Tommy Pham Talks Trade to Cardinals | Ep. 113 | The Show Podcast

John uh friend of the show back with us Tommy fam this should be good I mean he was miked up on ESPN and I have to uh thank him for dropping my name in there that was very nice I didn't expect that I know if it was because he's coming on but uh always great to hear from Tommy very very honest guy uh so we love that and looking forward to it very much yeah we have a lot to ask Tommy about his trade his time with the worst team in baseball the white socks a lot more John you and I are going to talk about Pete Alonzo Torres some teams that are good are they great and a little more and we'll play hit at the end if you stick with us on the show with Joel shman and [Music] John John I I wonder if you and I could talk about a phenomenon you you brought it up to me uh we haven't really discussed it in in any detail but there's no team playing 600 ball in the major leagues right now and we've seen teams kind of go into these incredible Swan Dives you know the Yankees had about a month there where they were 10 and 20 uh the Phillies the the Phillies are 4 and3 uh since they were 62 and 13 only the 0 and 18 white socks are worse in that period than the 413 of the Phillies who look like they were kind of running towards 100 plus wins I'm not sure if anyone's going to get to a 100 what why do you think we're going through this yeah I don't know nobody on page for 100 right now the Yankees were the best team in baseball for over two months then they were the second worst for over a month uh Phillies I mean we kept hearing how great their Clubhouse is and I believe it I think they have a great Club House a very balanced team and they've been frankly terrible and I hear that they're a lot of anxiety in that front office right now and uh you get it I mean they they've been bad um I don't know we've hit one of those parody years right I mean how many years is there nobody with 100 wins and maybe someone will rally I mean the Dodgers are not heading that way and that's rare for them they've had ton of injuries they keep acquiring guys who've got an injury concern I think good players but with an injury concern uh Yankees look like they were World beaters forever and I'm not sure what happened to them and that that Tail's been lasted way too long for what it should have been the Phillies it's more of a just a deep dive down straight down you know more than a long one but uh I'm surprised because I thought the Phillies and the Yankees were really great uh through the first 70 75 games yeah you know Dodgers uh were 52 and 32 plus 125 run differential last 29 14- 15 minus 27 if they win tonight when we're doing this they actually passed the Phillies for the best record in the league the Phillies have had the best record in the league since May 4th in the National League John I'm let me test drive some I again you threw it out so I suddenly started test driving some things in my head uh is it possible that the uh the um balance schedule has created some stuff because like you know if you had 19 games against the white socks for example instead of 12 to 13 you could build it up and every division had one of those I'll tell you one that I really have been thinking about a lot because it really was with the Phillies and Yankees the Phillies and Yankees when they were great the length of their starting pitching was terrific like all five guys were purring pretty much four guys for the Phillies Five Guys for the Yankees were pretty much purring along I just wonder between injury how much we use bullpens and how hard every guy throws on every pitch now it's such a Max effort thing can we just not get great starting pitching from Soup To Nuts anymore so like like it feels like the Yankees starting pitching kind of died a month ago it feels like the Philly starting pitching died three weeks ago and I just wonder are we kind of messing up the game so much that nobody can make it through the season well yeah I think injuries and attrition are the equalizers I think that's it I I don't think it's the schedule I mean you know uh fewer games against the AL East should be a better record for the Yankees right and and for the Orioles not a worse record so I don't know somebody smarter than me would have to figure that one out but certainly the injuries are definitely a thing this year particularly the great pitchers uh you know I saw a stat that I couldn't believe uh the top 10 hardest throwing starting pitchers have all been on the aisle this year except for Hunter Green and obviously hunter green has been fantastic and he's a S Young candidate at this point I mean it's really wide open the national league who's going to win the sa young it's what probably wide open in the American League too but uh you know I do think the injuries are are the major factor this year I know that MLB probably doesn't want to publicize that and then certainly got downplayed a bit but uh it's been crazy how many great players have been hurt particularly pitchers you know John if you look at the sa young races aside from maybe Corbin Burns in the AL if you think Zack Wheeler's in the NL it's all non-brand guys right people like and and and again I just wonder if this is the future like starting pitching like we're turning relievers into starters many of them are doing well but what's their durability so many Tommy John surgeries and just again Max effort after Max effort after Max effort I wonder if we're going to go that way yeah it's relievers into starters and rookies that have done it right sches IM managa and certainly I mean the relievers Lugo and Lopez uh crochet uh Lopez just got hurt right he's going to be put on the iil John you mentioned the uh closeness of the sa young races the closeness of the especially the national league wild card so many teams in it uh just to focus on our backyard a little uh again it was something you brought to my attention uh Pete Alonzo said our colleague Mark Sanchez was one of the people who had it he was asked about not having that good a year this year and he countered and essentially said um I was an All-Star I might have 40 homers still I'm not going to get down on myself you know John I looked at it his slash line 240 326 456 it's kind of Dom Smith's slash line 242 327 424 or Carlos Santana 244 329 430 I mean those guys are free agents at the end of the year also so who's uh Christian Walker who's had a better year than him and REE Hoskins and Paul Gman and probably Anthony Rizzo I I just wonder like does he still think he's getting all that money out there is it Weighing on him tell me what you think about Pete yeah I I think he you know he was demoted to fifth so he probably wasn't in the greatest mood although he didn't you know say that which I think is the right thing to do but I think he got a little defensive when the question came up and you know he's put on the spot and uh you know if he's thinking about his free agency the case is his career right his Ops with right right now I think the issue for the fans more than anything is not the overall slash line it's the runners in scoring position slash line right and he's under 700 Ops Runners and scoring position but the case for him is that he was 945 lifetime runners in scoring position Ops it's he's now down to 909 which is still in the top 10 of active players and you know he's had a great career he plays every day he's made himself into a reasonable Defender average Defender close to average Defender you know there is a good case to be made but you you know you know I guess you don't want to be making that case uh publicly and I I just I just think he shouldn't have been citing the allstar game or you know he's on Pace first certain number of home runs because you know I think the fans are looking at it like he hasn't really hit great with Runners and scoring position he was demoted for a reason and just going to have to take it at this moment so you know I think he could have said something better because I do think he has a case to be paid a lot if you look at the offense overall in baseball how it's going down but you know in this lineup they got a lot of good players in this city we have the two best hits in baseball arguably I mean I can throw Otani in there too but two of the three best hits in baseball you know it doesn't look like he's having a great year and he's really not having a great year but his career has been great and that's really the case yeah and look there's still 50ish games to go and the Mets are in this and you know what the fans will remember at the end if he had a great 50 games and help them get in uh you know the Mets only been you know the Mets have only been in once uh dur during his time with the team and his time with the team might be coming to the end part of that discussion also was him talking about getting into the playoffs well there is some pressure on him in multiple ways then down the the stretch here but I always Lean Back Paul O'Neal once said something I quote it all the time which is when your team wins everyone had a good year because then when you win people look and go oh remember we won that tight game in Philadelphia where that guy might have hit 211 but he won us the game and stuff like that so there's still this stuff out in front of them let's transition to another guy in his walk here let me just say on this I that would I think that's true and should be true it's a little bit less true now where everybody's focused on everyone's individual stats right so I mean that I get why he said it uh probably wasn't the moment to say it I've SE heard some stuff on the radio and it's tough to counter it his case is that he's been a great met and you know he's he's he's let's Frank be frank about it he's having an off year for him at this point that's fair John I'm nothing without you I don't look on the internet for stuff I don't listen to all sports radio so like I you without you I don't have a show here so I I I appreciate it uh uh the other uh New Yorker who's kind of in it a little bit in his walk here as glab bores uh obviously there was a big story since we last did the show on Friday night uh he had a line drive that smacked the wall and left center field uh he didn't run at all hardly I Lov J Le the other day he was taking his walk Year too seriously uh going to first base uh but uh ultimately about 45 minutes later it seemed to Dawn on Aaron Boon to take him out of the game we heard some nonsense about that initially uh Waldo Oswaldo Cabrera he had to get Oswaldo Cabrera who switches into the game in the seventh inning or later all the time suddenly he needed 45 minutes to get uh ready I'm still not sure was it 45 minutes I'm not sure it was 45 minutes that was an odd excuse that he he was didn't want to Rouse him Rouse him from The Dugout perch I don't know that I don't believe I think the second day excuse I'm going to buy that I don't know why he didn't use it on the first day uh which was he want to embarrass him and pull him off the field because he he made the last out of the inning he would have been out at second base do you buy that at all I kind of buy that except for that Aaron Boon was in television and he understand smart guy who understands the implication of the Yes Network and others he did remove him from the game from the top step of the Dugout it isn't like they went down the runway he did it in public it's still better than pulling them off the someone and I don't remember this even though I'm pretty old I guess Gil hoders walked out in the fieldes pull him off I mean this day and age social media got all this stuff but he Martin and Reggie yeah he did downplay this one a bit by talking to him on the top step that's where he is he's on the top step I mean if they both went back they would we would have noticed that too he didn't pull him off the field but he the fact that he didn't say that immediately makes me question whether that was real because that that seems like a good explanation to me why not give us that explanation maybe he had to get the blessing of the people upstairs or maybe the people upstairs called him and said it's about time we watched Josh Donaldson not do this like five times right's done it about like look it's a lot and I know that what Aaron Boon would say is glaber plays every day you know kind of stuff I get it I get it not run like it's overinflated perhaps running hard but there is a standard 90% good Major League effort that he falls beneath too often uh and I think it's gone on too long and I'll tell you the two that drove me crazy that night John I talked about it on the Yankee webcast we do at the post number one uh uh Boon said that night uh to defend gaver well he plays his ass off and I'm like well no he doesn't like if he played his ass off would you you wouldn't have taken him out of the game he's a repeat offender like like if Oswaldo Cabrera who plays his ass off Anthony vulpi who plays his ass off or by the way Juan stto plays his ass off kind of p uh pulls that boner you know like where doesn't run you're not going to pull him from the game this is a repeat offender why the C this was the straw that broke the camels back probably should have happened previously Etc the other thing is Aaron judge says after the game oh you know I know he's learned his lesson no he hasn't like he this has been an issue for seven years like by the way if if he actually needed to learn his lesson and nobody has addressed this to this point from the owner to the GM to all the coaches to the manager to the captain of the team shame on them because John just one other thing just real quick because it isn't only base running he's an absentminded player I just wonder if he has trouble because we know he's not a bad guy and we know he wants and wants to win right AG is does he just not have the ability to concentrate for three hours a night yeah I what got me was him saying afterward and of course he had to say it that he was completely in the wrong and that Boon did the right thing I mean that was predictable seven years ago if he had if Boon had done this what there's nothing else he could say and you know do you think is it possible he did this to show that jazz Chism how things are done around here I don't know maybe I'm overthinking it because I mean that's the one knock on Chism right he works hard like he practices hard but actually in the game he doesn't run out every single ball that's the knock on him I I don't know I'm probably overthinking it I'm glad he did it I I like the second day excuse I don't understand how glamber you know suddenly got religion and say oh of course I'm wrong some have you been wrong for seven years in a row uh there's a lot there there was a lot there they have some serial offenders you know before you even get to Chism Verdugo doesn't run them all out you know um Trent Grisham certainly doesn't people are gonna say Stanton but Stanton's doing that to avoid St to protecting his legs at this point and again no vero didn't do it the next day Verdo R hard but glav was Gaber at least he he did it the next day so G the next day also Grisham has run it hard so maybe it was a message we'll see if it it it sticks cross and I think again it's about more than just running hard it's attention to detail the Yankees are not a headyy baseball team across the the the the Diamond they make a lot of kind of forget the physical errors which clearly Gaber made a lot there's been like just a lot of like bad secondary leads bad you know like just you know TR you know not not good transfers to get the ball in quickly beyond the obvious one where we watch them botch it so I I just think that there's like in the postseason every 90 feet really matters even more than the regular season and you just we've seen the Red Sox FL you know could be a playoff opponent kind of run around them the Orioles have the young legs if you end up against the Mariners in the playoffs where it's going to be hard to score runs because of they're pitching like 90 feet is going to really matter and you just can't keep giving it away in my opinion yeah I mean we back to our other topic every team looks flawed right the Red Sox right they can run around they can do some great things they're exciting they're young they made more than 80 errors at this point right I mean they made a lot of Errors I mean the Orioles we thought they were a great team right and we thought they had the prospects to be the one team to come up with somebody great now scoo was never going to get traded that was a media creation and you know we were hoping something great would happen probably and you know I think they considered Snell but it was going to take a lot uh but you know they they they acquired a lot of players at the deadline and maybe they got a little better but they don't look great either right now nobody nobody looks great I know we're picking on the Yankees for all their uh deficiencies and inefficiencies but they're in a big uh boat there with just about everybody uh the Guardians somehow have I think they have the best record as we do this uh but they have about as good a record as the Yankees the Orioles the Phillies and the Dodgers it's been those five teams that are basically around 65 and 45 now not on the way to 100 wins it's it's been a weird year and maybe the Yankees are I we see all the flaws but maybe they're good enough because we don't see all the other flaws and there are plenty around the league John I'll end the segment by saying this I agree with you but one of the things that always bothers me about the Yankees is they always tell us we're in it for the Championships and then when they're held to the standard of winning a championship they don't like it and I'm holding them to a high standard I I agree I'm sure if I watch the Dodgers every day if I watch the Phillies every day I'd see this stuff also I'm pointing it out because the Yankees consistently get eliminated in the postseason and one of the reasons is they're not good at baseball and then I hear terms like but we're gonna button it up and we're gonna work on this and it doesn't really get better and so to me I'm holding them to the standard that they've publicly said they want to be held to except for they kind of don't want to be held to it when when it's it's like the pet Alonzo thing when he's asked directly about like man you're really not performing the way people don't like it I get it we don't have very popular jobs but one of the guys John watch this transition who's great at answering every question it's one of the reasons he's such a uh special guy in the show we uh uh we love having him on a repeat uh guy Tommy fam he joins us after this [Music] break joining us is friend to the show Tommy fam friend of actually anybody who does what we do for a living if you're a reporter you love going to the locker Tommy fam he's always available and always interesting and Tommy we appreciate you uh joining us and one of the reasons we always want you one of the reasons is you have been traded five times you have been traded at the deadline four times you have been traded at each of the last three deadlines and I think on the last show we did together you said I got to get something like an assignment bonus to make sure of it I think you did get it this time $500,000 I wonder if you could tell it's like on one hand it does mean that you're very much wanted by contending teams and you clearly especially last year helped the Diamondbacks uh win a National League Championship but there's also your life your family life Etc tell us about what it is like midseason to be traded as often including the last three years mid-season trades are tough for players um you know getting re acclimated to a new city new team that that's that's really tough then um last year it was kind of unexpected for me personally because going into the season I didn't think the Mets would be in that position so um but this year a little bit different um I I I kind of knew the white socks were going to be sellers so you kind of pack different and um you know you you you downsize on an apartment or you just your whole living situation and and your mindset is is different Tommy it's great to have you on once again and thank you for mentioning me on the ESPN broadcast as you were miked up during the game mentioned me and Jesse Rogers is two of the people who let you know was the Cardinals but let me ask you you're going back you're returning to the Cardinals you've been there once before uh you were very honest on the way out you had there was an issue or two with The Cardinals what was your reaction when you were because I when I texted you I didn't see much of a reaction there was a lot going on in your life at that moment I'm sure what was your reaction to going to the Cardinals I know they gave you the fans gave you a standing ovation when you hit a uh Grand fam right away a game one um what's it like being back in St Louis and being back with that organization well the the fans make it special you know coming back here playing for the Cardinals the fans they they love their Cardinals they adore you they they treat you like royalty they make you just want to go out there and play hard and and play the best you possibly can the uh training staff and the med staff uh a lot of familiarity with uh a lot of these guys I've known since you know minor league days so that's always good another thing that's good is um you know they the Cardinals here they they they test you you know on um certain Mobility strength things and it's good to have the familiarity there from you know back when I was here to see where I was back then and where I'm at today on on ways on things I could possibly be better at um I'm kind of excited about that when I when I was traded here I was I was a little shocked um because uh I I didn't think the I didn't hear anything about the Cardinals you know I I heard I heard some stuff from other teams but not the Cardinals and talking to gatsy you know he was kind of he put me in the loop with two teams maybe two weeks ago and and the Cardinals weren't one of those teams so I I was a little shocked but he he said that Mo insisted that i' be included in the Fetti trade so um you know hearing that it's like oh okay you know I'm I'm wanted here it's always good to be wanted but I I was a little shocked um just because I you know I didn't hear anything about about the Cardinals and um we we've had some talks with them uh this off season and they I was told that they were going to stay internal but you know things change middle of the Season can I guess Atlanta and San Francisco who were the two teams that were interested um he said uh the Dodgers Phillies then um you know reports came out um I was Atlanta I I was told by uh one teammate that Atlanta was going to make a run um I was told by Jesse Pittsburgh was trying to make a run um you know gsy actually asked me you know was there one team I didn't want to get traded to and um for the most part man I told him I'm I'm open to every team you know I just just want to play I love to play the game yeah you know uh Tommy you mentioned uh that when you signed with the white socks you figured this would be your fate uh because the white socks weren't going to be contenders just wonder did you think it could get this bad they've lost 21 straight games and can you put a finger on it like uh what why is it this bad what's wrong with the water on that side of Chicago no you you don't ever expect a team to lose 21 games man baseball just baseball just ain't having it's way on the on the South Side this year it's you can't put your finger on one thing man we're we're just bad as a group you know I think it's wrong to Signal out the manager or you know the the GM it's it's as a group you lose you know you can't you can't pin it on one person you know we we had games where our pitching gave us a chance to win and you know our our our hitting didn't and vice versa you know then uh we had games where late in the game we just you know we couldn't close it finish it on out it's just it's it's a collectible thing guys over there are are doing their best to be better um the coaches over there are are are still coaching still instructing it's just the thing about this game and and you guys see it today man it it's getting younger and younger you know right now the younger players might not necessarily be ready you know so it it there's there's challenges within that you were sent out of there uh before it became historic they tied the American League record with 21 straight defeats yesterday and now they're I don't say aiming but uh the modern record I think is 23 the overall record is 26 but you do not like to lose how did you handle this personally uh did you take it personal it's yeah of course you know because over there I wasn't I wasn't playing my best but it it's it's tough you know I remember Mike schi told told my team in doua when he was managing us in is he said uh it's tough to put up numbers on a bad team and you know when he when he told me that I you know you kind of kind of goes in one ear out the other but it didn't resonate with me as much until this season when uh you really start to see it like from um offensive standpoint this this year i' I've never faced so many leverage arms in a season um while I was on the white socks you know it was like every day we were facing the eighth or ninth inning guy and that that's tough you know you just don't you don't make a living Hitting off of those guys but you know when you're in close games all the time um and the starters going deep that's just that's just the nature of the game you're always going to face um in that division too you know the Jack and and um Duran and cl say like th those guys are are really tough man and here we are always facing them it's just you don't make a living Hitting off with them and um as a team you you need everybody to to just do good really you know to to help you out and uh Mike Mike schield statement never resonated with me um as much as it did this year Tommy you obviously and Eric fetty were traded from the white ELO gimnez there was almost as much news about someone who wasn't traded right g g crochet uh who was an Allstar this year and made a through his agency made a public stance about uh not wanting to go to the bullpen if he got traded and not wanting to pitch in the postseason unless he got an extension if there was a a trade uh you're about as competitive as a guy as we deal with and yet there's players rights also and this is a guy coming back from not pitching a lot for pretty much his whole career what what do you think about G Koch's stand uh leading into the trade deadline and what do you think of G crochet you were his teammate he's a he's a great guy um he's a competitor he works hard and and he's a he's a stud on on on the mound I I honestly wasn't mad at him for saying it because I told him well look what happened to me I said I got traded to a team that I played hurt for for two months you know my my foot was messed up for two months I I reached all my incentives I I could have I could have took it home in September and but I I chose to play hurt for a team that had no no obligations with me after the season um I was getting shot up with toall every week during the postseason playing hurt for the team and was I rewarded for it absolutely not so I'm I'm not I'm not mad at him one bit because there's no loyalty in the game from from the the front front office side so he's protecting his his family you know it it now if he was to get traded it it it would definitely suck to be uh you know watch him not possibly pitch in the postseason but you know seeing the the business side of things um I can't be mad at him I I took more than half of a pay cut to play this year and I I I played hert for two months when I could have easily just went on the the DL and made sure my foot was right before I played the only thing that suffered in that was was my numbers you know my WRC went down playing Hur um but the only thing that helped the team was my presence in the lineup now yeah absolutely I didn't realize that with the Diamondback ler and I was covering you guys through the playoffs um you know you had maybe your numbers overall weren't as good as they were with the Mets but you had a big finish you had a four for four game uh and I think you gave up an a bat right to Jayce Peterson when you were four before you could have been five for five I would think that counts in free agency uh but you know me tell us what exactly free agency was like I mean you saw your old team signed a guy you had a little bit of a rivalry with Jack Peterson which people know about for a very very large contract and uh what was it like for you uh not having that option uh you had other possibilities there's there's no rival rivalry with me and J that that's over with um free agency I thought it was going to be a better free agency for me because there was a a ton of interest from about half the teams which in comparison to the year before there there just wasn't that um but as month by month passed um and no offers came in it was like all right what's going on then I didn't get my first offer until after spring training started so you know that's odd within itself so um you know I think it's kind of you know the nature of our CBA now so it's going to be interesting I I would assume it's probably going to happen again next year to a lot of guys and you know maybe the year before the CBA things will start changing so we'll see yeah funny how goes um if I could just go back to the trade you were you were traded with Eric fedy who was a first round draft choice it didn't really work with the Nationals he went to play in the kbo in the Korean league and he came back and he's been terrific can you you tell he seems like a remade pitcher is is is it as good as it looks on a statistical line uh fellas I I put him down as a Allstar in my on my ballot when uh when you know when the players voted um I thought he you know start after start he was going out there giving the team an opportunity to win um he just gets out and and what's wrong with that you know um at the time he had uh one of the highest Wars amongst pitchers um you know it just wasn't on a a sexy team you know you put you put him on um you know let's say uh a winning team at the at the allstar break he's probably an All-Star just you know um when when you're not on a winning team and and you're playing good like him it's it's tough to really get the allstar appearance you he probably deserved yeah I just want to say I'm with you on crochet I thought he was a terrific guy met him at the All-Star Game and same with fetty I mean he was seven and four with the white socks that's pretty amazing so I I think you had a good very good point there about your teammates I just want to know if you're still in touch with the white sex guys do you follow it are you rooting for them not to break the record and how are you how you of course man of course I I I'm seeing every day if they won the game uh just hasn't come yet um there has been a lot of guys that have text me um on that team but um I'm pulling for him you know uh we became friends so you know you just you don't want to see your guys struggle uh Tommy uh you were met last year uh and in our opening block we were John and I were talking about a few things including Pete Alonzo struggles uh this year especially runners in scoring position but just the numbers across the board are kind of down for a guy who's had a really good run and who's in his walk year you played with him surprised at all that is the walk you're getting to him you mentioned how good the pitching is in general I mean I think the League wide batting average is 243 this year uh what do you think when on Alonzo I didn't I didn't realize he's struggling um I haven't I haven't really been following Pete this is a news to me um I saw he had 20 plus homers on the board so I mean it looks like he's going to no impede he's going to get over 30 maybe over 35 so that's I mean maybe that's a down year for him I mean I would love to have that right now um you I gez I only have six you know it's the balls aren't going this year you know it's it's it's it's really affecting me I thought the white socks I thought the ball in in in Chicago was dead than on the road and um I complained to MLB about that um it it of course gotten got nowhere but you know I I just think the ball ain't flying but it has nothing to do with exit velocity like why why is my exit velocity down I I know what feels like 110 off the bat versus not you know I'm barreling up balls this year that on the board it says you know 98 and I'm like there's no way that's at least 105 so you know maybe that's happening over there with Pete maybe he's hitting balls that might feel like 110 to 115 and it's only you know 105 uh it the balls feel really soft this year I I have some I've kept some balls um there's been reports that the drag is down you know it's you know there's a reason why the offens is off some numbers are way down and the pitching numbers are are better this year it's it's there's no coincidence you know I haven't heard that much go ahead sorry yeah the Pete I don't Pete to me has one of the best swings in in baseball I really like his movement um I don't I don't see him being a guy that's going to struggle you know I haven't heard that I mean we know the offensive numbers are way down and the league batting average is in the low 240s the op yes is there 700 or so so maybe a little bit over that uh I mean is this something you guys you talk about with all your teammates and other people and is there a consensus on this because I really had not heard this that much about the ball yeah oh it's definitely down um I've I've talked I've talked to a lot of people you guys remember that ball uh that I hit in C cower robbed me in Centerfield and um it was off camra um it's said it was 102 at 29 and I was looking up at the scoreboard you know when he caught it to see how hard I hit it and it said 102 and I was just like I was kind of looking like there's no way I just hit that ball 102 it felt like at least 105 plus and that like how I I just want to know how the exit velocity is down when my strength numbers are up so I it it's then you know if you hit a ball to center field or Oppo like it just it's just not traveling like it's almost like you H you have to pull the ball out to get it out but we'll see you know TV games ball usually flies better um we we'll see man maybe maybe it might be that like that year in 2022 when that report came out we shall see you know I want to ask you one more more personal type question uh you've talked about this occasionally uh you have an eye condition uh and how is that how is that go Cara tonus I think it's called yeah how is that going how how much of a because a lot of people are amazed that you're able to play Major League Baseball because it certainly does affect eyesight uh where where does that stand now have you had surgeries or what or is it drops or how does that how do you deal with it yeah basically I've had a surgery um in 2011 that stabilized the condition basically kept my condition from progressing and I need really Advanced contact lenses to play the one of the biggest issues with me is and I work with a lot of doctors granted I have a a a really great team who I mean I'm lucky to have these doctors uh because they're they're so helpful and um they do everything for me to try to help me see the ball better on the field and there's been technology that has come out that has kind of helped konic eyes with uh for contact lenses and there's a certain contact lens it's uh it came out last year and I'm the guinea pig I'm the guinea pig that's the only problem you know um I'm the guy testing these lenses out giving the information back to docs um and I've literally gone through at least a hundred different pairs of contact lenses from this company um and you know they're not they're not cheap um granted you know I um I I look at it as an investment uh because once I figure this out it's it's going to be perfect now let me I'm going to explain this to you guys you guys got to follow me think of your think of your eye as a clock right you know 12 o'clock all the way around there's three components to a contact lens right there's the astigmatism issue for me I have really bad astigmatism now you need the astigmatism to sit at the right Axis so let let's say I need the stigmatism to sit at 6 o' but it's But the lens is at but it's sitting at 4:00 my vision won't be as precise because it's not sitting at the right Axis so um then there's of course the right amount of power you know you don't want to be over minus um because there's effects with that playing wise so I've never been able to play with a stigmatism in my lenses because I have a football-shaped eye and putting a circular lens on a football-shaped eye there's movement issues well the technology has come out now we now we're able to put stigmatism in my lens and a GP lens because the fit is stable right so last year I was playing with a stigmatism for the first time in my career um it might not have been at the right Axis because I got the lens is literally right before spring training so what we found out is all right now we got it at this AIS which is pretty much the hard part and now we're just trying to figure out you know what power to put in to give me the best visual performance on the field so you know I've I've learned a lot you know I've told the eye doctors if they could cut off half half the amount of years I'll go I'll go to school to be an ey do I just don't want to do eight years you know give me like four years already and I'm I'm there sure but yeah a deal you know right I'm the guinea pck you know I'm I'm figuring this stuff out um I'm I'm figuring out how much of stigmatism I need at what axis um at what and how much power I need you know I'm it's a process and that's why spring training is so important for me because I use a lot of those at bats to test out these lenses not really caring anymore you know how my performance is until like you know the last week or so spring training because I'm I'm testing out these lenses giving information back to the doctors and and letting them know about you know this particular lens do I think it's do I think it has potential or whatnot um to help out others because we're learning that a lot of baseball players have kerak conus now granted uh some of them a lot of them are pitchers but I I know I know some hitters too be easy can't be easy didn't didn't your pitcher on the Arizona have uh Nelson I think yeah yeah yeah he has it man he has it um I've learned Ronaldo Lopez has konas he had a surgery um that's why he's pitching a lot better you know he got his vision picks um there there's quite a few guys there's a lot of minor Leaguers actually but it's harder with hitting I would think than pitching definitely definitely harder to hit yeah yeah uh well that was great of you to share Tommy I I think we we really appreciate it I think all our viewers and listeners will appreciate it why don't I end it with one last uh personal another personal one which is I I I want to give some roses here uh there's only seven players left from the 2006 draft it's Kershaw Sherer Adam adino who was also picked by the Cardinals your year Justin Turner Paulo Espino I wasn't expecting David Robinson in you from the 16th round let's think about that you know 18 years ago from the 16th round it's pretty pretty impressive uh we see how modern you stay the way you could talk about your eye situation I just wrote down you talked about w URC you talked about war you talked about exit velocity you talked about drag so I know you're staying young but you are 35 you'll be 36 by the next one you've gone through a lot of crap as far as trying to yeah 36 as far as trying to get contracts and stuff uh and getting traded how much long you are you back next year how much longer do you want to do it I I feel like I have uh a lot more game left granted uh I I've been jokingly telling everybody on on uh you know the white socks and and I told Willie McGee this on the Cardinals I just wiped out um nine years of positive de defensive run saved in three months in Chicago um so I I don't I don't know how the front offices are going to view me now because I don't think I'm I'm minus 13 DRS and you know I'm getting docked on on crazy things that I feel like I have no control of and you know the front offices now are going to view me as um a liability now when I don't I don't view myself that and um you know if you were to see me play and you would say man he's minus 13 you would be flabbergasted by that but I do think um I still could play I mean I just got to figure out why I'm not hitting as many home runs this year um because that's an element of of of the game that teams are going to want um but I think they still value you know my my at bats um you know I'm I'm I'm a tough out um I know how to play the game oh it also says I'm I'm a negative base runner which I've never been a negative base runner in my career so I I have two months left to right the j& J so uh let me see what I could do man so I I still want to play I still love the game um I mean playing at a significant discount again that that that to me is is kind of disrespectful when I see how much guys make around the league um I'm I'm not on board with that but we'll see let me ask you this I mean you you've lost some weight you did start as a center fielder you started opening day as a center fielder your first year that you made uh the team at spring training with the Cardinals uh is it possible that you know I don't think they're just willy-nilly giving bad grad to everybody with a white socks is it possible that it's has to do with the positioning and they didn't have the positioning correct for you and that that explains the uh unusual Dr Dr is it DRS I'm not sure out above average whatever it is yeah DRS there there's many elements involved in in DRS U outs above average I think it's a pla stat too um I I was arguing with um um the analytics over in Chicago all the time everybody knew I was mad with the uh positioning over there then I was told they're ranked in the middle of the pack and um I told them well that's not accurate what I'm seeing on the field there's just a common sense element that that in in an endgame element that's not Quantified now like you could you could see how a guy is pitching a hitter and you could say all right you know I see this and I know he's going to hit the ball to my right and I'm I'm positioned in the G in the Oppo Gap you know then when he hits the ball down the line it's like man you know I I saw this you know instinctually then you know they always tell you well you have the freedom to move when but they're grading us on our positioning so I you know how much freedom is there to move you know if I'm being graded on my positioning then also you know you get penalized for let's say there's a guy on first base right and a ball gets hit down the right field line or the left field line um you know for an extra base hit if that guy scores from first base you're going to get docked and a lot of people don't know that you know if a guy if a base runner goes first to third second to home you get docked in the Outfield Your your job is to prevent the extra 90 you know you got to keep him from from taking the extra base but you know let's say you're playing in The Gap let's say I'm playing in right center field in the in the The Hitter hits a ball you know through that three four hole can I really prevent him from going first to third second to home no you you can't so I mean I wish I wish that they would just make every hitter play straight up or I'm sorry they make every Defender play straight up so that you guys could really see you know all right if we all played straight up and there's no positional element involved where will we where will we rank you know then uh you know in the white socks I there was a lot of balls where I was playing right field and I'm playing to the line and we got Robert playing in The Gap and there's a ball hit to Right Center which you know off the bat I'm like oh it's the center fielders then it falls and you know of course I get docked because you know the stat cast says it's closer to me but instinctually it's like that that's his ball you know if I'm playing over instinctually you you know I'm you're telling me I'm guarding the line and and in not right center so then they then everything's Quantified now you know all you you only ran for that ball at 27 feet per second and you could your top is 29 point something you know so it there there's a lot of elements involved man and it's just it's there's just no common sense you know my my instincts of the game get my nine plus years in the majors plus my time in the minors gets thrown out you know because the the the computer says this well we're gonna create a new stat and you're going to be the champion of it which is CSAA Common Sense above average and you're you're I love it you're you're gonna be our ch for it and you're you're a champ for coming on we we always appreciate it Tommy when you join us and as always we do do again now uh good luck down the stretch with the Cardinals and by the way we'll do it early good luck in the offseason I hope you don't go through the grinder again thank you fellas appreciate you [Music] guys John and I thank Tommy fam of course for joining the show John hit or error I'm GNA say hit for the LA Dodgers and their fans for that warm reception for Freddy Freeman coming back guy never misses the game he of course missed the game for young son three years old Max uh who was out with a serious ailment in the ICU for a week he is back home now thankfully and I thought it was very warm very touching and a very nice welcome back for Freddy Freeman can I give a hit not there's no error in the Yankees acquiring Juan stto obviously he's the best hitter in baseball probably not named judge uh but you know what the Padre's made a pretty good trade I'm gonna give him I'm going to give him a hit there they turn Drew Thorp into Dylan ceas uh Michael King the question was about durability he didn't make his last start because he got hit in the calf by a ball but he's up at 124 in third Innings uh as we're speaking he pitches Tuesday night he's got a 326 ER Kyle yashioka has over 500 slugging percentage he's hit a bunch of home runs this year and Vasquez has been part of their r and burrito has been up and down as part of the bullpen not a bad hall for Soto when you consider how bad some returns are on great players especially great players in their walk year yeah I mean AJ PR the the GM of the Padres he looked like he was going to cry that night when he gave up stto but you know what uh we knew Michael King was going to be really good he was outstanding at the end of the year last year for the Yankees you have to give up something good to get something great and they certainly did Padre's good to me I mean uh you know they're they're keeping Fort holding the fort uh right now in in the rotation obviously with ceas and King at the top of it Vasquez in it as well but Musgrove should be back soon and they're hoping darish is back and they have that lock down Bullpen at the back end with Adam with Scott and with Suarez nobody's got a bullpen like that and uh you know and to do that in this year where you know everybody was holding their prospects and teams were demanding a ton for anybody and even rental relievers uh you know I think they're going to turn out to be okay a lot of people were kind of ripping the Padres for giving up so much for a rental reliever but hey they got a shot at the World Series and they're they're taking it yeah and their fan base loves it and they're coming out to the ballpark so that's that's really really something also uh and let's not forget Fernando tatis Jr hasn't been playing either and they should get him back probably for the stretch at some some point uh we always thank our producers Jake Brown and Tommy Hogan for helping us through the show thanks Jake and Tommy uh the New York Post sports YouTube page give us a view Apple Spotify wherever you listen to your podcast rate and review and John we're getting into the dog days here about what seven eight weeks left in the season I hope everyone sticks with us on the show with Joel Sherman and John Heyman