Hour 2: Mariners Star Outfielder Julio Rodriguez on Learning He Cannot Please Everyone

Get in the freaking auto! From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports. Brock Eward is my hero. James Euder just punched me in the kidney. We're going to see you on Monday. That really worked that way, Sherm. This is a show that has my name on it. It kind of does, though. Now here are your hosts, Brock Eward and Mike Salk. Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! All right, rolling along here, Brock and Salt, CL Sports on 710, clsports.com. Shannon will be in with us maybe around 9 this morning, which would be great. She just stopped by, said hi, love seeing Shannon every morning. We'll have Julio Rodri. Did she bring more of a second round of coffee? Yeah. We're a two-coffee morning, huh? I did that yesterday, too. Did you? Yeah. Makes sense. Julio Rodriguez at 730. And we will also have, I think, Bryce Miller at 830. That's the hope. We're going to work some things around. Tomorrow, I should point out, Ryan Sloan, who was awesome. We taped with him yesterday. He was great. Justin Hollander, who we taped with also. He was great. And I think Kevin Seitzer, who we loved talking to last year. Yes, tomorrow. And that should be tomorrow as well. So just to kind of set up our last two days here, and it's been awesome. It's been great. Shannon said something the other day, Brock, that leads perfectly into this Julio interview. Okay. She said that she was on the Julio Rodriguez MVP train this year. That kind of jumped out to me. We didn't really ask Julio about it because there's no upside in saying, hey, are you going to win an MVP this year? He's not in that mode right now. So don't expect a question on this. But it did get me thinking anyway about the idea of Julio Rodriguez, the MVP candidate. What does that actually look like? What does it take to win an MVP? You know, by the way, he does have contractually incentives that do play into that. So it's not like, oh, I don't even think about it. I don't care about it. He's not playing for that. But there is contractually a pretty good incentive for him to be an MVP. So I just thought, just for a moment, what does it take to win an MVP? Because 60 home runs wasn't enough. Absurd. Aaron Judge's stats last year. I know it's frustrating to think about Judge because everyone feels like Cal deserved the MVP, and I'm right there with you. But just so you know, Judge's stats last year. He hit .331 with 53 home runs, 114 RBI, an 1144 OPS, which translates to a .215 OPS plus, which means he was 115% better than the average major league hitter. Just so you know what it takes to win an MVP. Yeah, Julio. When you hear that .215 OPS plus, that is. Do you have Julio's numbers from last year? I do. I'm going to give them to you in a moment. But that's why he won the MVP. As great as 60 home runs. The argument for Cal is that he did it all while catching and the defense. The reason Judge won the MVP is that he had a 215 OPS plus while still hitting 53 home runs. It's ridiculous. Julio last year, 267, 32 home runs, 95 driven in, stole 30 bags, which Judge doesn't do. So, 798 OPS, 128 OPS plus. 128. Yeah. So, and he had a good year. So, he's 28% better than the league and Judge is 110% better than the league. Yes. Is kind of the way to read it. Yeah. Correct? Last year, yeah. 28% better versus 115. Uh-huh. Judge, I mean, that's what it takes right now to win an NBA. And by the way, those are great numbers for Julio. That's a great year. Yep. Not his, I think he can do even better than that, honestly. because he's just so unbelievably talented. That was with a really rough first half, correct? Exactly. Not as rough as previous years, if I remember right. But still, if and when this dude puts it together for a full six months, you are going to see numbers. I just don't know, Mike. I wish I could say yes. That guy's not going anywhere. He's in New York. That trade is so unique. That skill as a hitter, as a right in it, is so unique that eye is so good, that patience is so good that I don't know. If you couldn't celebrate, not even celebrate. Celebrate's not the right word. Put some respect on all that Cal did as a catcher to do something never done before in the sport nor anywhere close to it as a catcher. And all of that, if that didn't get it, what is Julio going to do as a center fielder? He can win a gold glove. Great. I mean, 40-40, oh, that's great. It's been done before. But here's what Julio could do. I don't know if this wins the MVP because the judge thing is sort of what it is. How about 290, 40 home runs, 110 driven in, and 30-plus bags? You raise that batting average from 267 to 290. You hit another 8-plus home runs. You drive in another 15 runs, and you steal 30-plus bags again while playing gold glove defense and a leader. And this team wins the American League West. You do all that. And maybe he finishes with the best record in the American League. You do those things. Maybe he doesn't win the MVP and we're annoyed just like we were this past year. But you look at it and say, you know what? That was the real deal, Julio Rodriguez, and everything that he can do, the completeness of his game. Look, I love watching this guy play. I really do. And it's not a shot at anyone else on this team. but there's no one more fun for me on this team to watch play than Julio. And that includes Cal. And it's not a knock on anyone else, but just the gifts that Julio has, the ability to all five tools, the way he runs, the way he tracks things down, the joy with which he plays. Today's kind of a day to talk Julio because we're talking to him. But I got to tell you, I am just waiting. And he had a great year last year. This is not a shot at last year at all. A great year. But when Julio really has that year, and 25 is right around that time where it could have happened at 23. It doesn't not happen at 23. It's probably not going to happen for the first time at 28 for a guy like Julio. That would be very surprising. 25, even 26. 27. So these next two years, that's not to say he won't continue to be great for a long time. But if you're going to have the leap, this would be a pretty good year to do it. It's kind of that perfect timing in the whole cycle of things. If there's enough banked experience there, but you are an absolutely – I mean, you've realized this, Salk. You've been on a 23-year slide with your testosterone. It's about age 25 that it happens. Wow. No, it's age 25, they say. That's not just you. That's me as well. I mean, I'm looking at young Lyle. Lyle's a year into testosterone deficiency as well. It's just 25 is your absolute peak male form. And from there, it's a sliding scale down. But you also need the time in baseball to gear up. Between 20 and 25, absolutely. To learn, and then you start to gain that experience. Sort of the quarterbacks have the same thing. 100%, yes. And he has one other advantage that Cal doesn't have, that some others don't have, is that he does have star power. He has been to the All-Star Game. He was a home run derby. He is a recognizable face. He is one of, you know, the young guns that, you know, got an immense amount of exposure early. So it's not like you're having to tell the JSN story or the Devin Witherspoon story or tell anybody in baseball or the country or New York about Julio Rodriguez. They know him. And I think they're kind of waiting for what you're saying there. Can you put the whole thing together from March to October? And if you do, the traits are so unique and so good. was a divish I think earlier in the week that's like yeah Hula is still just different. He's just different. He sits down with us. He's 6'3". He's 235 pounds. He runs faster than anybody right? I mean he's just. He is a different kind of athlete. The traits are there. And everyone knows it. And John Morosi on this week here cut 11. John Morosi said basically that. Nope. Hold on. Brady around? No. Uh oh. Oh we lost Brady. Cut 11 if you have a moment. I've said I really believe that he made some pretty good mental adjustments around the All-Star break that I find to be somewhat sustainable. And I think still that we're just beginning to see the potential. I think we're starting to really see – we're already seeing the results. But to me, this is the year that Julio really opens up and enters his prime, and that is a scary thought. for the rest of the American League. I love the idea that there is another gear for Julio because what he's done is incredible. He's been a great player. He maybe hasn't been... He's been an incredibly well-rounded player. Yes. But has there been the offensive side that has just exploded? And when you hear and you look at Jose Ramirez's numbers and Judge's numbers, some of the other offensive numbers... There have been stretches of it. Like we see it. Yes. I just keep thinking like, man, this guy puts it together over the course of six months from the offensive side consistently. He might challenge some of those judge numbers. I mean, I wouldn't put that past him. Those numbers are pretty otherworldly. But he could challenge that. Enough to be on your intriguing list? No, I doubt it. He's probably going to be left off the intriguing list this year. Not really that intriguing a player. Let's come back. Let's give you guys everything you need to know which we haven't even done yet today. Mike McDonald spoke at the Combine, so I want to make sure we put you a little bit of that. I know, but Brock, We're here, and we got Julio and Bryce Miller, and Larry Salk will be here. Don't go anywhere. It's Brock and Salk in Peoria. See all the sports on 710. Need to know. 15 minutes past every hour with Brock and Salk. Presented by Marquee Data. Here's what you need to know. Up first. Wow, the old 8-8 tie in baseball. You got that only in spring training. The Mariners did it yesterday on the road in surprise against the Royals Brian Wu started gave up a run whatever Nice a good start for Brian Wu to kind of get himself out there Cut to, he explains what he was trying to accomplish. First time at like full, full game speed. So honestly, just trying to fill up his own, throw everything. Start getting on the same page with catchers, especially new guys. So, you know, throwing the kids. we've had a couple of bullpens and um and lives so far but trying to get this on the same page about you know things that i like to do and um whether it's sequencing whether it's like setups um you know the quicker that you can get on the same page the better so try to communicate as much as you can about those and then um you know as you get on through through camp um you know the more that you communicate the more that you're talking through things the more you're on the same page and you get to regular season. It's just easy to go from there. He's going to be in my observation. We usually do sort of our final observations from camp on the last day. Oh, I got a lot of them. I'm sure you do. Jeez. One of my top ones is going to be about Brian Will. Yeah. I'm just watching him walk around here. Yeah. He might have changed, like he may have gained the most confidence. Oh, okay. Yeah. Of anybody I've seen here. Walking around, California chill, talking. He just has a different vibe around him than he has in previous years. And I want to apologize yet again to Kathy, to Kyle, to everybody else. I really feel, this is on me, I sincerely want to apologize that now Michael Salk looks at so many of these players the same way that I do when they walk in. It's my fault. No, it's not. It is, Salk. It's totally my fault. You know, Mooney walks by and what do you say? Oh, look at his legs and butt. Would you have looked at his legs and butt 10 years ago? Maybe a little bit, but not the way you do now. And I apologize to Bonneville Media. I have done this. I'm sorry. Nice job. Thanks for that. Please forgive me. A couple of hits for Robert Schneider yesterday, which is cool to see. Have you chatted with him out here yet? No, I've heard he's a great dude. Yeah, I'm going to find a way to talk to him. So, yeah, maybe we can make that happen at some point as well. Here's the second thing you need to know. All right, Combine continuing today in Indy. Mike McDonald spoke to the media yesterday, and he is very much on message right now. I mean, you know how important their identity is to him? Cut six. Mike makes it very clear that's the only thing that matters. That's who we are. That's what we do. And I think if you go into a game like that and want to start obviously trying to change your identity and how you operate, that's a risky proposition. So obviously we're going to build game plans around how teams operate and what we feel like it's best to give it a certain situation. But we've decided that's who we wanted to be. That's what our guys have shown us that they're good at. And so we listened to them, and that's how we built our defense. And we got the players that can pull it off. I got some great sound for Blue 88, Saul Schneider and McDonald going further. But yesterday, Justin and Moore and I were driving out to dinner, and we were just talking about how much Mike McDonald's grown. And what that Super Bowl experience does in so many ways, when you're dealing with that throng of attention in media in every day, think about our first interview, a couple of our first, right? We talk about growth and development of all these players and all of the maturation. You're going to hear it from Julio in 10 minutes. Like, we could dig deeper with these guys. Mike is, man, is he presenting? I just watched a bunch of that yesterday at the Combine. Like, man, that guy is presenting. You want to talk about a presence? a presence has grown tremendously with Mike McDonald. Yeah, there's no doubt. I thought you might like this sound from Sean Payton. I know he's not always your favorite. He's grumpy pants. He can be a little grumpy, but I think you'll like this answer. He was asked if they had had a healthy Bo Nix, would they have won the Super Bowl? And here, cut 10 was his answer. I think it's unfair a little to Seattle in that, look, they did it. It's like I'm reading the Twitter feeds on the Olympic hockey, and it is what it is. And so the timing obviously wasn't great, and yet certainly can't diminish from the first two years he's had as a pro. But it's tough. Look, it's a grind to begin with, and then the further you go, the more difficult it will be if you lose. And so it's tough to get to that spot in the playoffs and then lose to another good team. Nice answer. Yeah, well, it was like five different stories. I think the hockey was a three-on-three element of it, and it was at Chintzy and everything else. But, yes, there is a respect factor that the Seahawks deserve. They did it. And, man, did we love it. Here's the third thing you need to know. Well, you mentioned the hockey. How'd the hockey go last night? Well, it's kind of a rough reentry, I think you would say, Brock, for the Kraken. They didn't play great. They got beat. In fact, it's like a space shuttle when it reenters the atmosphere and it's hot. It can be a little rough. Yes. It was a little rough for them. Like you're trying to fight the sun right now with your readers on. I'm trying to play the sound for it. I can't see any of it. I don't understand what's happened. It's disappeared off my computer screen. They lose 4-1. Riker Evans had the only goal. My guy, though, Jacob Melanson, seven hits. Seven hits. Seven hits. In fewer than nine minutes. Pretty amazing. He only gets nine minutes of playing time yesterday and still ends up with seven hits. But a 4-1 loss? One-third of the team's hits. Here's a little Lane Lambert. Give me cut 15. We just failed to execute in a lot of different situations. Same thing? For whatever reason. You know, apparently we had a pass-first mentality instead of a shoot-first mentality. It just doesn't work with our hockey team. you know, there's no excuse for it. There's no reason for it. We've got to be better. Dude, how do you not love hockey coaches? This guy's awesome. What happened last night? Apparently we had a pass-first mentality. He's like a disgusted parent. It's so great. All right, that's everything you need to know. They'll be back at it tonight in St. Louis. maybe they'll have more of a shoot first. Apparently we didn't understand what curfew was. That's pretty great, right? Apparently. Are you going to put that one in your? I like that. Apparently. You should put that one in your holster to have. Yeah. So apparently. What a great word for that. Oh, my God. That's fun. Okay. Julio Rodriguez coming up here. Just to run through the day again. I'm sorry to keep doing this, but there's a lot of cool moving pieces. Julio's going to join us. It's on tape, so it's definitely happening here in about five minutes. Are we confirmed? Well. Brady, we good? Brady, it's there. We got it. The audio's okay. It exists. All right. And then you guys told Julio what I did. Not we. You. Maura. I was not going to sell you out. No. I was just going to say we had an audio issue. We were all going to take the blame. Fair to say, Maura taking accountability. It was awesome. You guys were like, something happened last year. And then Julio was like, you have to tell me what happened now. Yeah, and I said, we lost the audio. And Maura's like, actually, I lost the audio. That's right. Nice job. He applauded me for my account of this. You saved it how many different places? Five separate places. Five separate save jobs. Thank you, Brady. That's important. So Julio coming up at 730. We think Bryce Miller, he is pitching today, but he said, yeah, come on, whatever. So that should be 830. My dad will be here at 930. And then tomorrow, Justin Hollander, a very fun interview with Ryan Sloan, Kevin Seitzer, who everybody liked last year. If we're going to be transparent, I asked Bryce for 930, and you're trying to move him for your dad. I think you said 9.30 Pacific time. I asked him for 10.30 Arizona time. Are you sure? We'll see. We'll see what we can do. My dad will throw down with Bryce Miller. I'm just saying. I got faith in Maura. How long has Bryce Miller been playing? My dad's been playing longer than he's been alive. Like, whatever. Julio Rodriguez coming up next on Brock and Salk. From the Quantum Fiber Studio. This is Brock and Salk. Weekdays 6 to 10. on Seattle Sports and 97.3 FM HD2. Well, there's a lot of reasons we come down to spring training every year, Brock, and the sun and the beauty and the warmth. And did I mention the sun? And then, you know, getting to be around baseball. But one of my favorite reasons for coming down is because it's our annual chat with Julio Rodriguez, who sits down with us right now. Yeah, thank you. Good morning. Good morning to you guys. Yeah, I'm feeling really good. Definitely the sun is rising, the AC, the weather, everything. So I'm glad you guys come too. What's it like to be Julio these days? Very chill. You know, very chill, focused and ready to play baseball. I don't know. Just kind of another year of spring training with a really good team of baseball. But now it's 25-year-old Julio. I know. And now you have 18 and 19 and 20-year-old young players here. You used to be that guy. Yeah. And now you're the 25-year-old Julio. I know. So you look at these youngsters and think what? Honestly, like, what I try to do with them is kind of, like, preparing them for what's ahead, you know. Like, I feel like I have, like, I'm very close in age, but I feel like I have a little bit of a different experience, especially right now. So I just try to, like, help them out and, you know, making sure they feel comfortable around the team and for whatever reason, whenever they're ready to come and join us up in the club, they're ready and know what to expect a little bit. How is 25-year-old Julio different from 20-year-old Julio? I feel like I didn't know a lot of things back then, you know, and rightfully so. But, like, I mean, even playing the big leagues, you know, I got caught up at 21. So, just like a lot of things about baseball, about myself, you know, in general. I feel like there are just so many new things that I get to do right now. and, you know, I'm happy for all the things. Is it hard not to get jaded? I mean, you've been in the public eye since you were 20, 21 years old. Is it hard to, I just think of the optimistic, happy, just effervescent Julio that we would always see, and then, not that you're not that way now, I'm not around you every day, but I would think for me anyway it would be hard to keep up that level of excitement and energy and, oh my God, everything is so new and cool. I feel like for me though I like I usually like somebody very even keel Obviously when I play baseball I just feel like I really enjoy the game of baseball I enjoy competing when every time I step on the field But I feel like I'm a little bit overbalanced. Like my true self is a little bit overbalanced. I get to be chill, let's say, when I'm at home. I like slow mornings and things like that. But once I step on the field, it's like, you know, like things are exciting. You know, I get to compete. I got to do something with this very special group of guys. I played a game that I loved since I was a kid. So I feel like I try to keep that the same. But, you know, I would say it's like a little bit of a balance for me. Julio, can we go in the not way back machine, but just look back last year before we move ahead to this year and everything else. Take me back to the All-Star break last year and the decision that you had made at that time. Can you give us a little insight now into what went into that? For me, I just felt like, you know, I had a lot of things going on kind of off the field. It felt like to me and like, obviously, like there was like a lot of things going on on the field because I feel like one thing both goes hand to hand. But I just feel like I just took the time to kind of slow it down for myself to kind of like see a lot of different situations that I had going on to be able to like, you know, bring my best self on the field and also like off the field, too. and I feel like that's kind of what I did, just kind of took a little bit of a break. It's cool. It would have been cool, you know, to be in the All-Star game and, like, you know, being around all the stars and all that, but I feel like I needed some time for me and to be able to, like I said, to slow it down and just kind of, like, being able to bring my best self out, and I feel like that's what I did. More of a mental break than a physical break? Yeah, I should say. I feel like I always prepare myself, like, physically, but I feel like, you know, this game tests you in a lot of different ways, and, you know, when you have to handle that and, like, a lot of things off the field, I just feel like I needed some time, you know, I needed some time for myself. And I just feel like, you know, I owe it to myself, owe it to my teammates and like all those things. And I feel like that's why I was able to bring a better self of me. Julio, do you have a good support network of people to talk to about that stuff? Yeah, I should say, yeah. You know, I talk to my family a lot and especially in those times, I get to talk to them. And they really help me out to kind of like ground myself and like kind of work through situations. And also like, you know, my team too. If we're going in the way back machine, well, not that far back, but back to last year, just a little bit later than the All-Star break was your trip to Atlanta. And things didn't look great for the team in that moment, right? You'd been swept, I think, in Tampa right beforehand. And there may have been some people around town that were concerned that, oh, my God, maybe this isn't going to work again this year. And then all of a sudden, something seemed to click in that moment. What was it? For me, I would just be myself a little bit more. being myself um like i said there's a lot of expectations around me and things like that and like to be honest like i'll let go of all that you know like i'm gonna be myself regardless of what people want to my might not want to think about me because at the end of the day that's people's opinion i can't control that and that's something that really like came to me like last year you know i feel like you know since i got to the like to the big leagues there was like a lot of like expectations the way that i should be or things like that like you know i was a 21 year old you don't know a lot of things and once uh they keep going on and on and on like you reach a point it's like 24 year old be like okay like now let me make this stop and like let's see like who i really am as a person and like what i really want to bring to the field and like who was actually that kid that came to the minors that loved the game of baseball and like all those things and i thought that's what really went went on like around that time and you know at that point i just felt like things were clicking for me mentally and like you know my swing felt good Like, my body felt free, and I feel like that's what you guys started to see, like, after that. How about for the team in general around them? The team in general, I feel like, you know, we were just going through a rough batch, you know. Like, we were going through a rough batch, and, like, we needed to get out of it if we really wanted to get to where we wanted to get. I feel like, you know, every single team experienced that at some point in the season. It doesn't matter if you're the best team in the league or the worst team in the league. you're always going to have those really rough matches that you have to get out of it as a team. It's a test. I feel like we have it as a team. But I feel like after that, we're able to break through and play the team that we truly are. Julio, we've been doing this enough years now that we can have just a back and forth. Because what I hear you say, and you could say no, no, that's actually not it at all. But what I hear you kind of say there is enough with the people pleasing. Yeah. enough with trying to please all the people because i can't and let me focus on my game who i am who we are how do you is there anything other than life experience that teaches you that that it can't be about pleasing people or what would be your encouragement to a young athlete i just feel like it's a life experience you know and like time and time and time again like you just kind of like start noticing and seeing it and like once you start noticing and being aware of it like there is no way you can't change it you know you are you are going to change it once you start like seeing it and like you know i thought that's what really went went on for me i really started learning how to like i actually say no like i actually say no and like go about my business and like do what i need to do because at the end of the day like i said like everybody wants something at some point everybody wants something and you know you just can't please everybody you I don't know that the average person listening truly understands what that means. Everybody wants something from you. Take me back a year or so before you kind of were, as you said, kind of feeling a little bit better about saying no. How many requests to do things do you get? What types of things in an average day would people ask you to do? Do a radio show at 715. That's obnoxious. We know that's obnoxious. Yeah. I mean, there's honestly like a lot of different things, you know, on and off the field. There's always a lot of different things that I have to say no. Make sure I don't really lose focus on what I want to do. My main goal is just to be able to play baseball and win with this team. That's crystal clear for me. There's a lot of things I lined up or not lined up with. I feel like they bring me always a lot of things to the table, and there are some things that they don't even consider. There is a lot of demanding. Like I said, I learned how to really be comfortable just doing what I truly want to do. and I feel like that's something that I really had to learn last year. Did any of that, did any of those requests and people looking for your time, did any of it ease up with the emergence of Cal and the whole 60 home run deal last night, or last year rather? Everywhere he went, everyone was looking for something from him in every visiting city. Did that help a little bit with that? I should say yeah. I should say yeah. I feel like, being honest, I feel like Cal having a really big year definitely kind of took a little bit off from that. I feel like he also started learning how to manage that and how to be comfortable with that because it's a lot. That's something that people don't realize. It's not like you don't want to be nice to people and talk to them or understand that, man, there's a really young fan, let's say, that love me and love the way I play and is inspired by me. it's not really about not doing that it's like we actually have something to do that is just for that is a little bit more important that it takes a little bit more commitment there's a little bit more of my focus and my time and that's really what i really need to do you know i get that might be people that i will come across like man like he's ignoring me or like he's really like not want to like give me his attention but it's like i really want to lock in to hit this 95 mile per hour, 100 mile per hour guy. You're going to have to do it for 700 at-bats a year. That's pretty easy, right? The pitchers are all, man. Just throwing flop over the plate. Super easy. If there were words to be put to your guttural yell at the end of the ALCS playoff loss, if I could put words to what came out of you in that clubhouse. On a family radio show. We're taping. We can... I guess we can bleep them out later if we have to. But if there is now words that you would put to what came out of you in that moment, what would those words be? I mean, there was definitely a few of them. There was a lot of rage, frustration. Definitely, I feel like we all wanted to win. We all wanted to win while it felt like we had enough to win. But, yeah, there was a lot of rage and frustration. But after that, there was a lot of release. And then I started thinking about the positive things that happened in the year and a lot of things that we can build on as a really young and a good group of baseball players that we have here in the team. So I just feel like I needed to have that moment to be able to actually see the clear picture of it. Have you ever done that before at any stage of your career as a young player? Yeah, maybe sometimes. Sometimes? Yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes you just got to let it go. You can't be holding so much inside. I feel like that's what I truly believe. How many days and weeks afterwards before, not that rage in that moment. I totally get that. I almost ripped a sink out of a gym in high school. I just was red and, yeah. Humble brag. I said I almost did. I couldn't get it out of the wall. No, I'm not strong enough. Yeah. Yeah. How long did that loss to those moments to that game, did that linger for a day, a week, a month? Does it still sit in the back of your head when you get into the cage or you prepare or any of that? I just feel like it was different. Like, it wasn't like, you know, I didn't have the rage, but it was kind of like a dull moment. Like, there was not, like, a whole lot of emotion, like, surrounding that, but there was, like, kind of, like, contemplation of it, you know? And, like, now, like, I kind of – I definitely, like, know that it happened, but I'm not really like holding that really like on me. I feel like I just want to like get to the field, like be able to reset this year and just go out there and like see what we can do as a team now. Because at the end of the day, you know, whatever happened, happened. You know, we ended up losing in the game seven. Like that's just what it was. You know, I can't really like keep holding on to it. You told us last year, talking to Julio Rodriguez, of course, you told us last year, nobody else may see it, but I see it. I like the guys that we have. I remember you saying it vividly. I like our team We got enough guys here And I don think everyone necessarily agreed at the time I know I was skeptical And then turned out you absolutely right You have the guys you get as far as you guys did You add Josh Naylor you bring Gino back some emergence of some guys Do you feel even better about this year roster 100 percent. 100 percent. Because I feel like, you know, being able to be so close as a group, you know, there is pretty much everybody here was on the team, except for maybe Donovan and maybe a few other guys. But we have a really good group, young guys and hungry guys, I feel like. Because once you get a taste of what an actual playoff is and you experience it as a team, I feel like you just get addicted to it. That's the best baseball that you can play. And once you actually put stats and numbers and years aside and you just play baseball, really like the pure game of baseball as a team, That gets addicting, at least for me. And being able to be so close to something so special as a group, I think it really made this team hungrier. Does connection matter in baseball? 100%. The fact that you and Logan and Cal and you guys have all kind of grown, been through these mountains and valleys together, how does that, when you say 100% it matters, how so? I just feel like it brings you closer. It brings you closer, and you get to know the guy that is right beside you for who he is. And, like, once, let's say, Logan is on the mound, I know he cares about it. You know, Brian Wu is on the mound. I know he cares about it. So I want to do whatever is in my power to, like, let's say he gives up a line driving the gap. I want to do whatever I can to cut that up. If I can hold a runner for him so he can get a good pitch for, like, double play, I'm going to go out there and do that because I know they care. If they see me out there in the outfield, they know who I am too. So it's like that. You know, we all see each other working when we're inside. So it really means a lot to be able to know who the guy next to you is. Well, you say the guy next to you. Often the guy next to you, at least in the outfield, is Randy. I don't feel like we have gotten to know Randy as well, which is too bad because I'm fascinated by him. Everything he does I find amazing and interesting and sometimes bizarre. I love that he will not come anywhere near you on any fly ball in left center. He's just like, yeah, no, absolutely. I'm not going anywhere near that guy. He can go take it. But tell me about Randy just for a moment so that, you know, I got to understand him a little better. I mean, Randy is an interesting guy. You know, like he is who he is. And I feel like that's something that even rubbed off of me a little bit, you know, that he's just going to be who he is, like on and off the field. And, like, the way that he plays the game of baseball is how he really learned how to play it, like way back when he was in Cuba. So, I mean, like I said, like he's just a fun guy to be around, like a really fun teammate. and he just goes about his business in the way that he is. And I feel like that's what I love the most about him. Like, you're going to know who he is as soon as he walks in the door. And I feel like he's definitely true to his identity. I love when ballplayers get a smile and talking like, oh, Randy? Wow. Off the air, I got stories for him. I kind of get that idea. He has a lot of them. It's just fun, you know. He's just funny. He's a funny dude. You know what I'm feeling? Oh, go ahead. No, I was going to say off the field, you mentioned that you had a lot going on. But big thing you did in the offseason was renovating the fields in your hometown. Can you tell us how the project came about and kind of how you're feeling about it? I feel amazing, to be honest. I feel amazing to be able to do that. Like you said, that was my hometown feel. And that's where I literally grew up playing baseball. First game of baseball, first team experience, first practice, first home run, first tournament. And what did it look like then? I mean, back then it looked the same. You know, the rear clear on the right field grass, the hole in the middle that was all there for so many kids. When the old training I had was on the field, you could see the tall grass on the left field. Like if you hit a ground, like you literally had to search for the balls because the grass was so high so you could lose a lot of balls and you'd be like a week later and be like, oh, there is a ball here. You know, like the infrastructure, sometimes like the dirt from the side will start coming down. So it wasn't in the best condition, you know. And like for me to be able to like do what I did was really meaningful because I just want to make it a little bit easier for the kids and like everybody that's going to be playing the sport that's coming out of my town because my wish for them is like it's not just me and the big leagues. I want to see a lot of other kids like, you know, get into the big leagues, achieving their dreams and like changing their families and then kind of giving back to the community because that's kind of like the only way I see like things growing and changing. And, you know, the process, it was just, you know, I have the means to be able to do it. And I just went out there and did it. You know, I wasn't really like waiting around. I just felt like something that was really personal to me. So that's why I just kind of, you know, found the people to do it. And, you know, they didn't really wait around so much. And I said, OK, that's what it is because let's do it. You say no to some things, but sometimes that yes feels pretty freaking good. I know, I know. So, you know, this is the first time I've kind of felt this, by the way. And maybe I'm projecting, maybe not. Maybe it's because I saw Julio at a Husky game. Okay. And, man, was he into that Husky game. And maybe because I know you watch a little of the Seahawks and all of that. If Julio Rodriguez had grown up in Bellevue, Washington, would Julio have been a football player too? I mean, I don't know, but if they put me into football, I'd like to play a little bit. Uh, yeah, yeah. A little tight end? A tight, uh, yeah. A little tight end. Tight end. I could definitely be on the offensive side, I think. You'd be an offensive player? Yeah. You wouldn't want to? No, no, no, no, no, no. I wouldn't be able to just get, run down the field, maybe, or just say, you know, definitely scoring the touchdowns. You know, the nice thing about center fielders, they know how to track, too. Sure. So that ball's in the air, he's going to go get it and go track it. So I don't know, I kind of feel that. Did you watch some of the Seahawks in their run to a championship? chip all right definitely a little bit like definitely definitely a little bit like i will always keep up and like once it started things started to get serious and like they were like you know first in the division and made it to a playoff like it was it was it was easy to tune in and just see what the boys were doing it's pretty cool town now isn't it man yeah to think where they were like you seven eight years ago come into the organization to see this whole thing build up to all the guys around you world series expectations now julio everybody's talking about it MLB was here all the everybody's talking about it you hear World Series expectations you feel what I mean I feel amazing I feel like you know um I'd say I when I saw does it burden you is it a oh is it it feels it feels good man it feels good because this is what good teams do you know this is what good teams do and I feel like um we're we're on that track you know we'll be stacking up little by little. And I feel like this is where we're at now. And, you know, it's definitely, it hasn't been overnight. It's been a process. It's been, you know, a lot of tough losses, a lot of, you know, re-evaluation, a lot of doubts, a lot of different things. But, you know, now we're here. You know, I remember, like, when I signed my sanction here, like, that was what I had ambition, you know. Like, this is, like, you know, to be able to, to be part of a really good team and, like, do something that nobody has ever done. I feel like with the guys that we have and, like, you know, the steps that we've been taking and, like, how we've been changing as an organization from not being in the playoff for, like, 20-something years to, like, now, you know, kind of getting closer to that goal. I feel like I've taken everybody. I've taken everybody, you know, from, you know, top to bottom, you know, to be able to get on the same page. I feel like everybody's seeing it as a reality, not like something as a fun group of guys that they're good to play, that the Pacific Northwest love to watch plays. They've been diehard fans for a long time. They know they have a real team. I think they felt that last year because we felt it too, that they knew that we were legit. And, you know, we definitely love that support. But now they should know that they have a real team, a really good team that can contend for them. This is fun. Thanks for sitting with us. I will say one thing that I just really respected over the course of, especially last year, but I think you've done this throughout your career, is we're not at every game. We don't get to go into the clubhouse every day. But every morning I show up in the studio and Maura has a list of cuts from the night before of audio, who spoke the night before, and everybody's cut it up into little 10, 20, 30-second answers. And every time things looked rough for the team last year, you'd lost three in a row or whatever it was, there was Julio speaking to the media, coming out front and center, taking the burden from his teammates, being willing to address whatever was going on with the team in those moments. You talk about maturing over the course of the last four or five years. That feels like a really good teammate who is willing to take those punches for his team. So I just want to say thank you on behalf of the rest of the media. I think that's great. I love when you do stuff like that. I think I have a lot of respect for that. And then just hearing, it's just cool hearing you talk about being chill. I'm just chill. I'm just chill, man. I'm just ready to go. Let's get this season going. Until we play. Until the WBC gets going. How hard are we playing in the WBC? I mean, I just, yeah, I'm just going to let the game dictate that. The game seems like it dictates playing hard pretty quick. Julio, thank you so much. We really do appreciate it. Thank you, guys. It was a pleasure. the great julio rodriguez and brock he he does get more mature every year you really do feel it you see it looking at him and then you absolutely feel it and i think hear it and talking to him well and i think what you said uh you know before the one of the earlier segments teeing that up is exactly right like this is your prime 25 26 doesn't mean it's going to be your best years but when you are in the absolute prime with enough in your rearview mirror and enough of those experiences sulk but everything's still ahead of you and totally primed physically mentally emotionally yeah man you could be be primed for putting it all together and if that happens sky's the limit look out man if that happens look out all right uh blue 88 coming up next a little late version of blue 88 uh i talked to bryce miller it looks like maybe at nine could be bryce miller's we're We're going to move some things around this and that. Shannon, maybe he'll come a little earlier at 830. Any combine updates for me, Maura? Any unique hand sizes, arm length? Unique hand sizes. Sure. I don't know what that means. Well, you've got Garrett Nesmeyer with an 8 and 3 8s. That's a uniquely small hand size. You could have an 11 sulk. Like maybe ones in centimeters. That would make it pretty unique. Let's come back with Blue 88s next on Brock and Sulk.