November 26, 2025 • 25 mins
Hosted by Darren Headrick and Darren Williams.
The guys talk with Kentucky pitchers Leighton Harris and Nate Harris (not related).
The guys talk with Kentucky pitchers Leighton Harris and Nate Harris (not related).
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's another edition behind Kentucky Baseball and we're happy to
have you with us. I'm Darren Hedrick alongside my co
host Darren Williams. We call him Coach Dubb these days
because of his extra duties off the field. And this
week we're going back to the mound to visit with
some pictures because that's Darren Williams's favorite subject. And we
got the Harris twins with us, but there's no relation.
(00:20):
We got Layton Harris and Nate Harris. First question, guys,
has anybody ever asked if you're related, like a casual
fan or anybody in Lexington, like, hey, are you guys
brothers or something?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So we had an assistant trainer last year, Luke, and
we came in with the same last name and we
made this whole story up about how we're third cousins.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
That's awesome. I love it.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We said, like we had an uncle Jimmy. I'm trying
to think what other names we pulled up, pulled out,
but it's.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Bobby, that's all. That's all.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, we would like count down from three and he
would test us to see if we knew who our
uncle was. And it was like uncle Jimmy told him
that we were third cousins and he believed that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
That's a great story. I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Just so folks at home, No, Layton is from right
here in Lexington, and Nate is from Yorkville, Illinois. I mean,
but still we're calling them basketball here at Kentucky has
the Harrison Twins. Baseball's got the Harris Twins.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
We'll take them to two Stuntsno, right here.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
One of them is a right handed pitcher, the others
a leftander. Like there's no relation at all, No what,
there's no what? All right, guys, your number two with
the Wildcats. First of all, how important was the summer
for you, Nate, just to continue growing off what you
did last year?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Yeah, I mean I split time between here and home.
But when I was here, I was I did my
best to be super intentional with the new guys. All
the freshman pitchers were here, and then there was a
couple of transfers. But I was just doing anything I could,
like in the weight room here, like whatever, just getting
them acclimated to the place, because I know coming in
as a freshman like it can be nerve wracking, like
(01:58):
getting yourself situated to like an sec environment, like, I mean,
that's not an easy thing to do. So I mean
I went through it late and went through it so
I just did my best to make it as easy
as possible for those guys. And it's still an ongoing
process too.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
So late and how about you, man, what did you
do this summer?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Just try and continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So I was in the New England Colusion Baseball League.
It is about an hour away from the Cape in Newport,
Rhode Island. I went up there, got to be on
a seven day plan, starting games every Wednesday, and then
they gave us a membership with the YMCA, so I
would go over there. Brent Jones, our strength coach, would
send me the full week plan. Throwing was kind of
(02:36):
on my own, depending on how I felt and stuff
like that. Bullpens, but really just grinding out, treating it
like a test out, just to go out there and
get the summer rest reps and then also get the
lifting piece in, get stronger, get faster, all that.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
While we're on the subject of Newport, Rhode Island, that
place is sick.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
I played two summers in that league for the Sanford
Maynards Man and I made a start his like July fifth,
I think at Newport and that place was awesome. Yeah,
the most weird baseball field ever. But it's like right
by the water. There's like three thousand people on top
of you and just speak on the experience. They all
made it pretty far right.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, we ended up losing in the semi finals of
our division, but we won our division throughout the year.
And literally, like you said, Downtown is right next to
the ballpark. It's the oldest ballpark in America. And all
those people would just flood in, like they'd hear the
noise from the baseball game be like, oh the goals
are playing. Yeah, they finish up dinner their dinner reservation
and come right over and watch over. Yeah. And there
(03:37):
would be a ton of games where because it was
right on the water where a fog would just come over.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We had like.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
An hour fog delay one time. But the experience was awesome.
The fans were amazing up there. Even the owner, Chuck,
he is so personable with you and make sure you're
taken care of. The host families are amazing. Yes, yeah,
experience you have.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
You both are you know, very similar as freshman last year,
obviously threw a lot for US. Nate, you ended up
pitching a lot, you know, on the weekends, so you
didn't go play summer roll late and you went. You
didn't throw crazy ton, so you went and played summer ball.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Playing in the summer was one of the best things
that I did, you know, to learn myself? What did
you learn about yourself as a pitcher during the summer
and getting on that routine of pitching every week.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I think just having so much confidence in what you're
doing on a day to day basis, and knowing that
you're doing the right things whenever you're going in to
get your lift in or getting some mobility in.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And even and starts.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Just making sure that you're refining all your pitches and
having confidence bringing it back to here into the fall
and knowing that you belong and knowing that you can
do the stuff that the little things that will go
a long way in the end, you can. This summer
you got to grind out for another what two months,
so it's like an extra added on season. Where As
(04:55):
I didn't get as many innings as Nate during the spring,
just adding on in the summer able to get those
raps is huge.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's gotta be valuable, man Nate for you. Sometimes freshmen
get eased into things, you get a role here there,
they were just like, hey, Bud, we're gonna put you
Friday nights in the sec have at it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
What was that experience?
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Like, Yeah, I mean started off as the midweek guy.
I mean I was. I was super grateful for that opportunity,
and things just like fell in a certain way. It's
where eventually I was coming in on Fridays and I
just try my best to like have an open mind
with it all. I mean, even just coming in last fall,
like that was the main thing, which is keep an
open mind, like things are going to happen, Like you're
(05:35):
gonna deal with stuff good and bad, and so just
keeping an open mind through it all. And that was
the mindset during the season two, Like obviously it's a
tremendous opportunity to be able to do that and to
be able to help our team that way, and so
I just try my best to make the most of it.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And yeah, I just enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
I mean, as a competitor, you want those roles, right,
you want to be in those spots. But from you know,
coach MINNGI own, coach Roselle and the staff. How did
they help kind of take some of that pressure off
of you so you could just focus on going out
there and executing your job.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Yeah, I mean Coach Rozelle, he's he was great like
all of last season, just reminding me to you know,
trust my stuff, like just reminding me of their trust
in me. Coach Minch as well, like throughout the season.
That was super helpful. But ultimately, like what I kept
falling back on was just like trusting my stuff and
you know, believing like that I belonged, which like as
(06:28):
a freshman that I can take like a while to
like have that belief. So like, once I got that belief,
I just I took it full force. And yeah, just
kept going and.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
It and it culminated in the Clemson Regional. You went
up against the host team in an elimination game and
fired a quality start six innings, three runs. Kentucky won
that game eliminated the Tigers. But the season to that
point had prepared you for that moment, right.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Yeah, yeah, hundred percent. I mean it was just like
any other game. I mean definitely, the stakes were definitely
obviously elimination game, losing, go home, winning advance. But honestly,
like I just tried to treat it like any other game.
I mean, yeah, obviously it was a super cool environment.
As a freshman to like be in that environment, it was.
It was a cool experience.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
But what was that bullpen?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Like?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Before they came, they moved the visitors bullpen right like
they student.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
I think it was like got renovated, right.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
It got renovated.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
They didn't really move it so much as they took
out all the barriers to let the fans come right ball.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
What was that like?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Because obviously when you're playing West Virginia upstate, like there's not.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
That many fans.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
West Virginia was rowdy in the bullpen. Virginia.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, there were some fans down there, tripping a lot
of the bullpen guys.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I like that.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
But that's fun Like what was that like?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
I mean, for something, anyone's ever said something to me
like in the bullpen. But I mean they were just
looking stuff up from my oh yeah, on the website
and just saying a bunch of random stuff, which I mean,
some of it was funny. Most of it was funny,
just like making funny jokes and plays on the stuff
in my bio, Like my aunt and uncle in a restaurant,
So they were saying a bunch of stuff about that, sure,
(08:07):
like like, oh, you look like a finance bro. You
look like you'd be color playing. It's also in my
bio I got just saying stuff like that. But yeah,
it was funny.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
Gosh.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
I do remember getting chirped for being twenty five years
old a lot, especially at the LSU.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Man that was fun.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Man, Nate, I thought, you're uh, your season last year
was sick. You don't see many freshmen, you know play
let alone play well, let alone be one of the
studs on the team. So for you to make the
you know journey you did last year was sick. I
got to go into the mindset of that first SEC
start though as the freshman. That's something I did when
I was twenty four doing it at eighteen nineteen. Like
(08:45):
were the nerves there were?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Like?
Speaker 6 (08:48):
What was that mindset?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Like?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
Yeah, I mean if I was saying I wasn't nervous,
I'd be lying, Uh, there's definitely more nerves than like
my other starts. But I did my best to turn
those near it was into adrenaline, and I mean the
first inning it was like lakes were definitely a little shaky.
It's just I mean, that's good. It's a different environment.
But yeah, yeah, I did my best.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
To get it.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Grows you up, man, like you're ready for every environment
that we're going to pitch in this year, right, you know?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah late, and you made ten appearances and your debut
was against Morehead State. Just first of all, as a
Kentucky guy whose parents came here, what was the moment
like when you took the mound for the first time
we're in the Jersey.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
It was so surreal, just like knowing I was committed
here for two and a half years in high school,
went through a lot of injuries and stuff like that.
Just getting here and walking out or running out to
the mound for the first time was crazy. Like you
don't you can't explain it, the feeling and knowing that
you're at your hometown school, with the school you grew
(09:49):
up cheering for. And if you would have asked me
earlier in my life what support I'd probably be playing,
I would have said basketball, But I probably I realized
that pretty quickly that basketball wasn't going to be my
thing for Kentucky, but uh, to go out there and
pitch against more at State, it was awesome for it
to be all My family was there, so that was
super cool, and not everyone gets to do that with
(10:10):
their family there, so it was It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
In terms of being in the dugout, I know there's
always ways you can contribute even when you're not in
the game, and that's something coach Minji and harps On
tell me about kind of staying engaged in the dugout,
but also taking time to watch what the other guys
were doing, how they were attacking hitters, and just learning
the game more.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. Well, it all really starts
in the fall, Like you see the returning guys and
the inner squads, how how much energized they are for
each inner squad and everyone wants to go compete and
you're like, dang, dude, like I want to be a
part of that and get weird and all that. But
going into the spring, just thinking of the craziest things
you can do in the dugout.
Speaker 6 (10:51):
To get the boys going, whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
It takes, whatever I think. I miss v State, like
we had our shoes on our hands clapping them together
and wanedning trying to get a going. We had a
whole train going on at Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I remember that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Uh, just whatever we can do to get the Fellaws going,
get the position players going, and feeding off the energy
of the guy off the mound. Like Roselle really talks
about getting your shut down after we score, and it
brings the energy to the dugout and seeing guys go
out there and get their shut down just makes you
even more so want to be on the edge of
the fence screaming anything.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
So being the Lexington guy. How much fun do you
have introducing the players that aren't from around here to
local things like, Okay, we have the chain restaurants that
everybody else has, but if you guys really want some
good wings, let's go here.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
If you want this, let's go here.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah. I've taken Nate around a bunch of Chevy Chase places,
whether they go Bourbon and to loose was greater? Is
the first time you've had it here?
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Greaters? Yeah, Greaters, Yeah, bearon the Butcher obviously, BHG restaurants.
We go over there a decent amount, take people around
Big Kahuna, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Yeah, we're gonna have me hungry over it. Let's go
get some money.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah, all the all those places are fun to go
to and show the show the guys whether they can
take their girlfriends, their families whenever they come in town
and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
But I gotta say it's a lot better having Laighton
and Blue and White than coaching against them in high school.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I was wondering how far we going before thank You beat.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Me a couple of times. But man, I'm awfully proud
of you, man, because appreciate it. It takes it takes a
ton to be the Lexington kid and to be one
of the few in that locker room knowing how much
this place means to the community. And you know, you
win here, like you're the man forever. You know you
get that, Like what would it mean for you and
(12:47):
both of you can answer this to get back to
Omaha for this program for the second time? Man, how
much do you all think about that?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I mean we probably think about it every day in
our preparation, getting each practice, each lift, grinding everything out,
knowing that maybe that extra step is what takes us
to Omaha and the group of guys that we bring
back this year. Like, I think we have such a
good core group that we're so close, like hanging out
off the field, being together in the locker room and
(13:14):
stuff like that that I think we have a real
shot this year of going out there, host in a regional,
hosting a super, competing for the SEC Regular Championship and
tournament and all checking all those boxes. Like those are
goals that I think each player in this locker room has.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Yeah, Yeah, And Coach Minch talks a lot about being
detail oriented and that's what's gonna take to make it
back to Omaha is taking care of those little details.
And we working every day in practice and we have
quotes quotes of the day before practice every day and
Minch has started having us players like come up with
the quote and like introduce it to the team and
they explain it. And I feel like a lot of
(13:50):
the quotes are related back to what it's going to
take to make it farther than we did last year
and make it to Omaha. Whether that be like details
or like being present or just anything like that. Like
I feel like it can all be related back to
to what it's going.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
To take when we when we broke through the wall.
Like in twenty three, the be the be where your
feet are, be present mattered so much because in twenty two,
you know, we made the run, we did our sec job,
but we lost like four or five mid weeks and
that was the difference. Yeah, you know, you guys as
the older guys now in the locker room, the leader
some of the leaders on the team, the culture of
(14:27):
being present and like this lift matters, this practice matters,
like when you get to the season, this non conference
game is gonna matter, Like this Tuesday game is gonna matter.
What speak on that a little bit, just how important
that is and what you guys are you know, bringing
to the table as the leaders this fall.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Yeah, I mean you can't follow the end of the
trap of repetition, Like I know, it's repetitive, Like we
like lived a lot, I means the same stuff. Yeah,
but practice is very similarly structured every day. But I
mean you can't take any of that for granted, Like
you have to tech each and never lived each and
every practice the exact same with the intent to get
one percent better. And I mean you can't. You can't
(15:07):
have facet like you've got to You've got to fully,
fully focused and have to try to get something out
of instead of just going through the motions and late.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And I was going to say, you can speak on
this too, because like you guys are focused on the
l Shues and Oklahoma's and every Tennessee's. But then on
those Tuesday nights, Man Eastern Kentucky, Moorhead State, Murray State,
those guys are wanting to come in here and get
a piece of the Wildcats.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Now one hundred percent. And it all goes back to
what Nate said, the detail oriented. We had a meeting
a few weeks ago where coach Man just talking about
stacking your piles, and yes, a few guys in the
room like, what are the three best things you bring
to the field as player? Some people said fastball, slider, command,
some hitters said like power, stealing, ceiling base and stuff
(15:50):
like that. And you just told us, like, think about
those three things and stack those piles higher and higher
every day, because each of us aren't going to bring
the same thing to everything. Like obviously Nate righty, I'm
a lefty. We have completely different pitches and stuff like that.
We're not going to bring the same thing to a game.
So being able to stack those piles and make every
person better each day in their own way is huge
(16:13):
for our success.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Take me through a little bit of that in the bullpens.
When you guys are out there working with the coaches
or you're getting ready to practice. You all have different
styles obviously, different arms, slots, different angles. But how do
you bring that together to talk to each other and
share your experiences and maybe give a piece of advice
that your teammate might use to their benefit.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean Coach Rozelle, he loves when we communicate
during catch play. That can be like communicating the shape
of a pitch, or like if you see like something mechanical,
like a mechanical adjustment, your partner should make like relay
that to them. But and he always talks about how
like our staff is just everyone's completely different from one another,
(16:55):
Like you mentioned like lefties, righty's over the top side
armors like a sinker, seem different o speed pitches like
none of us are the same, which is what makes
us so effective, like as a staff. So I think
just communicating with each other as best as we can,
regardless of what stuff we have. Just like I mean,
(17:15):
it's very helpful, like during catch play.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, I would say also, like with playing catch every day,
you play catch with a lot of different guys and
you begin to learn what their cues are and what
good things happen, like what their shapes should be on pitches,
Like even playing catch with Nate knowing that his fastball
is going to have that life and if it doesn't,
I'll be like, hey man, that was going this way,
(17:39):
like stay behind it, or he knows like sometimes Mike
cues are pulling off and pulling my head, so just
tell me to stay in line and stuff like that.
So knowing your catch play partner's huge as well.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I mean, you two are both obviously candidates for the
weekend rotation. You can get bought in on your spot
all you want, but the real challenge in the fall,
for six months before opening the day is how can
I get as good as physically possible, mentally possible to
be the best picture I can be for the Cats
in the spring. What are those things that you guys
are working on individually, Like what's Coach Rozell been like, hey, Nate,
(18:11):
like you need to do this over the next six months.
This is the guy I want you to be, you know,
when the springtime comes. What are you all focused in
on more than anything in this fall?
Speaker 5 (18:21):
For me, and this goes back to last season, just
having that like dog about you. Sure when you're on
the mound, like you can be completely different off the field,
but like when you're on that mound, like just have
like that predator mentality about you. And that's something that
I've been working on and I'm still working on. It's
just I mean, I wouldn't call it an alter ego,
(18:42):
but just finding that like a different mindset when you're
out there to help you go out and attack the
best he can. So that's something I've been working on.
Just pounding the strike zone.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yeah, Yeah, my biggest thing this fall going into the winner,
just refining my delivery, perfecting my delivery and just having
a pace to my game that I sometimes lack in
a way, but I feel like it's grown a lot
over the last few weeks.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
And and bullpens.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Just working on staying above my or over my back
leg and then going down to the mountain after that.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
So it's a little little difference, man, a little mental mechanical.
You know, everybody's got their individual thing you're working on.
That's the best part about the fall.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Well, and the other part of this is the scrimmages.
And I know you guys are getting tired of scrimmaging
against each other. Luckily you've got an exhibition to gets
morehead state coming up as we record this. But I'm
just curious, because you're going up against your teammates, they
know you, they know your tendencies. You guys know kind
of their swing paths. How does all that come together
to help each other get better? Where you know, the
(19:46):
hitters might see something because Nate, they know what you
want to do out there, so maybe they see something
when they're standing there facing you. Yeah, obviously they're not
going to say anything at the time, but maybe afterwards.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, I mean, coach min Stress is like givingting each
other feedback. So like the first couple scrimmages we did,
like the hitters would give the pitchers feedback and like
what they saw, and like that helps you as a
pitcher not only against like playing against each other, but
also against other guys like on other teams, like just
knowing like oh, this pitch looks like this, I can
(20:17):
play this pitch off this pitch, but like knowing what's
effective in what counts just based off what our guys
tell us is super helpful.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Coach Rozelle does a great job too in the fall
of working in some stuff that not necessarily your best stuff.
Like you want to work on a change up, He'll
mix in a change up for the next outing a
decent amount, and he mixed it up enough where you
don't have as many tendencies in the fall. It's maybe
what you did in that bullpen that week. He wants
to work on it in a game and see you
(20:46):
compete and go out there and give your best change
up to a guy, and then the next day, maybe
your slider was the one that you need to work
on in a bullpen, he wants to see it against
a hitter in a game. So the fall is very
develop middle in a way where you can work on
see what the hitters do with it, and then they
give you your feedback on it.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I remember that in twenty three, coming back off the elbow,
like I was ready to go by like mid January,
and that four weeks before we had worked with the
four seam fastball that rose, but also the two the sinker,
and you're like, dude, I just want to see like
you're gonna be fine. I just want to see what
it looks like every time before you get to two
strikes through that sinker into the writing, see just play
(21:25):
with it. And we worked at a ton said cat
dev would set up on the interhalf we'd started in
the middle, run it back on hands like, and it
was just like, let's find out if you can do it,
if it works, because here in a couple of months
we're gonna need to know, so you might as well
find out now. And I think that's a great thing
that we guys do. I can't you know, I can't
think about Nate Harris with I'll think about Garrett Cole
(21:48):
because somebody told me that, uh that that description and
I just can't, like unsee that is Garrett call your
favorite picture, Like who's your guys's picture that like you
try to emulate.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
I wouldn't say I really try to like emulate anybody
sure gotten that comparison before the Garrett Cole.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Oh that's just what I heard from somebody last year.
It was like this dude's literally Garrett Cole and I
just cannot see it.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I wouldn't say i'd like try
to directly emulate it off, sure, but I mean he
is a fun guy to watch Jacob de Gram as well,
like just the fluidity of their emotions.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
Cubs fan socks socks.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
I couldn't a lot of that going around on some
of our I couldn't name it socks player over the
last ten years. So I don't know who. Who's your
favorite picture of going up on.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
The socks growing up? Put me on the spot.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
That's what you're here for, That's what the podcast is for.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
I mean I wasn't really old enough to remember, but
Mark Burley, Yeah, was like somebody I liked watching highlights of,
Like I was too young to watch them like on
the TV, but just watching his highlights.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
Good ball player, what about you?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Last year?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
My MLB comparison, it was aj Minner, a reliever for
the Braves and recently Connolly early for the Red Sox,
he got pulled up literally probably four or five weeks
before the playoffs, made a playoff star for the Yankees
the same day that what's the dude's name for the Yankees?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Schmidt?
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Schmidt, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
He made the start for the Red Sox that day.
But both those guys have been guys that I've seen,
tried to watch some of their delivery and take to
my catch player on the mound.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
So I got a feeling schlittler. Yeah that's a Yankees fan.
You know they lost, by the way. Yeah, well I
gotta feel there. Not very far, but I got a feeling.
We're gonna have a shout to watch these two play
some Pro Bowl.
Speaker 6 (23:43):
But I'm glad.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I'm glad they're wearing the blue and white. Man, I'm
pretty fired up about the twenty twenty six cats. You
guys got a real shot and me and Darren are
fired up to.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Watch them before we let you guys get out of here.
First of all, have you ever been to Kaufman Stadium?
I have, Okay, I've been there too. It's a neat
it's old, like definitely from the.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Sound fountains are awesome. Yeah, it's pretty cool. If you
haven't been there the city, I have not.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Lastly, I'm i mean first time in like ten years,
we got a different catcher behind the plate.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Burk's graduating graduated now.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
And so what's that been like?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Just kind of learning some new backstops and developing that
chemistry this year.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
I mean, one of the Catches is our roommate, Tigger,
So I'm just getting to develop that relationship with him
and off the field, like it's definitely helpful on the field.
But I mean the three guys we got, Oj and Duffy,
like they're all great, like amazing guys, like really fun
to throw to and just learning getting comfortable like with
each of them throughout the fall, which I mean, the
fall provides us the opportunity to do that, So like
(24:47):
just getting comfortable with each of them, like them learning
us and what makes us click, like what pitches, like
we're comfortable in in different spots, and just like knowing
our cues too, like mechanical cues, like they'll tell us
like from behind the plate like stay through me or
anything like that, like them learning us. Is the fall
gives us the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
We're you have to watch the scrimmages, watch watch them
work because that is going to be interesting. That's gonna
be a whole new dynamic because the last three half
years it's been deaf.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Yeah, so that's that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I gotta go to be different.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
I got a good feeling we're in good shape.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, it's going to be a fun team. We can't
wait for it. Guys, this was a fun show. We
appreciate you joining.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Us, Thank you, thanks for having us, for having us.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
The Harris Twins they're not related. Layton Harris and Nate Harris.
For Darren Williams, I'm Darren Hedrick. We'll talk to you
next time. Right here, I'm behind Kentucky baseball. This is
the UK Sports Network.
It's another edition behind Kentucky Baseball and we're happy to
have you with us. I'm Darren Hedrick alongside my co
host Darren Williams. We call him Coach Dubb these days
because of his extra duties off the field. And this
week we're going back to the mound to visit with
some pictures because that's Darren Williams's favorite subject. And we
got the Harris twins with us, but there's no relation.
(00:20):
We got Layton Harris and Nate Harris. First question, guys,
has anybody ever asked if you're related, like a casual
fan or anybody in Lexington, like, hey, are you guys
brothers or something?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So we had an assistant trainer last year, Luke, and
we came in with the same last name and we
made this whole story up about how we're third cousins.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
That's awesome. I love it.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We said, like we had an uncle Jimmy. I'm trying
to think what other names we pulled up, pulled out,
but it's.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Bobby, that's all. That's all.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, we would like count down from three and he
would test us to see if we knew who our
uncle was. And it was like uncle Jimmy told him
that we were third cousins and he believed that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
That's a great story. I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Just so folks at home, No, Layton is from right
here in Lexington, and Nate is from Yorkville, Illinois. I mean,
but still we're calling them basketball here at Kentucky has
the Harrison Twins. Baseball's got the Harris Twins.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
We'll take them to two Stuntsno, right here.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
One of them is a right handed pitcher, the others
a leftander. Like there's no relation at all, No what,
there's no what? All right, guys, your number two with
the Wildcats. First of all, how important was the summer
for you, Nate, just to continue growing off what you
did last year?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Yeah, I mean I split time between here and home.
But when I was here, I was I did my
best to be super intentional with the new guys. All
the freshman pitchers were here, and then there was a
couple of transfers. But I was just doing anything I could,
like in the weight room here, like whatever, just getting
them acclimated to the place, because I know coming in
as a freshman like it can be nerve wracking, like
(01:58):
getting yourself situated to like an sec environment, like, I mean,
that's not an easy thing to do. So I mean
I went through it late and went through it so
I just did my best to make it as easy
as possible for those guys. And it's still an ongoing
process too.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
So late and how about you, man, what did you
do this summer?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Just try and continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So I was in the New England Colusion Baseball League.
It is about an hour away from the Cape in Newport,
Rhode Island. I went up there, got to be on
a seven day plan, starting games every Wednesday, and then
they gave us a membership with the YMCA, so I
would go over there. Brent Jones, our strength coach, would
send me the full week plan. Throwing was kind of
(02:36):
on my own, depending on how I felt and stuff
like that. Bullpens, but really just grinding out, treating it
like a test out, just to go out there and
get the summer rest reps and then also get the
lifting piece in, get stronger, get faster, all that.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
While we're on the subject of Newport, Rhode Island, that
place is sick.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
I played two summers in that league for the Sanford
Maynards Man and I made a start his like July fifth,
I think at Newport and that place was awesome. Yeah,
the most weird baseball field ever. But it's like right
by the water. There's like three thousand people on top
of you and just speak on the experience. They all
made it pretty far right.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, we ended up losing in the semi finals of
our division, but we won our division throughout the year.
And literally, like you said, Downtown is right next to
the ballpark. It's the oldest ballpark in America. And all
those people would just flood in, like they'd hear the
noise from the baseball game be like, oh the goals
are playing. Yeah, they finish up dinner their dinner reservation
and come right over and watch over. Yeah. And there
(03:37):
would be a ton of games where because it was
right on the water where a fog would just come over.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We had like.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
An hour fog delay one time. But the experience was awesome.
The fans were amazing up there. Even the owner, Chuck,
he is so personable with you and make sure you're
taken care of. The host families are amazing. Yes, yeah,
experience you have.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
You both are you know, very similar as freshman last year,
obviously threw a lot for US. Nate, you ended up
pitching a lot, you know, on the weekends, so you
didn't go play summer roll late and you went. You
didn't throw crazy ton, so you went and played summer ball.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Playing in the summer was one of the best things
that I did, you know, to learn myself? What did
you learn about yourself as a pitcher during the summer
and getting on that routine of pitching every week.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I think just having so much confidence in what you're
doing on a day to day basis, and knowing that
you're doing the right things whenever you're going in to
get your lift in or getting some mobility in.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And even and starts.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Just making sure that you're refining all your pitches and
having confidence bringing it back to here into the fall
and knowing that you belong and knowing that you can
do the stuff that the little things that will go
a long way in the end, you can. This summer
you got to grind out for another what two months,
so it's like an extra added on season. Where As
(04:55):
I didn't get as many innings as Nate during the spring,
just adding on in the summer able to get those
raps is huge.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's gotta be valuable, man Nate for you. Sometimes freshmen
get eased into things, you get a role here there,
they were just like, hey, Bud, we're gonna put you
Friday nights in the sec have at it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
What was that experience?
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Like, Yeah, I mean started off as the midweek guy.
I mean I was. I was super grateful for that opportunity,
and things just like fell in a certain way. It's
where eventually I was coming in on Fridays and I
just try my best to like have an open mind
with it all. I mean, even just coming in last fall,
like that was the main thing, which is keep an
open mind, like things are going to happen, Like you're
(05:35):
gonna deal with stuff good and bad, and so just
keeping an open mind through it all. And that was
the mindset during the season two, Like obviously it's a
tremendous opportunity to be able to do that and to
be able to help our team that way, and so
I just try my best to make the most of it.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And yeah, I just enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
I mean, as a competitor, you want those roles, right,
you want to be in those spots. But from you know,
coach MINNGI own, coach Roselle and the staff. How did
they help kind of take some of that pressure off
of you so you could just focus on going out
there and executing your job.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Yeah, I mean Coach Rozelle, he's he was great like
all of last season, just reminding me to you know,
trust my stuff, like just reminding me of their trust
in me. Coach Minch as well, like throughout the season.
That was super helpful. But ultimately, like what I kept
falling back on was just like trusting my stuff and
you know, believing like that I belonged, which like as
(06:28):
a freshman that I can take like a while to
like have that belief. So like, once I got that belief,
I just I took it full force. And yeah, just
kept going and.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
It and it culminated in the Clemson Regional. You went
up against the host team in an elimination game and
fired a quality start six innings, three runs. Kentucky won
that game eliminated the Tigers. But the season to that
point had prepared you for that moment, right.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Yeah, yeah, hundred percent. I mean it was just like
any other game. I mean definitely, the stakes were definitely
obviously elimination game, losing, go home, winning advance. But honestly,
like I just tried to treat it like any other game.
I mean, yeah, obviously it was a super cool environment.
As a freshman to like be in that environment, it was.
It was a cool experience.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
But what was that bullpen?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Like?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Before they came, they moved the visitors bullpen right like
they student.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
I think it was like got renovated, right.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
It got renovated.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
They didn't really move it so much as they took
out all the barriers to let the fans come right ball.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
What was that like?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Because obviously when you're playing West Virginia upstate, like there's not.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
That many fans.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
West Virginia was rowdy in the bullpen. Virginia.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, there were some fans down there, tripping a lot
of the bullpen guys.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I like that.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
But that's fun Like what was that like?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
I mean, for something, anyone's ever said something to me
like in the bullpen. But I mean they were just
looking stuff up from my oh yeah, on the website
and just saying a bunch of random stuff, which I mean,
some of it was funny. Most of it was funny,
just like making funny jokes and plays on the stuff
in my bio, Like my aunt and uncle in a restaurant,
So they were saying a bunch of stuff about that, sure,
(08:07):
like like, oh, you look like a finance bro. You
look like you'd be color playing. It's also in my
bio I got just saying stuff like that. But yeah,
it was funny.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
Gosh.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
I do remember getting chirped for being twenty five years
old a lot, especially at the LSU.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Man that was fun.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Man, Nate, I thought, you're uh, your season last year
was sick. You don't see many freshmen, you know play
let alone play well, let alone be one of the
studs on the team. So for you to make the
you know journey you did last year was sick. I
got to go into the mindset of that first SEC
start though as the freshman. That's something I did when
I was twenty four doing it at eighteen nineteen. Like
(08:45):
were the nerves there were?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Like?
Speaker 6 (08:48):
What was that mindset?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Like?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
Yeah, I mean if I was saying I wasn't nervous,
I'd be lying, Uh, there's definitely more nerves than like
my other starts. But I did my best to turn
those near it was into adrenaline, and I mean the
first inning it was like lakes were definitely a little shaky.
It's just I mean, that's good. It's a different environment.
But yeah, yeah, I did my best.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
To get it.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Grows you up, man, like you're ready for every environment
that we're going to pitch in this year, right, you know?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah late, and you made ten appearances and your debut
was against Morehead State. Just first of all, as a
Kentucky guy whose parents came here, what was the moment
like when you took the mound for the first time
we're in the Jersey.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
It was so surreal, just like knowing I was committed
here for two and a half years in high school,
went through a lot of injuries and stuff like that.
Just getting here and walking out or running out to
the mound for the first time was crazy. Like you
don't you can't explain it, the feeling and knowing that
you're at your hometown school, with the school you grew
(09:49):
up cheering for. And if you would have asked me
earlier in my life what support I'd probably be playing,
I would have said basketball, But I probably I realized
that pretty quickly that basketball wasn't going to be my
thing for Kentucky, but uh, to go out there and
pitch against more at State, it was awesome for it
to be all My family was there, so that was
super cool, and not everyone gets to do that with
(10:10):
their family there, so it was It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
In terms of being in the dugout, I know there's
always ways you can contribute even when you're not in
the game, and that's something coach Minji and harps On
tell me about kind of staying engaged in the dugout,
but also taking time to watch what the other guys
were doing, how they were attacking hitters, and just learning
the game more.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. Well, it all really starts
in the fall, Like you see the returning guys and
the inner squads, how how much energized they are for
each inner squad and everyone wants to go compete and
you're like, dang, dude, like I want to be a
part of that and get weird and all that. But
going into the spring, just thinking of the craziest things
you can do in the dugout.
Speaker 6 (10:51):
To get the boys going, whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
It takes, whatever I think. I miss v State, like
we had our shoes on our hands clapping them together
and wanedning trying to get a going. We had a
whole train going on at Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I remember that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Uh, just whatever we can do to get the Fellaws going,
get the position players going, and feeding off the energy
of the guy off the mound. Like Roselle really talks
about getting your shut down after we score, and it
brings the energy to the dugout and seeing guys go
out there and get their shut down just makes you
even more so want to be on the edge of
the fence screaming anything.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
So being the Lexington guy. How much fun do you
have introducing the players that aren't from around here to
local things like, Okay, we have the chain restaurants that
everybody else has, but if you guys really want some
good wings, let's go here.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
If you want this, let's go here.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah. I've taken Nate around a bunch of Chevy Chase places,
whether they go Bourbon and to loose was greater? Is
the first time you've had it here?
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Greaters? Yeah, Greaters, Yeah, bearon the Butcher obviously, BHG restaurants.
We go over there a decent amount, take people around
Big Kahuna, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Yeah, we're gonna have me hungry over it. Let's go
get some money.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah, all the all those places are fun to go
to and show the show the guys whether they can
take their girlfriends, their families whenever they come in town
and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
But I gotta say it's a lot better having Laighton
and Blue and White than coaching against them in high school.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I was wondering how far we going before thank You beat.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Me a couple of times. But man, I'm awfully proud
of you, man, because appreciate it. It takes it takes a
ton to be the Lexington kid and to be one
of the few in that locker room knowing how much
this place means to the community. And you know, you
win here, like you're the man forever. You know you
get that, Like what would it mean for you and
(12:47):
both of you can answer this to get back to
Omaha for this program for the second time? Man, how
much do you all think about that?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I mean we probably think about it every day in
our preparation, getting each practice, each lift, grinding everything out,
knowing that maybe that extra step is what takes us
to Omaha and the group of guys that we bring
back this year. Like, I think we have such a
good core group that we're so close, like hanging out
off the field, being together in the locker room and
(13:14):
stuff like that that I think we have a real
shot this year of going out there, host in a regional,
hosting a super, competing for the SEC Regular Championship and
tournament and all checking all those boxes. Like those are
goals that I think each player in this locker room has.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Yeah, Yeah, And Coach Minch talks a lot about being
detail oriented and that's what's gonna take to make it
back to Omaha is taking care of those little details.
And we working every day in practice and we have
quotes quotes of the day before practice every day and
Minch has started having us players like come up with
the quote and like introduce it to the team and
they explain it. And I feel like a lot of
(13:50):
the quotes are related back to what it's going to
take to make it farther than we did last year
and make it to Omaha. Whether that be like details
or like being present or just anything like that. Like
I feel like it can all be related back to
to what it's going.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
To take when we when we broke through the wall.
Like in twenty three, the be the be where your
feet are, be present mattered so much because in twenty two,
you know, we made the run, we did our sec job,
but we lost like four or five mid weeks and
that was the difference. Yeah, you know, you guys as
the older guys now in the locker room, the leader
some of the leaders on the team, the culture of
(14:27):
being present and like this lift matters, this practice matters,
like when you get to the season, this non conference
game is gonna matter, Like this Tuesday game is gonna matter.
What speak on that a little bit, just how important
that is and what you guys are you know, bringing
to the table as the leaders this fall.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Yeah, I mean you can't follow the end of the
trap of repetition, Like I know, it's repetitive, Like we
like lived a lot, I means the same stuff. Yeah,
but practice is very similarly structured every day. But I
mean you can't take any of that for granted, Like
you have to tech each and never lived each and
every practice the exact same with the intent to get
one percent better. And I mean you can't. You can't
(15:07):
have facet like you've got to You've got to fully,
fully focused and have to try to get something out
of instead of just going through the motions and late.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And I was going to say, you can speak on
this too, because like you guys are focused on the
l Shues and Oklahoma's and every Tennessee's. But then on
those Tuesday nights, Man Eastern Kentucky, Moorhead State, Murray State,
those guys are wanting to come in here and get
a piece of the Wildcats.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Now one hundred percent. And it all goes back to
what Nate said, the detail oriented. We had a meeting
a few weeks ago where coach Man just talking about
stacking your piles, and yes, a few guys in the
room like, what are the three best things you bring
to the field as player? Some people said fastball, slider, command,
some hitters said like power, stealing, ceiling base and stuff
(15:50):
like that. And you just told us, like, think about
those three things and stack those piles higher and higher
every day, because each of us aren't going to bring
the same thing to everything. Like obviously Nate righty, I'm
a lefty. We have completely different pitches and stuff like that.
We're not going to bring the same thing to a game.
So being able to stack those piles and make every
person better each day in their own way is huge
(16:13):
for our success.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Take me through a little bit of that in the bullpens.
When you guys are out there working with the coaches
or you're getting ready to practice. You all have different
styles obviously, different arms, slots, different angles. But how do
you bring that together to talk to each other and
share your experiences and maybe give a piece of advice
that your teammate might use to their benefit.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean Coach Rozelle, he loves when we communicate
during catch play. That can be like communicating the shape
of a pitch, or like if you see like something mechanical,
like a mechanical adjustment, your partner should make like relay
that to them. But and he always talks about how
like our staff is just everyone's completely different from one another,
(16:55):
Like you mentioned like lefties, righty's over the top side
armors like a sinker, seem different o speed pitches like
none of us are the same, which is what makes
us so effective, like as a staff. So I think
just communicating with each other as best as we can,
regardless of what stuff we have. Just like I mean,
(17:15):
it's very helpful, like during catch play.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, I would say also, like with playing catch every day,
you play catch with a lot of different guys and
you begin to learn what their cues are and what
good things happen, like what their shapes should be on pitches,
Like even playing catch with Nate knowing that his fastball
is going to have that life and if it doesn't,
I'll be like, hey man, that was going this way,
(17:39):
like stay behind it, or he knows like sometimes Mike
cues are pulling off and pulling my head, so just
tell me to stay in line and stuff like that.
So knowing your catch play partner's huge as well.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I mean, you two are both obviously candidates for the
weekend rotation. You can get bought in on your spot
all you want, but the real challenge in the fall,
for six months before opening the day is how can
I get as good as physically possible, mentally possible to
be the best picture I can be for the Cats
in the spring. What are those things that you guys
are working on individually, Like what's Coach Rozell been like, hey, Nate,
(18:11):
like you need to do this over the next six months.
This is the guy I want you to be, you know,
when the springtime comes. What are you all focused in
on more than anything in this fall?
Speaker 5 (18:21):
For me, and this goes back to last season, just
having that like dog about you. Sure when you're on
the mound, like you can be completely different off the field,
but like when you're on that mound, like just have
like that predator mentality about you. And that's something that
I've been working on and I'm still working on. It's
just I mean, I wouldn't call it an alter ego,
(18:42):
but just finding that like a different mindset when you're
out there to help you go out and attack the
best he can. So that's something I've been working on.
Just pounding the strike zone.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yeah, Yeah, my biggest thing this fall going into the winner,
just refining my delivery, perfecting my delivery and just having
a pace to my game that I sometimes lack in
a way, but I feel like it's grown a lot
over the last few weeks.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
And and bullpens.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Just working on staying above my or over my back
leg and then going down to the mountain after that.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
So it's a little little difference, man, a little mental mechanical.
You know, everybody's got their individual thing you're working on.
That's the best part about the fall.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Well, and the other part of this is the scrimmages.
And I know you guys are getting tired of scrimmaging
against each other. Luckily you've got an exhibition to gets
morehead state coming up as we record this. But I'm
just curious, because you're going up against your teammates, they
know you, they know your tendencies. You guys know kind
of their swing paths. How does all that come together
to help each other get better? Where you know, the
(19:46):
hitters might see something because Nate, they know what you
want to do out there, so maybe they see something
when they're standing there facing you. Yeah, obviously they're not
going to say anything at the time, but maybe afterwards.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, I mean, coach min Stress is like givingting each
other feedback. So like the first couple scrimmages we did,
like the hitters would give the pitchers feedback and like
what they saw, and like that helps you as a
pitcher not only against like playing against each other, but
also against other guys like on other teams, like just
knowing like oh, this pitch looks like this, I can
(20:17):
play this pitch off this pitch, but like knowing what's
effective in what counts just based off what our guys
tell us is super helpful.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Coach Rozelle does a great job too in the fall
of working in some stuff that not necessarily your best stuff.
Like you want to work on a change up, He'll
mix in a change up for the next outing a
decent amount, and he mixed it up enough where you
don't have as many tendencies in the fall. It's maybe
what you did in that bullpen that week. He wants
to work on it in a game and see you
(20:46):
compete and go out there and give your best change
up to a guy, and then the next day, maybe
your slider was the one that you need to work
on in a bullpen, he wants to see it against
a hitter in a game. So the fall is very
develop middle in a way where you can work on
see what the hitters do with it, and then they
give you your feedback on it.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I remember that in twenty three, coming back off the elbow,
like I was ready to go by like mid January,
and that four weeks before we had worked with the
four seam fastball that rose, but also the two the sinker,
and you're like, dude, I just want to see like
you're gonna be fine. I just want to see what
it looks like every time before you get to two
strikes through that sinker into the writing, see just play
(21:25):
with it. And we worked at a ton said cat
dev would set up on the interhalf we'd started in
the middle, run it back on hands like, and it
was just like, let's find out if you can do it,
if it works, because here in a couple of months
we're gonna need to know, so you might as well
find out now. And I think that's a great thing
that we guys do. I can't you know, I can't
think about Nate Harris with I'll think about Garrett Cole
(21:48):
because somebody told me that, uh that that description and
I just can't, like unsee that is Garrett call your
favorite picture, Like who's your guys's picture that like you
try to emulate.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
I wouldn't say I really try to like emulate anybody
sure gotten that comparison before the Garrett Cole.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Oh that's just what I heard from somebody last year.
It was like this dude's literally Garrett Cole and I
just cannot see it.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I wouldn't say i'd like try
to directly emulate it off, sure, but I mean he
is a fun guy to watch Jacob de Gram as well,
like just the fluidity of their emotions.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
Cubs fan socks socks.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
I couldn't a lot of that going around on some
of our I couldn't name it socks player over the
last ten years. So I don't know who. Who's your
favorite picture of going up on.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
The socks growing up? Put me on the spot.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
That's what you're here for, That's what the podcast is for.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
I mean I wasn't really old enough to remember, but
Mark Burley, Yeah, was like somebody I liked watching highlights of,
Like I was too young to watch them like on
the TV, but just watching his highlights.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
Good ball player, what about you?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Last year?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
My MLB comparison, it was aj Minner, a reliever for
the Braves and recently Connolly early for the Red Sox,
he got pulled up literally probably four or five weeks
before the playoffs, made a playoff star for the Yankees
the same day that what's the dude's name for the Yankees?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Schmidt?
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Schmidt, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
He made the start for the Red Sox that day.
But both those guys have been guys that I've seen,
tried to watch some of their delivery and take to
my catch player on the mound.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
So I got a feeling schlittler. Yeah that's a Yankees fan.
You know they lost, by the way. Yeah, well I
gotta feel there. Not very far, but I got a feeling.
We're gonna have a shout to watch these two play
some Pro Bowl.
Speaker 6 (23:43):
But I'm glad.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I'm glad they're wearing the blue and white. Man, I'm
pretty fired up about the twenty twenty six cats. You
guys got a real shot and me and Darren are
fired up to.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Watch them before we let you guys get out of here.
First of all, have you ever been to Kaufman Stadium?
I have, Okay, I've been there too. It's a neat
it's old, like definitely from the.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Sound fountains are awesome. Yeah, it's pretty cool. If you
haven't been there the city, I have not.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Lastly, I'm i mean first time in like ten years,
we got a different catcher behind the plate.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Burk's graduating graduated now.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
And so what's that been like?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Just kind of learning some new backstops and developing that
chemistry this year.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
I mean, one of the Catches is our roommate, Tigger,
So I'm just getting to develop that relationship with him
and off the field, like it's definitely helpful on the field.
But I mean the three guys we got, Oj and Duffy,
like they're all great, like amazing guys, like really fun
to throw to and just learning getting comfortable like with
each of them throughout the fall, which I mean, the
fall provides us the opportunity to do that, So like
(24:47):
just getting comfortable with each of them, like them learning
us and what makes us click, like what pitches, like
we're comfortable in in different spots, and just like knowing
our cues too, like mechanical cues, like they'll tell us
like from behind the plate like stay through me or
anything like that, like them learning us. Is the fall
gives us the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
We're you have to watch the scrimmages, watch watch them
work because that is going to be interesting. That's gonna
be a whole new dynamic because the last three half
years it's been deaf.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Yeah, so that's that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I gotta go to be different.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
I got a good feeling we're in good shape.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, it's going to be a fun team. We can't
wait for it. Guys, this was a fun show. We
appreciate you joining.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Us, Thank you, thanks for having us, for having us.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
The Harris Twins they're not related. Layton Harris and Nate Harris.
For Darren Williams, I'm Darren Hedrick. We'll talk to you
next time. Right here, I'm behind Kentucky baseball. This is
the UK Sports Network.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.