Hunter Feduccia (8-7-26)

Hunter talks about being welcome back by his teammates, shaving his mustache, and his experience catching Tampa Rays ace, Shane McClanahan. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now an exclusive interview with David Bassay for Dodger
talking nothing but first class. When you're with the man himself,
freshly traded from the Tampa Bay Rays back to where
he belongs, the LA Dodgers, and he's behind the plate
tonight catching Roki Sasaki. That's the one and only Hunter

(00:20):
Fiducca Fetti, thanks a lot for the time. Great to
have you back.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Of course, I'm happy to be back.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
I guess Austin Barnes doesn't watch a lot of Dodger games,
because he was watching the other day and he said, wait, what,
Fetti's back. So now that Barnes is aware that you're back,
I guess that's all good.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm so waiting for the text from him. I should
be here any any moment now. But yeah, I miss
that guy.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
What's it been like for you? Is it still surreal
to be back?

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, you know, you know it's at this but at
the same time, it feels like I haven't missed much.
You know, the guys were very welcoming when I when
I got here, you know, kind of picked up where
it left off. So you know, I'm excited to be
back with these guys and you know, they got a
good thing going, so I'm excited to help out any
way I can.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Is that how it felt. Maybe you don't see a
guy from college for ten years and then you see
him and you pick up right where you left off.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, that's that's a good way to put it, honestly.
You know, we spent a lot of hours together on
the field and just bonding in general, so you know,
a year doesn't take much off of it. So yeah,
when I got back, it felt like I haven't I
haven't missed too much, So that's good.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Is it a crash course when it comes to some
of these pictures or is it because you understand the method,
the process as far as the game planning, Does it
matter that you haven't really caught Rokie before?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah? You know I caught his bullpen the other day.
You know, beforehand probably caught him a handful of times,
so you know, not much has changed from that aspect.
And you know, just being with the race for a
while and you know, having to kind of lead a staff,
it's helped out a lot with game planning and just

(02:05):
getting comfortable in that sense.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
But you know, I feel comfortable for the most part.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Obviously, there's a little stuff here and there that need
to pick up on and learn along the way, But
I don't think it's going to take too much time.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Hopefully.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Hunter Fiduccia is our guest. He has a clean shaven
upper lip. Now you shaved the stash. That thing was
looking pretty nice over there, I mean Ted Lasso's back
and you shave the stash.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah. I don't know where that came about.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I think it was like two am in the morning
when I when I got in after getting traded.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
And thought, you know, I had to change something up.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
So here I am fresh, fresh, new team, fresh shave,
So here goes nothing.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Does it feel like when you came back to the
Dodgers and when you were first traded? Obviously he's still
trying to prove yourself in the big leagues. Now you've
done that, you've established that. Does it feel like you
left kind of like a boy and now you're a
man that you came back.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, I know, like you said there, I think there's
still some more to prove, you know, but developing more.
As you know, I've been the Bigs a little longer,
you know, it has helped out a lot with being
comfortable and you know, working with pitchers and you know,
with the staff and Tampa having a lot of veteran arms,

(03:21):
you know, picking up on a lot of a lot
of stuff from them and how they approach certain at
bats and hitters, and you know.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
I feel a lot more well rounded as as a
catcher for sure and ballplayer.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
I got to ask you this, Shane McClanahan. I mean,
he's such a powerful pitcher. We know him from starting
the All Star Game against Krushaw in LA. But what's
it like to be a teammate to be behind the
plate when mcclanahan's pitching.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, no, it's it's as advertised how you see it
on TV.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
It's it's truly a special arm.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
It was fun getting to work with him, and you know,
especially after you know the injuries he's went through, seeing
how he bounced back and has developed his arm, it's
truly impressive.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
All right, Before I let you go, Ben Rotfitz, the
first thing he said to me was, it's so weird.
You guys were treated for each other and now your
finally teammates. What are your first impressions of the legend
that is Ben Roartvett.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
He's the man you know, I heard a lot of
stories in the past about him, never really knew him,
but you know, when I saw him for the first
time in Chicago, it's like we've known each other for
a long time. It's a weird feeling, but now it's
been awesome so far. You know, he's been helpful too.
It's some of the pictures I haven't caught before, and
you know, he's had some time here and got to

(04:42):
build relationships with some of the pictures. So he's been
super helpful. And looking forward to get to know him
a little better and working with them all right.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, great to have both you and Ben back with
the Dodgers. Good luck tonight with Rokie and it's a
good night to get a win.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yes, let's do it. Thank you.