October 9, 2025 • 22 mins
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy joined us before his team fell in Game 3 to Philly. The conversation is a must-listen for young ballplayers, coaches, parents, etc. We dive deep into the wheel play execution that was a key to their Game 2 win.
Plus, Max shares his admiration for Shohei’s pitching performance in Game 1, and his mindset heading into Game 3 against Aaron Nola.
Hosts: Trevor May, Erik Kratz, Scott Braun
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, while we have one minute, maybe even thirty seconds,
because Max Montsy is in the green room and almost ready. Trevor,
what are your thoughts on Roki Sazaki suddenly becoming a closer?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Not even remotely surprising. We knew the guy can throw
low one hundred's. That is kind of the proud records
that these days to finish a game, and it came
right back. And then he's got one of the nastiest
hot speed pitches in the major leagues. He throws a
true fork pall like nobody does that. So for him
to be able to consolidate down to two pitches, which
was his problem as a starter, he's just kind of
(00:35):
it just makes all the sense in the world to
me that you don't need the command as much as
he needed it, and you only need two pitches, and
he's got both those things, So just let it eat
and simplify it. Now we see how much easier that
makes things for him, So it doesn't surprise me one bit.
The guy's electric.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, it looks good. Well, let's ask his teammate about
it right now. Max Mountsey of the Dodgers joining us
on FT we can start there. Max surprised, are you
that Roki Sasaki has popped up to be healthy and
look this damn good after missing most of the season.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Uh, you know, not not surprised at all, you know,
I just it's just one of those things where he
needed to give a little confidence and h you know,
he's found a way to do that, and he looks
very comfortable in all that we put him in, and uh,
you know, he's ready to go every time we've called
on him so far.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Max, I think these guys are like itching to ask
you about the wheel play from Game two, Sokratz. I'm
gonna actually let you start. Why don't you start with
your best wheel we'll play question and then Trevor, I'm
sure we'll have one too.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I don't Eve, I don't even have a question. Take
us through exactly like each step of it, not like
from the pitching change, when was it thought of? What
was your thought going into that kind of meeting of
the world champions on the mound?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah, you know, that was probably one of the coolest
moments I've ever been involved with in my baseball career,
And not even just talking about the play, It was
more about how it came together. You know, Casianos hits
the double key Gamix the great through. At second we're
we're viewing the slide. You know, maybe he came off,
maybe he didn't. Obviously on the field, we can't tell
(02:15):
what's going on in the replay room, and uh, you know,
so WHI. While they're looking at the replay, Tommy and
Mooki are talking to each other and I I kind
of call him over and I'm like, hey, they're gonna
bunt right here. We need to be ready, you know,
let let's figure out we're gonna do. And right away
Mooki was like, well, let's go wheel play. Like let's
we talked about it about a month or two ago
(02:37):
in a situation where we wanted to do it and
we didn't end up doing it, and Mooki was just like, hey,
let's let's let's go wheel play. Let's do the wheel play.
You know, Tommy, you gotta get first. I'm gonna stay
behind him, I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go to
third and months you crash, and you know, we start
talking about it and we called Freddie over and we're like, hey,
here's here's what we're thinking. And you know, we start
talking about, well, second base is gonna be vacated, you know,
(03:00):
And immediately Freddie was just like, I'm I'm I'm charging hard.
As soon as the ball gets down to third base,
I'm going straight to second base. And he's like, if
it comes to first, Max, you got to get to
second base. And immediately we were all just talking about that,
and uh, you know, it's just really cool. The replay
comes back, he's safe, Doc comes out, make pitching change,
bring invests and uh, you know, we go. We went
(03:22):
up to Doc and we're like, hey, here's what we're thinking,
and Doc Doc immediately was like, that's a great idea.
I like, where you guys are at, let's let's let's
go with this, you know. And you know, we just
sat there and discussed it the whole time, and it
was just really awesome to see like everyone come together
and be like, here's what we're doing. Because it's it's
a play that, in all honesty, we haven't practiced in
(03:43):
probably four or five years. Whenever they got rid of
the picture hitting that's the last time that we had
practiced a wheel play. Because nowadays, even if it's a
true bunt, you don't run a wheel play, it's just
make sure we getting out somewhere. And so for us
to be able to discuss that in that moment, in
that atmosphere, with the stakes as high as they were,
the pressure where it was like, to me, that was
(04:04):
just this one of the coolest moments I've ever been
involved of in my baseball career.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
All right, No, I'll take us to actually the play
because what people don't understand is you have to crash
so hard to be able to get there in time,
to be able to stop and turn and make a perfect,
you know, five yard out route to Mookie Betts who
has Nick Castiano's barren down on them. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
So for for me from my you know what my
job was, I'm putting my heels pretty much on the baseline.
I need to be able and I'm I'm several feet in.
I need to be able to see the runner at second.
I need to be able to see the picture all
at the same time, I got to make sure that
you know, the runner at second is not just going
to take off, you know, because I'm vacating the bag early.
(04:48):
And also it was a little tricky because it's not
a traditional wheelplay, and as you guys know a traditional
wheel play that the shortstop sets everything off right, So
the shortstop pulls the guy close to second base, the
pitcher staring at him. He m give a couple of
fake jabs a second and as soon as the shortstop
takes off, that's when the pitcher is supposed to pick
up his leg and throw to home plate. That that's
like a traditional wheel play. You know, for us that
(05:11):
the picture had no idea we were running the wheel play.
You know, he's just focused on making his pitch. We
didn't really talk to the picture about it because, you know,
in honesty, were like, hey, just you know, stay out
of the way. Me and Freddie got this, you know,
so we didn't even talk to him about.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
What we were doing.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So he's focused on making his pitch, which means that
we're not going you know, off the shortstop starting to play.
So I have to be able to see what's you know,
I have to be able to see the picture at
the same time as the second the runner at second,
and the shortstop to make sure that everything's going properly.
As soon as the picture picks up his leg, I
have to sprint towards home without even knowing if he's
squaring around a bun or not, I like, I just
(05:48):
have to go and trust that he's gonna bund and
if he doesn't bunt, then we'll worry about that one later,
you know. And so you know, so for me, I
wanted my heels pretty much on the baseline on the
ground us because that way I know I can get
around any ball that's bunt, and that makes it an
easier transition for me to get my body to third base,
(06:08):
because otherwise, if I'm running in and I have to
field it off my right side and then find a
way to turn, like, that's just not gonna happen. It's
gonna take too long. He's gonna be safe. So I
need to be able to get around that ball regardless
of where it's one of that. And so that's why
for me, I wanted my heels on the baseline, and
then it's just trust the guy's gonna bun it and
crash as hard as hard as I can.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So firstly, the fact that you guys all gathered together
and like looked at each other, like are we about
to do the wheel play? Is the is this the
perfect time to replay? It? Is awesome because like even
the teams I was on that actually kept doing practicing
and wheel play. You do it it once in spring
and then six months later you hope that it didn't
come up in the playoffs. So that's sick. But secondly,
(06:48):
there's a little bit of other context that I'm interested
if it was part of the conversation as well, with
the fact that Harrison Bader you know, was probably I
don't know if you guys knew he might have been
coming up next to pinch hit, and the fact that
Castianos wasn't having a pinch hit or for him, there's
not a ton of speed there. So like the planets
really did a lie like that? Did that come into
the conversation as well? Like we have Castianos, he doesn't
(07:10):
run really well, this might work really question.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Not necessarily. We we knew they weren't going to pincher
un for him because they didn't have any options at
that point. We knew Baterer's leg was was was bad.
You know, obviously it was good enough for him to
pinch it, but you know, we we didn't think we
we thought if they're gonna do anything, they'd pincher for
one of the lefties. Against Vessia, and that's what they
ended up doing. So the run around second wasn't so
(07:35):
much a part of the conversation as it was you know, Mook,
you just have to make sure you beat him to
the bag. And you know that that that's also where
us knowing what we're doing, it gives MOOKI the chance
to get that head start. And you know, for the
run around second, he has to make sure he sees
the ball down. You know, the ball can't go up
in the air. He's got to get that read. And
(07:55):
you know when I when I rewatched the overhead, Castianos
did everything right. He got a secondary, he saw the
ball down, he didn't hesitate, he went immediately. It's just
we ran everything to perfection. And you know, one of
the things we were talking about was there's about a
hundred different ways that that play could have went wrong,
and realistically only about one or two ways that it
(08:17):
could have went right. And you know, the one way
it went right was how it did for us. The
other ways if he bunts it hard to Freddy, who's
who's right there?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Also?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
I mean that's those are really the only two ways
that it goes right. There's there's a hundred different ways
I make a bad throw. I don't feel it cleanly.
If he goes to Freddie, Freddie takes too long to
get rid of it because he's he's got to turn
his body. You know, Mookie's doesn't get there in time.
The throw is not just right right there from the tag,
he misses the tag. There's a hundred different ways that
(08:46):
play could have went wrong. And it's kind of just
the do or die situation for us, and you know,
we we we pulled it off.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Could you hear anything like, let's say VESSI, he bunched
the ball to Vessie and you never want the ball
on the pitcher's hand. But I feel like he is
pretty athletic and absolutely skeed it out of his mind
when he's out there.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
But yeah, he's when when when Vest gets on that rubber,
he's pretty amped up, and uh, you know, it's it's
awesome to watch him do his thing. He's he's probably
the most high energy guy we have when he gets
on the rubber, and you know, it's fun when he's
out there. But yeah, in that situation, you don't it
doesn't matter who the picture is, you don't want him
(09:24):
fielding the ball. You know, you want either the first
basement or third base and fielding the ball. And uh,
you know that that's a little bit of the tricky
thing when the pitcher doesn't know what we're doing. And
you kind of saw that Ves went He actually went
after the bunt. If you look at the overhead film
of it, he went after the bunt, didn't know I
was right there, and then when he saw me, he
kind of freaked out and just dropped to the ground.
(09:45):
And and then after the play, it was like jail break.
Everyone's running towards second base, even though Freddy was there.
It was like, we got to make sure we got
someone there. Everyone's sprinting towards second base. We had key
k leftfield running towards second the vess he was running
towards second. Mookie'd make the tag he's running to Like,
everyone sprinting towards second base, make sure we got someone there.
It was kind of funny.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
This is our actual shout out here to Fox one
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(10:25):
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You can get more information at Fox O n E
dot com. That's the spot there.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It is, Trevor.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You're the only one that hasn't seen that one yet.
Do you like what we did there with the graphic?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Love it? Love it?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Anytime I can look at Tom, I'm I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yes, Tom looks back that jaw. Wow, chiseled chiseled Tom
on Sundays, Pierzinski on many weekdays, on games and Saturdays
throughout the regular season.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
The question in Philly is why is he bunting? What's
the deal with that? Look at your lineup that you
guys have. If you guys were in the exact same situation,
who do you guys have bunting? And is there nobody
that bunts in that situation?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
I mean that that's the most no brainer bunt situation
I've ever seen. You have no out guy on second
base lefty lefty matchup, and not just left lefty matchup,
You're talking about an extreme with with Vestia an extreme
fly ball, strikeout pitcher like, the ball doesn't get hit
on the ground. With Vessia, that's an extreme fly ball,
(11:40):
you know, strikeout picture like, that's just an obvious bunt situation.
And he laid down a great bunt. I just happened
to be five feet away when he was doing it.
And you know, if I'm not crashing, when I crash,
if I'm a split second late, he's safe at third.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Like it.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
It was a great bunt, and that's a h undred
percent the right baseball play. There's no questioning that. If
if it's our lineup, I mean, I don't know that's
a you know, we have several guys that would definitely
be able to get to get that job done. I
don't know who who Doc would ask to do it.
But you know, he's he's he's probably not asking any
(12:20):
of the top three guys to do that. I'll say that,
I don't think he's asking show Hey to lay down
a bunt right there. But uh, you know, if if
you're the first baseman crashing, you're probably hoping that Show
he's bunning. You probably don't want him swinging away. But yeah,
it Uh you know Ben for us, he's been getting
down bunts left and right. Mickey Rose been getting down bunts. Uh.
(12:41):
You know key K can get down a bunt with
the best of them. In the playoffs, you kind of
want key K swinging away, but he could definitely get
down the bunt. You know, we had a lot of
guys that that would be able to get the bunt down.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Great, you can ask that question. It's worth the ask Krats.
I'll also just add go ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Could show hey get it down? Come? I say no,
because like he does everything so personal.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
You know, I would assume he could. But at the
same time, I don't know. I've never seen him, you know,
because he never hits VP on the field. He always
does his stuff in the cage, and so I've never
seen him, you know, lay down to like you know, VP,
your first your first round, you always lay down two
or three bunds. It's just kind of you know, it's
kind of just like tradition at that point, you just
lay down a bund before your VP round, Like even
(13:27):
Freddie will lay down a bund before his first BP round,
and it's just you know, so I've never seen Show
actually do it. I would assume he could. He's the
best at everything, but you know, I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
On the playe in general. Last thought, there are many
coaches who coach youngsters out there who are like, yes.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's going to be very valuable for me for years
to come when kids complain and I'm gonna be like,
oh really, let me show you a little video. So
thank you from many coaches all all across the globe.
We got comments about that, so I'm sure you'll get
plenty too.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Max.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I did want to ask you about show Hay since
we actually have seen him now pitch and hit in
a postseason game for the first time. Last year was
his postseason introduction. How cool was it to actually witness
that kind of history in you know, the biggest stage
of our game.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It was wild, you know, and Freddie talked about this
a little bit post game the other day, but you're
talking about one of the best atmospheres in all of baseball.
Playoff baseball in Philadelphia. That's like, I mean, that's tops.
You know, it's unreal there. It's extremely loud, like you
(14:40):
feel it. You know, they're so into the game there there,
you know, you can't even hear yourself thinking, you know,
for that to be show Hay's first pitching experience and
for him to come out of it the way he did.
I mean he had the one bad inning, but other
than that, he kind of dominated and it was just
really cool to watch him do it. You know, he
loves pitching. I tell that to media guys all the time,
(15:02):
Like he just absolutely loves pitching. He loves talking about pitching,
he loves working on it. You know, he works way
more at pitching than he does hitting, and like that's
just how much he loves to pitch, Like he's all
about it. And you know, he went out there and
like I said, with the exception of the one inning,
he he really dominated and he was so frustrated at
himself for that one inning. And uh, you know he
(15:24):
went out there and still gave us six innings with
what was a nine or ten punchies. And you know,
that's an unbelievable postseason start if you for a starter
in the postseason, and you've seen it so far this
year when you watch the other games, you know, for
the starting pitcher to get you give you more than
four innings. Like I know, they say a quality starts
six innings. I think in the postseason, equality starts getting
four innings out of your starter, and so for him
(15:46):
to give us six innings like that, it was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Ending a sentence talking about show here Tani. Unbelievable, super surprising.
Uh So, now finally we got a rity, we got
a ride. We've got Aaron Nolah on the mound for
the Phillies. You didn't start the first two games with
understandably two very very tough lefties in there. So that's
something you're not used to. You're you're a guy who
(16:12):
starts most of the games. Are you a nervous energy guy?
Are you like pacing around? Are you like doing the
Robbie Grossman and just never won't put your bat down?
Or are you guys like, you know what, when it's
my spot, I'm ready to go. I've been I've been
around the block. Uh you know, just let me know
when I'm gonna go in there. I'll give you, I'll
give you what you need.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Well, you know, my my first postseason in eighteen, it
was that's how it was. I didn't play against the lefties.
You know, we we had an extreme line change in
twenty eighteen. You know when when a left, he was
on the mound. We between me, Belly Jock, and I
believe Grondal. You know, we had like one hundred and
(16:50):
thirty home runs sitting on the bench something like that.
You know, it's it. It's something that I'd done before,
and I remembered how I how I handled it back then.
And you know, the the end goal is to win
the game. I don't care if I'm playing or not.
I want to win the game. If if I go
the entire postseason and I don't get a single bat,
will we win it that that's that's success. I don't
(17:12):
care if I get a hundred of bats and we win,
that success it you know, for me, winning is all
that matters. And so you know when when Doc comes
up and he's talking to me and he's you know,
he here's what I'm thinking. I just, hey, I'm all
on board. Whatever you need me to do. If you
need me to pinch it and the second inning, the
fifth inning, the ninth inning, not hit it all you
need me to start, you know, whatever role you need me,
(17:34):
and I'm here to help the team win. And that's
where everyone's at on our on our team. We have
an entire group of guys. That's I don't care how
you use me. When you use me, I'm gonna be
ready at all times from from pitch one. You just
whenever you call my number, I'll be there ready to go.
And you know for me that that like, that's how
all of our bench guys are. After we watch the
(17:56):
first inning, we we like to get a taste for
the atmosphere, seat it's going. And then from there it's
do whatever you have to do to make sure you
stay loose so that when a situation comes up, you're
not having to try to get loose quickly. It's just, oh,
I just need two or three swings. Now I'm ready
to go into the game. Because I've been loose to
the entire game. I'm finding the way to stay loose.
I'm moving around. I'm not just sitting on the bench,
you know, I'm constantly moving. I'm paying attention to the game.
(18:17):
I'm watching situation. I got my eye on the bullpen camera,
you know, so you got to make sure you're watching
all your own guys. Is does something look off with
somebody like he might need to come out of the game.
You know, you can't get ambushed. And that's one of
the things that I've always tried to emphasize to guys
when we get into the postseason is you know, things
move quickly. And I have this talk with the bullpen
(18:39):
every single year. I go around to each of the
guys and I tell them, I say, hey, things move quickly.
If something goes a ride, don't be surprised if they
call down in the first inning the second inning, Like,
don't give them any reason to have an excuse for you.
Make sure you're always ready to go, so that if
they call down, you only need your seven or eight
throws to make sure you're ready to go into the game. Like,
(19:00):
it's the same thing from a position player standpoint, don't
give them any reason to have an excuse. Well, well,
you know we we told him to get ready and
he wasn't ready, so he went out there and had
a bat Like, no, you got to make sure you
have you're you're ready at all times. And you know,
that's one of the things that we try to emphasize
when we get in the postseason because it moves, it
moves quickly. You know, the starting pitcher can be just
(19:21):
rolling through it and then all of a sudden, And
we saw this from the Philly standpoint. The lefties were
kind of rolling through the game a little bit, and
then all of a sudden, it was like, Okay, here's
a base hit, here's a walk. Well, now the bullpen's
going and now that guy's in the game. And it
was just a one batter difference. So you have to
find a way to stay ready at all times.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Is that more exhausting than playing all nine? I always
felt like the games where you were like you were
going to pinch hit by the third inning, all the
way to the ninth, it just felt like afterwards, you're.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Like, if you're not exhausted after a postseason game, whether
you played or not, you're not doing it right. You
should be invested in the game from pitch one, ready
to go, and even if you're not playing, you should
be exhausted from being that invested into the game mentally,
and just you know, the postseason games are different. You know,
I always explain to people it's like playing it's like
(20:11):
playing three eighteen inning games in a row, like that's
what one postseason game is. Just mentally, like you're just
exhausted mentally after these games and you know, that's that's
how it should be, like, you should be thinking that much.
And you know, when you look at our roster in general,
we have so much experience. You know, you go, you
back to the wheel play you talk about you have
(20:31):
four guys on the infield with ten years of service
time just immediately being like, Okay, here's what we're doing.
We're we're not freaking out about it. Hey, we're doing this,
We're talking about this. It's the same thing in the
outfield with those guys. You know, Kik's leading them out
there saying, hey, you know, if we get in this situation,
we got to play a little bit deeper. We got
to move over here, we got to move over there.
(20:51):
You should be just mentally exhausted, regardless of whether you're
in the game or not, just playing along with.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It right, mentally exhausted or physic raking your experience against
Aaron Nola. Obviously A J. Persinski is not on here.
He would say, I.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Was half expecting him to jump into this call just
to make a comment about his last talk with me
before I face there. Did you see I know, I know,
I know he's he's probably just got salive out of
his mouth just you know, thinking about this right now.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
He definitely takes all of the all of the credit
for getting three hits off of a big league picture
for you, but did you see anything different? And after that?
Is your feeling after that, like, Okay, that was the
last time you faced Nola. Do you have a little
bit higher level of confidence or do you sit there
and go, I'll wait and see until I see what
(21:45):
we have tonight when I'm out there facing.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
No I mean, you definitely try to, Like you know, baseball,
you try to take the confidence when you can get it,
whether it's real or not. You try to take the confidence.
And you know there's a little bit of a well
maybe he didn't make his pitches. Maybe maybe I just
had a really good I was feeling it that day.
You know, there's all of that. But at the same time,
you try to take the confidence where you can get it,
(22:10):
especially in this game at this time of year. You know,
any in that's anything you can get to give you
that little extra edge, You're gonna take that.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Max great stuff today. We appreciate the stop by, especially
during the postseason. Stay locked in, good luck. Tonight We'll
be watching and we'll talk.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
To you soon, dude.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
All right, sounds great. Thanks for having me on guys,
All right, while we have one minute, maybe even thirty seconds,
because Max Montsy is in the green room and almost ready. Trevor,
what are your thoughts on Roki Sazaki suddenly becoming a closer?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Not even remotely surprising. We knew the guy can throw
low one hundred's. That is kind of the proud records
that these days to finish a game, and it came
right back. And then he's got one of the nastiest
hot speed pitches in the major leagues. He throws a
true fork pall like nobody does that. So for him
to be able to consolidate down to two pitches, which
was his problem as a starter, he's just kind of
(00:35):
it just makes all the sense in the world to
me that you don't need the command as much as
he needed it, and you only need two pitches, and
he's got both those things, So just let it eat
and simplify it. Now we see how much easier that
makes things for him, So it doesn't surprise me one bit.
The guy's electric.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, it looks good. Well, let's ask his teammate about
it right now. Max Mountsey of the Dodgers joining us
on FT we can start there. Max surprised, are you
that Roki Sasaki has popped up to be healthy and
look this damn good after missing most of the season.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Uh, you know, not not surprised at all, you know,
I just it's just one of those things where he
needed to give a little confidence and h you know,
he's found a way to do that, and he looks
very comfortable in all that we put him in, and uh,
you know, he's ready to go every time we've called
on him so far.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Max, I think these guys are like itching to ask
you about the wheel play from Game two, Sokratz. I'm
gonna actually let you start. Why don't you start with
your best wheel we'll play question and then Trevor, I'm
sure we'll have one too.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I don't Eve, I don't even have a question. Take
us through exactly like each step of it, not like
from the pitching change, when was it thought of? What
was your thought going into that kind of meeting of
the world champions on the mound?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah, you know, that was probably one of the coolest
moments I've ever been involved with in my baseball career,
And not even just talking about the play, It was
more about how it came together. You know, Casianos hits
the double key Gamix the great through. At second we're
we're viewing the slide. You know, maybe he came off,
maybe he didn't. Obviously on the field, we can't tell
(02:15):
what's going on in the replay room, and uh, you know,
so WHI. While they're looking at the replay, Tommy and
Mooki are talking to each other and I I kind
of call him over and I'm like, hey, they're gonna
bunt right here. We need to be ready, you know,
let let's figure out we're gonna do. And right away
Mooki was like, well, let's go wheel play. Like let's
we talked about it about a month or two ago
(02:37):
in a situation where we wanted to do it and
we didn't end up doing it, and Mooki was just like, hey,
let's let's let's go wheel play. Let's do the wheel play.
You know, Tommy, you gotta get first. I'm gonna stay
behind him, I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go to
third and months you crash, and you know, we start
talking about it and we called Freddie over and we're like, hey,
here's here's what we're thinking. And you know, we start
talking about, well, second base is gonna be vacated, you know,
(03:00):
And immediately Freddie was just like, I'm I'm I'm charging hard.
As soon as the ball gets down to third base,
I'm going straight to second base. And he's like, if
it comes to first, Max, you got to get to
second base. And immediately we were all just talking about that,
and uh, you know, it's just really cool. The replay
comes back, he's safe, Doc comes out, make pitching change,
bring invests and uh, you know, we go. We went
(03:22):
up to Doc and we're like, hey, here's what we're thinking,
and Doc Doc immediately was like, that's a great idea.
I like, where you guys are at, let's let's let's
go with this, you know. And you know, we just
sat there and discussed it the whole time, and it
was just really awesome to see like everyone come together
and be like, here's what we're doing. Because it's it's
a play that, in all honesty, we haven't practiced in
(03:43):
probably four or five years. Whenever they got rid of
the picture hitting that's the last time that we had
practiced a wheel play. Because nowadays, even if it's a
true bunt, you don't run a wheel play, it's just
make sure we getting out somewhere. And so for us
to be able to discuss that in that moment, in
that atmosphere, with the stakes as high as they were,
the pressure where it was like, to me, that was
(04:04):
just this one of the coolest moments I've ever been
involved of in my baseball career.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
All right, No, I'll take us to actually the play
because what people don't understand is you have to crash
so hard to be able to get there in time,
to be able to stop and turn and make a perfect,
you know, five yard out route to Mookie Betts who
has Nick Castiano's barren down on them. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
So for for me from my you know what my
job was, I'm putting my heels pretty much on the baseline.
I need to be able and I'm I'm several feet in.
I need to be able to see the runner at second.
I need to be able to see the picture all
at the same time, I got to make sure that
you know, the runner at second is not just going
to take off, you know, because I'm vacating the bag early.
(04:48):
And also it was a little tricky because it's not
a traditional wheelplay, and as you guys know a traditional
wheel play that the shortstop sets everything off right, So
the shortstop pulls the guy close to second base, the
pitcher staring at him. He m give a couple of
fake jabs a second and as soon as the shortstop
takes off, that's when the pitcher is supposed to pick
up his leg and throw to home plate. That that's
like a traditional wheel play. You know, for us that
(05:11):
the picture had no idea we were running the wheel play.
You know, he's just focused on making his pitch. We
didn't really talk to the picture about it because, you know,
in honesty, were like, hey, just you know, stay out
of the way. Me and Freddie got this, you know,
so we didn't even talk to him about.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
What we were doing.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So he's focused on making his pitch, which means that
we're not going you know, off the shortstop starting to play.
So I have to be able to see what's you know,
I have to be able to see the picture at
the same time as the second the runner at second,
and the shortstop to make sure that everything's going properly.
As soon as the picture picks up his leg, I
have to sprint towards home without even knowing if he's
squaring around a bun or not, I like, I just
(05:48):
have to go and trust that he's gonna bund and
if he doesn't bunt, then we'll worry about that one later,
you know. And so you know, so for me, I
wanted my heels pretty much on the baseline on the
ground us because that way I know I can get
around any ball that's bunt, and that makes it an
easier transition for me to get my body to third base,
(06:08):
because otherwise, if I'm running in and I have to
field it off my right side and then find a
way to turn, like, that's just not gonna happen. It's
gonna take too long. He's gonna be safe. So I
need to be able to get around that ball regardless
of where it's one of that. And so that's why
for me, I wanted my heels on the baseline, and
then it's just trust the guy's gonna bun it and
crash as hard as hard as I can.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So firstly, the fact that you guys all gathered together
and like looked at each other, like are we about
to do the wheel play? Is the is this the
perfect time to replay? It? Is awesome because like even
the teams I was on that actually kept doing practicing
and wheel play. You do it it once in spring
and then six months later you hope that it didn't
come up in the playoffs. So that's sick. But secondly,
(06:48):
there's a little bit of other context that I'm interested
if it was part of the conversation as well, with
the fact that Harrison Bader you know, was probably I
don't know if you guys knew he might have been
coming up next to pinch hit, and the fact that
Castianos wasn't having a pinch hit or for him, there's
not a ton of speed there. So like the planets
really did a lie like that? Did that come into
the conversation as well? Like we have Castianos, he doesn't
(07:10):
run really well, this might work really question.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Not necessarily. We we knew they weren't going to pincher
un for him because they didn't have any options at
that point. We knew Baterer's leg was was was bad.
You know, obviously it was good enough for him to
pinch it, but you know, we we didn't think we
we thought if they're gonna do anything, they'd pincher for
one of the lefties. Against Vessia, and that's what they
ended up doing. So the run around second wasn't so
(07:35):
much a part of the conversation as it was you know, Mook,
you just have to make sure you beat him to
the bag. And you know that that that's also where
us knowing what we're doing, it gives MOOKI the chance
to get that head start. And you know, for the
run around second, he has to make sure he sees
the ball down. You know, the ball can't go up
in the air. He's got to get that read. And
(07:55):
you know when I when I rewatched the overhead, Castianos
did everything right. He got a secondary, he saw the
ball down, he didn't hesitate, he went immediately. It's just
we ran everything to perfection. And you know, one of
the things we were talking about was there's about a
hundred different ways that that play could have went wrong,
and realistically only about one or two ways that it
(08:17):
could have went right. And you know, the one way
it went right was how it did for us. The
other ways if he bunts it hard to Freddy, who's
who's right there?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Also?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
I mean that's those are really the only two ways
that it goes right. There's there's a hundred different ways
I make a bad throw. I don't feel it cleanly.
If he goes to Freddie, Freddie takes too long to
get rid of it because he's he's got to turn
his body. You know, Mookie's doesn't get there in time.
The throw is not just right right there from the tag,
he misses the tag. There's a hundred different ways that
(08:46):
play could have went wrong. And it's kind of just
the do or die situation for us, and you know,
we we we pulled it off.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Could you hear anything like, let's say VESSI, he bunched
the ball to Vessie and you never want the ball
on the pitcher's hand. But I feel like he is
pretty athletic and absolutely skeed it out of his mind
when he's out there.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
But yeah, he's when when when Vest gets on that rubber,
he's pretty amped up, and uh, you know, it's it's
awesome to watch him do his thing. He's he's probably
the most high energy guy we have when he gets
on the rubber, and you know, it's fun when he's
out there. But yeah, in that situation, you don't it
doesn't matter who the picture is, you don't want him
(09:24):
fielding the ball. You know, you want either the first
basement or third base and fielding the ball. And uh,
you know that that's a little bit of the tricky
thing when the pitcher doesn't know what we're doing. And
you kind of saw that Ves went He actually went
after the bunt. If you look at the overhead film
of it, he went after the bunt, didn't know I
was right there, and then when he saw me, he
kind of freaked out and just dropped to the ground.
(09:45):
And and then after the play, it was like jail break.
Everyone's running towards second base, even though Freddy was there.
It was like, we got to make sure we got
someone there. Everyone's sprinting towards second base. We had key
k leftfield running towards second the vess he was running
towards second. Mookie'd make the tag he's running to Like,
everyone sprinting towards second base, make sure we got someone there.
It was kind of funny.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
This is our actual shout out here to Fox one
and the streaming app and how you can get that
app for free for seven days. Try it out and
get a little Tigers Mariners today, also Yankees and Blue
Jays at night. Also NFL Action College Football Action that
includes Big Noons Saturdays. It's all there. There's plenty of
(10:25):
shows to check out as well, which we'll dive into
over the next few weeks. But Fox one is the app.
You can get more information at Fox O n E
dot com. That's the spot there.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It is, Trevor.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You're the only one that hasn't seen that one yet.
Do you like what we did there with the graphic?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Love it? Love it?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Anytime I can look at Tom, I'm I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yes, Tom looks back that jaw. Wow, chiseled chiseled Tom
on Sundays, Pierzinski on many weekdays, on games and Saturdays
throughout the regular season.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
The question in Philly is why is he bunting? What's
the deal with that? Look at your lineup that you
guys have. If you guys were in the exact same situation,
who do you guys have bunting? And is there nobody
that bunts in that situation?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
I mean that that's the most no brainer bunt situation
I've ever seen. You have no out guy on second
base lefty lefty matchup, and not just left lefty matchup,
You're talking about an extreme with with Vestia an extreme
fly ball, strikeout pitcher like, the ball doesn't get hit
on the ground. With Vessia, that's an extreme fly ball,
(11:40):
you know, strikeout picture like, that's just an obvious bunt situation.
And he laid down a great bunt. I just happened
to be five feet away when he was doing it.
And you know, if I'm not crashing, when I crash,
if I'm a split second late, he's safe at third.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Like it.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
It was a great bunt, and that's a h undred
percent the right baseball play. There's no questioning that. If
if it's our lineup, I mean, I don't know that's
a you know, we have several guys that would definitely
be able to get to get that job done. I
don't know who who Doc would ask to do it.
But you know, he's he's he's probably not asking any
(12:20):
of the top three guys to do that. I'll say that,
I don't think he's asking show Hey to lay down
a bunt right there. But uh, you know, if if
you're the first baseman crashing, you're probably hoping that Show
he's bunning. You probably don't want him swinging away. But yeah,
it Uh you know Ben for us, he's been getting
down bunts left and right. Mickey Rose been getting down bunts. Uh.
(12:41):
You know key K can get down a bunt with
the best of them. In the playoffs, you kind of
want key K swinging away, but he could definitely get
down the bunt. You know, we had a lot of
guys that that would be able to get the bunt down.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Great, you can ask that question. It's worth the ask Krats.
I'll also just add go ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Could show hey get it down? Come? I say no,
because like he does everything so personal.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
You know, I would assume he could. But at the
same time, I don't know. I've never seen him, you know,
because he never hits VP on the field. He always
does his stuff in the cage, and so I've never
seen him, you know, lay down to like you know, VP,
your first your first round, you always lay down two
or three bunds. It's just kind of you know, it's
kind of just like tradition at that point, you just
lay down a bund before your VP round, Like even
(13:27):
Freddie will lay down a bund before his first BP round,
and it's just you know, so I've never seen Show
actually do it. I would assume he could. He's the
best at everything, but you know, I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
On the playe in general. Last thought, there are many
coaches who coach youngsters out there who are like, yes.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's going to be very valuable for me for years
to come when kids complain and I'm gonna be like,
oh really, let me show you a little video. So
thank you from many coaches all all across the globe.
We got comments about that, so I'm sure you'll get
plenty too.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Max.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I did want to ask you about show Hay since
we actually have seen him now pitch and hit in
a postseason game for the first time. Last year was
his postseason introduction. How cool was it to actually witness
that kind of history in you know, the biggest stage
of our game.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It was wild, you know, and Freddie talked about this
a little bit post game the other day, but you're
talking about one of the best atmospheres in all of baseball.
Playoff baseball in Philadelphia. That's like, I mean, that's tops.
You know, it's unreal there. It's extremely loud, like you
(14:40):
feel it. You know, they're so into the game there there,
you know, you can't even hear yourself thinking, you know,
for that to be show Hay's first pitching experience and
for him to come out of it the way he did.
I mean he had the one bad inning, but other
than that, he kind of dominated and it was just
really cool to watch him do it. You know, he
loves pitching. I tell that to media guys all the time,
(15:02):
Like he just absolutely loves pitching. He loves talking about pitching,
he loves working on it. You know, he works way
more at pitching than he does hitting, and like that's
just how much he loves to pitch, Like he's all
about it. And you know, he went out there and
like I said, with the exception of the one inning,
he he really dominated and he was so frustrated at
himself for that one inning. And uh, you know he
(15:24):
went out there and still gave us six innings with
what was a nine or ten punchies. And you know,
that's an unbelievable postseason start if you for a starter
in the postseason, and you've seen it so far this
year when you watch the other games, you know, for
the starting pitcher to get you give you more than
four innings. Like I know, they say a quality starts
six innings. I think in the postseason, equality starts getting
four innings out of your starter, and so for him
(15:46):
to give us six innings like that, it was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Ending a sentence talking about show here Tani. Unbelievable, super surprising.
Uh So, now finally we got a rity, we got
a ride. We've got Aaron Nolah on the mound for
the Phillies. You didn't start the first two games with
understandably two very very tough lefties in there. So that's
something you're not used to. You're you're a guy who
(16:12):
starts most of the games. Are you a nervous energy guy?
Are you like pacing around? Are you like doing the
Robbie Grossman and just never won't put your bat down?
Or are you guys like, you know what, when it's
my spot, I'm ready to go. I've been I've been
around the block. Uh you know, just let me know
when I'm gonna go in there. I'll give you, I'll
give you what you need.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Well, you know, my my first postseason in eighteen, it
was that's how it was. I didn't play against the lefties.
You know, we we had an extreme line change in
twenty eighteen. You know when when a left, he was
on the mound. We between me, Belly Jock, and I
believe Grondal. You know, we had like one hundred and
(16:50):
thirty home runs sitting on the bench something like that.
You know, it's it. It's something that I'd done before,
and I remembered how I how I handled it back then.
And you know, the the end goal is to win
the game. I don't care if I'm playing or not.
I want to win the game. If if I go
the entire postseason and I don't get a single bat,
will we win it that that's that's success. I don't
(17:12):
care if I get a hundred of bats and we win,
that success it you know, for me, winning is all
that matters. And so you know when when Doc comes
up and he's talking to me and he's you know,
he here's what I'm thinking. I just, hey, I'm all
on board. Whatever you need me to do. If you
need me to pinch it and the second inning, the
fifth inning, the ninth inning, not hit it all you
need me to start, you know, whatever role you need me,
(17:34):
and I'm here to help the team win. And that's
where everyone's at on our on our team. We have
an entire group of guys. That's I don't care how
you use me. When you use me, I'm gonna be
ready at all times from from pitch one. You just
whenever you call my number, I'll be there ready to go.
And you know for me that that like, that's how
all of our bench guys are. After we watch the
(17:56):
first inning, we we like to get a taste for
the atmosphere, seat it's going. And then from there it's
do whatever you have to do to make sure you
stay loose so that when a situation comes up, you're
not having to try to get loose quickly. It's just, oh,
I just need two or three swings. Now I'm ready
to go into the game. Because I've been loose to
the entire game. I'm finding the way to stay loose.
I'm moving around. I'm not just sitting on the bench,
you know, I'm constantly moving. I'm paying attention to the game.
(18:17):
I'm watching situation. I got my eye on the bullpen camera,
you know, so you got to make sure you're watching
all your own guys. Is does something look off with
somebody like he might need to come out of the game.
You know, you can't get ambushed. And that's one of
the things that I've always tried to emphasize to guys
when we get into the postseason is you know, things
move quickly. And I have this talk with the bullpen
(18:39):
every single year. I go around to each of the
guys and I tell them, I say, hey, things move quickly.
If something goes a ride, don't be surprised if they
call down in the first inning the second inning, Like,
don't give them any reason to have an excuse for you.
Make sure you're always ready to go, so that if
they call down, you only need your seven or eight
throws to make sure you're ready to go into the game. Like,
(19:00):
it's the same thing from a position player standpoint, don't
give them any reason to have an excuse. Well, well,
you know we we told him to get ready and
he wasn't ready, so he went out there and had
a bat Like, no, you got to make sure you
have you're you're ready at all times. And you know,
that's one of the things that we try to emphasize
when we get in the postseason because it moves, it
moves quickly. You know, the starting pitcher can be just
(19:21):
rolling through it and then all of a sudden, And
we saw this from the Philly standpoint. The lefties were
kind of rolling through the game a little bit, and
then all of a sudden, it was like, Okay, here's
a base hit, here's a walk. Well, now the bullpen's
going and now that guy's in the game. And it
was just a one batter difference. So you have to
find a way to stay ready at all times.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Is that more exhausting than playing all nine? I always
felt like the games where you were like you were
going to pinch hit by the third inning, all the
way to the ninth, it just felt like afterwards, you're.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Like, if you're not exhausted after a postseason game, whether
you played or not, you're not doing it right. You
should be invested in the game from pitch one, ready
to go, and even if you're not playing, you should
be exhausted from being that invested into the game mentally,
and just you know, the postseason games are different. You know,
I always explain to people it's like playing it's like
(20:11):
playing three eighteen inning games in a row, like that's
what one postseason game is. Just mentally, like you're just
exhausted mentally after these games and you know, that's that's
how it should be, like, you should be thinking that much.
And you know, when you look at our roster in general,
we have so much experience. You know, you go, you
back to the wheel play you talk about you have
(20:31):
four guys on the infield with ten years of service
time just immediately being like, Okay, here's what we're doing.
We're we're not freaking out about it. Hey, we're doing this,
We're talking about this. It's the same thing in the
outfield with those guys. You know, Kik's leading them out
there saying, hey, you know, if we get in this situation,
we got to play a little bit deeper. We got
to move over here, we got to move over there.
(20:51):
You should be just mentally exhausted, regardless of whether you're
in the game or not, just playing along with.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It right, mentally exhausted or physic raking your experience against
Aaron Nola. Obviously A J. Persinski is not on here.
He would say, I.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Was half expecting him to jump into this call just
to make a comment about his last talk with me
before I face there. Did you see I know, I know,
I know he's he's probably just got salive out of
his mouth just you know, thinking about this right now.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
He definitely takes all of the all of the credit
for getting three hits off of a big league picture
for you, but did you see anything different? And after that?
Is your feeling after that, like, Okay, that was the
last time you faced Nola. Do you have a little
bit higher level of confidence or do you sit there
and go, I'll wait and see until I see what
(21:45):
we have tonight when I'm out there facing.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
No I mean, you definitely try to, Like you know, baseball,
you try to take the confidence when you can get it,
whether it's real or not. You try to take the confidence.
And you know there's a little bit of a well
maybe he didn't make his pitches. Maybe maybe I just
had a really good I was feeling it that day.
You know, there's all of that. But at the same time,
you try to take the confidence where you can get it,
(22:10):
especially in this game at this time of year. You know,
any in that's anything you can get to give you
that little extra edge, You're gonna take that.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Max great stuff today. We appreciate the stop by, especially
during the postseason. Stay locked in, good luck. Tonight We'll
be watching and we'll talk.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
To you soon, dude.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
All right, sounds great. Thanks for having me on guys,
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