February 25, 2025 • 5 mins
DV catches up with the NLCS MVP before the Dodgers play the Mariners at Camelback Ranch.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's snell Zilla Day at camel Back Ranch and Glendale, Arizona.
Blake Snell making his debut with the Dodgers in a
Cactus League game. And you got to have the A
team in there behind Blake Snell, and they have the
A team behind him. The NLCSMVP playing second base today,
Tommy Edmund, Tommy, great to see you, and I know
it's always busy in the morning, so thank you for
the time.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, of course, good to see you too. You know,
it's an exciting day to get to watch Blake pitch
for the first time in the Dodgers' UNI, so you
know it's gonna be a fun game today.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You faced him quite a bit over your career. How
big of a relief is that you don't have to
see him anymore?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, he's got my number. You know, I don't think
I ever got a hit off of him, so, you know,
I'm glad that we don't have to face him anymore.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is your first spring training at camel Back Ranch.
You were traded for in the middle of the year.
So what's the feeling now being a world champion and
having time to just kind of ease into the season
with the same team.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, it's been fun, you know, to be able to
have a healthy spring training, and obviously it's a little
bit different schedule because we got to get ready to
go to Tokyo. But you know, just getting this time
to get the work in that I need and just
to get ready for season and prepare for you know,
the next eight months of baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, we forget it. This time last year you were
trying to come back from not just one injury, but
a couple. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, definitely had a frustrating first half last year. But
you know, everything's feeling good now and hopefully I have
a full healthy season, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So I'm always looking at guys and what things they've
done to try to improve every year. Now, sometimes it
deceives me. I'm not a baseball nerd like other people,
but it looks like from the left side, you may
have stood taller with your stands. Have you decided to
maybe do a couple of different things there.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, the ultimate goal is just to be able to
stay taller in my backside, you know, and be able
to land in a position where I'm able to adjust
and cover more parts of the zone. So yeah, you know,
just just small mechanical adjustments and you know, just to
help myself give myself a better chance to have success,
regardless who's pitching.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
What's the process of making that decision to be able
to say, you know, this may help me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, it's just identifying, you know, the areas of my
swing that are not optimal and you know, really hammering
those down in the cage and during VP rounds and
just making sure I'm focusing on those few things and
staying locked in and not losing sight of what I'm
working towards.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Since Tommy Edmund has one of the highest baseball iques
in the room, maybe you can explain to us what's
the biggest difference for a hitter to stand taller rather
than do what you were doing and maybe shrink the
strike zone.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well, now the ABS is you know we're using this,
it's that they pretty much just measure your height, so
it doesn't really matter how tall you're standing anymore. But yeah,
I mean, I don't know. I'm just trying to find
a way to help myself keep that backside strong. So
you know, when if I squat down, then there's the
tendency to kind of get get I guess squatted into
(02:56):
the backside so that I'm I kind of slide out
instead of being able to stay strong and be able
to stay firm with my back hip and be able
to use that in my swing. So yeah, you know,
just kind of I don't want to get too much
into the mechanical side of it, but it's basically just
being able.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
To use the back hit better, so simplify things I've heard.
Hitting coaches and great hitters always talk about you have
to be connected to the ground to be a successful hitter.
Are you a big believer in that?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
For sure? Yeah, you're you know, the strongest muscles are
your legs, so you got to be able to use
them if you want to, you know, have the have
the most power that you can.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Now, Tommy Edmond's playing a lot of infield. Do you
feel like you're going back to the majority of your
time where you want a gold Glove at second base?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, you know, it's been fun to play a lot
of second again, you know, playing with with Mooki over
at short it's been fun to you know, kind of
communicate with him and learn about how each other works. So,
you know, we'll see what this season brings. But playing
second for now I'm sure I'll mix it a little
bit in the center as well, But you know, I'm
just making sure to stay fresh regardless of ready put me.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I saw you yesterday taking outfield drills and making throws
from center field to home plate. The throws are so
different from second obviously compared to center field. How important
is it for you to stretch out your arm like
that to be ready whenever called upon?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, I got to just make sure to do that
and make sure I'm keeping up today with my long
toss and making those longer throws, you know, every now
and then, to make sure I'm ready whenever I whenever
I got a head out there. But you know, it's
definitely a little bit different of a throw, but you know,
the concepts are kind of the same. Be able to
get behind the ball and use my momentum to you know,
to get some carry on it.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Some guys have a hard time just making throws from
the position they play every day. It's remarkable that you're
able to make the accurate throws from several different positions.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, you know, it's a lot of work. Hey, you
gotta stay on top of it, but you know, it's
that's part of it. You gotta gotta put in the
work that's required.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Hey, you mentioned Mooki and you being a double play
combo right now. Can you tell the confidence that he
has at that position.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, for sure. You know, he's put in the whole
off season of work and looked really good during the spring,
and he's always out there taking extra ground balls and
just making sure he can be the best defensive short
stop that he can be. And you know, it's looked
really good so far.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
All right, Tommy, thanks a lot for the time. Really
appreciate it. And I always feel like I learned something
from you, because obviously a lot of people know how
high your IQ is on and off the field. So
thank you, Tommy. I really appreciate it, especially for a
mere mortal like myself.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, of course, always a pleasure.
It's snell Zilla Day at camel Back Ranch and Glendale, Arizona.
Blake Snell making his debut with the Dodgers in a
Cactus League game. And you got to have the A
team in there behind Blake Snell, and they have the
A team behind him. The NLCSMVP playing second base today,
Tommy Edmund, Tommy, great to see you, and I know
it's always busy in the morning, so thank you for
the time.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, of course, good to see you too. You know,
it's an exciting day to get to watch Blake pitch
for the first time in the Dodgers' UNI, so you
know it's gonna be a fun game today.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You faced him quite a bit over your career. How
big of a relief is that you don't have to
see him anymore?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, he's got my number. You know, I don't think
I ever got a hit off of him, so, you know,
I'm glad that we don't have to face him anymore.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is your first spring training at camel Back Ranch.
You were traded for in the middle of the year.
So what's the feeling now being a world champion and
having time to just kind of ease into the season
with the same team.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, it's been fun, you know, to be able to
have a healthy spring training, and obviously it's a little
bit different schedule because we got to get ready to
go to Tokyo. But you know, just getting this time
to get the work in that I need and just
to get ready for season and prepare for you know,
the next eight months of baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, we forget it. This time last year you were
trying to come back from not just one injury, but
a couple. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, definitely had a frustrating first half last year. But
you know, everything's feeling good now and hopefully I have
a full healthy season, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So I'm always looking at guys and what things they've
done to try to improve every year. Now, sometimes it
deceives me. I'm not a baseball nerd like other people,
but it looks like from the left side, you may
have stood taller with your stands. Have you decided to
maybe do a couple of different things there.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, the ultimate goal is just to be able to
stay taller in my backside, you know, and be able
to land in a position where I'm able to adjust
and cover more parts of the zone. So yeah, you know,
just just small mechanical adjustments and you know, just to
help myself give myself a better chance to have success,
regardless who's pitching.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
What's the process of making that decision to be able
to say, you know, this may help me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, it's just identifying, you know, the areas of my
swing that are not optimal and you know, really hammering
those down in the cage and during VP rounds and
just making sure I'm focusing on those few things and
staying locked in and not losing sight of what I'm
working towards.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Since Tommy Edmund has one of the highest baseball iques
in the room, maybe you can explain to us what's
the biggest difference for a hitter to stand taller rather
than do what you were doing and maybe shrink the
strike zone.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well, now the ABS is you know we're using this,
it's that they pretty much just measure your height, so
it doesn't really matter how tall you're standing anymore. But yeah,
I mean, I don't know. I'm just trying to find
a way to help myself keep that backside strong. So
you know, when if I squat down, then there's the
tendency to kind of get get I guess squatted into
(02:56):
the backside so that I'm I kind of slide out
instead of being able to stay strong and be able
to stay firm with my back hip and be able
to use that in my swing. So yeah, you know,
just kind of I don't want to get too much
into the mechanical side of it, but it's basically just
being able.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
To use the back hit better, so simplify things I've heard.
Hitting coaches and great hitters always talk about you have
to be connected to the ground to be a successful hitter.
Are you a big believer in that?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
For sure? Yeah, you're you know, the strongest muscles are
your legs, so you got to be able to use
them if you want to, you know, have the have
the most power that you can.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Now, Tommy Edmond's playing a lot of infield. Do you
feel like you're going back to the majority of your
time where you want a gold Glove at second base?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, you know, it's been fun to play a lot
of second again, you know, playing with with Mooki over
at short it's been fun to you know, kind of
communicate with him and learn about how each other works. So,
you know, we'll see what this season brings. But playing
second for now I'm sure I'll mix it a little
bit in the center as well, But you know, I'm
just making sure to stay fresh regardless of ready put me.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I saw you yesterday taking outfield drills and making throws
from center field to home plate. The throws are so
different from second obviously compared to center field. How important
is it for you to stretch out your arm like
that to be ready whenever called upon?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, I got to just make sure to do that
and make sure I'm keeping up today with my long
toss and making those longer throws, you know, every now
and then, to make sure I'm ready whenever I whenever
I got a head out there. But you know, it's
definitely a little bit different of a throw, but you know,
the concepts are kind of the same. Be able to
get behind the ball and use my momentum to you know,
to get some carry on it.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Some guys have a hard time just making throws from
the position they play every day. It's remarkable that you're
able to make the accurate throws from several different positions.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, you know, it's a lot of work. Hey, you
gotta stay on top of it, but you know, it's
that's part of it. You gotta gotta put in the
work that's required.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Hey, you mentioned Mooki and you being a double play
combo right now. Can you tell the confidence that he
has at that position.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, for sure. You know, he's put in the whole
off season of work and looked really good during the spring,
and he's always out there taking extra ground balls and
just making sure he can be the best defensive short
stop that he can be. And you know, it's looked
really good so far.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
All right, Tommy, thanks a lot for the time. Really
appreciate it. And I always feel like I learned something
from you, because obviously a lot of people know how
high your IQ is on and off the field. So
thank you, Tommy. I really appreciate it, especially for a
mere mortal like myself.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, of course, always a pleasure.
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