July 1, 2025 • 22 mins
Tony and Austin talk with former Reds pitcher Rob Dibble about Chase Burns and the loss to the Red Sox on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Shirts Cincy three sixty About Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in
part by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts, All Cincy, all Day.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back as we get into our number two.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Since he three to sixty right here on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, thanks to our friends at Cincy Shirts.
Let's start our two with a guest who you can hear.
He has his own show, The Rob Dibble Show, from
three to seven each afternoon, and he's able to join
us now. He was in attendance last night at Fenway
Park watching the Red Sox and the Reds get some
(00:40):
action in and joining us right now.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Rob, what's going on, man? How are you?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'm great, man. That was fantastic game last night. So
my whole family was there. They love the Reds and
the Red Sox, so that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
It's hard because Chase Burns was making his second career
start and in his first start he wowed against one
of the better lineups in baseball with the New York Yankees.
And I think in baseball a lot of times we
can overreact very quickly, and it's a humbling it's a
humbling game because as good as he looked against the
(01:12):
New York Yankees, just wasn't all there against the Red Sox,
another very good lineup. But how difficult is it when
you're a young pitcher to go from that first start
to the next start as the scouting report starts to
expand on you and these hitters start to adjust each game.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Well, I mean, for Chases, his second big league start,
he shouldn't put too much stock into this. And I know,
you know, a lot of people are going to make
something out of you know, he's throwing a hundred. But
I mean the things, the quick things that I noticed.
First of all, I can't stand the pitch clock. I
think it's stupid, it's childish, and the forced guys to
pitch fifteen seconds, come back pitch fifteen seconds. It was hot,
(01:51):
it was humid. This dude, or even Crochet, Crochet was
exhausted by the fifth inning, and the Reds got to
him and pounded him. So and I think Garat Croch
is one of the top five guys in the American League.
So you know that being said, you know, watching a
guy throw ninety nine hundred mile hour fastballs and a
ninety one mile an hour breaking ball. You got change
(02:12):
speeds slower than that. You know, you got to your
differential's got to be twelve to fifteen mile an hour slower.
You gotta slow things down, your catcher. When you can't
just sit there and fire three straight hundred mile an
hour fastballs in a row, even the two hundred hitters
in the Red Sox lineups, we're teeing off on that.
So these guys are that good. I think people don't
(02:35):
realize the batting average doesn't matter. These are the best
college hitters in their in their lifetime. These are the
best high school hitters they've ever faced, you know. And
and they're one of twenty three thousand that I've ever
played in the big leagues. So don't doubt that the
number nine hitter in the Red Sox lineup can hit
a grand Slam off you just as easy as the
(02:56):
number three, four to five guy. So I think people
that watch it and don't watch it as much as
I and listen. I watch Red Sox every day. I
cover the Yankees every day, I cover the Mets every day,
And every guy in every lineup is capable if you
don't change speeds and locations you can get nailed, just
like last night with.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Chase completely off the subject. But it's got to be
fun right now covering the New York Mets every single day.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Dude, I'll tell you what I mean. Soto and Alonso
and Lindor, I mean, even if they're not playing well,
are still some of the best I've ever seen. Yeah,
I mean, even like watching you know McLain and you
know Ellie last night. You know, I was telling my
wife and she's been watching baseball for forty years, her
sight herself. You know, maybe Roberto Alomar could cover from
(03:44):
second base to halfway to short and throw the guys out.
Now it's routine for second basement. Yeah, it blows my mind.
These guys are so much more talented than some of
the guys I played with and against, and I played
against Grey Hall of famers, But they they're not They
don't have that rain, they don't have the capability arm wise.
The things they're teaching. I watch how they're practicing and
(04:05):
coaching a sixteen you travel team. I had to bring
in a college player to kind of teach my kids
better stuff than I even know. So it's uh, the
game has changed a lot, and these are these guys
are exceptional.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
For for Chase Burns.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Terry Francona was asked after the game last night on
whether Burns was tipping his pitches, and Francona said, it's
always something you want to check in on. He doesn't
have a ton of starts under his belt from you know, single,
a double, a, triple A to now. He also did
give credit to Francona to Alex core He said, he's
one of the best in the business at doin. So
you were there, you were watching, did anything give you
(04:39):
an indication that maybe Chase Burns was tipping his pitches?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Maybe the Red Sox had found something out.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
I mean, this is what I teach with my guys.
It's how you go into your glove to to hold
a breaking ball. You could come into the side to
grab a curveball, stay behind it to grab your fastball.
I couldn't. I wasn't close enough to see that. I'd
have to look at the video. You know, he could
have had his leg coming up higher on a fastball
and lower on a breaking ball. You know, those are
(05:05):
things I really wasn't paying attention to because it happened
so quick, and trust was like and the fans in
front of me were going crazy, and it was it
was insane. But you know, those are things you got
to look at. I mean, those are things you got
to think about every day you take the mound. I'll
give you an example Randy Johnson when he was getting
hit and I played against him when he was with
(05:26):
the Expos and in the minor leagues, and he could
throw a strike and it was all about where he
was landing and confidence and et cetera. But then he
got to a point where he was holding his fastball
up by his face and his breaking ball was down
by his waist. So just little things like that. And
you see the hitters. There's video of the hitters today
going back and talking to each other's. That's what baseball is.
(05:47):
I called them like little ants, and their antennae go
up and it's like, hey, he's doing this, Hey he's
doing that, and they're going to relay that information quickly
to where if you're not in real time making adjustments
and listen, you know, it happened so quickly. He's probably
so amped he wants to throw it by And even
I think it was Phillips that gave up the Grand
(06:08):
Slam at the end, I can't throw in ninety nine. Yeah,
and listen to people are like, well, you know he was. Listen,
is everybody tipping the pitches? No, they're that good. The
Red Sox had a great day. I wouldn't overanalyze it,
but I would check in on where am I going
into my glove? Where's my glove in the stretch, because
he was in the stretch a couple of times when
he gave up big hits. But listen, the Red Sox
(06:31):
pounded on pretty much everybody that came out of the bullpen.
That was one of those nights. Honestly, you'd hide at
the end of the dugout or in the bullpen and say,
please don't call my number. You know, I don't want
to come in here tonight. And I've been on the
other end with the reds We destroyed the Astros one time.
I think we put fourteen up on him in the
first inning. And so it's very plausible. The Red Sox
(06:54):
had great prep on this kid. They all watched their
video and they were ready for one hundred mile an
hour fastball, and they just got the better of them.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
How difficult is that to change though, Like it's just
muscle memory, it's what you've been doing. I guess only
thirteen starts as a professional. How difficult does it say, oh, yeah,
I have to change this or this is something I
need to work on and still be consistent with what
got you to the big leagues?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
How difficult is that?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Not hard at all? Not hard at all. I mean
I would likn it to football. Maybe a quarterback's got
his foot three inches back and the defenders can see
that that's going to be a pass or it's going
to go a different way, and maybe the running back
keeps checking to the left and that's going to go.
Those are things you have to fix on a day
to day. I would always be in front of a mirror.
(07:39):
We were blessed with the Reds in spring training. If
there was anything that was bothering me or my pitching
coach or the team, you could sit in front of
a mirror and just look at yourself. Am I doing
the same thing? Is the ball coming out of the
same location. I haven't seen Chase. I watched both of
his starts. By the way, whether or not his breaking
ball is a little lower from his arm slot than
(08:00):
you know, the release point. Those are things that you
could quickly change and get a young guy to try,
you know, to work on in front of a mirror,
work on with a towel. I mean, those are all
drills that you can work on on your own. Like
I said, going into your glove, where your glove is,
I always had problems with that. There was early in
my minor league career, I had my glove up high.
(08:21):
I lowered it a little bit so that you couldn't
see where I was going into the glove. Some guys
like to bring the ball back a little bit farther
and hide it with their glove. Everything's about deception. I
don't care. I mean I've seen some of the hardest
throwing guys throwing one hundred miles an hour get pounded.
I'll give you an example against Greg Mannox Glavin, and Smoltz.
We pounded Maddix and Smoltz, and the guy we couldn't
(08:45):
hit was Glavin. Glavin was so consistent, so consistent with
that change up and hitting his spots. So it's really
I would go back. I'd look at the tape. Don't
just be a thrower, you know, try to locate and listen.
Every now and then be a fan actively wild, throw
some chin music, throw a guy, get a guy off
the plate, set up your breaking ball. Just real simple,
basic stuff because anybody throwing a hundred, honestly, from my standpoint,
(09:11):
should never get hit like that. Tipping not tipping. Go,
I don't care if you know Hunter Green. Every now
and then you gotta get a little bit you know,
p o and and show these guys I'm not throwing
bat and practice to you. You hit one to the wall,
I might drop the next guy. That's that's gotta be
in your mentality in this game, because these guys are men,
(09:32):
they're they're professionals, and they and they're fearless. They have
all kinds of gear on elbow pads, uh, you know,
shoulder bise, that past god, they all got watch all
these guys. They have this new glove that's got a
huge steal plate in it. I would drill you just
for wearing that stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I'm shocked.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I mean, listen, listen, listen and listen. I didn't have
to hit you. I faced two thousand hitters. I hit twelve,
and you can look it up. It's true. But my
thing was I'm not gonna let you get comfortable in
the box. I'm not gonna let you lean over the
plate and hit my best breaking ball. Real simple stuff
that you could go back to and just look at
(10:12):
what you did last night and learn from that and
the next time out. And listen, you have to stay
confident because, like you said in what we just talked about,
it's a very humbling game. It's built on failure, and
you have to be tough enough to put that behind you.
Come right back out on your next start and be
like f Itt here, try to hit this, try to
hit that. Listen. We used to try to go through
the lineup as starters, you know, just with a fastball
(10:34):
like four seen two scene, Try that one time. Forget
the breaking ball, you know, and if you're breaking your
fastball is getting hit, throw nothing but breaking balls. Start
off with the breaking ball. Throw fastball in, throw another
breaking ball, another breaking ball. You know. That's what pitching
is in the big leagues and that and for a
young player, he's gonna he's gonna learn sometimes the hard way.
I think he's gonna be fined.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'm I'm fascinating you use the word the mentality because
you know, I equated that to the quarterback position of
you better have the short term memory, and you better
be just as mentally strong as you are physically strong,
because you're going against pros, you're going against all stars.
You're going to have bad days. They're going to have
good days. I know Chase Burns has the makeup of
(11:14):
being that, but I look at another guy on this
staff and what Andrew Abbot is doing, who doesn't throw
one hundred miles an hour. But it just feels like
when Abbott takes the mound, it's almost like that bulldog
mentality that he's going to attack you. He's not afraid
to throw inside, he's gonna mix his pitches up, and
here he is, you know, as we near the All
Star break with an era still under two. That mentality,
(11:35):
it feels like that's where a guy like Andrew Abbott
thrives based on how he carries himself on the mound.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Well, and you just described my teammate Tom Browning, who
threw a perfect game and never threw harder than eighty
five miles an hour. So you know, and I've watched Abbit.
I love what he does, and a lot of it,
like you said, is confidence. A lot of it is
is knowing what his ability is and his maybe lack
thereof are, and pitching the contact. I think a lot
of people are not talking about pitching the contact. You
(12:01):
know when you're trying to avoid bats, And I'll give
you a quick insight into my brain. I'm out there.
I got Barry Larkin behind me, and Ron Oster over
on the other side. I got Chrissebo, I got Nick
Asaski or Tom Benz and your Hal Morris. I got
some of the best fielders in my outfield, and Paul
O'Neill and Eric Davis. They're the guys when I make
a mistake, are going to help me out. Or if
(12:23):
I got a guy on first and one out, I
need a ground ball. I got a left handed hit
her up and I want that guy to hit it
to my short stop. I throw fastball low and away.
He hits at the barry, we turn two, we're out
of the inning. So you know, what Abbot's doing is
called pitching. And you pitch the contact, you get your
ground balls, you get your fly balls. You know. Tom
Browning gave up thirty five home runs a year, Twenty
(12:45):
eight of them were solo jobs. Yep. You know, he
knew he was going to get hit from time to time.
But you know, you don't get beat in the game.
You know, it's still a game. You're still competing, so
you have to go out there with what you possess
and whatever given day the bullpen, especially for starters, it's
different maybe for reliever because i get ten to twenty
five throws and I'm in the game facing, you know,
(13:07):
and I've got guys on base and I have to
throw strikes. So my mentality was more about hitting my
locations real quick. I'll worry about how good my stuff
is later. These guys there, they have to come out
after thirty to fifty pitches in the bullpen and know,
do I have a good change up today? Do I
have a good curve ball today? Is my fastball hitting locations?
Or am I a little bit radic with it? Those
(13:29):
are all the things that make Abbott such a good
starter and why he's going to be an All Star,
you know. And so when you go back to a
guy that throws a hundred, everybody oohs and odds over
the velocity. Are you still hitting your locations? Are you
up a little bit in the zone? A lot of
those fastballs that got hit. We're up in the zone,
you know, So you got to go back and be like,
did I locate them where I needed to where the
(13:49):
catcher wanted them? You know, things like you know, again,
when he got into trouble, was he trying to get
a ground ball? Or was he trying to strike somebody out?
When you're when you're a power pitcher, you have a
propensity to think I'm gonna strike everybody out. Forget that crap. Yeah,
you know you've got to think about listen, I got
(14:10):
a guy on first, I'm one pitch from getting out
of this jam if I locate this fastball, you know.
And and there's sometimes where bases are loaded. Now it
falls on you to strike a guy out or pop
a guy up. Now you really have to concentrate to
get guys out and then listen. Lower in the lineup,
here's another thing. And this is not about chase anybody.
Your seven eight nine guys are going to be maybe
(14:32):
a slight slower with bat speed. Don't don't keep throwing
them breaking balls. Power by those guys. If you throw
ninety five miles an hour, why the hell would you
throw eighty five or eighty six to that guy. Blow
that guy away, locate your fastball and move on. And
I think we give the hitters sometimes too much credit mentally,
and that can screw you up. So don't don't be confident,
(14:53):
don't think anybody can hit you. But at the same time,
use all your resources, you know, use your infield, use
your outfield, Know that those guys are there to save you.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I'm amazed, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I take my kids to the ballpark and the amount
of people that are just interested when Ellie comes to
the plate and everything gets quiet and people are paying
so much attention. And I think you got the witness
that in Cincinnati a little bit last week, Aaron Judge
comes into town. It's like, man, I want to go
to the ballpark because I want to see that guy play.
You mentioned the crowd at Fenway last night. You mentioned
the buzz in the air. Do you get a sense
(15:28):
that when the Reds are coming into town and Ellie
de la Cruz is coming into town that people want
to show up because they want to see what he's about.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I would say it was about sixty forty Red Sox
to Redspans. I was really impressed and met a lot
of great people and it was awesome. You know, my
fourteen year old actually was wearing my jersey, which was
big for me because she doesn't really care that I
ever played. But when Ellie stepped out of the dugout,
(15:56):
it was a cheer as loud as any Red Sox guy.
And they've got some great players, so everybody knows he's
a star. Everybody knows he's a great player. He you know,
it started with that play at second, which was kind
of an off throw, and that just kind of was
a different vibe from that point on and where the
Red Sox fans kind of were like, oh, we've got
(16:17):
a good shot here to put some early runs up
on the board. But you know, then the Reds came
right back, and honestly, that's what impressed me the most.
And whether it was Ellie or anybody in that lineup,
those guys didn't quit at all. And that's that's a
sign of great managing, great coaching. The environment you're in
a historic building, that's another thing that again with Chase Burns.
(16:38):
Of all the places I pitched and even when I
was the American League, I never got to pitch at Fenway,
which is an hour and a half from my house,
and you know, that place is crazy. It's got small dimensions.
It's you know, built in nineteen twelve, so that you know,
people aren't taking that into account. With Chase and what
his heart rate was, you know, as he's some more games,
(17:00):
maybe it's heart rate goes down. But no, man, these
people are great fans. They you know, whether Judge is
there or back in the day, Jeter or O'Neil or
those guys that you know, I think people were in
Boston or New York or anywhere in baseball understand that
that guys like Judge and Ellie, you know, enjoy them
because they're there. There's a different level of baseball player sometimes.
(17:21):
And Ellie's that guy.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Were you wearing reds gear last night? Letting people know.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
No, I had a purple shirt on. Oh come on,
I did not want to stick on. My wife got
out because, by the way, she was born and raised
a Red Sox fan, but she loved the reds Now too.
But she's like, well, you could have were red for
both teams. And I'm like, listen, I don't want to
draw attention to myself. It's bad enough with the tattoos
and everything, and people do recognize you from being in
the video game to MLB the show. But yeah, no,
(17:48):
I don't want to draw attention to me when I'm
in the stands.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I have to ask because the last time we had
you on, I asked you about Terry frank Conan. You know,
a new manager and how long does it take the
manager to really get a feel for the club. And
you had somewhere around that fifty game mark, and this
team was hovering right around five hundred or under five hundred,
and now all of a sudden, they've won six of
seven series, and they've done so against the Diamondbacks. They
went to Detroit, best record in baseball, and they beat
(18:12):
the Tigers, they beat the Twins. They won back to
back series at home against the Yankees and the Padres.
So it feels like Francona is starting to get more
of a of a feel of this team. As that happens,
I want to talk the culture of the locker room.
Last week, they made a decision. They moved on from Jamercandelaureo,
and they owed them a lot of money. But that's
a decision that you don't really see them make a Ton,
(18:34):
they promoted Chase Burns. What does it do for a
locker room when you do call up a top prospect
or Let's say they let's say the Reds were to
go out before the trade deadline and they make a
big addition. They had a power bat, which they desperately need.
Are you paying attention to that stuff in the locker room?
Does that boost the locker room morale when the organization
is going to go out and say, yeah, we see
(18:55):
what you're doing, we're gonna support you. We're going to
make an addition to the squad.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So the Red Sox just did it. They've moved on
from Devors. Their star was was being, you know, an
unstarly guy. He was not He's not a good role model.
They just brought up Roman Anthony and uh you know,
uh was a maser mayor. Uh that they're they're two
tops and you know they're they're bringing up their prospects
(19:21):
and they're winning. So it's it's more about the culture
and and you're also teaching the veterans. Gotta teach. I'll
give you Alex Bregman. I watched them last night. Uh,
working with Roman Anthony in between the bats. You have
to have that. You have to have a mix. And
for Terry, he wants the right guys, the guys that
want to show up and play, they want to come early. Uh,
you know, they're invested in in winning this division and
(19:43):
it's very winnable for them. They're five and a half
out of first they're playing almost five hundred on the road.
If you can play five hundred on the road, you
start there, then you need to play six fifty to
seven to fifty at a home. That's that's a given.
And they're and they're doing that as well. But when
you go on the road, you're you're up against a
lot of stuff. The travel, the hotels, that going here
and there by bus. You know, it's it's a little
(20:04):
bit different vibe than sleeping in your own bed and
stuff like that. And for the younger players, they've got
to make those justices. I would say, like Burns or
roman In, they're still living in hotels right now because
they don't have an apartment, they don't have a condo.
They don't have the money to afford that stuff yet.
So those guys have a bunch of stuff that the
only way they get comfortable is the manager, the atmosphere,
(20:25):
the other coaches. You know, even like a Rick Stowe.
You've had like, you know, two generations of Stowe's in
that locker room. He's one of the greatest guys. Is
Dad Bernie was my equipment manager. That's a guy that
makes your life easier. Everything is ready for you to go.
You show up and like you, Tony, you know, when
you go to the locker room in a football locker room,
(20:46):
you want all your equipment laid out, you want all
you stuff because I want to play football, I want
to play baseball. I don't want to worry about all
the other stuff. And it's hard enough at the major
league level, like you said, if they're sending out the
stars that they owe sixty five million or forty five million,
or you know, hoping somebody takes up two hundred and
fifty million dollars on the they're thing like Dever's. You know,
that's huge that the club made that decision. It's it's
(21:10):
it's ridiculously huge. So it doesn't go unnoticed in the clubhouse.
It also brings a sense of urgency. Hey, if you
can move on from the Stars, you can move on
for me. If I'm hitting two hundred to twenty or
or I'm you know, under five hundred as a pitcher
and I have a five R or four e R A.
You know, those are things that will make you work harder,
(21:30):
and that's why I'm happy the Reds are making those decisions. Rob.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
This was awesome, man. I can't thank you enough for
taking the time to join us today. I know you're
on each afternoon from from three to seven. What's the
easiest way for listeners to uh to follow along and
listen everything you got going on.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
It's on the iHeartRadio app, which is free so they
can see it nationally ninety seventy nine Fox Sports Radio
here in Hartford, New Haven, and certainly that that's that's
an easy way to get a hold of it. We
also have a YouTube channel, the Rob Dibble's Show. We
have a lot of our best interviews on as well.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Awesome stuff, Man, this was great. Thank you so much
for the information. I look forward to talking again to Man.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
They call me anytime, go Reds.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
There he is. That is the great Rob Dibble.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
This is Cincy three sixty moving along Hour number two
your talkbacks next. ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station. Thanks
to Cinci shirts.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Now your chance to
Shirts Cincy three sixty About Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in
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This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back as we get into our number two.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Since he three to sixty right here on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, thanks to our friends at Cincy Shirts.
Let's start our two with a guest who you can hear.
He has his own show, The Rob Dibble Show, from
three to seven each afternoon, and he's able to join
us now. He was in attendance last night at Fenway
Park watching the Red Sox and the Reds get some
(00:40):
action in and joining us right now.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Rob, what's going on, man? How are you?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'm great, man. That was fantastic game last night. So
my whole family was there. They love the Reds and
the Red Sox, so that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
It's hard because Chase Burns was making his second career
start and in his first start he wowed against one
of the better lineups in baseball with the New York Yankees.
And I think in baseball a lot of times we
can overreact very quickly, and it's a humbling it's a
humbling game because as good as he looked against the
(01:12):
New York Yankees, just wasn't all there against the Red Sox,
another very good lineup. But how difficult is it when
you're a young pitcher to go from that first start
to the next start as the scouting report starts to
expand on you and these hitters start to adjust each game.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Well, I mean, for Chases, his second big league start,
he shouldn't put too much stock into this. And I know,
you know, a lot of people are going to make
something out of you know, he's throwing a hundred. But
I mean the things, the quick things that I noticed.
First of all, I can't stand the pitch clock. I
think it's stupid, it's childish, and the forced guys to
pitch fifteen seconds, come back pitch fifteen seconds. It was hot,
(01:51):
it was humid. This dude, or even Crochet, Crochet was
exhausted by the fifth inning, and the Reds got to
him and pounded him. So and I think Garat Croch
is one of the top five guys in the American League.
So you know that being said, you know, watching a
guy throw ninety nine hundred mile hour fastballs and a
ninety one mile an hour breaking ball. You got change
(02:12):
speeds slower than that. You know, you got to your
differential's got to be twelve to fifteen mile an hour slower.
You gotta slow things down, your catcher. When you can't
just sit there and fire three straight hundred mile an
hour fastballs in a row, even the two hundred hitters
in the Red Sox lineups, we're teeing off on that.
So these guys are that good. I think people don't
(02:35):
realize the batting average doesn't matter. These are the best
college hitters in their in their lifetime. These are the
best high school hitters they've ever faced, you know. And
and they're one of twenty three thousand that I've ever
played in the big leagues. So don't doubt that the
number nine hitter in the Red Sox lineup can hit
a grand Slam off you just as easy as the
(02:56):
number three, four to five guy. So I think people
that watch it and don't watch it as much as
I and listen. I watch Red Sox every day. I
cover the Yankees every day, I cover the Mets every day,
And every guy in every lineup is capable if you
don't change speeds and locations you can get nailed, just
like last night with.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Chase completely off the subject. But it's got to be
fun right now covering the New York Mets every single day.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Dude, I'll tell you what I mean. Soto and Alonso
and Lindor, I mean, even if they're not playing well,
are still some of the best I've ever seen. Yeah,
I mean, even like watching you know McLain and you
know Ellie last night. You know, I was telling my
wife and she's been watching baseball for forty years, her
sight herself. You know, maybe Roberto Alomar could cover from
(03:44):
second base to halfway to short and throw the guys out.
Now it's routine for second basement. Yeah, it blows my mind.
These guys are so much more talented than some of
the guys I played with and against, and I played
against Grey Hall of famers, But they they're not They
don't have that rain, they don't have the capability arm wise.
The things they're teaching. I watch how they're practicing and
(04:05):
coaching a sixteen you travel team. I had to bring
in a college player to kind of teach my kids
better stuff than I even know. So it's uh, the
game has changed a lot, and these are these guys
are exceptional.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
For for Chase Burns.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Terry Francona was asked after the game last night on
whether Burns was tipping his pitches, and Francona said, it's
always something you want to check in on. He doesn't
have a ton of starts under his belt from you know, single,
a double, a, triple A to now. He also did
give credit to Francona to Alex core He said, he's
one of the best in the business at doin. So
you were there, you were watching, did anything give you
(04:39):
an indication that maybe Chase Burns was tipping his pitches?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Maybe the Red Sox had found something out.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
I mean, this is what I teach with my guys.
It's how you go into your glove to to hold
a breaking ball. You could come into the side to
grab a curveball, stay behind it to grab your fastball.
I couldn't. I wasn't close enough to see that. I'd
have to look at the video. You know, he could
have had his leg coming up higher on a fastball
and lower on a breaking ball. You know, those are
(05:05):
things I really wasn't paying attention to because it happened
so quick, and trust was like and the fans in
front of me were going crazy, and it was it
was insane. But you know, those are things you got
to look at. I mean, those are things you got
to think about every day you take the mound. I'll
give you an example Randy Johnson when he was getting
hit and I played against him when he was with
(05:26):
the Expos and in the minor leagues, and he could
throw a strike and it was all about where he
was landing and confidence and et cetera. But then he
got to a point where he was holding his fastball
up by his face and his breaking ball was down
by his waist. So just little things like that. And
you see the hitters. There's video of the hitters today
going back and talking to each other's. That's what baseball is.
(05:47):
I called them like little ants, and their antennae go
up and it's like, hey, he's doing this, Hey he's
doing that, and they're going to relay that information quickly
to where if you're not in real time making adjustments
and listen, you know, it happened so quickly. He's probably
so amped he wants to throw it by And even
I think it was Phillips that gave up the Grand
(06:08):
Slam at the end, I can't throw in ninety nine. Yeah,
and listen to people are like, well, you know he was. Listen,
is everybody tipping the pitches? No, they're that good. The
Red Sox had a great day. I wouldn't overanalyze it,
but I would check in on where am I going
into my glove? Where's my glove in the stretch, because
he was in the stretch a couple of times when
he gave up big hits. But listen, the Red Sox
(06:31):
pounded on pretty much everybody that came out of the bullpen.
That was one of those nights. Honestly, you'd hide at
the end of the dugout or in the bullpen and say,
please don't call my number. You know, I don't want
to come in here tonight. And I've been on the
other end with the reds We destroyed the Astros one time.
I think we put fourteen up on him in the
first inning. And so it's very plausible. The Red Sox
(06:54):
had great prep on this kid. They all watched their
video and they were ready for one hundred mile an
hour fastball, and they just got the better of them.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
How difficult is that to change though, Like it's just
muscle memory, it's what you've been doing. I guess only
thirteen starts as a professional. How difficult does it say, oh, yeah,
I have to change this or this is something I
need to work on and still be consistent with what
got you to the big leagues?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
How difficult is that?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Not hard at all? Not hard at all. I mean
I would likn it to football. Maybe a quarterback's got
his foot three inches back and the defenders can see
that that's going to be a pass or it's going
to go a different way, and maybe the running back
keeps checking to the left and that's going to go.
Those are things you have to fix on a day
to day. I would always be in front of a mirror.
(07:39):
We were blessed with the Reds in spring training. If
there was anything that was bothering me or my pitching
coach or the team, you could sit in front of
a mirror and just look at yourself. Am I doing
the same thing? Is the ball coming out of the
same location. I haven't seen Chase. I watched both of
his starts. By the way, whether or not his breaking
ball is a little lower from his arm slot than
(08:00):
you know, the release point. Those are things that you
could quickly change and get a young guy to try,
you know, to work on in front of a mirror,
work on with a towel. I mean, those are all
drills that you can work on on your own. Like
I said, going into your glove, where your glove is,
I always had problems with that. There was early in
my minor league career, I had my glove up high.
(08:21):
I lowered it a little bit so that you couldn't
see where I was going into the glove. Some guys
like to bring the ball back a little bit farther
and hide it with their glove. Everything's about deception. I
don't care. I mean I've seen some of the hardest
throwing guys throwing one hundred miles an hour get pounded.
I'll give you an example against Greg Mannox Glavin, and Smoltz.
We pounded Maddix and Smoltz, and the guy we couldn't
(08:45):
hit was Glavin. Glavin was so consistent, so consistent with
that change up and hitting his spots. So it's really
I would go back. I'd look at the tape. Don't
just be a thrower, you know, try to locate and listen.
Every now and then be a fan actively wild, throw
some chin music, throw a guy, get a guy off
the plate, set up your breaking ball. Just real simple,
basic stuff because anybody throwing a hundred, honestly, from my standpoint,
(09:11):
should never get hit like that. Tipping not tipping. Go,
I don't care if you know Hunter Green. Every now
and then you gotta get a little bit you know,
p o and and show these guys I'm not throwing
bat and practice to you. You hit one to the wall,
I might drop the next guy. That's that's gotta be
in your mentality in this game, because these guys are men,
(09:32):
they're they're professionals, and they and they're fearless. They have
all kinds of gear on elbow pads, uh, you know,
shoulder bise, that past god, they all got watch all
these guys. They have this new glove that's got a
huge steal plate in it. I would drill you just
for wearing that stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I'm shocked.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I mean, listen, listen, listen and listen. I didn't have
to hit you. I faced two thousand hitters. I hit twelve,
and you can look it up. It's true. But my
thing was I'm not gonna let you get comfortable in
the box. I'm not gonna let you lean over the
plate and hit my best breaking ball. Real simple stuff
that you could go back to and just look at
(10:12):
what you did last night and learn from that and
the next time out. And listen, you have to stay
confident because, like you said in what we just talked about,
it's a very humbling game. It's built on failure, and
you have to be tough enough to put that behind you.
Come right back out on your next start and be
like f Itt here, try to hit this, try to
hit that. Listen. We used to try to go through
the lineup as starters, you know, just with a fastball
(10:34):
like four seen two scene, Try that one time. Forget
the breaking ball, you know, and if you're breaking your
fastball is getting hit, throw nothing but breaking balls. Start
off with the breaking ball. Throw fastball in, throw another
breaking ball, another breaking ball. You know. That's what pitching
is in the big leagues and that and for a
young player, he's gonna he's gonna learn sometimes the hard way.
I think he's gonna be fined.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'm I'm fascinating you use the word the mentality because
you know, I equated that to the quarterback position of
you better have the short term memory, and you better
be just as mentally strong as you are physically strong,
because you're going against pros, you're going against all stars.
You're going to have bad days. They're going to have
good days. I know Chase Burns has the makeup of
(11:14):
being that, but I look at another guy on this
staff and what Andrew Abbot is doing, who doesn't throw
one hundred miles an hour. But it just feels like
when Abbott takes the mound, it's almost like that bulldog
mentality that he's going to attack you. He's not afraid
to throw inside, he's gonna mix his pitches up, and
here he is, you know, as we near the All
Star break with an era still under two. That mentality,
(11:35):
it feels like that's where a guy like Andrew Abbott
thrives based on how he carries himself on the mound.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Well, and you just described my teammate Tom Browning, who
threw a perfect game and never threw harder than eighty
five miles an hour. So you know, and I've watched Abbit.
I love what he does, and a lot of it,
like you said, is confidence. A lot of it is
is knowing what his ability is and his maybe lack
thereof are, and pitching the contact. I think a lot
of people are not talking about pitching the contact. You
(12:01):
know when you're trying to avoid bats, And I'll give
you a quick insight into my brain. I'm out there.
I got Barry Larkin behind me, and Ron Oster over
on the other side. I got Chrissebo, I got Nick
Asaski or Tom Benz and your Hal Morris. I got
some of the best fielders in my outfield, and Paul
O'Neill and Eric Davis. They're the guys when I make
a mistake, are going to help me out. Or if
(12:23):
I got a guy on first and one out, I
need a ground ball. I got a left handed hit
her up and I want that guy to hit it
to my short stop. I throw fastball low and away.
He hits at the barry, we turn two, we're out
of the inning. So you know, what Abbot's doing is
called pitching. And you pitch the contact, you get your
ground balls, you get your fly balls. You know. Tom
Browning gave up thirty five home runs a year, Twenty
(12:45):
eight of them were solo jobs. Yep. You know, he
knew he was going to get hit from time to time.
But you know, you don't get beat in the game.
You know, it's still a game. You're still competing, so
you have to go out there with what you possess
and whatever given day the bullpen, especially for starters, it's
different maybe for reliever because i get ten to twenty
five throws and I'm in the game facing, you know,
(13:07):
and I've got guys on base and I have to
throw strikes. So my mentality was more about hitting my
locations real quick. I'll worry about how good my stuff
is later. These guys there, they have to come out
after thirty to fifty pitches in the bullpen and know,
do I have a good change up today? Do I
have a good curve ball today? Is my fastball hitting locations?
Or am I a little bit radic with it? Those
(13:29):
are all the things that make Abbott such a good
starter and why he's going to be an All Star,
you know. And so when you go back to a
guy that throws a hundred, everybody oohs and odds over
the velocity. Are you still hitting your locations? Are you
up a little bit in the zone? A lot of
those fastballs that got hit. We're up in the zone,
you know, So you got to go back and be like,
did I locate them where I needed to where the
(13:49):
catcher wanted them? You know, things like you know, again,
when he got into trouble, was he trying to get
a ground ball? Or was he trying to strike somebody out?
When you're when you're a power pitcher, you have a
propensity to think I'm gonna strike everybody out. Forget that crap. Yeah,
you know you've got to think about listen, I got
(14:10):
a guy on first, I'm one pitch from getting out
of this jam if I locate this fastball, you know.
And and there's sometimes where bases are loaded. Now it
falls on you to strike a guy out or pop
a guy up. Now you really have to concentrate to
get guys out and then listen. Lower in the lineup,
here's another thing. And this is not about chase anybody.
Your seven eight nine guys are going to be maybe
(14:32):
a slight slower with bat speed. Don't don't keep throwing
them breaking balls. Power by those guys. If you throw
ninety five miles an hour, why the hell would you
throw eighty five or eighty six to that guy. Blow
that guy away, locate your fastball and move on. And
I think we give the hitters sometimes too much credit mentally,
and that can screw you up. So don't don't be confident,
(14:53):
don't think anybody can hit you. But at the same time,
use all your resources, you know, use your infield, use
your outfield, Know that those guys are there to save you.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I'm amazed, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I take my kids to the ballpark and the amount
of people that are just interested when Ellie comes to
the plate and everything gets quiet and people are paying
so much attention. And I think you got the witness
that in Cincinnati a little bit last week, Aaron Judge
comes into town. It's like, man, I want to go
to the ballpark because I want to see that guy play.
You mentioned the crowd at Fenway last night. You mentioned
the buzz in the air. Do you get a sense
(15:28):
that when the Reds are coming into town and Ellie
de la Cruz is coming into town that people want
to show up because they want to see what he's about.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I would say it was about sixty forty Red Sox
to Redspans. I was really impressed and met a lot
of great people and it was awesome. You know, my
fourteen year old actually was wearing my jersey, which was
big for me because she doesn't really care that I
ever played. But when Ellie stepped out of the dugout,
(15:56):
it was a cheer as loud as any Red Sox guy.
And they've got some great players, so everybody knows he's
a star. Everybody knows he's a great player. He you know,
it started with that play at second, which was kind
of an off throw, and that just kind of was
a different vibe from that point on and where the
Red Sox fans kind of were like, oh, we've got
(16:17):
a good shot here to put some early runs up
on the board. But you know, then the Reds came
right back, and honestly, that's what impressed me the most.
And whether it was Ellie or anybody in that lineup,
those guys didn't quit at all. And that's that's a
sign of great managing, great coaching. The environment you're in
a historic building, that's another thing that again with Chase Burns.
(16:38):
Of all the places I pitched and even when I
was the American League, I never got to pitch at Fenway,
which is an hour and a half from my house,
and you know, that place is crazy. It's got small dimensions.
It's you know, built in nineteen twelve, so that you know,
people aren't taking that into account. With Chase and what
his heart rate was, you know, as he's some more games,
(17:00):
maybe it's heart rate goes down. But no, man, these
people are great fans. They you know, whether Judge is
there or back in the day, Jeter or O'Neil or
those guys that you know, I think people were in
Boston or New York or anywhere in baseball understand that
that guys like Judge and Ellie, you know, enjoy them
because they're there. There's a different level of baseball player sometimes.
(17:21):
And Ellie's that guy.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Were you wearing reds gear last night? Letting people know.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
No, I had a purple shirt on. Oh come on,
I did not want to stick on. My wife got
out because, by the way, she was born and raised
a Red Sox fan, but she loved the reds Now too.
But she's like, well, you could have were red for
both teams. And I'm like, listen, I don't want to
draw attention to myself. It's bad enough with the tattoos
and everything, and people do recognize you from being in
the video game to MLB the show. But yeah, no,
(17:48):
I don't want to draw attention to me when I'm
in the stands.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I have to ask because the last time we had
you on, I asked you about Terry frank Conan. You know,
a new manager and how long does it take the
manager to really get a feel for the club. And
you had somewhere around that fifty game mark, and this
team was hovering right around five hundred or under five hundred,
and now all of a sudden, they've won six of
seven series, and they've done so against the Diamondbacks. They
went to Detroit, best record in baseball, and they beat
(18:12):
the Tigers, they beat the Twins. They won back to
back series at home against the Yankees and the Padres.
So it feels like Francona is starting to get more
of a of a feel of this team. As that happens,
I want to talk the culture of the locker room.
Last week, they made a decision. They moved on from Jamercandelaureo,
and they owed them a lot of money. But that's
a decision that you don't really see them make a Ton,
(18:34):
they promoted Chase Burns. What does it do for a
locker room when you do call up a top prospect
or Let's say they let's say the Reds were to
go out before the trade deadline and they make a
big addition. They had a power bat, which they desperately need.
Are you paying attention to that stuff in the locker room?
Does that boost the locker room morale when the organization
is going to go out and say, yeah, we see
(18:55):
what you're doing, we're gonna support you. We're going to
make an addition to the squad.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So the Red Sox just did it. They've moved on
from Devors. Their star was was being, you know, an
unstarly guy. He was not He's not a good role model.
They just brought up Roman Anthony and uh you know,
uh was a maser mayor. Uh that they're they're two
tops and you know they're they're bringing up their prospects
(19:21):
and they're winning. So it's it's more about the culture
and and you're also teaching the veterans. Gotta teach. I'll
give you Alex Bregman. I watched them last night. Uh,
working with Roman Anthony in between the bats. You have
to have that. You have to have a mix. And
for Terry, he wants the right guys, the guys that
want to show up and play, they want to come early. Uh,
you know, they're invested in in winning this division and
(19:43):
it's very winnable for them. They're five and a half
out of first they're playing almost five hundred on the road.
If you can play five hundred on the road, you
start there, then you need to play six fifty to
seven to fifty at a home. That's that's a given.
And they're and they're doing that as well. But when
you go on the road, you're you're up against a
lot of stuff. The travel, the hotels, that going here
and there by bus. You know, it's it's a little
(20:04):
bit different vibe than sleeping in your own bed and
stuff like that. And for the younger players, they've got
to make those justices. I would say, like Burns or
roman In, they're still living in hotels right now because
they don't have an apartment, they don't have a condo.
They don't have the money to afford that stuff yet.
So those guys have a bunch of stuff that the
only way they get comfortable is the manager, the atmosphere,
(20:25):
the other coaches. You know, even like a Rick Stowe.
You've had like, you know, two generations of Stowe's in
that locker room. He's one of the greatest guys. Is
Dad Bernie was my equipment manager. That's a guy that
makes your life easier. Everything is ready for you to go.
You show up and like you, Tony, you know, when
you go to the locker room in a football locker room,
(20:46):
you want all your equipment laid out, you want all
you stuff because I want to play football, I want
to play baseball. I don't want to worry about all
the other stuff. And it's hard enough at the major
league level, like you said, if they're sending out the
stars that they owe sixty five million or forty five million,
or you know, hoping somebody takes up two hundred and
fifty million dollars on the they're thing like Dever's. You know,
that's huge that the club made that decision. It's it's
(21:10):
it's ridiculously huge. So it doesn't go unnoticed in the clubhouse.
It also brings a sense of urgency. Hey, if you
can move on from the Stars, you can move on
for me. If I'm hitting two hundred to twenty or
or I'm you know, under five hundred as a pitcher
and I have a five R or four e R A.
You know, those are things that will make you work harder,
(21:30):
and that's why I'm happy the Reds are making those decisions. Rob.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
This was awesome, man. I can't thank you enough for
taking the time to join us today. I know you're
on each afternoon from from three to seven. What's the
easiest way for listeners to uh to follow along and
listen everything you got going on.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
It's on the iHeartRadio app, which is free so they
can see it nationally ninety seventy nine Fox Sports Radio
here in Hartford, New Haven, and certainly that that's that's
an easy way to get a hold of it. We
also have a YouTube channel, the Rob Dibble's Show. We
have a lot of our best interviews on as well.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Awesome stuff, Man, this was great. Thank you so much
for the information. I look forward to talking again to Man.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
They call me anytime, go Reds.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
There he is. That is the great Rob Dibble.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
This is Cincy three sixty moving along Hour number two
your talkbacks next. ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station. Thanks
to Cinci shirts.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Now your chance to
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