Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: All right, we're join right now by one of the
Speaker 1: key Dodgers starters in their rotation. It's a big night
Speaker 1: here with Skeens in Yamamoto, but a big day on
Speaker 1: Sunday when Tyler Glass now will take the mound. Thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for the time, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me, dude.
Speaker 1: I know you're a big baseball fan. So on a
Speaker 1: night like tonight Skiens and Yamamoto, what's it like for
Speaker 1: you and for guys that really love the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awesome. I'm sure everyone will be watching today.
Speaker 2: I think if you're a fan of your good baseball,
Speaker 2: good pitching, especially tonight is the night you tune in
Speaker 2: and watch.
Speaker 1: I feel like guys get asked this all the time,
Speaker 1: but it's so cliche. What does it mean to go
Speaker 1: against the other guy? But it seems like you guys
Speaker 1: don't even view it that way.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think a lot of times pitching is such
Speaker 2: an individual like you gotta care or like we're kind
Speaker 2: of worry about what you're doing on the mound, like
Speaker 2: how to execute pitches and game plan and everything like that.
Speaker 2: You're not really at least for me anyway, I'm not
Speaker 2: really concerned with what like the other starter is doing.
Speaker 2: You know, you kind of like take care of business,
Speaker 2: do what you gotta do, and then when you go
Speaker 2: out there and put up some zeros, hopeing your team
Speaker 2: your team wins.
Speaker 1: Is it different now because you spent most of your
Speaker 1: career in the American League, but when pitchers could hit
Speaker 1: in the National League, you don't even see each other.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, like, yeah, you really don't.
Speaker 2: I think it's a good point. Maybe it was a
Speaker 2: little bit more of a thing in the end now,
Speaker 2: like always facing pitchers and kind of having that like
Speaker 2: not really a free out, but sort of a free
Speaker 2: out type of thing. So that was always kind of
Speaker 2: a weird situation. Hitting was always fun too, But yeah,
Speaker 2: maybe that's that's the difference.
Speaker 1: I know, we hear about Paul Schemes a lot. You
Speaker 1: got to worry about your own business. How much have
Speaker 1: you seen him pitch?
Speaker 2: I haven't. I haven't seen him pitch it all this year,
Speaker 2: So tonight it'll be cool just to watch him pitch.
Speaker 2: And yeah I didn't. I haven't really kept up or
Speaker 2: anything like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about Yamamoto, there just seems to be a
Speaker 1: different swagger confidence about him. Have you noticed that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he's definitely still the same dude. But
Speaker 2: I think it's tough for anyone to come into the league,
Speaker 2: especially being so young, Like the first year you're kind
Speaker 2: of get a footing and kind of understanding what the
Speaker 2: league's all about. And I think he just kind of
Speaker 2: got that footing last year and then came in with
Speaker 2: the confidence knowing how good he is and he's doing
Speaker 2: what everyone thought he would do.
Speaker 1: Now, do you really believe the Japanese pitchers have a
Speaker 1: bigger adjustment because of the baseball, because of the mound?
Speaker 1: Is that a real thing?
Speaker 2: Probably takes some time, I think so for sure. I
Speaker 2: think too probably if you have like Humongo his hands,
Speaker 2: it's probably a bit easier. But like for Yamamoto's he's
Speaker 2: got like relatively small hands. I think the grip is
Speaker 2: probably a lot different, just the ball being bigger and
Speaker 2: learning kind of leverage. It seems differently, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: there definitely is some adjustment there. For sure.
Speaker 1: Tyler last now's got some meat hooks. What's the challenge
Speaker 1: of having larger hands and does it feel like sometimes
Speaker 1: it's hard to get a feel. I know, longer levers
Speaker 1: as well, all of that. What's it like to be
Speaker 1: able to control the baseball?
Speaker 2: I think it's probably harder to just stay connected. I
Speaker 2: think when everything lines up, it's a lot better just
Speaker 2: because you have more leverage and like longer limbs and
Speaker 2: all that stuff. But I think on the flip side,
Speaker 2: when things are disconnected, it happens. Maybe it's harder to
Speaker 2: line up for a tall guy than it is for
Speaker 2: like a short guy. I guess that's what they tell
Speaker 2: me anyway. And I think it's just the more you do,
Speaker 2: like anyone, the more you learn your body and the
Speaker 2: more you pitch, the easier just to make adjustments. But
Speaker 2: I mean, it's easier now for me than it was
Speaker 2: five years ago, and hopefully five years from now it'll
Speaker 2: be easier than this today.
Speaker 1: So connected means not only just being connected to the ground,
Speaker 1: but all of these long body parts being connected.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, that's what I mean, kind of like when
Speaker 2: your foot hits the ground, where your arm is in space,
Speaker 2: like where everything is, where your glove arm is, And
Speaker 2: I think it's really a game of inches. And I think,
Speaker 2: like any small little adjustment you make out front, it
Speaker 2: really has a huge effect on where the ball ends up.
Speaker 2: So it's just for any good picture, it's about repeating
Speaker 2: your mechanics.
Speaker 1: And being consistent with where your front foot lands. Is
Speaker 1: that like the key to timing where everything is coming
Speaker 1: together when your front foot lands not.
Speaker 2: I mean, for the I think that's when you can
Speaker 2: like kind of look at video and decipher that way.
Speaker 2: But I think for everyone it's different. Like if you're
Speaker 2: landing in the same spot, it doesn't necessarily mean that
Speaker 2: your hands in a good spot, or like there's certain
Speaker 2: things that you have to line up, but it could
Speaker 2: be like a ton of reasons. People's adjustments are all different,
Speaker 2: Like if mine might be at my foot strike, someone
Speaker 2: else's might be their balance plat. Like there's a ton
Speaker 2: of different things you can kind of look at.
Speaker 1: We saw your career high in starts and innings last year.
Speaker 1: Can you give us some sort of tip or key
Speaker 1: on when Tyler glassnow's going at his best? What kind
Speaker 1: of outs are you getting besides strikeouts or his strikeouts?
Speaker 1: How we know things are going good.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a pretty good sign that things are
Speaker 2: going well. I'd say just quick outs, Like just getting
Speaker 2: strike one is a huge thing for me, and I
Speaker 2: haven't really done a great job of that this year,
Speaker 2: So I think that's probably a big thing, not necessarily strikeouts,
Speaker 2: but quick outs and first pitch strikes.
Speaker 1: I've started to tally pitchers when they're how many pitches
Speaker 1: they throw behind in counts. That seems to be a
Speaker 1: real thing. If you're behind in the count, it's a
Speaker 1: lot tougher to get out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, it's just a hitter's count. I think
Speaker 2: like the advantage and is on his side. I mean
Speaker 2: you kind of have to come to him, and I
Speaker 2: think when you're ahead, they're kind of in defense mode
Speaker 2: and it's just a lot easier to pitch when you're ahead.
Speaker 1: And do you have to remind yourself, even with the
Speaker 1: career you've had, not to give the hitter too much credit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think I ever tried to. Like a
Speaker 2: lot of times I'll pitch to my strengths. You want
Speaker 2: to know someone's like glaring weakness or like what a
Speaker 2: hitter can't do. But for the most part, like I'm
Speaker 2: going to go out there and kind of do my
Speaker 2: game plan and they have to react to it.
Speaker 1: Sunday's your next start day. Obviously you got the cramps
Speaker 1: in the last start. How are you feeling leading up
Speaker 1: to it?
Speaker 2: Good, everything feels good. I'm just gonna do a bunch
Speaker 2: of hydration stuff and figure all that out and then
Speaker 2: hopefully all can get out there and pitch hundred pitches
Speaker 2: or so.
Speaker 1: Hey, whatever you do, it's work. So you were an
Speaker 1: All Star last year for a reason, and certainly it'll
Speaker 1: get on track for you. So thank you for the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you appreciated it.