Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast

Mike Shildt On Beating The dodgers, Rockies Series, Injury Updates, And More!

Padres manager Mike Shildt joined Ben & Woods for The Manager's Report! Listen here as Mike reflects on this week's trade deadline and adding a few pieces to his bullpen, taking 2 games from the dodgers, playing the Colorado Rockies this weekend, some injury updates, and MUCH more!

Duration:: 13m
Broadcast on:: 02 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

It is time right now for our manager's report with Mike Schilt brought to you by San Diego County Credit Union. It's not big bank banking. It is better. Good morning, Mike. How are you? I'm doing well yourself. I'm good. I'm good. Now. I know you're busy, obviously. You've got you got things to worry about, but there's been some off days and you got some travel. If you watched any of the Olympics yet. And if so, do you have a favorite event? Um, well, it kind of caught me on that one. Yeah. Um, watched very little of the Olympics last night. Um, having dinner, loved the Olympics, loved the dedication regardless of, um, girl was the sport. You know, you're talking about some real dedication. A lot of those athletes aren't in monetize for to do it for the absolute love and passion of their sports and, um, I just love the purity of the competition of it. Um, you know, enjoyed watching the gym. And the ethics last night, um, favorite, favorite, um, summer Olympic. It's hard to say really. Um, I just enjoy the competition of all of it. There's no wrong answer. Although Paulie just said, he asked him about, because they're talking about doing baseball at the 2028 games, maybe with Major League Baseball players. Now that would be a logistical nightmare, especially for a Major League Baseball manager taking what two weeks off in the middle of the season, extending the all-star break. Is that something you'd want to see? Uh, you know, two things. I want to see it. Yes. Um, I love the game being represented internationally and the best players competing internationally. I love the WBC. I think it's a fantastic venue. Um, the timing just doesn't make sense for in our sport. So I don't see what just we have. It works out from a, from a competitive standpoint and a health standpoint. All right. So the trade deadline, uh, you know, and AJ's always been very active. And of course, I made some big deals really bolstered the bullpen. Give me your thoughts on the moves. The acquisition of obviously a Tanner Scott, uh, Jason Adam, we saw him in the first game. We saw hoeing. You got him in as well already incorporating some of the new guys into your team. Yeah, I mean, AJ, you know, he did a great job of, you know, both from that bullpen and, you know, for us, a nice addition. We'll see him tomorrow night to the, to the rotation fills the need there. And, um, yeah, I mean, we got two really, really solid, capable experience back in the end guys in Scott and Adam and, you know, Adam was really good. You know, got him in ending another night and very efficient. Um, with what he was able to do and hoeing came in through strikes and. Our ports to him are very positive too. So, um, definitely nice addition to the club. We're excited to have him. I'm curious. Cause you said, obviously you can't be quite as aggressive as you were the first day in terms of going to the bullpen and like the, the fifth inning every single day, but you are going to be able to be a little more aggressive with more options down there. And, but in some ways, nothing really changes. I know how you kind of talk about having lanes for each of your pitcher and matchups that you like. I'd imagine you're simply going to have more matchups that you like and you'll set them up on a kind of a day-to-day basis. Yeah, I mean, that's how bullpen's work. Um, you know, for your aggressive comment, I mean, yeah, appropriately, you know, um, there's still eight guys in there and he'd be taken care of and, and pitch and be rested and, you know, create opportunities for him in the right spots. Um, but again, it can't, it can't be, um, just aggression for the sake of aggression. Cause it doesn't work for those guys to pitch every day. Did work out really well though on, uh, on Tuesday. What a fun game that was. Uh, and you, you've talked about all year, the, the lack of quits. And I don't see baseball players quitting that often. I, I can't imagine you've seen it much in your career, but there's a difference between not quitting and actually, you know, fighting all the way to the end and coming back and pulling out some of the games like you did. What, where do you kind of see that, that line between guys who are clearly given their all and then that extra that it takes to actually pull off a comeback like you guys did against the Dodgers? Um, I think it's just a really about guys. It's a longer conversation than this. It's a tough question. Um, you're bringing today, my man. That's the tough ones. You know me, but wait until the, the ones I still have in store for you. I can't wait, man. Um, you know, I don't, you know, it's a deeper answer to the question. I mean, no players going to really quit. Um, so that part is fair. Um, you know, but it's a, it's a degree of, of, you know, tenacity consistently in a, you know, almost daily, highly competitive environment. And that's the real challenge and that becomes the subhuman part of, of really big league players. Um, you know, being able to, to bring that mentally and physically every day or the course of, you know, in some case, 162 games and we got a lot of guys that love to play their regulars that love that competition that bring it. Um, that it really does get to be a little bit more about about the, um, dedication, the heart and the, and the ability to mentally bring it every day as much as the physical ability. That's really quite honestly a big separator for for players and teams at this level. Talking to a Padres manager, Mike shilt this morning, the manager's report. Uh, Mike, we have heard here in San Diego in particular over the years all the time. We just haven't played our best baseball yet. We have heard it from manager after manager after manager season after season after season. You guys have played extremely well since the all-star break. Uh, that, that road trip was just really, really impressive. Has this team, is this team right now playing its best baseball or is there possibly more in store? Um, it's playing its most consistent baseball and all, all variables. You know, the, it's really, I've said this all year. Um, you know, the game can be hard. You try to make it as simple as possible. It's only always said that True, you know, it's just about, um, the consistency of all the different parts of the team working together and, um Yes, well, we have, you know, we've been able to get really, really good starting pitching. Um, you know, it starts there. You mentioned about the aggression of the bullpen. Um, you know, that aggression, um, is allowed through, you know, days off or are started going to go deep. Um, that's, that's a recipe that always exists over course for longer season. Um, but the starting pitch has been really good. Well, pen, as you mentioned, been bolstered and been very effective. The offense has been able to execute. We've, we've, um, really had a role in what it bats and been able to, to school runs and run the base as well and our defense has been clean. So when that happens together, you're going to get, um, Your best opportunity shake hands, which is what we, uh, expect to do and have done. All right. I know you're going to downplay this because you know, it's all about your players and you're going to give them the credit and they absolutely deserve the credit. But I thought the 10th inning on Tuesday was maybe like your finest moment of the season of managing and how you, you pulled the strings in that inning leading to the eventual pinch hitting at jake kronowar. You don't see a pinch hitter come in for a number three guy that often, but it worked out perfectly with donovan salano. Uh, you know, the bunt from a rise to set it all up. Can you just kind of take me through like your thinking as you're going into an inning like that and how it may unfold? Yeah, I mean, yeah, the players execute, man. You just do the best you can to put him in those spots. Um, so You know, I mean, first of all, Suarez did a great job on the top of the 10th. Um, You know, one, two, three, leave the gastrin and a second base, um, to put us in a really good spot. Um, not sure what they're going to do. They got a lot. Yeah, it's a tough situation, you know, once you're starting the bottom half of the inning and you know, you got the guy on second base. Um, yeah, they got best either left to you, you know, on the mound and they, uh, they, they pitched around Higgy. I give Higgy a lot of credit. Um, you know, he, he recognized what they were doing and wasn't going to chase to try to be the hero was just going to take what the game gave him and the game was telling him that they weren't going to pitch to him. Um, And so he took his walk and then, you know, Louie, um, got the butt down, which, which puts them, you know, Putting pro for on because they're not going to pitch to pro. You knew that. You knew they would do that. Yeah, that's that and that's the, you know, it's the double leg sort of the decision. Um, and they're probably not going to really pitch to him anyway, quite frankly. Um, even with the, if the bases open it, You know, something doesn't happen with a rise. Um, the best he is a ground ball guy against lefties and Um, so, you know, you move them over. They do what they do with pro And then, um, you know, so on is really good taking big at that. It's definitely good against lefties and you know, it just made sense. Yeah, dodge the double play possibility with the lefty ground ball matchup with the rise. Get the, get the right hander up and maybe even catch the Dodgers a little off guard as they didn't have their writing ready. Well, Great job there. Uh, now the Rockies are coming to town. Obviously team that you've had some trouble with earlier this season. Is that? Is that an all part of the equation as you get ready for this series? You know, revenge or anything. You're just trying to win every game. But is there anything you can learn from those games earlier this season against Colorado? Um, we just, I mean, you get back to how we actually get earlier as the same answer. I don't want to be a broken record, but Um, you know, our starting pitchers need to go deeper in games and, you know, we need to be able to Take advantage of our opportunities offensively and play clean and our bullpen needs to be able to, you know, bring it home. So we do those things. You know, you can insert the opponent. It's going to be the same basic, uh, how it works. That's fair. That's absolutely fair talking to mike shilt and This is one I have to ask just to do my job. Um, got randy Vasquez scheduled for tonight. And I saw Martin Perez, as you mentioned tomorrow team says tba for, uh, for sunday. Is there anything we need to know? Michael king hasn't pitched since last saturday. He's looked fantastic. Are you trying to rest him up? Is there any concerns? Any, any insight you can kind of shed on the, on the sunday pitching decision here? Yeah, that's something I usually have now. So we talk about, um, in our media sessions before the game. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's, I told you he wasn't going to answer that one, but I had to ask it. So they're asked to ask. They're asked and not answered. I know people are just kind of curious and I there's a lot of explanations for it. I'm not, I'm not trying to create a panic. Uh, oh, I don't want to panic either. I mean, effectively, if you really must know, um, michael's still dealing with the comeback or and he's a little sore. Okay. The comeback retook in his last start and he needs a couple extra days didn't mean to, you know, put you under the hot lights and give you the third degree there, Mike. But I totally, I totally understand that. That makes a a lot of sense. And I'm sure that the pot raise fans were listening and going, okay, that makes a lot of sense right now. Uh, as for the other guys, uh, Joe Musgrove, we heard it's going to be thrown again on sunday is the plan and things are going well with him. How about, how about toddy? Just anything you can share about those guys in their comeback? Uh, Joe's going to get a rehab assignment. You have to be determined on, on sunday at one of the affiliates. Um, toddy still in a, in a good place for covering, um, but not in a place where he can, is cleared to ramp up baseball activity yet, but is doing, is hitting the cage. It looks good, feels good. Um, is doing some low impact things that allows him to just and see where he's at and then kind of take it from there. But, um, we don't have any definitive definitive on toddy at the moment, but Joe's training in a really good place and get his rehab assignment on, on, uh, sunday. And before you go, I just, I want to bring it up because it's so important. I don't want to downplay getting a guy, a guy like Xander back and what he's been doing lately, just the impact that he's had, not just on the field. Obviously he's hitting like crazy right now, but just getting his experience and leadership back on a day to day basis. What's, what's that meant for your team lately? I, too. To me, you know, this guy was done for most of the reasons, um, you know, one of the primary ones, obviously, he's a really good player. So having him back in there in the middle of the lineup and being impactful, which he's been a real, real big part of our lineup over the last, um, a little bit before else or a break when he came back, but definitely since the post, you know, a break and, you know, so that part's been great. Um, but just the fact that this is a guy that, you know, has an understanding of what it takes to win, you know, he's won two world championships with this prior club and you know, just a really good influence of what that looks like and you know, models it very well and just a real pro. So, um, you know, it's an asset to having back on the club, for sure. Well, I just want to thank you. Um, I know you were going to save that for, you know, like Dennis Lynn and AJ Casavo later today in your scrum, but shared it with our listeners. They do really appreciate it. I see that in our chat right now. They're going, thanks for the info. Makes perfect sense. And we do appreciate you, uh, skip and we are, we're in your corner and we're cheering for you this weekend against the Colorado Rockies. Keep up the good work, man. And we'll talk to you next Friday. All right, guys. Y'all have a great day. There is Mike Schultz trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again with north sides and bullion as you're not so secret ingredient. You can skip the drive through and do dinner at home nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable and well balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good.