Speaker 1: And an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: We're here with Wednesday starter. That's right, it's official. It's
Speaker 1: on every app, every website. Tony Gonsolin is back on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and he joins us a couple of days before his start.
Speaker 2: Thanks a lot for the time. Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so now it's official. How have the feelings been,
Speaker 1: because I know you've been waiting for this moment for
Speaker 1: a while.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm feeling good. You know.
Speaker 3: Having that little setback in spring and then having to
Speaker 3: build back up and go through springs training essentially at
Speaker 3: the start of the season. Not fun, but got through
Speaker 3: it and I'm back now, hopefully for the long haul.
Speaker 1: Dustin May talked about just the emotions he had getting back,
Speaker 1: even in a spring training game in the Freeway Series.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you have to control your emotions
Speaker 1: when you get back out there on Wednesday?
Speaker 2: Not really. I feel like I've been doing a pretty
Speaker 2: good job.
Speaker 3: Maybe it'll hit me once I'm actually out there on
Speaker 3: the field in front of our you know, I because
Speaker 3: it's a day game, so are.
Speaker 2: There'll be a lot of fans.
Speaker 3: Our thirty five fans instead of our nice fifty. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm just excited to get back out there and try
Speaker 3: to help.
Speaker 2: The team win.
Speaker 1: Last October, you were part of the Dodgers winning the
Speaker 1: World Series in a different way. Did you feel connected
Speaker 1: to that run, because even in a limited way, you
Speaker 1: were able to prepare the hitters for the postseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 3: You know, I felt like the live reads that I
Speaker 3: gave our hitters to live AB's that I gave those
Speaker 3: guys got them prepared to go in and face the
Speaker 3: face whoever and have success against them.
Speaker 1: If the Dodgers needed you last October, could you have
Speaker 1: pitched in a postseason game?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Were you hoping for that opportunity?
Speaker 3: I was looking forward to it whether that that time came. Honestly,
Speaker 3: I wasn't necessarily hoping for it because that means we
Speaker 3: had some guys get hurt. So I'm glad I didn't
Speaker 3: get in there because that means.
Speaker 2: Our guys stayed healthy.
Speaker 1: Where were you when Freddy Freeman hit his walk off
Speaker 1: Grand Slam?
Speaker 3: I mean I think I was right up here somewhere
Speaker 3: somewhere in the dugout. But no, that was incredible to
Speaker 3: see just nothing like that. I don't think Freddy pimps
Speaker 3: pimps it very very often. So watching him do it,
Speaker 3: he looked like it was his first time a little bit,
Speaker 3: but it's it's a memorable.
Speaker 2: Moment for sure.
Speaker 1: You were teammates a long time on the same starting
Speaker 1: staff as Walker Buehler. To see him do what he
Speaker 1: did last year? How rewarding do you believe that was
Speaker 1: for him? And what was it like for you to
Speaker 1: see him have that moment?
Speaker 3: Yeah, watching Walker pitch through the years, coming back from injury,
Speaker 3: going through some adversity, you know, struggling and then having
Speaker 3: success late in the year last year, and then I'm
Speaker 3: ultimately closing out Game five of the World Series to
Speaker 3: clinch the whole thing. It was it was really cool,
Speaker 3: really cool to see so happy for him, and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just incredible.
Speaker 1: Watching that run not just during October but the entire
Speaker 1: season last year. Do you have visions of helping the
Speaker 1: Dodgers in that same way this year? I know a
Speaker 1: lot of guys do a lot of visualizations of success.
Speaker 1: Do you ever allow yourself to go there?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you know, getting that different perspective of watching games
Speaker 3: on TV. I suppose that in the dug out in
Speaker 3: the clubhouse with the guys being around them every day,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: Not being able to do that.
Speaker 3: I got to see a different light from it, and
Speaker 3: really just watch how competitive our bats are, how everybody
Speaker 3: comes up the bat just ready to hit, you know,
Speaker 3: and watching how much work they do to score runs
Speaker 3: for us so.
Speaker 2: And ultimately scoring runs.
Speaker 3: So I feel like it takes a little bit of
Speaker 3: the pressure off of myself pitching, knowing I don't need
Speaker 3: to be so fine and that we're gonna score runs,
Speaker 3: and you know, everything isn't Every pitch isn't so much.
Speaker 3: There isn't so much pressure on each pitch.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like that's what you've taken away, taken
Speaker 1: a step back, not being able to pitch. Is that
Speaker 1: which you've kind of learned when you go and start
Speaker 1: again on Wednesday?
Speaker 3: Uh, yeah, that's one of the things for sure. And
Speaker 3: just to go out there and just have fun. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 3: it doesn't need to be so serious. Granted, like I
Speaker 3: want to win, like that competitive nature is not gone,
Speaker 3: but I'm just gonna go out there and.
Speaker 2: Just try to have as much fun as I can.
Speaker 1: I remember that about you when you first came up.
Speaker 1: You were saying that you were taking in so much
Speaker 1: information from other guys that you needed to simplify that.
Speaker 1: Have you turned the corner in that mentality as well?
Speaker 2: I like keeping it simple, honestly. Yeah.
Speaker 3: It can be as complex as you wanted, or it
Speaker 3: can be as simple as you need it to be,
Speaker 3: and I'm trying to keep it simple.
Speaker 1: Any new tricks in the cat bag for Wednesday?
Speaker 2: No, let's just attackt the zone and see what happens.
Speaker 1: All right, Since we have you here and we've heard
Speaker 1: so much about the new hairdo or lack thereof for
Speaker 1: Tony Gonsolin, would you mind showing America the way it
Speaker 1: looks now? This is a new improved Tony Gonsolin in
Speaker 1: more ways than one.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, maybe hated it said it was said
Speaker 3: my air was so we decided to cut it all off.
Speaker 2: It's due for a shave, but I'll love the fresh
Speaker 2: one on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're catcher Will Smith who is looking on, can
Speaker 1: come over here and give us a review on Tony
Speaker 1: Gonsolin's new shaved head.
Speaker 2: He likes it.
Speaker 1: A man of few words, no doubt about it. Tony,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for the time, appreciate it. And happy
Speaker 1: to have you back on Wednesday. Thank you, thank you,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Can't wait to see that ball beautiful head
Speaker 1: on Wednesday,