Dodgers RHP, Ben Casparius, Joins Dodgers Daily

welcome to Dodgers da Casey Porter here so glad you decided to tune in fans we have a very very very special guest today right-handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization Ben casparius joins Dodgers da for the second time I've had a chance to talk to you on a couple of other occasions about some of the things that you were trying to adjust over last season so Ben I am so excited to talk to you today yeah absolutely Casey thanks for having me okay before we talk about you got to talk about your girlfriend Aaron Matson the field hockey coach at North Carolina they won the National Championship in overtime in a shootout I know that was a big deal to all you guys talk all about that yeah know it was um it was one of those experiences that was pretty cool just being so close to it as I was um I had just finished up in the fall league so pretty much right when I thought things were going to kind of tone down for a little bit I kind of just jumped right into that fire I got to Chapel Hill I think it was November 8th or 9th and they were were just starting the Elite 8 they hosted the tournament this year too so it was awesome fans everything it was obviously home court advantage for them but it was really cool she had taken the job I think it was January 31st of this year feels like it's been longer but um it was a cool adjustment for her just you know after winning for nates as a player to do it as you know as a coach for her first year was pretty special and it was awesome to be there for her and to witness that so and it's been a whirlwind ever since pretty much for her just with um interviews and you know people coming at her for you know everything you could possibly imagine in terms of you know maximizing what she can do off the field so it's been it's been cool to follow along with that and just kind of see you know where her career off the field is going to take her I've had a chance to communicate with you enough to know just exactly how proud of her you have been so that is super super cool okay so starting this year let's get back to your season this year and you made hey you made a lot of great adjustments so we're going to get into it you started at Great Lakes your first two months you had eras that were below two I mean you were just absolutely on fire everything seemed like everything you threw the home plate landed in the strike zone and everything just went perfect with for you earlier in this season so talk about the start you got off to there at Great Lakes yeah no definitely I think you know coming back to Great Lakes I was pretty confident with the layout with um you know what things looked like within the league and I have to give a lot of credit to you know the development that the Dodgers do especially in spring training just getting ready for the season I felt as prepared as confident in my Arsenal my repertoire and just like where I was mentally in terms of being you know a pitcher that can take on a role starting and taking down Innings and I was ready from the GetGo um I think a lot of that had to do to with the work I had put in you know October until about January and then when I obviously got back to the complex so for me and for the beginning of the Season it was really awesome just to you know you know kick off the way I did um and just Propel that through the year so it was great I always warn people the minor leagues you just can't look at statistics it's always about the process because these guys as they get into the system they're always working on this and they're always working on that and they're trying to just expand their Horizon if you will and just see how just how good can I get before I get to the major leagues right and then you're trying to do all those things against professional hitters so it's you just you just have to look at the process and you can't look at at just strictly results so talk about when you came up to double a Tulsa talk about some of the adjustments you made and boy I'll tell you what it seemed like you unlocked a lot of vlo yeah for sure I mean I you kind of took the words right out of my mouth but for me I think the biggest mental adjustment I made from my first year was just realizing like hey you know numbers are going to say a certain thing on paper but if you go out there with a certain objective whether it's a bullpen session and and like and you know I'll touch on a a little more obviously but there was so much work that went into what was going on with my Arsenal and you know how we were going to attack lineups and navigate through a lineup but that's the whole thing it's all process oriented it's hey how can I use this pitch a little bit better so there were certain games where it was hey I'm going to be really precise with my fast ball or I'm G to you know fastball needs to be in zone above 55% and stuff like that so I I kind of and I kind of started realizing that you know you're going to there's going to be days where things are great and then it's like okay this wasn't great so let's get this here and here and just it's a building block of what really makes guys big league pitchers so and I realized that pretty early on in my time in doublea because I will say in terms of the promotions I think the biggest jump was definitely High a to double a rather than low a to high which I still think is a obviously a substantial jump I just think that the level of competition in doublea is definitely a big jump from highi and I I I learned that pretty quickly no doubt about that and you went periods of time long periods of time sometimes to where literally I mean I've seen you pitch quite a bit at this point going all the way back to Yukon where you were pitching better than you ever have your ball was hotter your ball was moving more it was in the strike zone more but simply put it just wasn't getting put in the statistics the way that you actually were throwing the ball is that frustrating to you um it is and I think that's where again like the mental growth of just you know we're on the right path um back to the point about the vo I think I want to say last year I think average fast ball was 93.2 or in the low like low 93s and this year it was on average I think 94 and then the last month of the season I think it was above 95 so that's something that we were really taking a look at a deep dive like hey you know what like vo just it's it is how it is it helps your stuff play the harder you throw the harder it is for guys to make adjustments and that's obviously going to make my my offs speed stuff which is my bread and butter better so that was a big step up for me and now it's hey like when do we throw this when do we throw that you know I added the curveball I know that's one of the big steps I took in double A just you know when are we going to use the curve ball it was only one of those it was a pitch this year where I think I was getting swings 10% of the time so in that case it's really important for me to land it in the zone and that developed and got better and better that was a big piece to the success I was having the last month and a half or two months of the season and then in stin in the fall league as well so it's just a learning game it's it's figuring out when to do what and you know taking a deep dive into the hitters and seeing you know how I can use my stuff to the best of my ability and to obviously you know disrupt what the guys are trying to do at the plate what exactly was your mix that you ended up with you have the fast ball curveball slider change is that right yeah um we and that was another thing too when I got to doublea I was kind of more consolidating the slider profile so instead of a range from 82 to you know 8990 at times like how can we get the floor being you know ideally 85 86 85 on the low end so just kind of making a little bit tighter a little bit better for inzone usage rather than swinging miss out of the zone and then I was to kind of just play with it and see what I can do against certain hitters and what they're seeing so that was a that was a big deal as well you mentioned that you sat 95 is towards the end of the year you touched 98 I had you at 97 a little bit earlier so obviously you locked unlocked something that that allowed you just to continue to climb that V chain didn't you yeah and I think it's a part of it is just trusting the coaching staff I mean they I mean you know how it is we pump out guys that are throwing upper 90s all the time it's something that you know buy into the process you know be willing to learn be willing to try different things in the middle of the week even if a start is in two days or so so I think just you know being able to absorb information and then just obviously just you know try on air in bullpens and see where it takes you and I think the sky is a limit being a Dodger in terms of how hard you can throw and that's obviously around the board it's going to make you a better pitcher Ryan denick and and uh Ryan Dennick was your pitching coach there and then also during linger the two pitching coach system that's pretty cool isn't it yeah they're um they're both really special guys um and for me my relationship with both of them was was great it was you know we're not going to blow Sunshine but we're going to get after it every single week and it was productive every single day of the week start day there was a and and I was I was regardless of the result I was prepared and it was it was due to them and the the amount of work that they put in throughout the whole year and I was really um I had a great time with both of them work one thing I noticed about you that I was totally impressed with Ben you worked a lot harder it seemed like on your days that you didn't pitch than on than on your actual game days yeah um and I think that's a testament to just being able to be durable I think I I take at least I take a lot of pride in that after after the season I probably logged close to 25 or 130 Innings and then with spring training on top of that that's kind of what propels you into those situations and feeling good late late on into August and September and then for and then this in this year obviously October and November too so that's I I just think around the board that's what needs to be done just in order to feel good because you're not going to every single day but I think as long as you are on a program and sticking to what you need to do it's going to help you in the long run to make sure that you canile like a good amount of starts at you do feel good no doubt and another thing that you really started doing really well you've always done this very well but I thought you really just got better and better and better at this you pitched backwards I mean you had three or four performances to where I mean you were getting ahead in the zone with curveballs and Sliders and change ups and I mean you were although you could reach back and get the V you were really pushing guys backwards so I thought that was a lot of growth for you too for sure and you know for me it's my fast ball is not my best pitch metrically and it's something in terms of adjustment that's what I'm working on now is just creating a little bit more deception within the delivery whether it's dropping my release height or you know and just getting into my back leg a little bit more to create a plane that's going to allow my fast ball to play a little bit better up in the zone um so for me it's like if I'm going to have success I need to be able to go in in the zone and out of the Zone with my offs speed stuff and just keep guys guessing that's really that's really the name of it you don't want to create kind of a pattern of oh I can I can really jump on this pitch CU I know it's coming and just be able to just navigate again like through a lineup and maybe back back pocket something that you want to throw and wait until you know the fourth or fifth or sixth inning and just you know just pitching and just that's the name of the game is just filling it up with everything and you know keep them keep them honest one thing I hear a lot from pitchers especially from that high a to double a transition that you mentioned is that they get more selective so you might have dirty offs speed stuff like you do I mean there nobody has better offs speed stuff as far as the way that it breaks the tight movement the late movement that you get on it but then again again as you as you get in the upper ranks they stopped swinging at it so now you actually have to throw it in the strike zone has that been a big transition for you I think that's probably the biggest transition in terms of just guys are more selective their strikeout rates are going to cut down because everybody in everybody in high is a really good player right so whether it's a guy who's going to hit 300 or if it's a guy that's going to hit home runs but what makes you I think at least in my opinion what makes you a double A hitter outside of a high a hitter is just like your approach in general is just what am I going up there to do and they never really deviate from that plan so I remember earlier on when I was in doublea I was throwing good pitches out of the Zone with two strikes and I'm like man like how are you not swinging at that and that's really that's really what that's really what the game is is like you're put making a good pitch and there's times they're not going to swing at it so it's like you got to just keep your foot on the gas and keep making good pitches because they will jump on mistakes too so so yeah definitely that was they their approaches at the plate were like significantly more impactful I would I would say from Team to team this Dodgers organization has just a absolute ton of like 25 year oldish I believe you're 24 correct Ben 24 yeah yeah of really just great right-handed starting pitching arms at this point so how do you handle the competition I know you guys are all really good buddies but how do you handle the competition of knowing there's so much talent in the pitching ranks for the Dodgers right now yeah I mean I think it's I I think it's a it's a blessing in a curse right so it's you're you're getting developed to the full of your potential and then if you really Buy in you're going to see just incredible incredible growth but they've also created such a great culture where you know everybody's buying in and that's something that's you know top to bottom we have the best staff I think in baseball I think no no doubt about it especially from just who I've talked to and other team other teams and guys and everything like that so it's a fun I I don't look at it as a competition I look at it as like we're all on this journey together we're having a good time everybody's super super super talented and I mean being on that staff I it was every single day it was you know this guy's going to pitch in the big leagues like I'm watching a future big leager run out to you know for the first inning and it's it's special it's it's really cool and I think everybody works really hard and again like I'm those are all my buddies so I'm pulling for every single one of those guys when Kyle made his debut EMT made his debut like it was just like pure joy for those guys and I mean those are just two examples but those guys work so hard too where it's just like it's super awesome in terms of that just being able to see what they do dayto day and you know whether it's joking around the locker room or the Dugout or just you know working through catch play on the field and talking about grips and stuff like it's we're all in it together at the end of the day so it's the competition's great I know everybody wants to selfishly pitch in the big leagues but it's really rewarding to see like one of your close buddies get up there too too no doubt about that and hey how about this you got the pitch to Diego Carta Hamlet martes I believe Wladimir Chalo came up for a while but another guy Carson Taylor man I was so happy for him to go to the Phillies another position of strength there's a million great catchers in this Dodgers organization so to see him go to the Phillies and get an opportunity maybe an organization that doesn't have you know just one catcher after the other I was super excited for Carson oh for sure I mean CT is a great dude um it was fun you know especially the pitcher catcher battery like we're talking about the game multiple times throughout a game or just throughout the week and just kind of what we're seeing in terms of like getting if I lined up with him that week just getting ready for games and stuff like that and I'm super happy for him he's gonna he's going to get a good shot and you know if he keeps doing what he's doing he's gonna be in the big leagues for sure one of the things I think I have respected about you the most from the time your time all the way back to North Carolina to Yukon to all the times that I've seen you with the Dodgers is that you want to compete against the best you want to be around the best you want to be on the best teams you want to compete against the highest of competitions so I know you had to been fired up when you found out that you were going to the Arizona fall league and then that was probably a great experience for you cuz those are some of the best young hitters in the entire game of baseball so that's a super awesome challenge for you so I know that had to be a really good experience for you it was it was so awesome it was one of those things where like you know subconsciously I was and I you you knew you knew that I caught steam a little bit the last month and a half of the season um you know the curveball was there the fastball V was ticking up I was throwing it in better spots in zone and it was it was one of those things where like I was like man I wish I had you know four or five more starts at this thing because I feel like I'm really picking it up and luckily enough I was invited to the fall league and it was just such a great experience not only just in terms of baseball and on the field but just you know one being around the guys that we are with with the Dodgers organization is five or six just awesome dudes and then obviously da who's just you know one of the best in the business truly just such a great guy and then I think it was the I I've I've talked to my parents friends everything because they've asked about the experience I think the biggest thing was probably just the validation piece like hey we know everybody one through nine is is an elite hitter is an elite infielder outfielder whatever it is so to go out there and you know cuz I was up I did have some up and downs there there were some great outings there were some ones where I was struggling to get through an inning but the validation piece of oh I can get out at this level that's probably the biggest thing I took away from it in just being able to pitch that deep into the season and you know be as consistent as possible in that time that was pretty huge for me too so it was it was it was really great it was an awesome experience and it was it was some some really really good talent throughout the entire league which was awesome what I'm hearing in your voice what I heard in your voice every time I had a chance to talk to you at Tulsa is that you feel like there is an incredible amount of momentum that you're carrying into this offseason would that be correct for sure yeah and I think you know everybody's going to struggle everybody's going to you know have those have those times where it's like man nothing's clicking or you know you have one of those days where everything does click and it's it's like that's baseball that's kind of how it is and I don't think I would be doing myself any any favors by just going into next year without a game plan so taking what things that did go really well and then obviously like chipping away at what I need to improve on that's kind of where I'm going and that's really my goal for the next for the next season so guys get to double a and they build their arsenals they build their pitch mixes and they get on top of their pitch mixes like you are right now I mean point blank when you release your fast ball the way that you like when you release your curveball your change up your slider the way that you like at this point you're throwing it better than you ever have so the key now I would ass assume is going to be consistency now from here on out it's build be as consistent as you can would that be correct yeah I would say I would say there's a consistency factor for sure I mean I don't think anybody's going to unless you're one of like three or four guys in the big leagues where it's you're almost unhit a ball every single time you have to be at a level of or have a level of focus that's just unprecedented at every at every moment you're on the field because the minute you you lose that it's going to you know it um and I think again too is just you know the more I'm learning about hitters and they're and kind of what they're doing and trying to do and you know The Scouting Report going into every week I could be a little bit more on top of that in terms of just like deep diving and count by count and stuff like that and again just how my own Arsenal works that's kind of that's kind of the name of it and you know there's guys that are just classic they know what they're doing with two strikes so they know oh oh and then there's guys in lineups where it's like all right I'm facing this guy for the third time he's a really good hitter what do I need to pull out of the back pocket like I said and just and just make sure like I get through that clean inning again to go deep into a game so so yeah tell us about your offseason where you at what are you doing all those things yeah so I finished up the fall league uh early November I was kind of in the The Chapel Hill Whirlwind with my girlfriend just experiencing you know everything that she's been doing it's been awesome she deserves it all um so just bouncing around there um going on vacation tomorrow for a few days just to recharge a little bit with my family and I'm in Connecticut right now but I've been pretty much bouncing back and forth from Connecticut and North Carolina all right very good hey Ben you ready to answer some fun questions yeah let's do it yep okay fun question number one you went to Yukon of course you went to North Carolina but then you went to Yukon went back home you grew up in the the state of Connecticut so you went back and played for Coach penders okay so there's been some talk that Yukon might join the Big 12 of course there's all sorts of talk with different different realignments here there okay if you're pitching for Yukon to for the Big 12 to take Yukon what's your pitch for him I mean in in terms of what they've done as small of a state Connecticut is up in the Northeast I think it would be extremely beneficial I mean you've seen what their basketball team has done their baseball team's a top 20 program year in year out you know I think I saw something today too they're one of like nine teams to win a to win a regional game in the last five years so like they're a contender every single year um and just in terms of the fans too like they're into it it's it's a great school great culture and I think I think for notoriously football players in the state of Connecticut who are getting these big offers to go play at B other Schools they're taking them I think being in the Big 12 in that conference just speaks for itself in terms of football too so I think it would only make our football program better especially with uh coach MOA there and what he's been able to do the last couple years so I think it'd be pretty cool I mean obviously I heard some Rumblings about them in the ACC and this and that but you never it's you you I have no idea where it's going to go it's there's just some craziness right now so we'll see but they're they can be lined up with any conference in the country I think they would do well with how well they do things over there they're in the Big East right now Big East has sneaky good baseball there's a lot of good pitching sneaky yep yeah a lot of good okay so let's get back to your girlfriend Aaron Matson she was actually voted by the ACC Network as a top 10 athlete in the history of the ACC con uh conference she has she is the all-time leading goal scorer at at the University of North Carolina which is incredible she's the four-time national champion she's the head coach there so I got to ask you okay you're a professional athlete and maybe the best organization of all sports Aaron Matson Ben casparius who's the best athlete I gotta go with her I've seen her I mean she she's she's I mean I've told a lot of people this but I think she might be the one of the best athletes I've ever met in my life and top to bottom men or women like we pick she'll pick up a golf stick she'll hit a ball pipe a ball 200 yards straight like she can she's just she's a gifted athlete I I really mean that so I've got to take her I yeah I gotta go I gotta go with Aaron on that for sure yeah yeah okay man you went to North Carolina out of high school adittion then you came back home to Yukon you were super excited about getting to come back home and play for Coach penders it was right after they actually came to Oklahoma and played the Bricktown Ballpark and almost beat Oklahoma that was the most awesome team still I I still talk about that Yukon team just how Scrappy and just how they fought and coach penders and just his mentality was just so fun to watch I can remember that team matter of fact I went over and actually congratulated every one of the Yukon players after that last game because I was so impressed and I can't remember who the best player was but he actually made triple A that following summer I was on the grounds crew I got to see him again but okay so you got to go back and play for Coach penders so if you could give one compliment to coach penders back to him if he's watching this what would it be there's a lot I want to say right now I would say that he just he just has a fire in him that translates to his players like no like pretty much nobody I've ever met before and I think like you said just how Scrappy everybody is and how hard Everybody Plays that's just Yukon baseball that's his brand I think there's no question why I think they're entering their 12th year as a as with Coach Mack pitching coach and Coach Oregon I think it's the longest tendered D1 staff in baseball and I and and that doesn't surprise me one bit and like their loyalty and just what they can do and turn a program into just a Powerhouse every year is something pretty pretty special so I I just think the culture that he creates is just unmatched in I'm lucky too just being with the Dodgers organization it's very similar in terms of what they preach and Yukon without a doubt like they prepared me to take on pro ball to the fullest for sure I tell everybody that will listen and I'm a big college baseball fan Yukon is easily the most underrated program in the United States of America every single year in college baseball yep and and it's no surprise to me at all with all the work they put in how much work the players put in again like it comes down to the Buy in just being showing up every single day working hard and that's just a testament to those guys and who they are as people and how much they care about the program so they're great um and they'll they'll be a really special part of my life for the rest of life too I know you're very close with your family so what is the one thing that you would say that you're Mo there's a million of them kind of like we talked about with Coach penders but what's what's one thing that you could say that you're most appreciative with your with the way that you're raised um yeah I I would say if I had to put it in terms of sports I think like I definitely had a spotlight on myself like from a pretty young age just with I was just naturally pretty good at sports and then with with baseball picking up I think the biggest and most important thing was just how kind of laidback they were so you know baseball was at the baseball field home it was never an intensity that you know burned me out or did anything it was just genuine joy for me and I think just genuine support without any feelings involved or getting too intense or kind of putting any any any sort of pressure on me at all and I honestly don't think I could ever thank them enough for that because home was a safe space for me to be able to just be myself and you know disconnect from kind of the attention I was getting when I was younger cuz that's that's a lot for somebody who is making noise in the Baseball World especially like you see these young guys in high school it's a lot to take on especially now in the social media era I was lucky where like it wasn't a huge huge thing when I was younger because it's it changes the game for sure but I just think their genuine support and like joy for me and love and just kind of letting me be you know be a high school or be a be a teenager but at the same time like really just wanting what's best for me and not putting putting any pressure on me yeah 2017's when you graduated right yeah 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Connecticut an all state shortstop so yeah you talk about all that attention coming your way that that that that can be kind of difficult to to navigate through so it's it's great to have that support group isn't it for sure yeah it was just a safe space that really just allowed me to you know be be the athlete I was and be you know who I was at the field and and then just come home to a really just really just like easy easygoing great family that just really just genuinely wanted me to be happy and have success in whatever I wanted all right here's one we didn't prepare for so I think you're going to be okay with it okay so you know we see a lot of times positioned players have to pitch but if one of the pitchers on staff had to play shortstop who would it be oh River Ryan oh River okay oh he's the he's again like he might be a better athlete than Aaron that that might that might have been a better question but he um he's a freak he really is like I would I would put him out at Short Stop I think any day of the week um and I I know a lot of guys would definitely agree with me on that but he could do it he could definitely do it you ever take ground balls back a short stop take VP or anything like that oh I haven't taken BP really but I take ground balls as much as I can I enjoy that I think it's and just you know especially when you're on the field as as much as we are every day I think taking some ground balls and just being athletic and have some fun with the boys is doesn't hurt at all so we always try to we always try to sneak into the groups once in a while so I'd be good with that till about July when it gets to be about 150 degrees and I'll be like no thanks yeah no it turns into trying to stay inside for as long as possible and then and then enter the sweat box yeah hey did your folks get to come see you in Tulsa this summer yeah they got out a couple of times which was great I mean they're both working so I know it's tough for them but Tulsa is great they have the airport right there again like Midland was definitely a little bit more tricky with trying trying to get flights to Sagen and figure out you know how to get a car from Detroit and everything like that so Tulsa was it wasn't too bad of a trip for them they they were fortunate enough to get out there a couple times which is always great okay last question let's finish on this one what is the coolest thing that's ever happened to you on a baseball field oh that's that's tough um I would say playing in the World Series was awesome my freshman here at Carolina that was really really special I think I went two for five it was against that Oregon State team too with adley Rutman Nick madal Kaden grineer Trevor lck I think that's that's five first rounders right there and then obviously the pitching staff but that was almost unbeatable um but I was player of the game for that game it was my first game back after breaking my foot in May so it was like a month and a half removed from playing kind of just got thrown into the fire and had a good game so that was that was a pretty cool moment probably the biggest not the biggest stage but definitely the most people I've played in front of and then on top of that I think my senior year of high school my last at bat of the state championship was to break Bobby Valentine's hit record so I was tied with him in my last bat I hit a double on the right center Gap to break it so that was pretty cool too because because I I didn't know it at the time I knew I was close and I was getting up there and I had a hit earlier in the game and I didn't remember if it was to tie or to take the lead so now looking back or actually right after the game looking back and that being how it happened was pretty cool so it was a little bit of I think I I think it was an RBI double so it was a little Insurance in the championship so that was a pretty cool moment as well and then obviously just every time I get to put on a Dodger jersey like when I got to play in the AFL it's like a sense of Pride and just being able to put that Jersey on every time is pretty Priceless honestly every single time out so there's been some good moments for sure no doubt about it and hey the great thing about this 24 years old you're still very young the best moments hopefully are still yet to come right I hope so that's that's the game plan stay heal healthy and just kind of just stay with the process that I've been on and I think good things will happen for sure awesome deal hopefully get to see you in Oklahoma City I I get to travel a little bit I'm I'm closer to city than Tulsa hopefully it's a shorter trip for me this year to see you than hey you know there's been a a doublea pitcher two years in a row Michael Grove two years ago imit Shen who went straight from double A to the major league so who knows right we'll see what happens exactly exactly all right Ben hey thank you so much for joining for the second time in Dodgers daily and best of luck absolutely Casey thank you for having me it's always a blast