Get It Done League
GET IT DONE LEAGUE is a weekly baseball show hosted by former MLB All-Stars Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin, alongside veteran broadcaster Arash Madani. Inspired by Donaldson’s iconic “get it done” moment, the show reflects the mindset of elite players; direct, unfiltered and a commitment to give it their all, every single time.
Get It Done League
Russ and Josh react to Vladdy's Break (and are honest about Toronto's Chances)... GIDL Ep. 10
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On today's episode of GET IT DONE LEAGUE, Josh Donaldson and Russ Martin take an in-depth look at the philosophy of hitting, including how the Jays should be relying on small ball baseball; they discuss their recent interview with John Gibbons; and they break down the All-Star break. All that and more on today's MLB podcast episode!
In your mind, you're like, like, don't hit, like, don't hit a ground ball. Like, if you have that, if you're feeling that, and it happens, man, there's times where you're like, I'm I'm like, I'm hitting the ball on the ground here. Like, I already know.
SPEAKER_03Like, this isn't the tri league.
SPEAKER_02That's again Mark Troll. Russ Martin R.
SPEAKER_03No, this is the get it done league.
SPEAKER_02Get it done league! It is the get-it-done league. It is the all-star break across Major League Baseball, and you already know who's joining us. As always, the MVP Josh Donaldson. There's Russ Martin representing with the Blue Jays cap. Our first episode after John Gibbons joined us last week. Boys, like the socials were going crazy. People couldn't get enough of you, the two of you and Gibby. Um, whether it was Tom Ford, whether it was Russ telling Gibby we gotta start stroming, whether it was talking analytics and the toothpaste being out of the tube, what stood out, uh Russ, I guess I'll start with you. What stood out to you from our conversation with your old manager?
SPEAKER_01It's just he's just he's just one of the good ones. You know, he's just fun to have around and he's like the you know, sit at a campfire, let him tell stories, and you're just gonna laugh and have a good time. He's uh you know, he's he was always like a like a dad to uh to us in in the clubhouse, right? He always had our backs, and it's just good to see him, man. I love that man.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Gibby's great. I think uh what a lot of people got to see in that episode is just the camaraderie and you know the respect that all of us we had for one another and that we have for Gibby. And you know, I thought it was I thought it was fun. Obviously, I had a great time with it, Gibby. He cracks me up, and that was, you know, as we've talked about, like that was a normal day for us in the Blue Jays Clubhouse at that time. Now, not every day was fun in games, but more times than not with Gibby around, and um we were having a great time, and it was it was fun to actually kind of go into detail a little bit about the Tom Ford story. Um, so we've we had we had a blast with that. And that uh uh you know, Gibby has said that Gibby was always like a dad to me, and he was always trying to rein me in, but also having you know let me kind of be myself at the same time.
SPEAKER_02So, what's that balance, guys? Um, it it's kind of a good jump off spot. What is the balance of wanting a player to be themselves, but make sure they don't go too far? And what what constitutes too far? How does that kind of work in the dynamic of a locker room, Russ?
SPEAKER_01I mean, each each locker room is gonna be different. Man it all managers are a little different in in their style, but with Gibby, he was kind of I think he just trusted the clubhouse he had, and he kind of just let us do our things. There was enough veterans and in all like the different facets of the team. You know, he had veterans in the bullpen, he had veteran starters, he had veteran position players. Um and he's kind of old school in the sense that he didn't overmanage, you know, he he kind of he he trusted us and he kind of just let us, you know, be ourselves and do our thing. Um and he would only kind of like let us know when we really needed to be, you know, told something. And in this day and age is I think I think that's crucial because I think a lot of people sometimes try to do too much, and then it goes the other way, right? Um and with Gibby, he was he he just had trust in us, and it worked both ways.
SPEAKER_02What happens when it goes too much too, Josh? Like what does what what's that uh what's that line?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, I think uh first off, you have to have the respect of the manager, right? Like, and then he has to respect the players, like, and you earn that with with trust. And with Gibby, you knew when it was like he was being serious, and then you knew when we were just having a good time and and so forth. Um but when it would I I mean I've also been with managers who just were completely hands-off and just let the players just run wild. And in some instances, you know, we were losing games and playing music after the game, and it was like, oh no, it doesn't matter. You know, we'll show up tomorrow and we'll play to win and or or whatnot. And like for me, like I just wasn't that wasn't ever a situation that I wanted to be a part of. I always wanted to make sure that winning is the main goal. And sometimes when you're not winning, the truth has to be said. And I think Gibby was good about doing that. Sometimes it was in jest, and sometimes it was like, no, you gotta buckle down here. Like, let's go. And uh he always kind of towed that line. I think with some managers, they have you know, I I think people in general uh don't want to be confrontational with people. Um and it's hard sometimes to have difficult conversations. And uh, I think with Gibby, like he had the conversation whether you liked it or not, and he tried to go about it the best way. And there were some times when you know, I'm sure heads collided, and but at the end of the day, you knew that Gibby still had your back. And that's the difference between the good ones and the bad ones. The the good ones you know that are gonna be there for you, the bad ones you don't know.
SPEAKER_01You know what I never felt with Gibby? I never felt panic. Yeah, you know, if things weren't going well, if we were kind of on a losing skit or something like that, it was never he he he was pretty even keeled when it came to his attitude. And and I think that goes a long way too. And and you sense when things aren't going good is when you see people's true colors, and and you can sense, you know, some people you don't even have to say anything, you can sense when somebody's nervous or not feeling good. And you know, if you have a nervous manager or somebody who's kind of like worried about their job, or like you can you can smell that a mile away. And with Gibby, you know, it was he gave the the persona of I don't care, you know, like I'm here for you guys type thing, which is yeah, which was massive, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and when and when that when those nerves show, what does that do to a dugout? What does that do to a locker room?
SPEAKER_03It it's not good, I could tell you that. And to kind of further on Russell's point there, we had talked about, or you guys had talked about him possibly being fired at that national series. Yeah, I don't even remember that.
SPEAKER_01Never knew it.
SPEAKER_03I never even knew that. Like him talking that story like that gave me insight. I remember sitting there, I was like, damn, I didn't even that was real. I I had no idea. Um, and I mean I remember some conversations Alex had with me at that time, but from Gibby's standpoint, I never once thought his job was really in trouble.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, amazing how it goes. Or thanks to John Gibbons for joining us. Um, all right, so we're we're at the all-star break, and I just want to kind of put a cap in the unofficial first half for the Jays of how that ended for them because they go to the West Coast, they beat up on the San Francisco Giants, they obviously needed it, they get the win in San Diego to open the series, and off you go before the break. And I was wondering whether to even bring this up with you two, especially, but this red dragon thing, because you know, when you guys first broke into the big leagues, the idea that there was going to be a home run jacket or a celebration or anything like that like didn't exist, and then obviously it's now morphed into whatever it's morphed into. When it just continues to move on and on and on, are you guys cool with that? Does that work? Has it become too much? JD, what are your what's your take on just kind of all of this?
SPEAKER_03Look, I mean, I I can't say, like, I'm not gonna say from some like the like the bitter old guy veteran or whatever, like that. That's like, oh, it's terrible. Because I think from like a fan experience, and we were kind of talking about this off camera a little bit. Whenever I was in Atlanta, I had you know, I felt like the fan base was like, they were kind of like half in, half out on me. Like, there was some guy, some fans that kind of wanted me to be there for a long time, and there was some that was like, nah. We had this, there was another guy's Camargo. There was a lot of people saying they wanted Camargo there. And some of the guys from our bullpen pitchers, they're like, You need to, you need to pop the umbrella whenever you go around first race after you know it's a home run. And I was like, Whatever, that's fine. If you guys want me to do it, I'll do it. I don't care. And they're like, Well, when you do it, we're gonna come out of the bullpen and we're gonna bring the umbrellas out. And then Fulton Evich, who was one of our starters, he had an umbrella in the dugout that whenever I'd come in, he'd hand me the umbrella and I'd walk around and people would shower me with seeds. From that point on, like the fans like they gravitated to that stuff and they loved it. And uh, I really felt like that kind of um put a lot of the fans in favor for uh you know the time that I was there. So I can't get on it for that. I do think there's like no line that can be crossed now, which is kind of weird. Like I remember like Marcelo Zuna, like the guys like snapping photos at first base in the World Series, taking a picture. I'm like, what are we doing? I'm like, like you got guys, you know, they're hitting third base, then they're reversing, going back around it again, stopping, staring at third base, dugout. And I'm I'm looking at it, I'm like, I remember when I was in the minor leagues, people would throw at me because they thought I swung too hard, like at the plate. And now guys are doing a full circus around the bases, and I'm just like, okay, like it is different, it is it's different to see, and you know, I always felt like if I was being disrespectful to it, like my most disrespectful pimp jobs is like when I didn't even look at it, like if I hit it and I put my head down immediately, and I kind of started walking around, I was like, I got you, like I knew I was gonna get you before I got you, and I got you like good. I don't even need to watch it. Like, I felt like that was when I was being disrespectful. When I was watching it, I was like, uh, I don't know if it's going out, you know what I'm saying? And so that's kind of I don't know. How do you feel about it, Ross?
SPEAKER_01Well, I've always the rule of thumb for me is always been if you keep it inside your dugout, yeah, you can do whatever you want. That's you know, you're not disrespecting the other team, you're just celebrating. It's when you look in the other, in the other dugout and you're like, you're pointing at them, or you're doing something like that, or you're staring down the pitcher, like that's that's where the disrespect is. So I think I think they've they've kind of gone, you know, they're going crazy with it. You know, but it's it's it's a show, and and if the fans like it, then then it's great. Um, you know, personally, I was more of a act like you done it before type thing, and then you celebrate the ones that are super meaningful. Now it's like it's eight zero and you're hitting home run, and now it's eight to one, and you know, like you're you're putting on a jacket. Sometimes it feels like it's forced a little bit, right? And I think that's what happened with the Blue Jays. I think they just the old the old jacket routine got a little got a little old. Stale. It got stale, it got a little stale, and then they needed to switch it up.
SPEAKER_03And then you know, they I think Kirk showed that by not even wanting the jacket that one time. Like he was just like, I'm over this shit.
SPEAKER_01And then like that was the end. That was the beginning of the jacket. That was the end.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so they needed something new, but to take it was like eight to two, it was like eight to two, you're getting beat eight to two you hit a homer. Nobody wants to put a jacket on after Yeah. I don't want to say nobody. There's probably some guys that you know they hit like their third career home where oh I can't wait to put the home run jacket on. But you know, most guys that have done hit a few homers in their career, they don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_01Right. I think you want to be within striking distance of a win. Like, I feel like it should be like a if you're down four or if you're down more than four runs, it's like we're not we're not celebrating. Like, you know, a grand slam doesn't even get us back tired right now. We're not we're not celebrating this.
SPEAKER_03But to me, like Russ, he didn't do like a he didn't have a lot of theatrics or whatnot, but Russ had one of the cleanest like pullover oppo. Like he takes like two steps out, like he's a lefty going out towards the the first base box, and he's like almost like Sammy Sosa in it a little bit, like who I grew up I love. So I love Russ's pimp job whenever he would hit it backside. So when he was hit an opposite field home run, he had a very clean dismount. To me, that's what's cool. The all the other shit that they do the jackets, the dragons, it's fun, it's entertaining, the umbrella, even mine. It's fun, it's whatever, but that's not what's really cool. Like, what's cool is like when that guy hits it, he knows that he's dismounting and it goes out, you know.
SPEAKER_01Obviously, we get caught time to time, but for me, it was the the Ken Griffey swing and like immediate like dismount of the bat behind him. Like you're like, he knows he got it. You're watching TV and you're like, that's a homer.
SPEAKER_03Breath boom, when he when he would hit one, he would immediately he'd go with the with the batting gloves. You knew he could if he if he took the bat, like if he clipped the batting gloves right away. Barry Bonds with the spinning. Didn't he have like the spin?
SPEAKER_01Didn't he have like a like a dismount too? It was like dismount. Very wristy, strong wrist, clean, clean clean. It was it was clean.
SPEAKER_02Uh so Russ was the opposite of spiking the football after getting into the end zone.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I mean, he he he did he didn't he wasn't like a big like celebration guy or whatever. It was subtle, it was subtle, yeah. Respectful, you know, very Canadian. He is very Canadian, very much a Canadian baseball player, very subtle swag.
SPEAKER_02Subtle swag. I like that. I like that. Um, Vlad's got all kinds of swag. He just hasn't had a lot of power um this season. It's been a tough first half, obviously, for him. He's taken the all-star breakoff, and you know, he's uh there have been the reports that he's had a back issue, all that kind of stuff. The fact that he's just gonna get like five or six days fully away from the game, how needed is that, do you think, for a dude who has all these expectations, getting paid the money he's getting paid, coming off the World Series, etc. What what can a full reset do, Russ? Do you think for a guy like Guerrero as he gets set to come back for the second half?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I mean, it's it's uh it's gonna be good for his mind, good for his body. I feel like you get one day off in baseball and it feels like a full week vacation sometimes, right? And if you get multiple days, then you can really actually start to heal if if you have you know any wounds that need repairing, right? Um but I I think it's you know, just carrying that that mental grind of knowing that you're not you know going full throttle and things aren't going so well. Sometimes it's nice just to disconnect and kind of like you know, take a vacation somewhere and then come back feeling fresh. Um, it's probably just at the right time for him. I'm sure it's gonna be great for him. And then and hopefully he comes back and tears it up in the second half. He's that type of player where he he can he can put a full season's numbers in in one half if he gets hot. So, you know, I like the kid. He's a good kid, uh, great teammate. He he definitely if anybody deserves to to have a uh you know a strong second half to kind of like forget about what happened in the first half, it's it's him.
SPEAKER_02JD.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean if this I mean if I'm familiar with this in 2017, I was banged up. I missed some games in 2017, and I was dealing with a foot issue, and um I took that all-star break off, kind of not to where I was off off, like I was still like moving my body. I think that's important for guys, is like you don't want to just go and sit around and do any like nothing, like you still need to keep moving, but like in like a how can I say like in a way that's gonna bring you energy, like get into the the sun, get into the hot tub, go run, like go do like walk around, break a sweat, do your do your uh like body movement stuff, but not like where you're taxing yourself or anything like that. And after in 2017, I would think I was hitting like 250 with 10 at the break. And then I came back that second half and I I banged the second half. I think I hit like I don't know what my batting average was, but I hit 23 homers in the second half. But I remember feeling that first half where I was like, some guys on the team they were like, dude, are you gonna hit 30 homers this year? I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna hit 20. I feel like shit at the point right now. I don't feel like I got nothing. And I really was able to use that break to kind of get my body back right. And then I, you know, there was some stuff with my foot that ended up being that ended up helping, and it was a cra, it's actually a pretty crazy story, but um that allowed me to kind of play how I wanted to play again. And uh I mean, it's he's definitely capable of having a major second half, and I like the fact that he kind of is gonna take the all-star game off because what a lot of people don't understand is when you go to the all-star game, there's so much going on, there's so much excitement, there's so much of this that you got family, friends, there's dinners, you know, you got the derby, you got the game, you're meeting you know, all the guys in there, like he's done that song and dance, so he knows what's like that part's gonna get taken out of him. Um it is taxing, and people don't get it. I mean, it's fun, don't get me wrong, but at the same time, like I definitely think where he's at right now, if he is having some lower back stuff, and like having a bad back hitting is never a good thing. Um, so he needs to get that lined up, he needs to get that cleaned up a little bit, and then hopefully come out and have a big second half. I think for sure.
SPEAKER_01If I was Laddie, I'd be watching all my career homers on loop and just look like, oh yeah, for like I'm this good. That's right. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes you need a reminder, yeah. Yeah, because it's amazing. It's it's a game, it's a mental game, it's a game about confidence. And JD just kind of like basically parsing what you're saying is if your body's betraying you in different places, foot, calf, back in this scenario, your confidence can go if the body's not there with you. So it's amazing how one thing can lead to the other. And that's why, Russ, I guess you're saying, hey man, just remind yourself of who you are, what you what you've done, and what you can be. Yeah, absolutely, totally agree. No doubt, no doubt. Yeah, uh, you guys talked about going to all-star games.
SPEAKER_01What was what was I can't can we talk? Can we talk about something that I really liked yesterday? Yeah. So the Blue Jays are in San Diego, and um, I forget who starts the inning, but he does there's a lefty on the mound, and it's a push bunt to get the leadoff guy on. We have a baseball play. We have we have a we're playing the game. We're gonna get gritty. And uh Miles Straw, he gets on a little spark. He gets on first base, and then that's just the beginning of their big inning that kind of gets them back in the game. And I just I loved it. I loved it. And then there was there was another situation where I think it was first and third. Obviously, Vladdy didn't get the contact he wanted, but he made contact. You know, we didn't get a punchy with a guy in scoring position with less than two outs. That run scores, and then we have the big blast, and it's like a five-run inning or something like that. Or I might be wrong, but it was just like a baseball play followed by another hit, first to third, get the guy, get the guy in, and then I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I just yeah, that's exactly how it went, Russ. It was straw who bunted, and then Clement singled. Vladdy was able to to score a run. You got straw in, and then Okamoto hit the hit the big bomb is 22nd.
SPEAKER_01And it's just it started with the catalyst, and it's just I like I just like seeing the game played the right way. And I think I remember Clement said something in in the press. He's like, We're just like we're not playing good baseball. Well, you got To play the game, you know, like it's not about it's not always about like exit velocity and launch angle, and it's like there's baseball is a game, and you gotta good teams know how to play it, and there's certain things you have to do, you have to be able to put the ball in play with a guy on third base if the infield's back. Like, you gotta get that running. Any like you just you you have to do those things.
SPEAKER_03Don't you think that's like knowing like the identity of your team? Like, that's their identity, like it is. I mean, uh the home run ball, in my opinion, is not like this team's greatest strength right now.
SPEAKER_00It's not, it's not.
SPEAKER_03So it's like, I mean, you you have Okamoto, like he's got the 20 22 bombs, but and you get some guys coming back from injury. I think right now it's like, hey, you gotta play to your strength. And I saw something pretty interesting about Ernie Klement the other day. Like the guy chases out of the zone more than anybody in the big leagues, but has more like hard contact out of the zone. He's like the opposite, it's it's just a weird dynamic. He swings, he averages like a little over three pitches per plate appearance. He obviously has success in that, right? But I don't think that's something that everybody on their team can do is like start going outside the zone. Like they need guys to if if I'm the hitting coach for them, like, hey, we need to have like some deep at long at bats, we need to grind some guys down, wear some guys down, get some guys on base, you know, take your single, take your walk. If you're gonna punch out, make it an eight, nine, ten pitch at bat. Like, really, when you get two strikes, like let's grind and get get after this pitcher a little bit, like stick your nose in there, and you know, let's play some ball. Hey, if a guy gets to second base with less than uh you know, with no outs, like let's do a good job of like trying to get him over. I think, and Russ can attest to this. I mean, obviously, from the clip on MLB where I talk about like driving the ball in the air and stuff like that, and hitting the ball in the gap, that was an important part of my game. But there was also times I was coming to the dugout, and if our team wasn't going the other way or doing stuff, I'd be like, hey guys, like we need to go the other way. I'm gonna show you how to do this real quick, like just to like make a point of it. Like, I'm gonna hit this ball the other way, and I'm gonna sacrifice this at bat to show you guys how to do it. Like, let's have a let's start having some good team at bats. Yeah, and I would go do it. I remember I had like a 3-0 pitch off like Kyle Gibson. I smacked the ball to right field on it, hitting it the other way. And also as a hitter, like the more that we can back the ball up and start trying to use all sides of the fields, the better we are with two strikes, the better that we can make better swing decisions as an offense and as a team. And that's what this team's gonna have to do because they're not, in my opinion, they're not a team that if uh if I'm a pitcher going into like we're scared to throw against the Toronto Blue Jays. Yeah, they're not like they're they're not they're not gonna out slug people on a daily basis, they're gonna have to play. If all of us could take a piece together of them, we're gonna have this guy knocked out of the game in no time.
SPEAKER_02I think I know what you mean by that. Take a piece of the picture with you. But what do you mean by that?
SPEAKER_01Make them work. So yeah, make them earn if he gets you out because earned it. You didn't get away and out.
SPEAKER_03I didn't go up there swing at the first pitch and roll over to short.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03You know, I didn't I if it's not to say that you can't swing first pitch, it's to sit there. I remember when I went to Atlanta, this will give you a good perspective of it. They were had their analytics guy talking to me, right? And they're sitting there saying, like, oh, all your offensive analytics numbers, they look great, we love it, blah blah blah, XYZ. I said, Well, obviously, I know that I have pretty good numbers, like hitting, I didn't even know that. They're like, Well, two, they're like, 2-0. I go, I go, they're like, 2-0, you only swing 45% of the time, but you get like 65% strikes thrown or something like that, right? They're like, but when you swing, your exit velocity is through the roof. And I looked at him, I go, why do you think the exit velocity is through the roof when I swing? It's because I have a plan. Like, I am absolutely hunting right now. Yes, I got to 2-0, I'm hunting you. Yes, so like when you throw a pitch at my zone that I'm hunting, shit's about to get whacked. Yes, like and it's gonna be loud. Like, and if it wasn't loud, like I didn't do a good job of committing to the bat, or you fooled me, or like if I swung in missed, like you fooled me, but I wasn't gonna try to make contact at that point because I know I still have the bat in my in my hand.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you still gotta come get me. The data that you're taking is because of the plan that I have. Don't make me change my plan.
SPEAKER_03Why do you why do you think these XAP loads are this? Exactly. It's because I have a great plan. I'm not just I'm not and I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I'm not Ernie Clement that can just swing out of the zone everywhere and make contact. That wasn't my game. My game was to get you in a zone, hunt you, and when that pitch showed up, loud noises are about to happen.
SPEAKER_02Right. Make them pay when that when that rule is.
SPEAKER_03And at the other side of it, we're talking about Vlad, like you get the two strikes at some times. Like sometimes you got to do something outside of your comfort zone to get back what you want to get. Like, you gotta show them that you have the ability to do something else versus just drive the baseball. Like I like you have what's called an A swing, I'd have a B swing, I'd have a C swing. Like the A swing is the one that I want to get off the most, especially when I was in advantageous counts and stuff like that, where the situation in the game was right. But if there was a man on third with less than two outs, like I'm making sure that I'm getting something in the air. It didn't have to be a homer, but I wanted it to be deep enough. And I can't tell you how many balls that I accidentally hit out because I was just trying to hit a fly ball for a sack fly. Right. You know, so like you go up there with the intention of having a good team at bat, and you get rewarded through that because that's how the game of baseball pays you off. If you go up there and you're just trying to pull side homers all day long, 24-7, you become an out. That's why you have guys that are you know hitting 220, 230. And at the end of my career, whenever I was struggling, like starting to slow down, that that happened where I felt like I was kind of in a bubble of that, of like almost all or nothing at times. Um, but the guys that are really good, and when I was really good, I had the ability to be versatile in the swing, the approach. I could take that single swing, I could take that sack fly swing, I could also take that swing to go hit a ball out of the park, not trying to, but my plan was going to allow me to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think there's people who have like the natural strength and power to hit home runs without getting outside of themselves. I feel like I'm I'm a good example of I would chase, I would start chasing home runs, and then you would see my average start to drop. I'd I'd hit homers, but man, it's because I started chasing them, and then I I don't think I was as effective. There, there's a sweet spot, and I think a lot of a lot of guys will go outside of themselves and it will it will cost them on base percentage, it will cost them putting balls in play, it will it it'll it will it will just cost them. And I think a lot of players nowadays are just trying to to slug and hit homers, and it's and they get a little outside themselves. But Russ, and it's not effective.
SPEAKER_02They're encouraged to do this, they're encouraged to hit home runs and and like striking out is now being deemed okay. Like this is I I don't want to say it's being coached, but it's it is without a doubt, philosophically, in some organizations being encouraged.
SPEAKER_01I mean, there are times when it's okay. There are times where it's okay to strike out. I'll give you an example first and third, nobody out. Like, I'd rather you honestly, depending on the game situation, but more often than not, I'd rather you try and hit a double in this situation than hit a weak ground ball and roll over and hit into a double play. Right. Right? That's one situation. So it's just like play the game, especially like depending on who's behind you. Like, if I have Josh behind me and I roll over into a double play and get the run in, he's pissed. And you should be pissed too. That's not playing the game. Like just keep your A swing throughout the at-bat, you know, and and don't get out. You feel yourself getting outside of your swing, don't swing. It's like, yes, yes, oh no, I got fooled. Don't do it, right?
SPEAKER_03So there's there's a diff, there's a difference of like to me, like the worst thing you could do as a hitter is like roll a ball over pool side. Like it's just not a it's not a good look. It's not a good look for you in the lineup. It's it doesn't lead to, I don't feel like a lot of success. Now, if you're a first and third and you hit a you smoked a ball that was on the ground backside, because it at least shows that you have like a plan that way. To me, like guys that just roll balls over, like you're not going up there with a plan to start with, you're just going up there to swing first and see what happens. And it's it's a selfish way to go about it is by just rolling ball pulling a ball over. Like good hitters use the big part of the field, good hitters are selective, and I think the best hitters in the game have the ability uh to have great pitch recognition. Like, how do you do that? How do I have the best pitch recognition? It turns like that. That's easy to say. Like, if I'm going up there and all I'm trying to just go bridge and pull side the entire time, in order for me to hit a pull side homer, like you have to be very committed early to what you want to do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, who are the best who are the best pitch recognition?
SPEAKER_03I mean, you look at Juan Soto, like you look at Juan Soto. I mean, that the guy's one of the best hitters in the game, and it's like you look at like a Joey Vado, like when he was in his prime. Like, I remember he used to get like people with slander Vado because he had great at bats because he wouldn't go out strike outside the strike zone in order to get more RBIs. But as I know, as Joey does, it's like as soon as he would start going outside that strike zone, now he's not gonna become the hitter that he is, that he has the ability to be, and he wasn't gonna change what he was doing so that he could get 10 more RBIs on the year, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, Freddie Freeman's another one, like Freddie's just elite.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Freddie does a great job. Freddie's all over the plate, and he has an amazing amount of plate coverage, right? Yeah, um, I mean, who else is up there?
SPEAKER_02Um, well, let me ask let's go back to how this conversation started. Because we talked team at bats.
SPEAKER_01You were making it making the guy taking a piece out of the pitcher.
SPEAKER_02Taking a piece out of the pitcher. But you know, Russ, you talked about Miles Straw with that with that soft bunt to open what ended up becoming a four-run fifth inning. So, you know, you're at the bottom of the order and sorry, at the top of the order, and is the team at bat approach something that you go into the inning with? Um, how does that kind of like is that the manager communicating? Like, how is that philosophically uh decided upon when you go into an inning there? Because I think a lot of people listening are like, well, why don't they just do that every inning? Um, how how does that get decided? Is it the player? Is it something that gets talked about? Is it is it we haven't really gotten our offense going? How does that go?
SPEAKER_01Well, in that situation, maybe maybe Miles sees that the pitcher, when he throws, he's falling off to the right side and he's like, Okay, I see an opening here. Like, I'm gonna take a chance. You know, I'm gonna take a chance and and try and push bunt. I feel like he's gonna have a hard time getting back because it was it was a good bunt. It wasn't a it wasn't a great bunt, but it put pressure on the pitcher to make an outstanding play. And I think if you just see if the if you see the the third baseman's playing back and he's giving it to you and and maybe you're not feeling your best, it's kind of just like you're just playing the game where if you feel great at the plate, don't bunt. But if you don't feel awesome, it's a good way to get yourself going and get the team going.
SPEAKER_03And then there's let me let me let me step in with that too, what Russ is saying. I'll give you Rick Porcillo owned me my first 12 at bats. I was 0 for 12 off Rick Porcelo. Absolutely owned, like I had no chance. We're in Toronto, and this was 2015, I think. And my first at bat, he dices me up again, right? And I go, it was a day game, and I'm like, I wasn't feeling like great at the plate by any stretch, especially off him. I go, I'm bunting, I'm bunting this at bat. I say if the third basin's bat, I'm gonna bunt. I drop a bunt down, I catch everybody off surprise, I get a knockout out of it. The rest of my career off Rick, I think I hit like 450,500 just by getting like one like little bunt hit that kind of has changed, and now I kind of put it in his head on the mound. Like, I might bunt. I don't know, I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_01Got the monkey up for that.
SPEAKER_03Something, yeah, something happened to where, like Russ is saying, like, know yourself, know thyself, yeah, know where you're at, know who you're facing, know the situation of the game, right? And and play to your strengths as a as a guy.
SPEAKER_01Keep going. Sorry, Russ. Yeah, and then the next hitter, I think it was Class A, he actually showed bunt on first pitch too. So then it's like now now the infield is like, okay, are these guys what like what's what are we doing here? Right? They're they're actually playing the game, like what's going on, you know? It gets it gets guys like you start getting leverage, right? You you start, you know, it's just and it's a simple play, and even if it didn't work out, I just I like the attitude towards it.
SPEAKER_03Like you're playing, like you're playing to win, like you're making them cover, you're making as a third baseman. I hated like playing the Royals, I hated playing the Indians, Anaheim early on because they were all they were always bunting. So I'm at third base, I'm freaking doing sprints like five, ten sprints a game, trying to go cover a bunt. So all it takes is once for the guy to show, and then the coach over in the dugout's like, hey, come in.
SPEAKER_01I'll give you an example.
SPEAKER_03Take the bunt, take the bunt away. Now at third, my range gets shrunk, right? And then now there's more hits on the field.
SPEAKER_01You know, you're not feeling good at the plate. There's a guy in first base, nobody out, and then you're walking to the plate, and in your mind you're like, like, don't hit, like, don't hit a ground ball a second. Like, if you have that, if you're feeling that, and it happens, man, there's times where you're like, Oh, it does, I'm I'm like, I'm hitting the ball on the ground here. Like, I already know, like, bunt, bunt the guy over for try for a knock. And then just like, if it works out, like obviously you're bunting for a knock. So if it's fair, or if it's fair foul, that's the mindset. It's that's the mindset. You're not giving yourself up. You're you're aggressive in your in your attitude towards getting this bunt down. If it works out, you're on first, we got first and second, great. If it's foul, at least you know, like, you're like, you know what? I I tried something for the team. It kind of like it'll shift your attitude, and then then you're like, okay, now it's time to go to work, right? So it's like it'll free it'll free your mind up because it's all about the mind. Like I saw this the other day.
SPEAKER_03Luisa Rias, a teammate of mine. I guess Robbie Ray like had like a long inning or something, and for saying friend, right? Luisa Rias went up there and took two fastballs like over the heart of the plate just to make sure like it wasn't like another quick inning, because I guess the first couple guys got out or whatnot. Right. He took two pitches for strikes, but he has so much trust in his you know, uh hand-eye coordination, his bat-to-ball skills, that he wasn't panicking, you know. Those are the guys that have like that two-strike approach that have that ability, like the no-panic uh type of swing to like they're not scared to get down a couple strikes. Like, he knows he's gonna still touch, and then he gets a hit. Wow. It just kind of shows you like when you start playing for your team and you start playing to win the game, like the number, the game of baseball has a weird way of working itself out to where it rewards you for that. Yeah, and that was always Russell and I's message, like in Toronto when we first got there was like focus on winning the game, the numbers take care of themselves. 100%.
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_03Focus on what can I do? Like, my whole goal as a player was to do one thing positive to impact that game for us to win. Once I got once I did one thing, you move to the next thing. And it wasn't always something on the field. It was maybe I have a conversation with Russ, or maybe I have a conversation with Batista about what I saw with this pitcher here. He's doing this, he's doing that. Hey, when I get to first base, you know, he's the same time every time. Like you can go. Like, if you see his, like if you should see a shoulder shrug up, like he's going to home play. Like, there's like little subtleties throughout this entire game that you're sitting here having conversations about, and the good teams do that. Yeah, the good teams talk to one another, they they uh game playing together, and to kind of bring it full circle, what you were saying is like when do you know to like bunt to get the guy over? When do you know like you're having those talks like hey, let's scroll, let's get one. Or you know, sometimes your starting pitcher, like he goes, Hey boys, get me one today, it's good, like we're gonna be good, you know. Like he's feeling himself, so like as an offense, like you know, if like if he's feeling good, you see what's going on, like you don't play for the three or four, you know, the three-run homer, the four run, like let's get him one so he goes out there and rolls, and then let's get the two to three. Like, you're not always playing for the three-run homer. And I think like I know when I was in New York, but in Toronto a little bit at the end, there were definitely times when like we were needed to be better at like let's get one, let's just get one, like let's not play for the three, the five run inning, let's get one first, and then take care of the big inning after, right?
SPEAKER_02And in that inning, they got the one that started with the straw bunt that led to the big inning with the Okamoto Homer. Yep, no, there you go. It was bunt, single, single to cash in that first run that leads into something. I loved it.
SPEAKER_00I loved it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Great, very that is fellas. That is church right there. Like that, that was that was 25 minutes of like the game within the game, the game within the mental side of the game, and just how the littlest things can lead to the biggest of results, not just in the box score, but just mentally for the player, what the lift it gives a dugout, how it can get a team going, especially when they're scuffling, all of that can just get started, Russ, by putting the ball in play. What a novel concept!
SPEAKER_03Hey, and it's and you know, that's what the that's what the game of base, like what you were saying earlier, Rash, is like guys are getting preached to pull the ball in the air. Like, I remember like coaches when uh, you know, I'm not gonna sit here and single out coaches all the time, but coaches come up and say, like, oh hey, they're preaching, we gotta get pulse-side balls in the air. And I'm like, I go, what? Of course, everybody wants to pull the ball in the air. That's the hardest thing to do in the game, is to consistently pull the ball in the air. Like Batista, Edwin, like they were enigmas in the in the instance of like being able to be pull side power guys all the time. Like for myself, like I had to be able to like turn the field, use right field, right center, and then take my chances to pull because I knew once I started getting in this pool zone of pulling the ball too much, like I became an out. You know, and I think that's what Russ was talking about earlier. Is like when he was searching to hit poolside homers, he realized that guess what? By average, the rest of my the quality of the rest of my bats weren't good. That's exactly right. The and the analytics sit here and say, like, oh, we'll play for the one swing that changes the game and have all these punch outs because we don't think that our team can. Get enough hits in a row or move guys over because the stuff of the game has gotten too good. Like there's too there's a lot of overpowering stuff out there. So that's like the that's the back and forth battle, but the as we talked about earlier, like the game can still be played how it's been played if it's being taught, if it's being like, hey, let's let's do like let's make this a priority, let's let's make this an emphasis for our team. What's our identity? I think that the Blue Jays have shown they're not a team that's gonna hit the ballpark, the ball, all the ballpark.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's part of the emphasis, and part of that, Josh, is understanding your team, understanding where you're at as a team right now, understanding the situation within the game and the situation within the season and where you're going, because there's not one way of approaching 162. It's literally impossible with all the ups and downs and injuries and whatever. You like you got to understand the moment as it's unfolding right in front of you. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I mean to to your point, when I was with the Yankees, if you were talking about bunting, if you were talking about you know moving a guy over or whatnot, like we had eight guys that were, or six or seven guys that were singles hitter, like single or homer. Like it, like we didn't have speed, is what I'm trying to say. So like you're playing for those swings to change the game for the in that type of lineup. In the type of lineup that the Jays have right now, this is a team that needs to get some contact, get some guys on base, move some guys over, create create some stuff with your speed.
SPEAKER_01I want to see the first to third. Like, let's first to third, just first to third on the depth. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, exactly. Oh, let's go.
SPEAKER_02And if they do that in the second half, what can that do for them? Like like it, it has been it's been a brutal first half of the season for the defending American League champions, let's just be honest. But but nobody in the AL really is running away with it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the in-most trash right now.
SPEAKER_02Right. Nobody in the AL scares you, and you're within a couple of games of a wild card. Like, there's a lot of baseball left here. At some point, you got to start playing better baseball. There's no question about that. But like, where are they going into this second half, guys?
SPEAKER_01As long as you're mathematically have a chance to have a ticket to the dance, you play to win each day. And you want to that's it, it only gets sour once you feel like now I'm playing for my own stats. It's the worst kind of baseball to play. I was fortunate to not have to play it too much in my career, but when I did, I hated it. It sucks. Yeah, it's the worst, it's the worst. So, what are they three and a half out of the wild card? Like they're there, they're right there. They're there, you know, as bad as they've played, or you know, like as like whatever they think they've played, which is probably don't think they've been playing good, they're still in it. So, like now it's it's just that day, like today we have a game. Let's go win today. And yeah, and I think that's it.
SPEAKER_03I think I think I find a way. I think how you do that too is like you your every team has its own identity. Last year's team was last year's team, this year's team is what we have in front of us. I think when you look at it, the starting pitching has to carry this team, right? Starting pitching, the bullpen's gonna shake itself out. It's getting better, I feel like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I agree. Um, pitching and defense go together, right? They need to pick the hell out of a ball and help their pitchers out.
SPEAKER_03They need to play exactly. Like right now, this team is a pitching defense team first, and let's scratch and claw and fight for every run that we can get to.
SPEAKER_01That's what it's gonna take.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna be interesting, it's gonna be really interesting because JD, you're right. Like the AL's trash, it's there for the taking. And you know, you go through the first almost four months, three and a half months of the season playing bad baseball, you're still right there in it with some names in that rotation, especially Bieber, who finally had a good start right before the break. Um, it it's gonna be pitched well. Cease was outstanding, yeah.
SPEAKER_03He's he's been great the last month.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so if Gossman can kind of get it together here, um, it's gonna be a really interesting uh summer and early fall. Uh Boyce, what's up for the all-star break? What do you guys got? Uh what do you guys got on the go?
SPEAKER_01Golf. Hanging with the family. Um, I'm kind of excited for the uh the home run derby. They they changed the um they they went away from the clock, and I think they're going to like something like 15 swing or 20 swings, 15 swings, 15 swings, or something like that. And then on the last uh on the last swing, you go until you you if you keep hitting homers, you keep swinging. Right. Which I like. I think it's uh I think it's gonna be better quality.
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, people don't realize that I I just did the home run derby with the time. I remember after going through like the third round, like my whole, I could barely I couldn't even hold on to the bat anymore. My whole because I had the one-hand finish, my left arm took such a beating in that home run derby. Like, that's a lot of swings in that amount of time. It's I'm surprised more guys haven't gotten injured in that format, so I'm glad to see that they've changed it. Although it did make it easier to perform in the home run derby. Because remember when we were growing up, like guys were leaving the home run derby with zero.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03The very first home run derby I did was in Minnesota, and we had it um we had rain that day, so they cut it from 10 outs to seven outs. And that was in 2014, and I found like the first ball straight up behind like the backstop, and I was like, I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing? There's no cage, there's no cage, it's weird. I'm like, I do not need to be out here anymore. And think it's and thankfully I hit um, I think I hit like two or three or whatnot, and then me and Cespitus, we were teammates at the time in Oakland, him and I tied, and then we did a best two out of three, and he beat me in that, and then he went on to win the home run derby. So I probably was gonna win the home run derby if he didn't beat me in that. No, I definitely wasn't gonna win the home run derby, man.
SPEAKER_02It is get it done league. Please like and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We also have some prizes to give away. Please follow us on Instagram, get it done league. Rust has got we already JD's already sent off some autograph merchandise. It's Russ's turn. We're gonna tell you all about that coming up. Again, please follow us on Instagram on Get It Done League. Enjoy the all star break, fellas. And we will be back at it next week. For the MVP, Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, Arash Badani saying so long. Enjoy the midsummer classic, everyone.
SPEAKER_00Get it done league.