, he'd really like that. That was your first year, though, being on the I.L. It was more, it was hard mentally at first accepting that. And the sad reality is a lot of people go on the IL and I don't ever want to be there again, hopefully. But still, like the timing was bad, but it's like a flexor strain, all things considered. It's a win, kind of. Scary. And it's scary, but once you get the diagnosis and work with the right people, you know that you have a set timeline and not too long. And like six weeks is much different than a lot of people being out for a year and a half or two years or something. So, you know, all things considered, I'll take it. I just try to put myself in your shoes when that happens. And you know that you feel it in your forearm and you're like, I don't know what's ahead of me now. In the moment, very scary. In the moment, that night, for sure, a lot of thinking. And you get the MRR the next morning. So, thankfully, there's not too much time. But, yeah, there's a short window there where it's like, this is not how it's supposed to go. That's what you're thinking. Have you had that in the past ever in college or on the way up? I've had like tightness there like most people probably have. That was probably the most serious it's been. Yeah. But thankfully after that, it felt good and a nice break in the offseason and feeling good right now. Yeah, so what do you do in this offseason as you prepare? Do you do anything different? Or is it just, hey, you know, kind of Lord's hands and timing and just, you know, this is pitching. There's a lot of that mentality for me. But there's also just I try to control everything, and I know I can't, But I try as much as I can. So it's different in itself with the playoffs. We went longer than I was on IL. So I'm kind of thinking, do I go right away? Do I take more time off? But we have a shortened offseason already. Thankfully, some of the weird stuff you guys see out here, I have even more weird stuff that people don't see. Oh, interesting. I do some arm care that's not traditional, and some of it's built for the flexor, for the forearm. So I've been doing that in the offseason that I think has been helping too. Can we pry? What does that look like? I don't have it with me. Picture like two baseballs connected with a pole in between. Yeah. And it's called a grip ripper. And you grab one baseball and shake it. And the baseball on the other side shakes. So it's like that's all instability stuff. This is based for instability but just for your forearm. Huh. So it isolates that. Yeah, exactly. Makes sense. Rice? You doing rice? I used to. Actually, last year I did after the fact. And I felt like that helped out. I'm a big rice guy. I try to. I like to do the grapes. Not rest ice compression and elevation. Just actually putting your arm into ice and into rice rather. To rice, yeah. And moving it around. You do all the different grapes. Whatever works. I've tried it. Yeah. A little bit of everything. How about Brian Woo's year last year? We'll get you talking about some of your teammates and friends, what he did and what he accomplished last year. Yeah, he was great. It was fun to see it. And I think everybody kind of saw a taste too. And like knowing that it was bound to come out at some point. and he had a lot of success in 24, but it was definitely a big breakout and expecting more of that this year. And then your buddy, who I know you're not going to give that much credit to, Cal Raleigh, but the dude did hit 60 home runs. And somehow. Other people have hit 60, though. I don't know. He was all. It is pretty good. He was all with us the other day, and he's like, well, passing Mickey was pretty good. I'm like, man, you can just call Mickey Mantle Mickey. Yeah. Once you pass him on a home run list. It's no longer Mr. Mantle. That's pretty crazy. but he is still so grounded he is so normal he has not changed at least to our our eye how is that possible and do you guys around him play a role in in reminding him of who he is i have to yeah that's what i tell people um after the jokes of course that he is the guy that stays exactly the same that if you if that success happens to anybody you want it to happen to him because he's he can handle it so well and stays the exact same and a lot a lot of that credit to all the pitchers for giving him a hard time and keeping him in check because we try so hard in all of our free time to just bother him when he's so busy but he's he has so much talent but like you said the persona that he has the leadership staying grounded it's a very rare combination wouldn't you say in some ways it's emblematic of the whole crew like there's really not like just about everybody in this building i know jerry was wearing what nine versus one and obviously we talk a ton of Seahawks 12 is one and all their run that they went on but isn't he somewhat emblematic of everybody like pretty talented yeah but we don't need to tell everybody or act like we're all that much different I think I see that with the pitching side with the hitting with every small group and then it kind of comes together collectively so the starting group the bullpen the pitchers as a whole the hitters as a whole and then Cal has his hand in everything a little bit. So I feel like that all comes together and makes us, what do they say, the sum's better than the, or the. What hole is better than the sum of the parts? The hole is better than the sum of the parts. Gotcha. That's right where I was at, yeah. Radio guys. Yeah, I think that's kind of what we see too. Do you have, what are your relationships like with the hitters? Guys that, you know, you're not working with them every day on the mound or all that. How many relationships and what do those relationships look like? It's been great for me. A lot of them I've been with for years and some new, But guys like Randy that came over from trade, Nails, like, again, it feels like they've been here for years. And you can hear or see sometimes about a disconnect between hitting and pitching. I really don't see that a ton here. I think we support them. They support us. We have understanding for the different challenges that each other goes through. But we know that if we want to win the whole thing, that's the expectation this year. We have to rely on each other. Any truth to the – weren't you the training guy? Any truth to that really healing, too, and helping the elbow? That was my exercise program, the rehab, yeah. It kind of played a role as well, did it not? Expectations. Let's go right there. What are your expectations for this team? We can talk about it. We have all these national voices this week that jump aboard here, that get a taste and a sense and a feel of you guys as they get proximity to you. What internally and individually are your expectations? I mean, just win it all right off the bat. That has to be the expectation, the goal, nothing less. I don't like getting into let's make the playoffs or win the division or, you know, maybe next year we get to the World Series. Like, I don't want it to be step by step type of thing. It's great if we fail our way into that like we did last year. But progress is great, but we have to shoot for the whole thing. And that has to be the expectation, too. No team wins the World Series by, you know, accidentally doing it or thinking, well, we played above what we should have. I think from the get go, we have to think we're the best team. we're going to be the last one standing. How does it feel using those words and having them bandied about this building, World Series? Yeah, it's good that it feels more normal now. I feel like if we said that a few years ago, it kind of felt like we were skipping steps in 20, like we were just trying to break the drought or whatever it was. It's good that it's normal now for us and from the outside that people are expecting us to have a chance. Did I hear that Naylor, when he came over, was helpful a little bit with some of the pitchers in the running game? uh yeah i he's probably the most i've seen in the dugout of being vocal about what the other pitchers are doing tendency wise and uh timing and different things that pretty much every pitcher has things that go on but we don't always realize it and he's really good at picking those up was it just in the dugout or i felt like maybe it was on the field i'm not gonna get into that waving around jumping up and down i think every once in a while it was also out on the field as well he's kind of a different bird you like what do we know about Josh Naylor he's great um took me a while to figure out I just don't know if I have them all figured out but he's he's very unique like such a competitive guy on the field but the nicest guy off the field but when I was playing against him I probably wouldn't have guessed that necessarily but then I remember seeing him in passing and eventually came over here and I'm like this is the nicest guy ever but on the field he is an absolute gamer people have said like he wouldn't really talk to you at first base i don't i don't know that's what i heard so just a different cat but a guy you don't like to play exactly you want him on your team not the other team and i've heard the same about brendan donovan for different reasons but just so gritty and obnoxious at bats from a pitcher perspective what have you what's the early word and early read on donovan he's uh he just seems all business definitely the gritty tight from what I've heard and seen um but I love it because I think we relate he's kind of like head down a little more quiet and just does his work every single day every time I see him he's in the weight room or in the cage so that's my kind of guy that's the guy I want on my team when you went back to Stetson or if you go back to Stetson or youth ball or whatever and you talk to and they say hey what was it like pitching in the postseason was it was it different in the ALCS like what was Was there a different or was it just kind of tunnel vision Didn really feel any different Yeah it definitely feels different like heightened and all that stuff I think your first taste of the playoffs feels massively different And then after like, it's almost an adrenaline high every single day. So it almost in a weird way starts to then feel more normal of like the craziest game is just now the new normal. But of course, when you're in actually in the moment, it's like a split second. and it's crazy and nerve-wracking and all this stuff, and then you throw the first pitch, and it's just back to baseball. What was it like near the end of Game 5 against Detroit? How are you feeling? You're watching this game. What was it like to be Logan Gilbert watching that? That was the most nervous I've been because I don't know how the bullpen guys do it. I said afterwards all the time, so much respect for them that they can do that every single day because I'm out there like, when do I drink my coffee? When do I take my pre-workout? Am I getting in or not? Like, I'm trying to get confirmation here. Nobody knows. And then all of a sudden, it's like, boom, you're in the game. Fans are going crazy. You throw one bad pitch, and everything your teammates did for three hours is out the window. So it's a ton of fun, but it's also like, man, I like being a starter. That's what I'm used to. And then the moment Polanco has that hit, what's the reaction? Oh, that was crazy. I don't even remember. I think I blacked out or something. They have a picture on the wall in there. I don't even remember what I was doing at the time. Have you found yourself in the picture? I found myself, but I don't remember that moment. It was so cool, though. That was insane. It's kind of like the birth of Henry, the first days after, the weeks after, the months after. Yeah, insane. I'm impressed you're here. I'm impressed. Still up here? Babies are hard, man. Like, if I were you, I'd be napping right now. I'm supposed to be home pretty soon. Yeah. I think we're going to let you go. I just feel bad. I feel bad for your wife. I feel bad for the Frenchie out here? Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, I feel bad for her as well. Can we let him get back to the family? All right. We got to let you go. Thank you. I mean, we don't have to. We need to, unfortunately. Thank you. This was great. We love catching up with you and just continued success and good luck. We say it all the time. Truly one of our favorite people to talk to down here. Yeah, that means a lot. Thank you, guys. Good seeing you again. From the Quantum Fiber Studio, you're listening to Brock and Sock. Weekdays, 6 to 10. On Seattle Sports and 97.3 FM HD2. Well, thank you, everybody, for bearing with us a little bit as we ran Logan there at kind of an awkward time. But it did allow us to talk to Julio on his schedule. So while you guys were listening to Logan Gilbert, we were interviewing Julio. And we will play that for you coming up at 730. So Julio Rodriguez, 730 this morning. And I think you'll enjoy it. I think you'll love to just hear the kind of state of mind and where Julio's at right now. Yeah, just thinking through all these years, it is, I don't know, it kind of hit me. I'm not getting emotional, by the way. I'm not choking up. And his eyes were still unbelievably difficult. They're doing just fine. Because he gives such great eye contact. You want to try to match it. And you'd think after all these years it'd be easier. It's not. It's not really gotten that much easier. But what does strike me in all of these years here with this group is it's been now, right, five, six years with Cal and with Logan and with Julio, where they've been gracious enough to sit down with us. and you do see them mature. You're going to hear that from Justin Hollander, right? He talked about that and how much fun that is for him to see these guys come up. It's almost like, and you're going to, and you are experiencing it, Salk, at the age and stage of your kids, as they go from 8 to 12 to 15 to 18. Like, you watch that growth and development. And then all of a sudden, it's like, hey, man, this life as a pro athlete, especially a successful one, and all that comes with that is a superstar and all of it, and you watch them navigate it and manage it. And, yeah, man, it strikes me how advantageous it is. I've always known this, and I firmly believe that time on task together and connection matters. But, man, do you feel that from these guys. And I thought that was my favorite answer with Julio is he went into depth about this connection because it matters in football. When you're making a combo block and you're scooping a linebacker and you're hip-to-hip with somebody and you've got to move that person together, like you are connected. When I'm throwing a route, hey, man, I'm throwing that route, and I'm trusting that you're going to be right there off that step, and you see what I see, and I put it on you, right? There's all sorts of connection. 12 is one, the whole thing with Mike McDonald. And everything they do defensively is to be all connected at every level. Does it matter in baseball? 17 years ago, I was here like, eh, independent contractors, just kind of all do their own thing. They put their stats together. They do their things. They get their numbers. And ultimately, talent still, Mike, in many ways, trumps. I get that. but this feels like that Puyallup High School basketball team that's playing in the state tournament this weekend that's played together since fifth grade. For seven years, they've played through tournaments and in Yakima and in Spokane and in Hoop Fest and all of it. And they have so much time together. And I don't know, man, I feel that as much this year as any year that we've been down here. Well, yeah, I think, you know, the key word there is trust. There you go. Right? I mean, like, I know you like connection, And it's a good word, and I think it's very valuable. But I think really what it comes down to is it's a way to get to trust. Because you can spend five or six years together going through the wars. And never connect. But if you don't like each other. That's right. And you don't trust each other. Yeah. Then you start. I mean, your first two and a half years of me saw. Exactly. You didn't like me at all. But no, it can get worse. Yeah. Right? I mean, then it's a pressure cooker. And it can take, like, here goes this guy again. He's not going to hustle after that. Yep, this guy screwed me on a line drive again. Could have had it. Now my ERA is going up. This guy is not going to move the guy over because he needs to get his numbers. This guy is getting thrown out trying to steal second even though Cal is up. Well, that's not helpful. So it can make it worse. What do you always say? Pressure makes diamonds a bus pipe salt. That's what pressure does. It does both of those things. Yes, it does. And this is sort of the same thing. being close together in close quarters, 162 a year, six months at least. Yeah, it either brings you closer together because you love each other. And you heard in the Logan interview, I said it. And I wasn't trying to be rude. He was a little late to come over more than he normally would be. I didn't mind. I didn't feel like we were getting big leagued. He was literally just having so much fun hanging out with Brian Wu and Bryce Miller that he was busy. That this is why he's here at Sprint Training was to come reconnect with those guys because they all just kind of love each other. That's right. And that leads to trust. And it really has been a pretty phenomenal experience to watch this whole thing come together. It has. And, you know, thankfully you had continuity above, right? Jerry and Justin were able to make some mistakes and have some successes and ultimately draft and develop unbelievably well with all of the resources that goes into that. from that evaluation and those moves. And then, yeah, man, you kind of just add a nailer, which, gosh, I would really like to try to. Maybe during the Julio interview, I'm going to. You haven't really connected yet. I have not. No. Is the clubhouse open? It should be. What do you mean it should? Don't tell me it should be. I think it is. You can ask somebody from Mariner's Media Relations. Oh, no, it should be. And I walk in there and it's closed. Since when does Brock care about permission? I think it's generally. You just do what you want. No. Generally open in the morning unless they're having a team meeting. Okay. Yeah. All right. So if they're having a team meeting, don't go in there. No, I'm not going to do that. That was one thing I can say with ultimate certainty. No, I won't do that. If they are having a team meeting, don't go in there. No, Maura, even I know some of those lines. That is crossing a line. Don't do that. Yeah. But if not, I think it's not really a problem. Okay. Usually the general rule here is you can be in the clubhouse as long as you're doing something and as long as they're not having a team meeting. Okay. All right. They don't want people standing in there. Gotcha. Like the Red Sox media does. Do they? That's creepy. And the Yankees media. And the Mets. They have to. Yeah. What if I miss something? Right. And if they miss something. I was doing my job. I was in the clubhouse. Right. I was there. I was watching. I was waiting. The fight didn't. I didn't miss the fight in the clubhouse. Gotcha. Which, of course, never happens anymore. But that's. All right. Well, I'll do my best to try to connect because that would be the last kind of piece of the puzzle here. We'll see if we can find a way. I do still have my jersey. that does feel a little even more awkward. But if it takes that to broker a deal, I'll do whatever for the team. I don't know if that makes it worse. It might make it worse. I think it's a last resort. It's 100% a last resort. You start just having the conversation. One million percent. And then if you're not sure how it's going. That's your wife, your beautiful baby the other day. Very cute baby. That's probably a good little icebreaker. Oh, by the way. Yeah. The worst icebreaker of icebreakers ever happened. From you? No, no, no, no. Was it from Lyon? No, it happened like a week ago. I tell you sometimes that you can kind of feel when people are like, oh, that's that big, awkward guy. I recognize that strange-looking face. That's the old Husky quarterback. So they'll come over, and I always get a kick of what the introduction is. And the poor fellow that shared a story that he was at the Whammy in Miami, and I'm like, that was Damon. Right. You told me that. This fellow came up to me last week at Titus' basketball game. Okay. And I could see it. Kind of joy. It's like, oh, you know, I went to Washington. It's great. You know, I played, and first day, popped both hamstrings. Oh, my God. Career over. I was like, oh, really? That's what you got for me? That's your icebreaker? You think I believe that for one second, by the way? Oh, yeah. I was going to, you know, I tried to have a football team. I was going to be a Husky. Yeah, first practice, boom, both hamstrings gone. Come on. I'm like, that's not true. You can do better than that. That's not true. And I'm almost getting to the stage of life where I'm like, that's not true. Right. I'm almost there. Yeah. But you're still a little too much of a pleaser. Yeah, a little too much of a pleaser. Maybe you can learn from Julio. We're going to talk about that with him coming up a little over a half hour from now. You know what, actually? No, you did not. It does sound like Bryce Miller's going to be with us later. Shannon Dreher. Larry Salk will be on the program later today. What a day planned for our penultimate day here in Teoria. Brock, we'll be right back on Brock and Salk.