0:02

Hello everybody and welcome to Deep

0:04

Left Field, the Toronto Stars Baseball

0:06

Podcast. I'm Mike Wilner. It

0:22

is Episode 250 and

0:25

we like round numbers

0:27

in 250. It is

0:29

a pretty cool number. Thank you

0:31

all so much for listening

0:33

over the past four years and

0:35

a bit. We're just a

0:37

few episodes into our fifth season

0:39

here. And on episode 250,

0:41

we do have a special treat

0:43

for you. I've landed one

0:46

of my white whales here in

0:48

deep left field, and it

0:50

is Jimmy Garcia, Blue Jays

0:52

reliever who I

0:54

don't believe has done

0:56

any. one -on -one

0:58

interviews in English

1:00

since coming to the Toronto

1:03

Blue Jays a few

1:05

years back. We've got

1:07

Jimmy in English

1:09

and, you know, for

1:11

someone who's a pretty scary dude,

1:14

he wound up

1:16

being lovely and he

1:18

says he doesn't understand

1:20

why people are scared of him

1:22

in the same breath as he

1:24

talks about just how intimidating he

1:27

is. on the mound. Jimbo is

1:29

off to an incredible start to

1:31

the season. He has an

1:33

era of zero through the

1:35

first 19 games. He does have a

1:37

blown save. We're going to talk

1:39

about that in a second. But for

1:42

the most part, he has been

1:44

spectacular out of the blue jays bullpen.

1:46

And on Wednesday afternoon in their 3

1:48

-1 win over the Atlanta Braves struck

1:50

out all four batters he faced

1:52

coming into the game in the seventh

1:54

inning with the top of the

1:56

lineup up and the tying run at

1:58

the plate. And it feels almost

2:00

like that's your

2:02

typical Jimmy Garcia outing.

2:06

Those four strikeouts helped the Blue

2:08

Jays establish a single game

2:10

franchise record their pitchers struck out

2:12

19 batters in that game

2:14

led by Chris Bassett who had

2:16

10 Ks over his five

2:19

innings of work. We're also going

2:21

to talk to Tyler Heineman,

2:23

the Blue Jays backup catcher who

2:25

really is not known for

2:27

any sort of offensive contributions over

2:29

the course of his major

2:32

league career, but this year finds

2:34

himself hitting 455 three weeks

2:36

into the season. He's only played

2:38

in seven games. He has

2:40

a home run, something that's been

2:42

in very short supply for

2:45

your Toronto Blue Jays this year.

2:47

They've only hit 12 as

2:49

a team over the first 19

2:51

games of the season. And

2:53

yet they're 11 and eight, which

2:55

is only a half game

2:58

away from having the best record

3:00

in the American League, which

3:02

I don't think too many people

3:04

expected the Blue Jays would

3:06

be. at three weeks into the

3:08

season. Yes, small sample size

3:11

and all that. Yes, there is

3:13

a long way to go.

3:15

143 games left. But right now

3:17

the Jays and 11 and

3:19

eight are a half game behind

3:21

the New York Yankees and

3:24

Texas Rangers for the best record

3:26

in the American League. And

3:28

this week began the week in

3:30

real time, not in deep

3:32

left field time. The week began

3:34

with a celebration of Vladimir

3:37

Guerrero Jr. and his 14

3:39

year $500 million contract. He's

3:41

going to be a Blue J

3:43

for life until he's 40

3:45

years old as a player. And

3:47

of course, I'm sure involved

3:49

with the organization for a long

3:51

time after that. We've

3:53

talked a lot about

3:55

Vladdy. We've heard from

3:57

him. We have talked

3:59

to Pat Hankin and Vernon

4:02

Wells last week in

4:04

episode 249 about being iconic

4:06

Blue Js. Vladdy is

4:08

going to be a forever Blue J. So

4:10

I figured this week, why not have a little

4:12

fun and talk to someone who is a Blue

4:14

J for 10 minutes. Matt Tuiazo

4:16

-Sopo is going to join me.

4:18

He is currently Atlanta's third

4:20

base coach, but in the spring

4:22

of 2014, he was picked

4:24

up on waivers by the Blue

4:27

Js with a week left

4:29

in spring training. You'll

4:31

hear as he tells the

4:33

story he was in Australia at

4:35

the time so by the

4:37

time he got back to North

4:39

America and Got a day

4:41

of sleep He was only with

4:43

the Jays for three days

4:45

in spring training then spent a

4:47

couple of months in Buffalo

4:49

before the blue Jays traded him

4:51

to the Chicago White Sox,

4:53

so why not Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

4:55

By the time he's done

4:57

will have been a member of

4:59

the blue Jays organization for

5:01

25 years Matt Tuyasasopo was a

5:03

member of the Blue Jays

5:05

organization for about a hair under

5:07

two months. We're going to

5:09

talk to him about that experience

5:11

the year before that wonderful

5:13

2015 team. It all starts

5:15

with Yimbo, but before we talk

5:17

to him, let's go back and

5:19

take a look at the week

5:21

that was and we count weeks. From

5:24

Thursday to Wednesday because regularly

5:26

scheduled episodes of this podcast air

5:28

on Thursdays and for the

5:30

third straight week to start this

5:33

season the Toronto Blue Jays

5:35

Did not have a losing week.

5:37

They haven't had one yet.

5:39

They saw it off It was

5:41

three and three and there

5:43

was a rainout involved which might

5:45

have helped them a little

5:47

bit But a three and three

5:49

week to help get them

5:51

to eleven and eight it did

5:53

not start well they were

5:55

in boston last thursday with a

5:57

chance to sweep a four

6:00

game series against the red sox

6:02

chris bassett was on the

6:04

mound chris bassett was terrific but

6:06

so was walker buller for

6:08

the red sox and the game

6:10

went into the bottom of

6:12

the sixth nothing nothing Bassett blinked

6:14

first. He walked Jaren Duran

6:16

with one out. Duran stole second

6:18

and scored on a single

6:20

by Alex Bregman. That is the

6:22

only hit all season that

6:24

Chris Bassett has allowed with a

6:27

runner in scoring position. The

6:29

Jays took the lead in the

6:31

top of the second with

6:33

some help from the Red Sox.

6:37

Rather significant error by Trevor story,

6:39

but Alan or part of

6:41

me Miles straw who was pinch

6:43

hitting for Alan rodent had

6:45

a big hit and Tyler Heineman

6:47

who you'll hear from later

6:50

drove him in and Vladimir Guerrero,

6:52

Jr pinch hitting with a

6:54

ground ball That story made the

6:56

error on allowing another run

6:58

to score but Then the Jays

7:00

were the ones who were

7:03

generous allowing Boston to tie the

7:05

game without benefit of a

7:07

hit. Rob Refsneider led off the

7:09

eighth inning with a ground

7:11

ball to third base. Will

7:13

Wagner, who had just moved over to

7:15

third because Vladdie pinch hit in the top

7:17

of the inning and stayed into play

7:19

first, booted the ball. It went through him

7:22

to his left. And that

7:24

allowed Refsneider to reach. Then Brandon

7:26

Little walked Jerren Durand, the

7:28

lefty, he was in there to

7:30

get out before striking out

7:32

Raphael Deverson, turning it over to

7:34

Garcia. and here's the blown

7:36

save with one out and runners

7:38

at first and second Alex Bregman

7:40

hit a ground ball to third

7:42

they got the out at second

7:44

and that was it putting runners

7:46

on the corners now with two

7:48

out and Tristan Cassis at the

7:50

plate and Garcia threw a wild

7:52

pitch and Tyler Heineman could not

7:54

corral it it didn't get that

7:56

far away from him to his

7:58

right but he couldn't find it

8:01

And Yemi ran off the

8:03

mound, picked it up and

8:05

threw home well after the

8:07

run had scored, which allowed

8:09

Bregman to go from first

8:11

all the way to third. But

8:15

Garcia stopped it right there. He got

8:17

Tristan Cassis to fly out and it

8:19

was a 2 -2 tie and it

8:21

went to extra innings. And the Blue

8:23

Jays did a good job in the

8:25

top of the 10th, scoring the Manfred

8:27

Mann. A ground ball got Andre C.

8:29

Mann is over to third and then

8:31

George Springer hit a sacrifice fly to

8:33

give the Jays a 3 -2 lead. But

8:35

Nick Sandlin came in to pitch the

8:37

bottom of the 10th. There was no

8:39

Jeff Hoffman after he'd pitched two innings

8:41

the day before and Sandlin just didn't

8:43

have it, gave up a single to

8:46

Durand that tied the game immediately than

8:48

another single to Rafael Devers. Then

8:50

he hit two batters in a

8:52

row after Durand was caught stealing. So

8:55

the Red Sox had the bases

8:57

loaded with one out and Trevor Storey

8:59

hit a ground ball the second

9:01

infield in, but Andres Jimenez booted it.

9:04

That allowed the winning run to score.

9:06

Jimenez then picked up the ball and

9:08

threw it to first for the out. And

9:12

That confused me a little bit. It

9:14

saved him an error because he would

9:16

have gotten an error on the play

9:18

had no out been made It was

9:20

a ground ball to him and he

9:22

should have made the play at home

9:24

Saved him an error and I'm wondering

9:26

if that's why he made the throw

9:28

Doesn't matter by then the Blue Jays

9:30

had lost anyway. It was four to

9:32

three. They went to Baltimore Three and

9:34

four on their road trip getting ready

9:36

for the first of three against the

9:38

Orioles, but the first game was rained

9:40

out Rescheduled for a

9:42

double header in June. So it became

9:44

a two game series and the Jays

9:46

got off to a good start In

9:49

the Saturday afternoon game Boba Shet and

9:51

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Started the game off

9:53

with back -to -back doubles to give him

9:55

a one -nothing lead They added another

9:57

run in the second as Bichette singled

9:59

in Nathan Lucas who had walked and

10:01

Anthony Santander led off the third with

10:03

his first home run as a blue

10:05

J and it came in his old

10:07

stomping grounds in Baltimore. It was 3 -0

10:09

Blue Jays going into the bottom of

10:12

the third, but in the fifth, Bowden

10:14

Francis finally gave up a hit. How

10:16

many times has this guy taken a no -hitter into at

10:18

least the fifth inning? He did it again, but with a

10:20

walk aboard and two out in the fifth, Heston

10:22

Kirstead took him deep to cut the

10:24

deficit to one run. Then in the

10:27

sixth, with two out and nobody on,

10:29

Adley Ruchman tied it with a home

10:31

run. And then we saw about in

10:33

francis crack a little bit a walk

10:35

a wild pitch an infield single and

10:37

then a two run double by cedric

10:39

mullins and the orioles had a five

10:41

three lead jays got a run back

10:44

in the seventh on a double play

10:46

ball by bo bichette, but that was

10:48

it They had two on and one

10:50

out in the ninth and could not

10:52

get the tying run across This was

10:54

a tough one because this was a

10:56

game where it felt like the jays

10:58

should have blown out tomoyaki sagano but

11:01

They hit into five double plays in

11:03

the game. One of them

11:05

because Vlad was called out on appeal

11:07

for leaving first two early on

11:09

a fly ball out by Anthony Santander

11:11

that took them out of what

11:13

could potentially have been a big fifth

11:15

inning. Felt like this one was

11:17

a game they should have won. They

11:19

didn't. But they made up for

11:21

it the next day by winning a

11:24

game they should have lost. The

11:26

Orioles had a six to three

11:28

lead. going into the top of

11:30

the eighth inning. You're not supposed

11:32

to win games when that happens.

11:34

And they brought in tough lefty

11:36

Gregory Soto, who had barely been

11:38

touched all season. And the Blue

11:40

Jays touched him up good. Andre

11:42

C. Menes with a lead off

11:44

left on left double, doubled home

11:46

by Alejandro Kirk. Then Ernie Clement

11:48

picked up an infield single. And

11:51

Miles Straubt bunted the runners over

11:53

to second and third. Davis Schneider who

11:56

finally got his first hit of

11:58

the season earlier in that game. and

12:00

wound up scoring on an RBI

12:02

single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Schneider hit

12:04

a ground ball to the right

12:06

side that scored another run and Beau

12:08

Bichette greeted reliever Yenny Ercanot who

12:10

was Baltimore's closer that day with Felix

12:12

Bautista unavailable with an RBI single

12:14

to tie the game in the top

12:16

of the 10th. Again, Andres Jimenez

12:19

is the Manfred man and the Blue

12:21

Jays. Got him over with a

12:23

single by Ernie Clement and then mile

12:25

straw hit an infield single a

12:27

little number up the third baseline beat

12:29

it out. He meant his scores.

12:31

What proves to be the winning run

12:33

because Jeff Hoffman again was Jeff

12:35

Hoffman. He came in the bottom of

12:37

the ninth and got the job

12:39

done then with the runner on third

12:41

and one out in the bottom

12:44

of the 10th. Struck out Tyler O

12:46

'Neill and struck out Ramon Laureano another

12:48

two inning job for Hoffman to

12:50

get the Blue Jays out of Baltimore

12:52

with a seven six win in

12:54

ten innings They finished the road trip

12:56

four and five remember how when

12:58

they went in I said four and

13:00

six would be a good trip.

13:02

They lose a game to the rain

13:04

Four and five Very nice especially

13:07

after losing the first three games at

13:09

the Mets they come home to

13:11

take on the four and eleven Atlanta

13:13

Braves And Easton Lucas has his

13:15

first tough start of the year and

13:17

it was exceedingly tough. Two run

13:19

homer by Sean Murphy in the first.

13:21

Two run homer by Austin Riley

13:23

in the third. Three run homer by

13:25

Austin Riley in the fourth. Lucas

13:27

went into the game with an ERA

13:29

of zero, gave up eight runs

13:32

and five innings, comes out of it

13:34

with an ERA of 470. And

13:36

it was eight nothing Atlanta before the

13:38

Blue Jays even got their first

13:40

hit. that hit came in the sixth

13:42

and it was mile straw going

13:44

deep. His second home run since 2021

13:46

and only the seventh of his

13:48

major league career. It was 8 -1

13:50

going into the bottom of the eighth,

13:52

the J scored a couple on

13:55

a two run double by Tyler Heinemann,

13:57

got an RBI single by Ernie

13:59

Clement in the ninth and made it

14:01

kind of interesting but never got

14:03

to the point where they got the

14:05

tying run to the plate and

14:07

the final score of 8 -4 really

14:09

did flatter them. And then It

14:11

was looking kind of dicey because you

14:13

got the Spencers back to back for Atlanta

14:15

in the final two games of the

14:17

series. Spencer Schwellenbach, who came into the game

14:20

with an ERA of 0 .45, and

14:22

Spencer Strider, who was making his

14:24

first start since coming back off of

14:26

an internal brace surgery after striking

14:28

out 13 in his final rehab game.

14:30

So it was going to be

14:32

tough for the Blue Jays. But Tuesday

14:35

night, Jackie Robinson Day, the

14:37

offense finally broke out. And

14:40

it was against Schwellenbach, a 1

14:42

-1 tie going into the bottom

14:44

of the fifth. Straw leads off

14:46

with a single, and then Allen

14:48

Rodin, who had doubled earlier, hits

14:50

his first major league home run,

14:53

a two -run shot, no doubter to

14:55

right field. Wonderful job by Allen

14:57

Rodin, who raised his OPS 133

14:59

points in that game. And

15:01

they just kept going, something we

15:04

haven't seen the Blue Jays do at

15:06

all. This year, Bichette doubled, Vlad,

15:08

he walked in Santander, hit a three

15:10

run shot, his first home run

15:12

at home as a Blue Jays. It

15:14

was the first time this season

15:17

that the Blue Jays had hit two

15:19

home runs in the same game

15:21

and they did it in the same

15:23

inning. Kevin Gosman was

15:25

incredible. He gave a couple of solo

15:27

home runs over his six innings

15:29

of work. Gosman in four starts this

15:31

year has given up a grand

15:33

total of three runs. after the first

15:35

inning. Ozzy Albee's

15:37

touched up Chad Green for a homer to

15:39

lead off the ninth and make the final

15:41

score six to three. A final

15:44

score that flattered Atlanta and tied

15:46

up the series, set up

15:48

the rubber match. Nathan Lucas went

15:50

on paternity leave before the game.

15:52

His wife had their first child

15:54

in Arizona later that day or

15:56

part of me Monday, Monday

15:59

after Lucas played

16:01

on Monday. went

16:03

over three, but scored a run, got

16:05

on a plane, went to Phoenix, didn't

16:08

make it for the birth of his

16:10

first child. But as we speak, I

16:12

mean, as we speak, he's probably, well,

16:14

he's got one more day. And then

16:16

he'll be back to rejoin the team

16:18

on Friday. Rubber match, Spencer

16:20

Strider on the

16:22

mound, Atlanta, extraordinarily excited

16:24

about having this guy back, spectacular

16:26

young pitcher had. Elbow surgery but

16:28

he had the internal brace not

16:31

the Tommy John so he's back

16:33

in just over 12 months and

16:35

He looked good early, but Chris

16:37

Bassett looked better Bassett struck out

16:39

the first three batters he faced

16:41

and then Strider struck out the

16:44

first two batters he faced bow

16:46

and Vlad so the first five

16:48

Hitters of the ballgame all strike

16:50

out all swinging before the Blue

16:52

Jays get a ground ball double

16:54

from Anthony Santander but it was

16:56

nothing nothing until the third second

16:59

time through Bichette with a double

17:01

his seventh of the season. Vlad

17:03

immediately follows with a ground ball

17:05

up the middle to score him

17:07

and make it one nothing blue

17:09

Jays while Bassett is dealing he

17:12

struck out 10 over five innings

17:14

of three hit shutout Jays at

17:16

a run in the sixth and

17:18

finally Vladimir Guerrero junior

17:20

goes deep 19th game of

17:22

the season Guerrero hit a 3

17:24

-2 hanging slider smacked it to

17:26

deep left field for his

17:28

first home run So now he's

17:31

got one Santander's got two

17:33

and the Blue Jays are still

17:35

waiting on Bo Bichette Jays

17:37

got another in the seventh on

17:39

Bichette's second double of the

17:41

game eighth of the season scoring

17:43

mile straw who had walked

17:45

and stolen second base and Bassett

17:47

gave way after the fifth

17:49

to Brendan Little, who struck out

17:51

the side around a walk. Nick

17:54

Sandlin comes in, gives

17:56

up a one -out single, and then

17:58

strikes out Orlando Arcia, so

18:00

the call goes to Yemi Garcia, who you're going to

18:03

hear from in a second. Yemi,

18:05

facing the tying run, strikes out

18:07

Michael Harris the second, inning

18:10

over, comes back out for the

18:12

eighth, to face the two three

18:14

four hitters Riley Matt Olson Sean

18:16

Murphy strikes them all out hands

18:18

it over to Jeff Hoffman who

18:20

works the ninth Drake Baldwin takes

18:22

him deep for his first major

18:25

league home run but otherwise Hoffman

18:27

is perfect and he strikes out

18:29

Eli White to finish the game

18:31

and that is the 19th strikeout

18:33

by a Blue Jays pitcher in

18:35

this 3 -1 win over Atlanta

18:37

that is a single game club

18:40

record 19 strikeouts 10 for Bassett

18:42

three for little, four for Yemi,

18:44

one each for Sandlin and Hoffman. And

18:46

the Blue Jays are 11 and

18:49

eight. And again, as I mentioned, half

18:51

a game back of the Yankees

18:53

and the Texas Rangers for the best

18:55

record in the American league. They're

18:57

off on Thursday. Seattle

18:59

Mariners come to town for a

19:01

three game series that begins on

19:03

Friday. That's the week that was,

19:06

and it was a pretty good

19:08

week again. Started rough with two

19:10

losses in a row, ended well

19:12

with three wins in four games,

19:14

and the Blue Jays are exceeding

19:16

a lot of people's expectations early

19:18

in the season. Not mine. This

19:20

is sort of where I figured

19:22

they'd be. I mean, not half

19:24

a game out of the best record in

19:26

the league, but in the mix for a

19:28

playoff spot all year long. The power is

19:30

starting to come around. I wish I

19:32

could say the weather is getting warmer. But as you're listening

19:34

to this, it probably, if you're in

19:36

Toronto, is becoming a little more spring

19:39

-like. Certainly wasn't this week. It snowed

19:41

on my way into the ballpark

19:43

Wednesday morning. That was not

19:45

fun. But they're playing well. They're

19:47

not getting in their own way very often. And

19:51

things are good right

19:53

now in Blue J

19:55

Land. Well, it

19:57

continue we'll see the schedule

19:59

in April and March has

20:01

been exceedingly tough and halfway

20:03

through the month They are

20:05

three games over 500 even

20:07

after that really tough road

20:09

trip through the Mets Red

20:11

Sox and Orioles Jimmy Garcia

20:14

has been a big part

20:16

of it with his ERA

20:18

of zero and he's gonna

20:20

join us on the other

20:22

side You're

20:30

in deep left field. I'm

20:32

Mike Wilner. Thank you so

20:35

much for joining us and

20:37

here in episode 250 We've

20:39

landed a guest who's been

20:41

pretty tough to come by

20:43

and I believe this is

20:46

his first one -on -one interview

20:48

in English Maybe in his

20:50

entire career certainly since joining

20:52

the Toronto Blue Jays. Here's

20:54

my conversation with Jimmy Garcia

21:02

Jimmy, thank you so much for doing this.

21:04

I wanted to talk to you for

21:06

a while now, but the first question I

21:09

guess for you is, why did you

21:11

come back? What was it about the Blue

21:13

Jays that made you want to come

21:15

back to Toronto? What

21:17

I say, I like here, you know, the

21:19

people are really nice here. Even they

21:21

have good players, but they are really not

21:23

personal. That's the reason number one.

21:26

That's the most important thing to you

21:28

as a people? Yeah, I like the

21:30

team, I like how they play. a

21:32

lot of good players, you know, like

21:34

Asiatin. Asiatin, they are really

21:36

good people. You

21:38

were part of what looked like

21:40

a bullpen that was really

21:42

close the first time around with

21:44

Romano and Swanson and Mesa.

21:46

Those guys all gone. Those Swanson

21:48

will come back. What's

21:51

it like now with this new group

21:53

in the bullpen? You know,

21:55

this is how It's

21:57

really hard to be consistent with

21:59

the same bullpen every year. We have

22:01

new guys coming every year. So

22:03

I think this bullpen is really good,

22:05

united. We stay together. It's really

22:07

good. Do you like how you fit

22:09

in here with you and Jeff

22:11

Hoffman being the two big guys at

22:13

the back? Yeah, I like it.

22:15

I love it. I'm here to do whatever

22:17

the team asks me to do. So this

22:19

is what I do. When

22:24

you say whatever the team asks you to do,

22:26

they ask you to do a lot, right? Last year,

22:28

sometimes we saw you come in in the fifth

22:30

inning of a close game. You come in in the

22:32

night, you come in for four outs sometimes, you

22:34

come in for one guy sometimes. It

22:36

seems like it's a lot that

22:38

you have to be able to adapt

22:40

to. How do you get in

22:43

your head to do all these different

22:45

things? No, we talk before the

22:47

game. We always communicate. how are we

22:49

going to, what is the plan

22:51

for today again or whatever they have

22:53

in mind, need to do. So

22:55

I'm ready for whatever situation they want

22:57

me to do. How

23:00

much different is it in the ninth

23:02

inning? How much harder is it to

23:04

get the last three outs? I think

23:06

it's a little bit different, you know,

23:08

because the last three outs, they are

23:10

really, really important. But for

23:12

me, it's almost the same thing. We have

23:14

to attack the hitter no matter what

23:17

is the situation or what any way we

23:19

are pitching. But with Jimmy

23:21

Garcia, it's interesting because that

23:23

is something that it feels like

23:25

Yario Rodriguez has had to learn.

23:27

He did that in Japan, right?

23:29

But this year, they're sort of

23:31

been, OK, he can get out

23:33

late in games. It feels

23:35

like when you're new to it like he

23:37

is, sometimes You don't

23:39

think of it that way as it's the same

23:41

in the 5th as it is in the 8th as

23:43

it is in the 9th. How hard is it

23:45

to get to there? I think the

23:47

game is a little bit different after the

23:50

7th inning. Everything is moving quickly. I

23:53

think it's a little bit different, you know? So

23:56

for Javier, I think he

23:58

can do it. He had the

24:00

stuff to be really good,

24:02

really featured. But I think...

24:04

For him to be used to be a

24:06

relief pitcher, it's going to take a little

24:08

bit of time. When everybody saw

24:11

him pitch that eighth inning against Baltimore,

24:13

the whole coaching staff couldn't believe what they,

24:15

I mean, they could, but they were

24:17

like, okay, this is what this guy has

24:19

to do now. Did you feel the

24:21

same way when you saw him? Yeah, yeah,

24:23

yeah. I feel the same way. Definitely,

24:26

you know, we're confident in everybody here. So

24:28

it doesn't matter who's going to pitch, we

24:30

have the confidence they're going to do. Good

24:32

job, doesn't matter what inning. with

24:34

Jimmy Garcia, who is back with

24:36

the Toronto Blue Jays. Tell

24:39

me a little bit from your

24:41

perspective about Pete Walker. He's been

24:43

here forever. You came back to

24:45

work with him again. We

24:48

think of him sort of working with the starters,

24:50

but we know he works with everybody. What

24:53

kind of pitching coach is he compared

24:55

to some of the other places you've been?

24:57

I think he's really good to communicate

24:59

with us. You know, like... Like

25:02

how he expect to us how he

25:04

say we want to attack here. We're

25:06

going to do this I think he's

25:08

really good how communicate we we players

25:10

see we everybody here and Tell me

25:12

a little bit about working with Kirk

25:14

E. No Kirk. He's

25:16

really good behind home play.

25:18

I think he's really smart guy

25:22

A lot of people, I think, don't understand

25:24

just how good a catcher he is.

25:26

And when he came up, it was all

25:28

about the bat, right, and his great

25:30

contact hitter. But he's done a lot of

25:32

work to become very, very good to

25:34

help out the pitchers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.

25:36

For me, it's one of the best

25:39

catchers in the big league. How he

25:41

gave behind home play, how he made

25:43

the ball look straight, you know? It's

25:46

really amazing to see him

25:48

catching every day. I have to

25:50

ask about you when you get on the mound.

25:52

I remember when you got traded

25:54

last year. I didn't even

25:56

know how good your English was because I

25:58

barely spoke to you because you were off

26:00

with the relievers, right? And I told Alec

26:03

Minoa that. I said, Jimmy's English is really

26:05

good. And he said, yeah, but he's scary.

26:08

So this is the thing. When you're out

26:10

on the mound, you're kind of scary too.

26:12

How do you get to be that scary? I

26:14

think we had to change the personality a

26:16

little bit in the mouth, you know? I

26:19

am very different in the mouth and

26:21

outside the mouth, you know? So people

26:23

think I am like, a lot of

26:25

people think I am like mad, like

26:27

angry man, you know, but very happy

26:29

man, you know? So a lot of

26:31

people are scared to come talk to

26:33

me, but I don't know why, you

26:35

know? Because you like

26:37

that on the, Jordan Romano is like

26:39

that on the mound also, right? You

26:42

guys really do have to change. Yes,

26:44

yes, exactly. You need another personality on

26:46

the mound. Okay, the last thing I

26:48

want to ask you about is the

26:50

hitters on this team I mean we

26:52

just this week with the Vladimir Guerrero

26:54

with his contract everyone is so excited

26:56

for him as a pitcher for Vlad

26:58

for a guy like Bo How have

27:00

you attacked them in the past? I

27:02

mean you face them, but What's it

27:04

like to pitch against those guys? How

27:06

difficult is it? For me I treat

27:08

me everybody the same, you know, I

27:10

don't care who is hitting I want

27:12

to attack them no matter who they

27:14

are Well, we know they are really

27:16

good, but this is what going

27:18

to attack everybody like, almost the

27:20

same thing. Is it more difficult

27:22

for a guy like Bo who's going

27:25

to swing almost nose to toes, no

27:27

matter where the ball is, if the

27:29

count is right? I

27:31

think he's like that kind

27:33

of player, you know? He

27:35

can hit. So he can

27:37

go for any ball he thinks he can hit it.

27:39

I think he's really good. He can do it. But

27:42

you can get him out. I

27:44

don't know. I don't know. OK, Jimmy, thanks a

27:46

lot for this. This is great. I really appreciate your

27:48

time. I'm glad we got to do this. Thank

27:50

you. Thank you so much. Thank you. That's

27:52

Yemi Garcia. He's not so scary

27:54

after all, as it turns out. And

27:57

if you were listening closely to that

27:59

last answer before he started laughing and

28:01

said, I don't know whether

28:03

you can get Boba Shed out, he

28:05

was starting to say yes. And

28:07

he has. In fact, he struck

28:09

out Boba Shed. They faced each other

28:11

twice. And he struck them out

28:14

once and the other time, Bo

28:16

hit a two run triple. So

28:18

one hopes they won't have

28:20

to face each other again. That's

28:23

going to depend on what happens

28:25

with Yimmy after his two year contract

28:27

is done. And it's going to

28:29

depend on what happens with Bo after

28:31

this year. Will he remain a

28:33

Toronto Blue Jay? That's going to be

28:35

the question that a lot of

28:38

people are asking a lot of the

28:40

time now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is

28:42

locked up. From

28:45

a pitcher, we go to a

28:47

catcher. Tyler Heineman has done a

28:49

terrific job as the Blue Jay's

28:51

backup catcher starting this season. He's

28:53

been a Blue Jay before. He

28:55

was here in 2022. He

28:57

was here in 2023, both

28:59

times left. Both times came

29:02

back. He came over in

29:04

22 as a free agent

29:06

and then the Jays lost

29:08

him to Pittsburgh on waivers

29:10

in May. They traded back

29:12

for him with the Pirates

29:14

in 2023 and then lost

29:16

him on waivers after the

29:18

season to the Mets. The

29:20

Mets sent him to the

29:22

Red Sox and then the

29:24

Blue Jays picked him up

29:26

on waivers with two weeks

29:28

left in the season last

29:30

year. from the Red Sox

29:32

after he'd only played two

29:34

games with them. He played

29:36

five with the Jays down the

29:38

stretch and this year he's been

29:40

in seven of the first 19

29:42

games. He has 10 for 22

29:44

batting 455 with two doubles and

29:47

a homer and four RBIs. His

29:49

OPS is 1160. Now

29:51

we know that that's Not

29:53

going to continue small sample

29:55

size alert and Heinemann's got

29:57

an OPS in his career

29:59

of 571 But backup catcher

30:01

not gonna get a ton

30:03

of a bat It's a

30:05

little easier to sustain big

30:07

numbers when you don't have

30:09

as many opportunities For the

30:11

chance of the chance for

30:13

them to go away. I

30:15

don't think this is a

30:17

different Tyler Heineman as a

30:19

hitter at the age of

30:21

33 But certainly

30:23

he believes that there's more

30:25

in there offensively than he's

30:27

shown and in the minor

30:29

leagues It's a career 278

30:32

hitter with a 362 on

30:34

base So he's shown he

30:36

can do it just not

30:38

at this level and at

30:40

34 you don't really turn

30:42

it on But it's probably

30:44

more in there than that

30:46

231 hitter with a slugging

30:48

percentage around 300 He's

30:51

off to a terrific start, just like

30:53

the team, and I wanted to talk to

30:55

him about it. Tyler,

31:02

I wanted to talk to you for a

31:04

few reasons. You're off to a great start. The

31:06

starting rotation is off to a terrific

31:08

start, and you've had a large hand

31:11

in that. And the team has started

31:13

well these first three weeks of the

31:15

season. First of all, you mentioned at

31:17

the end of spring They

31:19

didn't think you really earned a spot

31:21

on the team. You were worried about

31:23

your production in spring training, even though

31:25

you know that that's not a huge

31:27

part of how the determination is made. But

31:30

after that rough spring, you've come out and

31:32

you've come out hitting awfully well. I

31:34

know people don't flip a switch or anything like that,

31:36

but what's the difference between the last three weeks and

31:38

that month and a half of Florida? I

31:42

mean, I honestly don't really think anything.

31:44

I think just the I'm

31:48

just trying to take some abats.

31:52

Just take every single abat as

31:54

its own separate entity, its

31:56

own kind of season. Take every

31:58

one pitch at a time.

32:00

So I think maybe a little

32:03

bit more abats as you

32:05

go down the line. You're starting

32:07

from no abats in spring

32:09

training, like before spring training to starting

32:11

getting abats. So your timing might be a little

32:13

bit off. you

32:15

know, the more bats you get, the better

32:17

your timing gets. So I don't really

32:19

chalk it up at anything different. I'm just

32:21

trying to literally do the exact same

32:23

thing. We've made a few tweaks here and

32:25

there, you know, in terms of just

32:27

like my approach and where I want to

32:29

kind of look for the ball. And

32:31

so having some early success with that, so

32:33

I'm pleased about that. Yes, you're more

32:35

obviously more pleased with the way things have

32:37

gone now than the way the things

32:39

have gone then. Yeah, like I said, you

32:41

know, I mean trying to take it

32:43

Trying to take the results out of it

32:46

and work more towards the process of

32:48

what you're doing and you know I was

32:50

a little frustrated in spring training just

32:52

because like I said You know at the

32:54

end to you guys that I felt

32:56

like I was in a good spot Mentally

32:58

and physically and my work was was

33:00

really good, but it just wasn't translating the

33:02

game and so you know It's it's

33:04

nice to see that it's starting to translate

33:06

but you know like There's a long

33:08

way to go, and I got a lot

33:10

of work to do. And the focus

33:12

of your work, obviously, is the stuff you

33:14

do behind the plate with the pitchers,

33:16

rather than the stuff you do when you

33:18

come up three or four times in

33:20

a game. And how have you felt about

33:22

the way the staff has been working

33:24

this year? I mean, on the weekend, six

33:28

innings into Chris Bass's last start. You

33:30

guys, your starters at the best ERA

33:32

in the major leagues. Yeah,

33:34

I mean, they're doing a tremendous

33:36

job, obviously. You know, we got guys

33:38

that Pretty much everybody in our

33:40

rotation is established except for Lucas right

33:42

now. Meaning they've had big

33:44

league success and they've done well in

33:46

their career. So to have them come

33:49

off to a hot start is really

33:51

encouraging. And they're really picking us up

33:53

on the offensive standpoint while we're still

33:55

trying to find our bearings offensively. And

33:57

I think once we can get that

33:59

rolling, and yesterday was a really good

34:01

start, I think it's

34:03

going to be really We're going to be

34:05

a tough team to beat, especially if we're clicking

34:07

on all cylinders like that. Yeah, Tuesday night with

34:09

the two home runs in a game for the

34:11

first time in a five run, and it's getting

34:13

that offense working. Individually, pitcher to

34:15

pitcher, like you said, at least those

34:17

top three are really established. And Baton Francis

34:19

sort of falls into that, even though

34:22

he's only really had a half season. But

34:24

what stood out to me as we

34:26

sit here and talk before Bassett pitches in

34:28

the finale on Wednesday against Atlanta is

34:30

how good Chris Bassett has been. And two,

34:32

the fact that in four starts this

34:34

season, Kevin Gosman's given up three runs after

34:36

the first inning. It's one of those,

34:38

you know, they say a lot, if you

34:40

don't get a guy early, you're not

34:42

going to get him. But he's really embodied

34:44

that so far. Yeah, I mean, he's

34:46

done a really good job. He's

34:49

put us in a position to compete and to

34:51

win every single game, you know, which is all

34:53

you can ask for from a starting pitcher. Give

34:56

us a chance to win. Give us a

34:58

chance to put our runs on the board. and

35:00

be ahead going to 6th, 7th,

35:02

8th. So, you know, he's done a

35:04

fantastic job and, you know,

35:06

the way he goes about his business

35:08

is, you know, kind of second to none

35:10

and he's scouting reports and everything like

35:12

that. So, you know, he's... He's

35:14

really he's really good for this team.

35:17

He's really good for this for the younger

35:19

guys like Bowden and Lucas to kind

35:21

of learn from and and See how a

35:23

veteran and a pro kind of goes

35:25

about their business with Tyler Heineman You've caught

35:27

all three of Easton Lucas's starts the

35:29

first two were incredible the last one less

35:31

effective We gave up the three home

35:33

runs and the opener against Atlanta. This is

35:35

someone who Nobody saw it coming. The

35:37

Blue Jays tell us. Yeah, we saw him

35:39

as a starter when we had him

35:41

last September. He came after you came in

35:44

the last two weeks of the season. What

35:47

have you seen from him and

35:49

how much has he impressed you early

35:51

on? He's done a

35:53

really good job. I think just

35:55

being able to not kind of

35:57

let the moment get too big

35:59

for him, coming in and being

36:02

a young guy in a rotation

36:04

that is pretty established. and

36:06

kind of take it over for sure

36:08

as they're always on the shelf is no

36:10

easy task. And I'm sure it weighs

36:12

on a lot of people mentally, but he

36:14

kind of taken it in stride. I

36:16

think he's doing a really good job locating

36:18

his heater and kind of just throwing

36:20

it with conviction every time and then mixing

36:22

in the off speed. The last outing

36:24

he had was, I

36:27

think he, we know it, but I

36:29

think he took his foot off the

36:31

gas a little bit on certain pitches.

36:33

You saw some, a disparity between a

36:35

couple of the fastballs. Some of them

36:37

were 95, some them were 91. And

36:39

I think he might have been trying

36:42

to locate the ball a little bit

36:44

more and not really try and just

36:46

throw it like he was doing it.

36:48

And when you're kind of playing free,

36:50

I have no idea what it's like

36:52

pitching. But I know from a standpoint

36:54

of when I'm trying to aim something

36:56

or throw, I hit it

36:59

a certain spot or throw to second

37:01

base and throw it exactly where I want

37:03

to. A lot of times

37:05

it's it's less effective. It's not my

37:07

best throw and it's it's not my best

37:09

velocity all that stuff So, you know,

37:11

I think he was just trying to pinpoint

37:13

and be so perfect because the braze

37:15

lineup is really good Instead of just being

37:17

aggressive like it wasn't his first two

37:19

starts. So I think he's gonna make that

37:21

adjustment and we'll see what happens on

37:23

Sunday Are you watching when you're dealing with

37:25

a? I mean, he's not

37:27

young, but he's young in major league

37:29

experience. Are you watching how

37:31

it's affecting him, how he's handling it,

37:33

the conversations between innings, those sorts of

37:35

things when he gives up a bomb

37:38

in the first and a couple innings

37:40

later in another one? Yeah,

37:42

I think from that type

37:44

of standpoint, as a

37:46

catcher, it's kind of our

37:48

job to know the demeanor

37:50

of our pitcher. Just

37:56

from speaking from experience, I feel like

37:58

when you make a mistake or when

38:00

something doesn't go your way in the

38:02

big leagues, you feel like it's magnified

38:04

because you feel like you've let the

38:06

team down in some way, shape, or

38:08

form, especially much more so than the

38:10

minor leagues. And that's really just not

38:12

the case. That's kind of your perception

38:14

that you put in your mind, right?

38:16

Everybody has days and outings and pitches

38:19

where they just don't execute what they

38:21

wanted to or something is off. It's

38:24

kind of just managing that

38:26

expectation and making sure that he

38:28

knows what he's done so

38:30

far this season and what he

38:32

needs to do to be

38:34

successful and kind of keeping him

38:36

in line with that. Really

38:38

just honestly kind of working in

38:40

tandem with Pete and making

38:42

sure that we're all on the

38:44

same page because confidence is

38:46

a massive thing in terms of

38:48

success. Making

38:51

sure that his confidence stays high after

38:53

outings like that is really the most

38:55

important thing. Well with Tyler Heineman,

38:57

and I'm sure that applies to you

38:59

as well. I mean, first of all, as

39:01

far as confidence is concerned, it's got

39:03

to make you feel good that this team

39:05

keeps bringing you back, that they keep

39:07

wanting you, you know. And to

39:09

get picked up with two weeks left

39:11

in the season last year, for

39:14

me that means we want this guy to

39:16

be on this team next year. and to

39:18

be playing for us. Did you, you know,

39:20

does that, is that a boost for you?

39:22

Yeah, I mean, anytime you're wanted or

39:25

anytime you feel like, like you're

39:27

valued is, it feels good. But, you

39:29

know, like I said, last year,

39:31

I said it in spring training, you

39:33

know, my job is, I had

39:35

success in the minor leagues in my

39:37

entire career. I've never really had,

39:39

I bet, defensive success in the big

39:41

leagues, but not offensive success. So

39:43

I kind of treat it as, you

39:46

know yeah okay great i i they

39:48

want me in this situation or right now

39:50

but i gotta prove to them that

39:52

they gotta keep wanting me and and so

39:54

it's an ongoing battle and ongoing kind

39:56

of i guess mentality for me that okay

39:58

i'm here right now but in order

40:00

for me to stay here i need to

40:02

keep proving to them that i that

40:04

i belong and and and they want me

40:07

so you know it's doing the little

40:09

things right it's Preparing every day and and

40:11

honestly just put my best effort forward

40:13

and then whatever happens It's kind of out

40:15

of my control, but it's been a

40:17

good start to this season I remember talking

40:19

to George Springer last year when he

40:21

struggled at the beginning of the year and

40:23

he says Baseball is a game of

40:25

failure as we all know but when you

40:27

walk out of the dugout your failure

40:29

is on this giant scoreboard for everyone to

40:31

see so when you walk out and

40:34

you see 500 up there two weeks into

40:36

the season I mean, how does that

40:38

make you feel? I

40:40

mean, it's I

40:42

guess like subconsciously it feels good but

40:44

like I said I'm really just

40:46

trying to focus on staying day to

40:48

day and staying in the process

40:50

you know because baseball is a game

40:52

that can change in an instant

40:54

and you know if you let your

40:56

foot off the gas like we

40:58

saw right with we're talking about Easton

41:00

you let the foot off the

41:02

gas you can you can get burned

41:04

so you know each game is

41:06

a new season pretty much and you

41:08

know what you did previously it

41:10

matters but it doesn't really matter in

41:12

that moment in time so kind

41:15

of like disconnecting from any sort of

41:17

previous success or previous failure is

41:19

the only way that I can feel

41:21

like I can go about it

41:23

and make sure that I'm staying like

41:25

as present as possible and putting

41:27

my best foot forward that day and

41:29

whatever happens like I said it's

41:31

like you know that is that's all

41:33

that I have that day and

41:35

you know good bad and different you

41:37

got to go out the next

41:39

day and be a pro and and

41:41

do it again so All right,

41:43

with Tyler Haneman as we wrap up,

41:45

I just want to ask you,

41:47

I guess, as a multiple tour of

41:49

duty Blue J. This week was

41:51

big for the celebration of Vladimir Guerrero

41:53

becoming the first forever Blue J.

41:55

He'll be 40 if he fulfills this

41:57

whole 14 -year contract. What's that meant

41:59

in here to see that level

42:02

of commitment from a team to a

42:04

player like that? Well,

42:06

first of all, Congratulations to

42:08

Vladia. Everyone on the team

42:10

congratulated him. He's one of

42:12

the best in the game

42:14

and he's now, at least

42:16

from a monetary standpoint, been

42:18

awarded that. But I think

42:21

it really shows the players

42:23

that Mr. Rogers and the

42:25

Blue Jays are kind of

42:27

committed to winning and they

42:29

want to... they

42:32

want to win and they want

42:34

to win internally and then you know

42:36

bring pieces in from there and

42:38

I think you know you know I

42:41

know nothing about the free agent

42:43

type of thing but I think maybe

42:45

something to do with the fact

42:47

that Bo wasn't locked up Vlad wasn't

42:49

locked up might have had something

42:51

to do with some of the free

42:53

agent market right they don't know

42:55

the direction of which the way the

42:57

team is going so you know

42:59

I think that it's more so than

43:01

just from a player standpoint from

43:03

an investment standpoint from the Blue Jays

43:06

I think I think it's a

43:08

really good thing to show and come

43:10

in free agents or anybody that

43:12

is potentially shopping around to become a

43:14

blue jay that they're committed to

43:16

winning that they want to win because

43:18

they're locking up guys like that,

43:20

they're bringing in himmy to a long

43:22

contract and signing Kirk to a

43:24

long contract. They're committed to winning. and

43:27

they want to win.

43:29

So I think it's just

43:31

a big confidence boost

43:33

to our whole team and

43:35

hopefully it shows. Yeah,

43:37

I agree. I think it had a little

43:39

bit to do with the free agent market the

43:41

last couple of years. But

43:44

this is, it's a wonderful thing.

43:46

There's never been, you know, of all

43:48

the all -time greats. people up on

43:50

that level of excellence. It's never

43:52

been anybody who started and finished their

43:54

career with this organization. You've

43:56

obviously left a few times, but you're back

43:58

now, and we're thrilled to have you, and just

44:00

want to wish you continued success. It's been

44:02

great to see your start, and here's hoping you

44:05

keep it going. Thanks a lot for this.

44:07

Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me.

44:09

That's Tyler Heineman, a very easy guy to

44:11

root for. We'll be right back. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

44:13

is going to be a Blue J for

44:15

life, where you're going to talk to someone who

44:17

is a Blue J for 10 minutes. Back

44:28

here in Deep Left Field, this

44:30

is episode 250. Thank you so

44:32

much for joining us. I'm Mike

44:34

Wilner. I want to remind you

44:36

to please subscribe to the podcast

44:38

or favorite on your favorite podcast

44:40

platform. Tell everybody you know about

44:42

this show. I'm assuming you're listening

44:44

because you like it and you

44:46

understand that this is a different

44:48

baseball podcast, Blue Jays podcast than

44:50

most of the ones you're going

44:52

to get out there. We take

44:54

time and sit down and talk

44:56

to people. and get more than

44:58

the stock answer from the people

45:00

who are really involved right down

45:02

there in the trenches. We take

45:04

you right into the dugout like

45:06

nobody else does, and we appreciate

45:08

you being with us to listen.

45:10

Please leave us a five star

45:12

rating on Apple Podcast. We'd appreciate

45:14

that a lot. And if you

45:16

leave us a review, or if

45:18

you send us an email at

45:20

deepleftfieldatthestar .ca, I'll read it

45:22

on the program. Really do encourage that

45:24

whether it's off one of the

45:26

columns I write in the Toronto Star

45:28

something you hear on the show

45:31

something you'd like to hear on the

45:33

show We'd love to hear from

45:35

you of course the best way to

45:37

support this program is by Subscribing

45:39

to the Toronto Star go to the

45:41

website the star .com go to the

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podcast page go to the deep

45:45

left field page and Subscribe through there

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so that they know we sent

45:49

you it costs one dollar for six

45:51

months to subscribe to the

45:53

Toronto Star, and it would

45:55

be a wonderful, wonderful way to

45:57

support this program. Vladimir

46:00

Jr. is going to be a

46:02

Blue J for his entire

46:04

career. The Blue J has made

46:06

that 15 -year contract official. He

46:09

signed a fake copy of it

46:11

in a news conference with Edward

46:13

Rogers, and that was interesting too,

46:15

right, to see Edward come down

46:17

and take questions from the media.

46:20

I have covered this team

46:23

Since 1988 and intimately Embedded

46:25

with this team since Rogers

46:27

bought it and I've never

46:29

been in the same room

46:31

with Edward before so this

46:34

was really impressive thing and

46:36

I wonder if there's a

46:38

shift Gregor Chisholm wrote about

46:40

it in the Toronto Star

46:42

a shift in What Rogers

46:45

is expecting from the blue jays

46:47

and how much of a part of

46:49

it he wants to be I

46:51

don't think he's gonna become a metal

46:53

some owner or anything like that

46:55

But to be involved would be a

46:57

difference Have his pulse have his

46:59

finger on the pulse of what's going

47:01

on a little bit Might be

47:03

nice. We shall see but Vladimir Guerrero,

47:05

Jr. Is going to be a

47:07

blue jay for life and by the

47:10

time this contract is done. He

47:12

will have been in the organization for

47:14

25 years We've talked a lot

47:16

about that so I wanted to talk

47:18

to someone who had been a

47:20

blue jay for a little shorter than

47:22

that How about three days with

47:24

the major league team and only in

47:26

spring training and it just so

47:28

happened with Atlanta in town and a

47:30

lot of former blue jay behind

47:33

the scenes guys It was great to

47:35

see George Poulos And Jeff Stevens

47:37

and the old trainers, Mike Shaw, the

47:39

director of team travel. Alex

47:41

Anthopoulos was in for the series

47:43

as well. Wonderful to see all these

47:45

people, although I never managed to

47:47

get eyes on Alex. But

47:49

hanging out with Poulos

47:52

and Shaw was outstanding. And

47:54

Matt Tuiasasopo is

47:56

the third base coach

47:59

for Atlanta. And

48:01

in 2014, he came to the

48:03

Blue Jays At the end

48:05

of spring training didn't make the

48:07

team and wound up going

48:09

to Buffalo for a couple of

48:11

months before the Blue Jays

48:13

sold him to the Chicago White

48:15

Sox, but he was in

48:17

there for tiny little bit. And

48:20

I wanted to talk to him

48:22

about his Jays days. Matt,

48:30

this has been a week of. finally

48:33

celebrating a forever Blue Jays. The Blue Jays

48:35

have never had someone who's been here their

48:37

whole career. Vlad McGrath Jr. looks

48:39

like he's going to be here for 25 years.

48:41

So with you and Atlanta in town, I

48:43

wanted to talk to someone who was a Blue

48:45

Jays for, you know, 10 minutes. So

48:48

I remember you coming

48:50

in to spring training late

48:52

in 2014. trying

48:54

to make the team for that last week

48:56

when you're really up against it, and then

48:58

you went down to Buffalo for a while

49:00

before you wound up in the White Sox.

49:03

You never came up here, but tell me

49:05

about just coming to this organization at that

49:07

time, because they were right on the cusp

49:09

in 14, but what brought you to Toronto?

49:11

What made that your choice? I

49:13

actually was in Sydney,

49:15

Australia at the time. I

49:18

was with the Diamondbacks,

49:20

and we were opening up

49:22

over there in the

49:24

middle of March against the Dodgers

49:26

was over there the whole week and

49:28

then the day before opening day

49:30

I was out of options so I

49:33

found out that I had been

49:35

designated for assignment and that Toronto had

49:37

claimed me so you know obviously

49:39

not great news but then you know

49:41

you find out on the flip

49:43

side that you've been claimed so it's

49:45

always good to know that you

49:47

know team wanted you and you're going

49:50

on to another roster so You

49:52

know, I was just excited to be

49:54

able to come to this organization, you

49:56

know, Toronto's organization, and I had heard

49:58

that they had only, I think, three

50:00

more games left in spring training, and

50:02

they weren't sure what they were going

50:04

to do with their roster. So

50:07

I got on the earliest

50:09

flight I could the following

50:11

day, and it was about,

50:13

I don't know, a 16

50:15

-hour flight. Ended

50:17

up calling Alex saying,

50:20

hey, I'm super tired.

50:22

I need to sleep another day.

50:24

I came in the next day

50:26

and talked with Gibby and Alex and

50:28

they said, we want you to

50:30

lead off these next three games

50:32

and we'll either take you or

50:34

another arm. And obviously

50:36

they went with another reliever in

50:38

the bullpen and I went to

50:41

Buffalo for a couple months before

50:43

I got traded over to the

50:45

White Sox. But I enjoyed my

50:47

time here. Nothing but great people

50:49

in the front office. Obviously

50:51

a lot of great young players

50:54

that were up here in Toronto,

50:56

played with a lot of veteran players

50:58

in AAA. And then

51:01

a lot of guys that eventually came up

51:03

here to Toronto, you know, Strowman, Pilar,

51:06

just a lot of guys that you could

51:08

tell were going to come up here and

51:10

help this organization at the Big League level

51:12

and become stars in the game. So nothing

51:14

but good memories in Buffalo. And

51:17

so it's exciting for this organization

51:20

to be able to make that work

51:22

with Vladdy. He's one of the

51:24

best players in the game. Love

51:26

watching him play, love watching him go

51:28

about his business. He plays with so

51:30

much joy and passion. You

51:32

can see that from across the field. And

51:35

I think that's on this

51:37

part of the game now

51:39

as a coach, just seeing

51:43

Seeing the top tier players

51:45

in the league, how

51:47

they go about their business every day,

51:49

how positive they go about their work,

51:52

how hard they compete. And

51:55

I think just playing with passion and joy, it's

51:57

fun to watch. And you got like a roster

51:59

full of them here, right? When you talk about

52:01

the top players in the game, Matt

52:04

Olson, Ozzy Alby, Ronald Acuna when he

52:06

comes back, Austin, like I could go

52:08

on forever and ever. This

52:10

team, Poor start

52:12

or whatever. This is a team

52:14

that's that's full of that sort of

52:16

level of top tier talent that

52:18

you get to work with must be

52:20

a blast Yeah, we love to

52:22

come to work every day, you know

52:25

We love being around each other.

52:27

It's a long season But we truly

52:29

enjoy coming to the ballpark every

52:31

day putting the work in and competing

52:33

together and we definitely have a

52:35

lot of fun doing it you know

52:37

we We try to

52:39

stay focused on the right things, stay

52:41

positive on the right things, and just keep

52:43

our heads down and keep playing ball

52:45

and competing. And we've got

52:47

great leaders on this team. Obviously,

52:50

I believe it starts with Snit. The

52:53

guy never changes. He's

52:55

so consistent. And

52:57

he goes about his business in a way

53:00

where I feel like that's where the players,

53:02

they just model that. It

53:04

doesn't matter what we face, whether it's injuries. You

53:07

know, whether we're going through, you

53:10

know, some, you know, some tough times, you know,

53:12

on the field, like the guys, you

53:14

know, just their mindset and everything

53:16

that doesn't waver. They

53:18

stay focused on the things they need to

53:20

stay focused on and they just grind through,

53:22

you know, the times and they understand how

53:24

good they are and they just got to

53:26

stay together and play together and play for

53:28

each other. And I think that's why they've

53:30

been successful for so many years. talk

53:33

about Brian Snick or a guy who, you

53:35

know, is coming up on a half century in

53:37

the same organization. You come

53:39

from a family of professional athletes and, you

53:41

know, you were a ball player in

53:43

three or four organizations. You know what it's

53:45

like, right, to go through that grind.

53:47

And what does it mean? I mean, I

53:49

was talking about Vlad, you know, by

53:51

the time this contract is over, he'll have

53:53

been a Blue J for 25 years.

53:55

If Snick's still in the game, he'll be

53:57

going on 70 by then. What

53:59

does that mean? Just

54:01

I think consistency you know staying

54:03

true to who you are

54:06

knowing who you are knowing what

54:08

you do how you do

54:10

it You know the thing I

54:12

love about snitch just he

54:14

understands how hard this game is

54:16

and And he doesn't change

54:18

he doesn't he doesn't waver in

54:21

his beliefs and You know

54:23

he lets the players play the

54:25

game He, you know,

54:27

he keeps them on the right

54:29

path. He understands, you know, the temperature

54:31

in that clubhouse on the daily and

54:33

understands what they need. You

54:36

know, when they need tough love, when they need a

54:38

pat on the butt, when they just, when he just

54:40

needs to keep encouraging them to stay positive. And that's

54:42

one thing that he always, you know, I got to

54:44

play for him in Gwinnett. And I

54:46

remember times we were scuffling in Gwinnett and,

54:48

and he would just, he was always

54:50

positive with us and he kept reminding us

54:52

who we are. what we

54:55

do well and that things were

54:57

going to turn for us. Things were

54:59

going to go well that day

55:01

for us. And I think, again, that

55:03

just comes across on these players

55:05

and that's why they play with so

55:07

much just passion, joy, positivity, no

55:09

matter what's going on. And I'm

55:11

sure you take that with you into coaching. Matt

55:13

Tuiazopo, third base coach of the Braves, and

55:15

you got to go hit ground balls in a

55:17

sec. But let me just take you back

55:19

11 years. And when you walked into that Blue

55:21

Jays clubhouse needing a great deal of sleep,

55:23

I'm sure. But to see the guys like Bautista

55:25

and Edwin, you know, this was before

55:28

Donaldson and Russ Martin got there. But there

55:30

were some serious ball players there at that point.

55:32

What's it like for you to walk into

55:34

a room with guys like that? It's

55:36

great. I mean, they were

55:38

great guys. I mean

55:40

obviously being in Seattle. I've

55:43

been here to Toronto, so I

55:45

played against them. And

55:47

yeah, there are obviously stars on

55:49

the field, but they're all great

55:51

dudes. And that's obviously a great

55:53

plus when you see the town

55:55

on the field, but then you

55:58

see behind the scenes and just

56:00

how good dudes they are. You

56:02

can see just the relationships that

56:04

they have within the guys in the

56:06

clubhouse. And so, yeah, it was

56:08

very, very quick three days with them.

56:11

league team there and camp but

56:13

you could just tell that it was

56:15

a great clubhouse and you know

56:17

they were all pros. And

56:19

we saw it the next year and

56:21

you know the same thing has to apply

56:23

to you because Alex Anthopoulos grabbed you

56:25

in 2014 and he brought you back here

56:27

in Atlanta just like George Poulos and

56:30

Jeff Stevenson and Mike Shaw and all these

56:32

guys here. John Gibbons for a while.

56:34

When Alex brings the people back that's a

56:36

huge point in their favor.

56:38

So thank you for this. Best of luck

56:40

to you guys. We know that when when

56:42

it's all over Atlanta is going to be

56:44

right at the top of everything and I

56:46

wish you nothing but success. Thanks for the

56:48

little trip down memory lane. Appreciate it. Thank

56:50

you man. Appreciate it. That was

56:52

fun. That was Matt to Yasasopo

56:54

who as you heard was a blue

56:56

J for about 10 minutes. Now

56:58

the third base coach of the Atlanta

57:01

Braves and I'm sure the J's

57:03

are happy that they got the Braves

57:05

when they did send them packing

57:07

at 5 and 13 and let them

57:09

wake up against other teams for

57:11

the rest of the season. That's going

57:13

to do it for episode 250

57:15

of Deep Left Field. Thank you so

57:17

much for joining us. We appreciate

57:19

it, whether it's your 250th time, your

57:21

first or anywhere in between. Thank

57:23

you so much. Thank you

57:26

to Our wonderful guest this week,

57:28

Jimmy Garcia with his first

57:30

English one -on -one, Tyler Heineman. And

57:32

as you just heard, Matt

57:34

Tuiazza -Sopo, our executive producer, is

57:36

the lovely and talented JP Fozo.

57:39

Does a fantastic job every week, as

57:41

do our sound engineers, Sean

57:43

Pattenden and Crawford Blair. Nicole

57:46

McIntyre is the editor -in -chief

57:48

of the Toronto Star. The biggest

57:50

thank you of all. goes to

57:52

you. We wouldn't be doing any

57:54

of this without you. Thank you

57:56

so much for listening. My

57:59

name is Mike Wilner. We'll see you

58:01

next time, right here, in Deep Left

58:03

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