-On my pages of questions for the guys, I have little notes to myself like "Don't interrupt", "Tell him that I'm just a fan and that the only place this is going to show up is on www.Redszone.com" etc. I also have notes about the guys...where drafted etc. I wanted to be prepared and all
-I have with me my digital camera, mini-cassette recorder with attaching mic, and my clipboard. I'm all set...
So we sit down, I'm laughing because he's trying to tell me the reasons why he's out of uniform, but I can't help it. It's funny. It really is.
I ask him to attach the microphone to his shirt and turn on the recorder (the interviews are taken, nearly verbatim, from what I recorded):
Q: Is there anything different, that you noticed, about the preparation or instruction in S.T. this year vs last?
A: Not too much...it was more structered than it was in the past, but as for the instruction, for the us guys who have been around and got everything mechanically figured out, there are a few things we have to go back over, but not too much. Now for some of the younger guys, some who were just signed and stuff, I saw a lot of the coaches really helping those guys out. But for us, they kind of let us do our thing and if we needed a little help, they would help us out.
Q: Along those lines, how do you like the new pitching philosophy the Reds have instituted and have you and the other pitchers bought into it (Pitch to contact)?
A: For a guy like myself, everything he was talking about (Naehring), everything he wants a pitcher to do, I feel like I've done the last 3 years. It's the way I pitch. I go inside, I'm not afraid to go after hitters, I get a lot of ground balls. As you've seen from my numbers, I don't have tons and tons of strike outs like some of our other guys do, so as far as him building a pitcher and molding a pitcher, from what he's saying, a lot of that stuff I already do. It fits in perfectly with me, I don't have to change anything, that's just the way I've always pitched.
Q: Speaking of pitching inside, Don Drysdale was quoted as saying, "Half of the plate is mine, half is the hitters, I'm just not going to tell him who's is who's". So does that fit the way you think on the mound?
A: (Chuckling)Oh yea, oh yea man. That plate, that plate is ours (the pitchers). You know what I'm saying? I mean, that's my job. The hitters, they get paid, they're gonna get me, but hopefully I can get them, more often than not.
Q: The Reds have made it clear that they will be giving more opportunities to young pitchers in the coming years. A definite change in philosophy, instead of "retreads" like Jimmy Anderson (yes I said that). How much competition is there between you and the other pitchers on the Lookouts, to be one of the guys they look to first? Also, with the competition between yourself, Brandon Claussen, Bubba Nelson, Bong, yourself, Etherton...is it friendly competition?
A: Yea yea yea, me and Charlie Manning were talking the other day, we got to be friends in Spring Training, and as you know, his last outing he went out and "just dealt" with 9 strikeouts, so now, my next outing, I come out and get 7 shutout innings. So yea, it's friendly competition. I've played with guys, who you could see it in their eyes, or feel like they have a tough time telling you "good job", but the 5 starters we have here, we all want eachother to do good, I just want to be doing better than him. I hope Charlie has a 1.00 ERA...I just want a 0.70 ERA, you know what I'm saying? I like it. It just makes it to where we keep raising the bar and making each other better.
Q: As close as you are to the majors...there was talk, in S.T., about the last 2 spots in the rotation (for the Reds) were open, how much pressure do you feel to put up big numbers, so that you get that promotion? Is it something you think about or do you try to put it out of your head and just concentrate on going out there and pitching as best as you can?
A: That motivation, man. That's my ultimate goal. I'm not sitting here, playing Double-A, wanting to play here for the next 10 years. This year....uh.....this year has been, uh, in a way, a little....disappointing, the way it started out. I was told one thing and then something totally different happened.--------I interjected here and asked him what he was told and what really happened....hey, investigative reporting...the people have a right to know!
----------------As far as having a chance to make the team, which wasn't the case, that didn't happen, and then, that I was going to be an everyday starter in Louisville, and then we do the trade with Reitsma, and I get sent to Double-A. It's disappointing, but at the same time, it's motivational. I try to look at everything in a positive sense, I got that from my mother, and as far as the Big League goal, it is always in my eyes, it's always on there. I told Tim (Naehring), even though I'm going to go out here and act like the same Dustin Moseley, you gotta understand that I'm disappointed and I'm a little upset, because I'm trying to get back to Triple-A.....
Q: So you use that as motivation then?
A: Most definitely
Q: Kind of a "I'll show you"
A: Exactly!
Q: That was going to be my next question...why are you in Chattanooga. Most of us (fans) thought that you would be in Louisville, so we were surprised when you got sent down here...so I guess the Reitsma trade with Nelson and Bong is the answer then....
A: That's what they said. It's a numbers game and I'm the odd man out. YOU figure that one out!
Q: So do you feel, for lack of a better term, "Dissed" but the organization? Do you take it personal or see it as the business of baseball?
A: It's the business of baseball, but I take it personal. This is my future. This is what I'm doing, I'm trying to get up there and help the Cincinnati Reds. I was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, I LOVE the Cincinnati Reds, you understand what I'm saying? I'm not a trade-over guy that still misses the team they were with. This is the only team I've been with and for me to grow up in the organization and done well everywhere I've been, just about, and then to be sent back down when everyone is talking about growing from within (the pitchers being developed in house) it's....it's disappointing, it really is, in a sense I do take it personal.
2 things here: First, you should have seen the hurt in his eyes. This kid has fire inside him...in a good way. He nearly had tears in his eyes when he was talking about his last part. He wants up there BADLY! And he feels somewhat shafted, due to the Reitsma trade. Secondly, we had to stop the interview here, for now. He had to go stretch and run some, so in the mean time, I caught my breath, enjoyed the gorgeous afternoon sun and waited for EdE to make himself available