Rich Hill & His Catcher Jason Turner Talk After His Showcase | Baseball Isn't Boring

bro listen never in my life Associated the word boring with baseball F we know we know what's up me famous yeah and I'm like giddy over there there smiling like holy I mean we're about to win this did everyone give you crap give me a good like host story you know I'm like I'm not picking it up we both love the game we talk about it every day baseball having some popcorn you're ping around your phone i' have to we in line for 3 hours hang on cuz it's about to be a wild ride all right there's no two people I'd rather be talking to right now than Jason Turner St an some great correct yes correct all right all right just want to make sure we always have uh did you ever play Springfield College uh we did not no we were in the n10 all right yeah you're a little you're a little bit better than that so uh okay and and the guy who just had a showcase a guy who just uh dominated in front of Major League Scouts and that's Rich Hill um who he knows science he knows what's what and that's why he's wearing his Japanese baseball and boring shirt baseball is and boring thank you rob for having me on again having both of us on this is a great uh good morning it's it's early it was an early Bullpen but it was great uh felt like a little bit of uh spring training it's it is great and so to set the scene here we're a champion physical therapy and performance in walam Massachusetts and rich just did put on a Showcase in his well documented quest after dominating as a coach for little league to come back and pitch in the major leagues and this was an enormous enormous step and Jason I just want to sort of and you've just talk to me a little bit about your role in this and of your how you've gone down this path of rich and and what you've seen before we get into the the what's what when it comes to what Rich did today yeah happy to and uh thanks for having me on um I would say this started when we were in high school um when Rich was released he was looking for a place to play um and you know we started throwing I'd have Legion games at 3 o00 uh he'd text me and just say you know you mind throwing with me before so it was pretty transactional to start um I was best friends with uh Rich's nephew Lloyd and then um so yeah like I said it was pretty transactional to start and then um this past year we coached the 12-year-olds together um with his son Bryce and that's when we really kind of connected and um it turned into you know like a friendship and it it's been great um and seeing how you know he competes every day and can come back from you know not playing and being resilient he's done it before he'll do it again um and I think it's just been you know really cool to see somebody compete at that level every single day for you know years um so it's been great so when you when you start the process you're like and we all you know we all want Rich to do well and we all want him to to fulfill this journey um but then you know as your little league season's winding down and sort of the rubber hitting me reading the road a little bit and you're catching for him are you like oh man this is this is pretty good right this is pretty it didn't surprise you at all how how advanced he was considering he was the first base coach for the Milton whatever they are Duffy mad Duffy all right all right yeah well I want to emphasize that he was the first base coach and I was the third base coach that was that's a good point but no it didn't surprise me um like I said you know just the level of competitiveness um being able to create a competitive environment in a bullpen session playing catch every day uh working out it's not easy um and I think he's the best I've ever seen at it and you know it just speaks to you know what he's done in the past and what he can continue to do so talk to me a little bit Rich about the ramp up to this we've we've talked a about what you were going to do um and it's one thing to lob in to you know to well meaning 12 year olds and but you're you know you had to throw a little bit you had to keep yourself in shape and then when the season ended like okay let's go talk to me about that the path before you got to this showcase today uh yeah so Jason and I we started we we started working out uh doing track workouts um you know obviously a gradual throwing progression um back in I would say what beginning of June yeah maybe even before yeah yeah um so you know may end middle of may we started playing catch and and you know the progression of of uh you know getting into long toss and then working into to some flat grounds and then going into bullpens uh has been going on for for you know a few months now and and uh I would say 2 and a half months at least and and probably uh solid um month and a half of of real bullpens like really and and when I say bull penes are today was a was a good example of that I think it was close to 100 pitches so um you know the buildup uh I knew had to be there from my standpoint um and and being able to have the ability to be ready to start Andor uh open or uh relieve or you know come in as a long reliever however that might be uh being prepared for every possible scenario had to be built up in that fashion and also I'd like to point out none of this would have been able to happen if Jason wasn't uh you know willing to to you know work every day with me and and uh you know we we've been playing catch almost um you know I'd say you know 5 days a week to upwards of 7even but mostly you know 5 days a week um working in and uh in the schedule when you know it's obviously available uh for both of us and our and our uh uh Little League schedules that are uh very uh uh daunting yeah this is this is this is that that that's obviously the hardest work and this is just the fun part but going back to when and I know you guys I think went down the cape a little bit right to to we did down thas yeah went down toou to to face some hits and also to use I mean they have trackman down there you know every team wants data every team wants to be able to quantify you know okay what does this look like is this real um you know I think the days of uh scouting where you know you would just hear the crack of the bat and tell that the hitter was a good hitter and that was the exit vo uh or you could see a fast ball hop at the end or jump at the end you know that was that was a vertical uh you know vertical um um induced vertical yeah we had no idea we've talked about that right and so now you know which is a good thing uh but also at the same time I think it you know takes away from the ability for uh eyes to see Pitch ability so when you do see guys who can okay wow he threw a fast ball you know right up up and in to a lefty or Up and Away to a to a righty right on the outside corner uh of the strike zone and now he throws a curveball off of that back door and it looked exactly the same um you know yes track man will tell you that but when you see it with your eyes it's like wow it's a different it's a it's it's a it's just a different look and uh um you know that's something that we were trying to achieve um in today obviously with with the scouts being here but in Falmouth um you know gaining the data to be able to hand out and show okay here's you know what what horizontal movement looks like on on my breaking ball here's what the the vertical movement looks like and here's what the V is um but then to couple that with with the vision and and Scouts that have the the eyes that come in and see that that that puts it together and they say okay this makes sense now um cuz one or the other you know um I guess that's where I'm saying that the data is so important now and and valuable because it it just confirms what we see yeah and they want the confirmation they want you know it's it's the fail safe for them it's like it's a security blanket for them right well that's true but also the other side of it I mean I could somebody else could be throwing right and I could say here's my data right and then it's like okay and then and then you show up and it's like well wait a minute we yeah you showed us the data but you know so I'm going to get to the Today's Show uh workout in a second and but I will say this is that you know one of the scouts was you said pitchability and it's like the pitchability was incredible I mean that and that was eyes on like that was pitchability was incredible and that that last time I checked that I not part of the data but that is that says something but I'm going to get to that in a second Jason I I want to so when we when you were down in Falmouth and you were facing hitters and you were catching at I imch right yeah it was y yeah so one of the things is is the hitters reaction we talk about analytics and and measurements and even Scouts watching but the hitters reactions are a big thing what was your takeaway from watching these well-meaning uh D1 you know highlevel college players down the cape League their reaction to Rich pitching yeah I mean it's uh obviously the best summer league around um and you know they're probably seeing 95 96 um but when Rich comes in there and he's throwing 88 and mixes it in with four other pitches um you know their eyes kind of look back at me and open up and they're like what what was that the pitch started behind me and you know it came back into the zone so um it was pretty funny seeing that and pretty cool to just see um you know being a pitcher and being able to locate and throw multiple different pitches for strikes um and keep them off balance what was it so going down there what was the pitch which you know it's the the here comes the one finger kicker that they don't know is you know that's coming right what was the pitch that that really you said they open turned and open their eyes what was the pitch for those kids uh yeah we call it the grass cutter it's the slider sidearm from down below um starts behind a lefty and comes back into the zone so it's good luck hitting it good luck all right so now what was that a week ago or something like that uh yeah it was last it was I think it was last Friday right so yeah okay in between we we had the uh Suburban Youth Baseball Championship which uh Milton national uh boys came through and won which was huge that was awesome a lot of fun we uh long summer and they showed a tremendous amount of uh improvement over the over the year but the Improvement was really the fight that they they kept kept uh kept on which have you ever used the speech the the real winner today is a great game of baseball no that's amazing yeah you're welcome you can use that well that's that's usually for losses a plethora of knowledge as usual so that's a good one all right so now we get to the here and the now we knew that you know you're going to not to say that it was all ramping up to this but it was a big day it was it was a good day and a big day um Rich had you I would imagine you've done showcases before right yeah but that was you know I uh uh probably I'm trying to remember back when I mean College probably you know really that long so you didn't even do when the like the Red Sox signed you in 2014 no I I I wouldn't I I should I I should revert back to that because uh that was that was probably uh you know the the Red Sox were the team that came and watched me throw and uh you know had made some suggestions that made a very impactful uh you know kind of Point into where I was going to jump into uh when I threw your title back in 2014 yeah yeah 2015 yeah 2015 yeah I'm sorry and and being able to uh use those you know points of information moving forward actually um kind of jump started the the opportunity to get back into starting and you know moving from the left side of the rubber to the right side of the rubber just something as simple as that um and then obviously making the decision to go back uh to a starter uh because of pitching in you know independent ball I just said to myself if I'm going to do this I'm going to go back as a starter because I finally felt healthy with my shoulder after having surgery in 09 uh it had been you know many years now since uh I was removed from surgery and a lot stronger um and in a way different position in 2015 than I was in 2009 um so the work and the and the effort that went in into all those years was a culmination of of being ready to get back into starting um but yeah I would say 2015 was probably the last time and then you know the suggestion was to go and and much different than than I was uh in in the position uh today so as far as uh uh you know um pitchability or stuff or kind of completion of uh more complete pitcher uh today than I was in 2015 so you you how it worked was you you had warm-up tosses and I don't have the exact number but it was it was a fair amount and then you had three up downs um and you know I had one Scout who estimated you threw over 100 pitches what Jason what do you I mean do you have any idea does that even like register for you including warm-ups um probably close to it but yeah unless he tells me to count I don't okay you got your your laser focus you got your job to do um and so when you're coming out here it's obviously inside it's out not outside not against hitters but you have the the the measuring the things to measure you have the scouts here um did you feel how did I guess the overall thing is how did you feel it went I felt like it went well um you know the reason we didn't do it outside today with the weather was questionable and I I would have preferred to do it outside I'd much rather pitch off of a mound uh real Mound than a than a indoor Mound um but yeah I thought it went well uh the ball came out of my hand well um um you know again being able to show like uh the volume uh that can be had in a short uh amount of time as well I think with three ups and and close to 100 pitches um you know that's something that I've been working towards and and understanding again that whatever capacity it might be you're ready for that it's not like okay well he's got to be built up for cuz we're we're in August that's that's the that was the main you know the main reason for staying home was to watch uh and and Coach my son and then um you know to to fulfill that and and also be ready in August as I said to to come back and Pitch at the major league level um so being able to understand that and then you know you kind of reverse engineer it so you start from where you want to finish and then you work backwards and you figure out okay this is where it needs to start um and then start moving forward and and continueous ly uh you know moving in the right direction of achieving what we did today so um for me that was that was probably the the easiest way to go about it and and and you know start from from the end to to the beginning it feels like it really does feel like and I don't know if this is a reality because we are in Uncharted Territory a little bit right but it does feel like okay you know as we had we knew this was going to happen you get to this point in the season teams are it's attrition right it's like starters they need starters they need pitching earlier this year attrition yeah I remember with with the 12year olds y because that game they had to fight the whole game they had to fight yeah I let him do the definition I just what do you think he's getting that from like I I'm basically feeding him I'm feeding him in t-shirts and the words exactly but but so but you knew teams were going to be so when you're right I mean it is August we're into August but from what you see or what we saw here today it's not like you say oh well you need five you know minor league outings no that that and again that was that that was the whole idea that was the whole point uh was to be able to uh not throw a 20 pitch Bullpen and you know be like hey you know that's it okay great you know but to say like oh wow okay there's more there's more there's more and and um again to to be ready for whatever situation uh you're called upon to do um is very important and I think that's an important message for you know a lot of kids out there is like always be prepared always be ready uh no matter what the situation is going to come and and present how it's going to present itself because you never know um and and that was that was certainly the the reasoning behind you know the volume of pitches today so again you know we're looking at uh truncated part of the Year where if this is something that uh teams are are as in interested in as I am uh then they understand that you know there's only 3 weeks before September 1st and if we're looking to actually have you know this guy on our postseason roster we got to make a decision you know within the next couple of days and uh you know being ready for that is something that I knew was going to have to happen um you know and you know in the beginning it was it was uh it was it was a lot of fun it was interesting and just to not you know just try to see where we were we were going how I was feeling and stuff like that there were definitely you know uh good days in the beginning and bad days in the beginning of playing catch um but once everything kind of smoothed out it was almost like you know getting back into working out in the offseason then getting into like almost spring training when you're you know ready to go for the season and that's what we accomplished and you so right now you feel you know your body you know what it's like to get out Major League hitters you feel like right now you probably could go out and pitch five innings and yeah and yeah AB have a good l a quality start we six in six Innings three runs six Innings three runs yeah you could do that right now yeah I feel 100% uh convicted behind that so that's good yeah um you know that that we'll see we'll see what Happ I believe you though like I believe not only I believe you from watching today but I believe cuz I don't think you're bullshitting me you know I think you're it's true and so um and so when Jason when you watch him today and you're probably not nervous but nervous for him right I don't know because you guys it's it's a journey right me what was your what was your takeaway from today yeah I definitely I mean I wasn't nervous for him at all he's done this longer than a lot of people um but no I was pumped up for him and uh you know it's just to see his stuff and you know like I said we've been doing this for a few months now and um kind of being unattached to like what is this going to be and just showing up every day playing catch putting in the work um you know I think he's prepared himself for today um and for what's to come so I think uh it was less about nerves and more like hey it's showtime it went pretty well you you feel like yeah I thought he did great um ball was moving great command was great and the velocity was there too so um overall I thought it was you know a great session all right you've earned a baseballs and boring shirt by way extra large extra all right do you do I don't know Tri your triceps never look better I mean it's it's just a strategic thing it's like when the kids where show up like all the Cuban baseball players for their showcase and they wear like the skin tight neon outfits like you show up wearing your baseball is and boring Japanese t-shirt because they know you know number one it shows you your love for the game but also your triceps never look better that's true it takes like 10 years off and internationally uh yeah worldwide who knows maybe a Japanese skel but thank you both excellent job it was it was it was a lot of fun for me to watch and I can tell you right now um I I did my part in putting up video on social media and let's just say there's a lot of fan bases excited about the prospects orinal Pion for them I appreciate it Rob thank you for coming and and having us on [Music]