Speaker 1: The Dodgers are back home, and a lot of shuffling
Speaker 1: chairs here because of different reasons, but young Hunter Fiduccia
Speaker 1: is now on the Dodgers' active roster as the backup
Speaker 1: catcher to Will Smith with Austin Barnes injury, and Hunter
Speaker 1: joins us. Great to see you here at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that smile is bigger than I ever saw a
Speaker 1: camel back ranch.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Come from Vegas. We're
Speaker 3: just playing in Vegas. So no, it's awesome to be here.
Speaker 1: When did you get the word that you were going
Speaker 1: to come to Los Angeles?
Speaker 2: Yesterday?
Speaker 3: Around noon, so yeah, I got all my stuff together,
Speaker 3: flew out around eight o'clock, and now I'm here.
Speaker 1: You've obviously been in the organization for a while. When
Speaker 1: the World Baseball Classic was going on, you caught a
Speaker 1: lot of spring games. Do you feel like the time
Speaker 1: is now? Your preparation has given you the opportunity.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, it's definitely a comforting filling knowing most of
Speaker 3: these guys and spent last over this past spring there
Speaker 3: and getting to know everyone, and yeah, It's definitely a
Speaker 3: comforting feeling. I'm still got some work to do to
Speaker 3: you know, catch all the some new faces too, but no,
Speaker 3: we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 2: I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Max Munsey just joked when they let you know you
Speaker 1: had to come to LA they wanted him to go
Speaker 1: catch some bullpens.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I haven't.
Speaker 3: I haven't heard a word on that. But that's that's funny.
Speaker 3: That's good, Yeah, Hunter.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers have called up a lot of the pictures
Speaker 1: that you have caught at Oklahoma City. Gavin Stone is
Speaker 1: on the mountain tonight. How impressed are you with the
Speaker 1: way their growth has come along so quickly?
Speaker 2: Right, No, it's it's very impressive.
Speaker 3: You know, I think he was two drafts after me,
Speaker 3: and you know he started off and I think hya
Speaker 3: when I was in double A, so you know, he
Speaker 3: came through, he progressed, you know, learned a new pitch
Speaker 3: and just kind of took off from that. So it's
Speaker 3: it's awesome to see him, you know, throwing well in
Speaker 3: the big leagues, you know, and everything.
Speaker 2: It's it's been called.
Speaker 1: What makes him so special because it seems like this
Speaker 1: spring training he came back a new guy. Did you
Speaker 1: see that as well?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know what he did during the offseason,
Speaker 3: but you know it seemed like his velo staying. He's
Speaker 3: way more confident on the mound. You know, he has
Speaker 3: his change up. I noticed his slider. They might have
Speaker 3: tweaked some few things with his slider. Slider looks a
Speaker 3: lot better this year. And you know he's moving the
Speaker 3: ball now all over the plate. He has the sinker now,
Speaker 3: so he has a few more options in a year
Speaker 3: or two ago.
Speaker 2: So yeah, he's doing well and proud of him. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Another one of your pitchers was called up a couple
Speaker 1: of days ago, Ben Caspiraus. What can you tell us
Speaker 1: about him? Because out here in LA we're not like
Speaker 1: these bloggers. We're not keeping tabs on every single pitch.
Speaker 3: Right, So I've I think I've caught two of his
Speaker 3: starts so far. Very impressive, has really good stuff. I
Speaker 3: would say is best is probably a spin.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: He's able to spin the ball well, you know, relentless
Speaker 3: in the strike zone and he comes right after you
Speaker 3: with good stuff. So I'm excited to watch him pitch.
Speaker 2: Also, does all.
Speaker 1: This make it a little bit more comfortable for you
Speaker 1: because so many of the same guys that you were
Speaker 1: with in the minors are here already.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent, and you know, seeing them grow
Speaker 3: it's been awesome, you know, and having a better feel
Speaker 3: if I do get in there and have to catch them,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm a little more comfortable. But yeah, it's
Speaker 3: definitely a comforting feeling. And you know, I've got to
Speaker 3: see all these guys in spring too, so just in general, like,
Speaker 3: I feel good. The short time I was up from
Speaker 3: Houston and San Diego, I got to catch a lot
Speaker 3: of bullpens and you know, meet new faces.
Speaker 2: So yeah, feel good.
Speaker 1: Hunter. When people ask me about you, Hunter Fiducca's our
Speaker 1: guest here before first Pitch. He is now active as
Speaker 1: Austin Barnes goes on the ie. When people ask me,
Speaker 1: what can you tell me about Hunter Fiducca, all I
Speaker 1: refer to is Clayton Krushaw a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: saying he liked throwing to you. That's got to be
Speaker 1: the greatest validation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's where it all started a couple
Speaker 3: of years ago. Getting that validation, that's awesome. You know,
Speaker 3: I've watched him since I was a kid, and you know,
Speaker 3: getting to catch them and work with them is.
Speaker 2: It was awesome. So yeah, that was kind of kickstart
Speaker 2: to the whole thing. Yeah yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Feel like when I say that the conversation ends, they're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: he's legit.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: What did you learn that day catching him?
Speaker 3: You know, I mean, it's it's still the same game obviously.
Speaker 3: I mean, Hall of Fame pitcher on the Mountain. You're
Speaker 3: I mean, you want to do well, You're not. I'm
Speaker 3: trying not to be so nervous and worked up.
Speaker 2: In the moment. You know, kind of live in the moment.
Speaker 3: I think that would help me, you know when I
Speaker 3: do end up catching one game and you know, just
Speaker 3: live in the moment, take everything in and you know,
Speaker 3: trust my game and the process with everything, and should
Speaker 3: be fun.
Speaker 1: Hey, don't forget about Hunter Fiduca's bat. There's a bat there,
Speaker 1: left handed bat. People better not sleep on that Hunter.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's been uh, yeah, it's been good. I'm working tweaking
Speaker 3: few things this year, you know, just trying to put
Speaker 3: the ball in play, help.
Speaker 2: The team win. But yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1: You're a humble but hungry young man, great to have
Speaker 1: you out here, and certainly the Dodgers have been watching
Speaker 1: you and you've earned this opportunity. So congratulations and we'll
Speaker 1: see you this week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate it.