Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast

Mike Shildt On Another Walkoff, Merrill's Power, Bullpen Consistency, And More!

Padres skipper Mike Shildt joined Ben & Woods for The Manager's Report! Listen here as Shildt talks about 3 straight walkoff wins at Petco Park, Jackson Merrill showing off his power, how he can get more consistency out of the Padres bullpen, and MUCH more!

Duration:: 26m
Broadcast on:: 21 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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They've been around for a while. But man, pretty cool. It's definitely cool. And I was obviously watching the game last night. And I thought to myself when it happened, it was such a sigh of relief. I know you had to be feeling it too. I know Jeremiah Strada probably feeling it as well. And what a gamer he was to step up last night and take the ball skip. And you know, for you though, you know, and everybody knows, that's not the best sustainable way to win baseball games in the future. But I'll sure take him over losses right now. Yeah, I think that's pretty clear. Not sustainable, but you know, you win games in weird ways. And you put on our C2 games, man, you're going to have different kind of games. And I think we've all seen that following base over the years. And, you know, it was a game where just go ahead and come on the other on the good side of got to home runs from both Manny and Tatice. I mean, that is such a welcome site for Padres fans. But I want to talk about Jackson Maryland this recent power search because, you know, I remember kind of hearing the scouting reports going at some point in his career. This guy might, you know, develop some power to go with all the other tools that he has, but didn't expect kind of to happen right away. Six home runs in eight games. Are you seeing anything, you know, different from Jackson? Where where is this coming from right now? You know, Jackson's throwback is kind of a maybe not a great way of describing it. But but my point of getting mad, first of all, he did something that only Willie Mays is done. God rest his soul, you know, passing of an obvious legend and a real miss for our game. But what a what an icon and one example of greatness on and off the field. But when I'm getting that with Jackson, you know, a hundred years ago when I was doing this and the game was played a little differently and and taught a little differently. Right or wrong, in general, guys like Jackson, our guys in general would learn how to hit. They'd learn how to drop the hits ball the other way and learn how to, you know, be a good hitter. And then then the power would come and they would learn how to get comfortable and, you know, pick their spots and they had a had a stroke that allowed them to use the whole field, which allowed them to be consistent at bats. And then as we all know, the game worked into more of an all or nothing outcome. When that case, I think Jackson's a little bit of a throwback. You know, he's a guy that has really good bat to ball skills, values that, you know, just trying to take good at bats, getting his hits, you know, base, you know, taking what the game gives him. And that was, you know, maturing quickly, I would, I would add into learning how to drive the ball. You know, I don't like to compare players, but Jimmy Evans was like that. If he's always created and had a lot of modeling homers, he'll have the power ended up becoming a borderline Hall of Famer. And a guy that ended up having some big moments with some, with some big power, but he came up learning how to hit. And that was a little bit more of the way it used to be. And that's what Jackson has done. Do you see it skipped getting back to that a little bit? I mean, you got guys like Stephen Kwan, you got guys like, you know, your very own Louisa rise. You got Jackson Merrill. Are you seeing maybe a little bit of a return to, you know, hit first power later? I'm not seeing some kind of trend that I can. Oh, man, we're going back to that. I do see certain, I do see more of it. I do think the game, you know, I haven't had as much touch points with them, you know, being able to travel around and see minor leagues and last offseason and spend as much time as typical. And I will this year going to, you know, a lot of my high school and coaching friends and seeing their programs and talking to them, could always try to, you know, try to typically do, you know, talk to, talk to what the players are like and what's taking place and scouts and what's coming up because that's, that's the future of our game. And I'm always curious about, you know, we say things trickle down, but really, you know, players and philosophies and how immatures are playing a lot of that, how they're thinking, how they're being trained. That typically trickles up. So the point I'm getting is I don't, I don't know if it's taking place or trending in that direction. I do see some teams, us being one of them, having a little bit more of a holistic approach to hitting, using the whole field. So I do see that. So I'll be coming back a little bit in certain areas of the game. But I couldn't tell you if the players are turning to that way or not. Mike, I want to ask you about your bullpen. You know, I made this point earlier that, simply in terms of volume of games, you guys have played more than anybody else in baseball, less off days, more games, quite a bit more than some teams, like seven more than other teams at this point. You know, I'm not saying that I'm not overreacting to one or two games this past week, but you know, your bullpen has been worked a lot. There's been some ups, there's been some downs. What do you kind of seeing in terms of how, how you can get a little more consistency out of the pan and, you know, are you anticipating a move to try to bring some reinforcements here? Yeah, I'm not going to get in the AJ space about the moves. I got my hands full as it is. He's on top of our club and, you know, I like our club. You know, this is something that, you know, you'll probably ask me in the other three to four weeks and I'll give us some more answer. But it's a legitimate question and I get it. And it's a fairly, I mean, overall, it's a general question. I'll give you a simple, what I see is the simple and general answer. Bull tensor is good as the starting pitching, you know, and that's just the fact of the matter, you know, and when you have, not solely, I won't say that, not a little bit longer answer, but, but at a starting point, you know, if our starter, if starters go deeper in games, then you keep your bullpen fresh. And when your bullpen is fresh, they're usually more efficient. Pretty common, right? Pretty basic. Sure. And, you know, it's also interesting because rightfully so, you know, so if you don't get starting pitching going past, you know, four or five innings consistently, which I think four of our last starts. And look, I like our starters. It's just, you know, the other side's trying to, we take some good clubs, that's a good approaches, you know, they're competing their tail off, but, you know, their bullets get spit and then you get to a certain point in the game where you got to make a decision, you know, and sometimes you're at your start a little bit longer because your bullpen is a little depleted. But you get four out of five games and you're in your bullpen, the fourth or fifth inning, and you're in a stretch of games where, you know, we had 13, day off, 13, day off, now we're 13. To your point, we played more games than anybody in the game, you know, starting early with in Seoul. So, you know, your bullpen is going to get a little taxed. And then you're going to, because of that, it gets, the dominoes get out of place a little bit in the sense of, you know, giving the guys rest, like, it's just the case. The guys have to pitch and have to carry the mail. And, you know, sometimes they're not as effective. And then the other side of that, on the bullpen side of it, that they have ownership in is, and we all have ownership in it, you know, make sure they're put in the right place. But it's been efficient when they're in there. And when you're a little more fatigued, you know, and I feel like we've done a good job outside of Jeremiah going through, passing the ball around and not trying to sacrifice, you know, them for competition. It's still trying to win games, which, you know, is clearly the end goal. Marrying those two is a, you know, half field McCoy marriage some days. And so it'd be inefficient allows them to be able to bounce back and not have to use another guy to get through to win games. And, you know, the wrap up point about bullpen is, you know, I said people people understand, but in the moment, or in a silo, I've said this before, and it's a great example was given to me more recently, just in the video game, you know, where, yeah, I can bring this guy in, he's fresh and he can just pitch, and these guys can't pitch every day. Like I said, we pushed, you know, we pushed guys, you know, to go answer. And they know there's going to be times in the season, or a leaver, or a sandy choke, or left hand, or leaver, you stop a t-shirt. So the leavers are people too. And, you know, so it's a long answer to your question. But bullpen, that's a broad stroke, simple way of putting it, and what can be somewhat a complex of operating. But, you know, it's just interesting to me how people do view bullpen, and I haven't done it for, you know, 25-30 years, however long it's, you know, that's my high-level answer to it. We all belong outside. 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So when you're shopping for a home, you want to know as much about the area around it as possible. Luckily, homes.com has got you covered. Each listing features a comprehensive neighborhood guide from local experts. Everything you'd ever want to know about a neighborhood, including the number of homes for sale, transportation, local amenities, cultural attractions, unique qualities, and even things like median lot size and a noise score. Homes.com. We've done your homework. Yeah, I'm talking to Mike Schiltz, Skipper of the San Diego Padres here on Bed & Woods this morning. And you know, listen, I'm typically the guy that I don't want to use the word blame, but I put the responsibility on the guys, hey, can you go today? You can. Great. Give me what you got. Sometimes it doesn't work out. I tend to kind of put it on the players. The guys are actually executing the pitches. And in some cases, skip not executing the pitches. I wanted to ask about one in particular. You've managed a lot of guys. You've managed a lot of left-handers out of the bullpen. A guy like Yuki Matsui, who early in the season, you know, very, very effective and has maybe gotten a little less so walking too many guys, I think for probably everybody's liking right now. How do you get him back on track? And it's got to be a kind of a tougher call and a higher leverage situation for you to go to Yuki right now. How do you get him back going again? Well, you know, a couple of things by the tougher call. I mean, I'm going to go back to my previous answer. It's not a silo of when you can put these guys in, right? Like, you know, so sometimes it's just you have two or three guys. That's the other thing that is super fun for my chair. Sure. I'm just when people are like, oh, you can't pitch. I'm not talking about Yuki because I'll get a Yuki in a minute. Yuki's going to be fine. But it's just interesting. Like, oh, this guy is pitching. There's not anybody else to pitch some days. You know, and so that part's just a sidebar for my chair. It's super fun. You know, but anyway, you can listen. He's similar to a fair amount of guys in our bullpen. And this is the other part of that. It's just real. Is it is it? Yeah, there's a horny curve. No one loves a horny curve in the big leagues on any team that's looking to compete in any sport. No one wants to hear it. And I wish you didn't have to happen. But the fact of the matter is learning curves are real. And you know, this is a this is the top of the people's profession. And Yuki's come in and he's had some really good moments for us. And you know, sometimes we we we forget those. And we do expect these guys to be absolutely on point every single time we get frustrated. What did that happen? And I get it. People, we care. We we all care. We want it. We want the best. And I expect the best. But don't miss interpret. But I'm also realistic that yeah, he's been really good. He's helped us out in big spots this year. So I don't forget that and draw from that and draw from his experience in Japan being a closer. And then conversely, like it's his first year in the big leagues. This is his first year, you know, figuring out what this all looks like, figuring out the the the hitters. And oh, by the way, he's doing it in an entirely different culture. And that's the other thing that, you know, I I have the experience of understanding and seeing and look, I'm making an excuse for anybody. We get it's a bottom line game. I understand that. But the argument and he's in a different country and he's making adjustments, you know, in a lot of different areas. It takes a while whether your player got traded, used to be another top team, become another country. There's just human. And so, you know, yeah, Yuki's done well. He's also struggled with his consistency of his command. And that's that's, you know, the thing that he's working on the most is he tried too hard is he, you know, still feeling out, you know, what he's doing certain role. All of that's true. But you feel you feel it's got the stuff in the zone to get out. And we just need to find that more consistent. You know, I think that learning curve comment is so interesting because we're seeing it before our eyes with Matt Waldron. And you talk about needing, you know, a little more length from your starting pitching, you're getting it from Matt Waldron. And he's the guy that I think is fans. We didn't really expect that much from this season. But in spring training you and in AJ and the team, you chose him to be your fifth starter at that point. Did you have an idea that this was possible, you know, just based on what you saw from him, you know, early on this spring? Actually, yes. You know, you see the best version of guys. Now, you know, you mentioned Astrada, we do, you know, you know, yes about Waldron, but we sat down with Jeremiah and said, "Hey, man, you can be a really good eighth inning guy if it goes based on your stuff." So go, you know, Ruben and Ruben Diego does a great job. And Fritzer, both pink coaches, tremendous as well, you know, had a clear playing for him. So getting back to Matty, you know, Matty's got an elite pitch that, you know, when it's hard to catch, it's got to be hard to hit, right? I mean, he had a big lead catcher, you know, Higgy just his guy. This guy's been in 17 years professional baseball and he does a great job with him. But occasionally it's like, you know, he's hanging on for, he's just long for the ride with his thing and just trying to corral it. He does, you know, like I said, he's done a great job. But hard to catch, hard to hit, man. And so, and it's not like a pitch. You guys aren't, in the big leads, aren't seen it every day. And plus, he's coupled with a good sweeper that you can throw. And he's got, you know, he's got a legitimate fastball. It's 1993. I'm betting he can keep people honest with, and he can locate because he's a striker with it. So, man, what a great combination. So you just know, okay, if this guy can get through, you know, some of the learning curves and, you know, understanding what a big lead starter looks like on a consistent basis, routine, his pre-game routine, and then the filling out process of how much to throw it, how hard to throw it, when to throw it, when the mix is other pitches in, and he's able to get it in the zone. And, you know, you start to see what we're seeing now. So, you know, that's, that's the reason he's on the club. Talking to the skipper, Mike Schilter, I'm betting Woods this morning, and I know you're not on Twitter. But you know who John Boy media is. I couldn't let you off the hook this morning without asking you about the lip reading video. I'm sure you've seen it. I wonder if the players have asked you about it. I had to, I had to bring it up your ejection in New York the other day. Have you, have you seen this clip? I have not. I'll get it to you. I have heard about it. Okay, you have heard all right. So, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not completely going in blind here. I know, I know, I was ejected. I know what I said. So, yeah, sure. You didn't know that everyone else is going to know what you said. That's exactly right. Do you feel a little violated by that whole of that whole thing? Um, I've gotten over that violation. I don't love it. You know, I don't know. I was interpreted. Um, the same guy, which he's, you know, he's doing it is good. Everybody's got a gig. That's fine. Um, you know, he caught me in Chicago years ago in a similar fashion. So, I know it exists. Um, maybe I've got to be, you know, covering him out. Mike, the title of the video was manager politely asks to be eject. Yeah, that was a tire. Nice man. You're a nice guy. I mean, it's not the worst thing. It's nothing to apologize for. In my opinion. Yeah, I don't apologize. I mean, listen, you know, I think you're asking the question. No, my, I don't, you know, listen, I always have our guy's backs. You know, I made it pretty clear. Uh, he's in the next, whatever that typically comes out about the actual pitch. Yes, you did. Um, which, you know, may need to be accepted with. I could be accepted with. I wanted it to be clear that there was a, you know, there was a an unhappiness that took place with, with, um, the judgment. But then after that, you know, it's like, look, I'm not going to, you know, and sometimes I've got a good relationship in general with, I'm partying though. You've probably seen me yell it out of a lot. Sure. Um, but overall, I've got a pretty, I've got a very respectful, rightfully, um, relationship with them. They have a hard job to do. Um, and, and I just, I grew up, shoot, I grew up Washington, China, she's a, a vampire for, you know, six years. And, um, you know, hearing people yelling at them banging on doors and that was back in the day when, you know, I was right beside a clubhouse and there was a little less security, um, in, in double A. So I love their lives and I have to ask what, you know, the challenges they have. And so the point I'm ultimately getting at I don't have a rural reputation. I'll get, I'll have someone off said one earlier. I'll probably have another, um, where I'll really get into somebody. Um, if it's, if it's warranted and yeah, it was warranted for the ejection to make sure that, you know, support our guy and make sure they know what we don't appreciate it. Um, but my point is, these guys won't throw, and that's what they won't throw me out, but I got to like, it's okay, man, you can, it's all right. You know, um, and, um, so anyway, that was as much of what that was like and, and, uh, it's all hard to say now, you know, most of the rest of the work. Well, yeah, and our take was, you know, people were worried was Manny really know that he's got, he's got his back man. He's not really, really mad. And we both said Manny more than any other player knows how things work. I mean, Manny knows exactly how these things work. See, I've got an interesting that's what I say and interesting. I don't know that any, you know, um, you know, the public opinion, public opinion, people are clearly entitled to him. Um, so it's interesting to me that people would even ask that because they're going no text to me, you know, uh, you know, day after or later that night and, you know, whenever it came out, you know, and he's like, that's, you know, I won't share the text. He's like, you always got the back, you know, checked in on me, but like, yeah, this is you and, you know, you're, you know, he was complimentary about how it went down. And he, you know, he was complimentary about, you know, taking care of Manny. So, um, it's interesting. You know, people can complain. You didn't take care of enough. Like, you know, sure. No one doubts that you've got your players back. Yeah. That's the one thing no one could ever doubt. You've got your players back. For sure. Yeah. Well, we appreciate it. As always, we joked you're actually tougher on the reporters and the radio people than you are on the umpires. That's right. Keep it coming. Wait a minute. The radio people. Yeah. Here we go. Hey, there we go. You got to be drug tested. Hey, you're out of here. You're gone. That's true. You're gone. You're a jet. You've been ejected from this interview, Mike. You wanted it. You wanted it. Let's go. You're gone. Thank you. Good luck tonight. Appreciate it. 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