Episode 67: Reid VanScoter (Mariners Minor League Pitcher Of The Year) And Analyzing FA Bat Jung-Hoo Lee

[00:00:00] Welcome to episode number 67 of the Marine Layer Podcast. We welcome on Reid VanScoter, the Mariners Minor League Pitcher Of The Year. We'll talk to him about winning that award, his career and his time in the Mariners organization. We'll also discuss a potential offseason addition for the Mariners, former KBO MVP Jung-Hoo Lee, who's expected to be posted this offseason.

[00:00:23] Before we start the show, your reminder that if you're listening on our audio platforms, go watch us on YouTube too. Full video side of the podcast is on YouTube. If you head over there, make sure to like, comment, subscribe, and turn the notification bells on. And if you're watching on YouTube, listen to us too, in the car, at the gym, on a walk, wherever you might be. You can find us on Apple, Spotify, Google, and Amazon. If you're listening, make sure to follow us, download our episodes, give us a five-star review. The reviews, the downloads, they help us get to know.

[00:00:52] We'll sell us out a ton. So make sure to take the extra few seconds to do that. And then follow us on social media too. We promise we're going to be active all offseason and we have been. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube shorts, at Marine Layer Pod.

[00:01:05] Let's get it rolling. And we welcome you to this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just Baseball Podcast Network recording here on Tuesday night, October 24th. Did we miss anything while on vacation? Did two teams make it to the World Series? Is one that we didn't want to make it? Am I hearing that right?

[00:01:36] I don't know what you're talking about. I boycotted the entire ALCS. I don't know who won. Well, it's going to be a surprise then when you turn on the World Series. Yeah, I'm lying. I couldn't quite boycott. I tried to boycott and the baseball fan in me just didn't let me, even though I was just hoping both teams would lose. Yeah, what a World Series matchup. I mean, the stars that had to align to get Rangers Diamondbacks in the World Series.

[00:02:02] How do you even script it? I mean, if you if you could possibly pick the narrative to piss off Mariners fans to the highest degree, it would be a Rangers Diamondbacks World Series. That's what we got. I honestly think the Astros making the World Series would have caused less waves than the Rangers. But we're sitting right here with the exact two teams that we did not want to see in the World Series. And let's just clarify, I'm happy for Paul Seewald. I think everybody is.

[00:02:32] But for just the narratives, oh, it's a nightmare. We talk about a pissed off fan base. How about the clubhouse? I mean, first of all, they got to be they're happy for Paul Seewald. But you sit here and watch your former teammate get to go play in something you're just dying to go do. And then on the other side, you have the team that you directly attributed at the end of the season. Cal Raleigh directly attributed to say, hey, they went out and tried to go win a World Series.

[00:03:01] And then look at that. They're in the World Series. This I said, this has to be just a disaster class for Mariners PR and the Mariners, I guess, personnel staff trying to now sell a message to their players. People might forget about this once spring training rolls around and a new season is here. But you couldn't pick anything worse. You could not. Not in this sense.

[00:03:27] I would pay insurmountable amounts of money to read through that Mariners group chat right now with all the players like tonight. Yeah, I'd be right there with you. I wonder who would be the most vocal tonight. That would be really interesting. It is a fascinating. It is a fascinating World Series, though. It's a very interesting matchup. And I think we'll have a little bit more time on our Friday episode to dive into it a little bit and break it down.

[00:03:54] I would say Cal will be the most active, and I think that's obvious. Who else is going to be really fired up? Maybe Kyle Seeger is still an honorary member of the chat. He's throwing his thoughts in there. Who else? Kyle Seeger is going to be in the front row with a half Paul Seawald, half Corey Seeger jersey. But it's not going to be a Paul Seawald Mariner jersey. It's going to be a Paul Seawald Diamondbacks jersey. Yeah. And maybe on the back it says like FU Jerry or something like that.

[00:04:21] I bet you JP Crawford's talking in that chat tonight, too. Because who backed up Cal's comments? It was JP. It was Logan. Maybe a couple others. I'd love to see what Dom Canzone and Josh Rojas are saying right about now. I'll tell you what. Yeah, it's got to feel kind of weird for them. What do you think they're doing? I mean, they're not the outspoken ones for the most part. Obviously, Rojas is known as a really good clubhouse guy. But I don't know.

[00:04:50] I don't know if... So they're not going to say directly in that chat, right? There's no chance those guys would ever be like, yeah, I really wish I wasn't here right now. But you have to wonder in the back of their head if there's a little bit of FOMO going on watching all their former teammates celebrating. Being like, well, that could have been me. It could have been. Yeah, it could have been. If you told us at the beginning of the season Paul Seawald was going to clone us out Game 7 of a championship series,

[00:05:19] I think you and I would have been jumping over the moon. But no. 84 win team. I mean, I think there's been some people mentioning. I'm sure there's people going to mention it. It's like, oh, Mariners won 88 games. The Diamondbacks won 84. And I'm not even going to consider that. It's just unlucky. And then I keep having to come on here and saying, well, if the Mariners had any semblance of luck as a franchise, they would have made the playoffs more than five times in 47 seasons.

[00:05:48] So I don't even know if that's really a factor right now. And it just ends up instead being so fitting that the team, that the fan base, I would say the polar opposites of philosophy in the American League made the World Series. And then on the other side, the team that was in the same place as you at the trade deadline and decided we're going to buy a weakness.

[00:06:16] And the Mariners were buy and sell, kind of. It was, again, like kind of a middle move from Jerry DiPoto. And it ends up that the team that buys makes it to the World Series. You just can't make this stuff up. This is peak Mariners scripture right here. I could not have. You could not have gone to Adam Silver in the NBA and had them write a better script than what we got in these playoffs. And the Mariners almost totally sold at the deadline. That's what's crazy.

[00:06:44] They were in buy and sell mode, which is what the seawallet trade was, but it was almost a full sell. And let me say this. You look at the Mariners over the last three seasons when they won 90 games, 90 games, then 88 games. And you look at the off seasons in between. OK, 2021 going into 22. I think their off season was fine. I think they made some moves that made sense. It clearly helped the team. They got into the playoffs. I sat here and said, OK, I think they did enough.

[00:07:14] I think this roster is objectively better than a year ago. And I don't think they needed to add that much with what was already on the roster. That's how I felt. That ended up not being true at all. Although I don't think the plan was totally wrong at the time that it happened, but it certainly did not. It certainly did not get executed because they missed the playoffs and the offense was nowhere near as good as it was supposed to be in the first half. So let me say this. I've always been a depoto truther.

[00:07:41] And for the most part, I have agreed with basically all of his philosophies. But I will say this. After seeing this World Series matchup and after the season the Mariners have, if they do not significantly move the needle this winter and get major offensive upgrades, this is going to be tabbed as the most disastrous offseason in Mariners history. I think it's already maybe the most crucial one in a long time.

[00:08:04] If they make all these small marginal moves again this winter, this offseason is going to be tabbed as an absolute disaster. If you're a player, how do you buy after watching this World Series? How would you buy anything Jerry's selling? I think his actions are going to have to speak louder than words. Again, is that going to end up with getting Shohei? I don't know. Nobody knows.

[00:08:26] But even if it's not Shohei, you have to come into spring training showing your players that you seriously invested resources into this roster to making it better. Otherwise, it's going to be called disastrous internally by players, outwardly by fans. And I think a lot of media is going to say similar remarks if they go and make a couple of marginal moves and just small trades, which is what they've done for the better part of DePoto's tenure. So to answer your question just bluntly, I don't think you can.

[00:08:56] I think actions are going to have to speak louder than words. And if the actions aren't there, I think there's going to be a lot of distrust between players and DePoto if there's not some already. And that's not how you win games. That's for sure. Because you know who's an arm of the front office? And that's Scott Service. Scott Service is down there in the clubhouse significantly more often, obviously, since he's the manager than Jerry DePoto is. But those two work hand in hand.

[00:09:21] And if Scott is trying to preach everything that Jerry is preaching and the players are like, well, we're not buying any of that because, well, everything else proves otherwise. That's a recipe for absolute disaster and that sustainable core that we're gunning for and that Jerry has tried to promote and tried to say, hey, this is the way I want to go about this. And we think this is the way that's going to work. Well, you could kiss that core goodbye if that's the case.

[00:09:46] Because once someone wants to leave and someone doesn't want to be there, it's like dominoes from here on out. So offseason looms large and partially the subject of today's episode, I would say. Again, so we will be talking about one guy today. We're going to have plenty of time to talk about a lot of additions. The offseason does not technically start until the World Series is over.

[00:10:13] So we kind of got to hold serve here until the offseason officially starts and we can officially dive into some rumors, which will be nice. But I think today's topic is quite interesting.

[00:10:52] It is. Because look at the difference it would make. I mean, like, again, again, I understand that Scott Boris wasn't letting him sign here. But I'm basically pissed off at Scott Boris that he allowed that to happen and manipulated the market the way he did. Because, man, it was such a perfect fit. And to this day, it'd still be such a perfect fit. So I'm just sitting here and complaining and whining about it. Hey, do you notice who Jung-Hoo Lee's agent is?

[00:11:22] I did. It's Scott Boris. That's a pretty good transition here. So let's – before we get into Jung-Hoo Lee, by the way, because that is our big topic of today's show, before we get to an awesome interview with Reed Van Scooter. Before all of that, however, quick word from our friends over at Pogaccia's Pub 85. That's Pogaccia's Pub 85 in Kirkland. Just east of 405. Has some great parking, awesome pizza, food, drinks.

[00:11:48] And if you want to go watch the World Series, you want to watch the NFL, you want to watch college football, NBA's starting up, NHL's going on. Like, what do we talk about? October is the peak of sports season. So if you need places to watch, head over there. Head over to Pogaccia's Pub 85. And if you're there during some of the afternoon hours during the weekday, well, they've got some happy hour specials. The exact times and days and hours of those are Monday through Friday, 2 to 6 p.m.

[00:12:15] That features $3 domestic beers, $4 Manny's Blue Moons, $4 Mac and Jacks, $4 Wells, $4 Housewines. That's all over at Pogaccia's Pub 85. So head over there. Check it out for all the best food, drinks, and sports watching in town. Okay, back to your point, TJ. Yeah, we're about to talk about another Scott Boris client today. For the 2022 KBO MVP, Jung-Hoo Lee, if you haven't heard about him, he's an outfielder.

[00:12:43] He plays over in Korea, Japanese-born. He just turned 25 in August. There's a lot of good things about this guy. He makes a lot of hard contact. He walks a lot. He does not strike out a lot. I mean, last two seasons, 155 walks to 55 strikeouts. He whiffs on just 9% of his swings. His slash line in his MVP season last season, 349, 421, 575.

[00:13:12] And that was his age 23-24 season. 36 doubles, 23 home runs, a 175 WRC+. Crushing the KBO. Absolutely crushing the KBO. He does have an ankle fracture this year. He's going to miss the final three months of the season. He was having a pretty good follow-up campaign. Do his MVP season with a very similar slash line. He's very fast. His contact ability is rated as elite.

[00:13:40] There's, for a KBO bat, just to put into context of some of his talent, he's the first player ever to jump straight from high school to the KBO. So talent has never been the problem for this guy. And he's clearly dominated the KBO over his six seasons there. And the big question is, could he transition that over to the big league level in America? So I think there's good and bad to split up with Jung-Hoo Lee here.

[00:14:08] So let's start with the good, because you just highlighted a lot of his positives. If you're the Mariners, you have to at least be doing your homework on this guy and your due diligence on this guy, because you need bats. You have to improve the offense. And he is a free agent that's 25 years old that's going to be on the market. So look, I'm sure the Mariners have been sending scouts to Korea over the last couple of years to see him. I'm sure they've got their reports on him, and I'm sure they're at least going to check in on him this winter. And you have to, because you have to upgrade the offense.

[00:14:38] Your options are limited. So you've got to at least do your homework and see if this guy's worth it. And for all the reasons you pointed out, there's enough to at least get them to the table of, okay, you have our attention for everything you just outlined. He makes great contact. At least in Korea, he showed a little bit of power. He's young. When he's healthy, he's actually got pretty good speed. He walks a decent amount. He doesn't strike out at all. So for all of those reasons, there's at least enough of a reason to catch the eye, right?

[00:15:07] I think that's fair to say. It is. And it's lucky for him. We've talked about how weak this free agent bat class is. He could rank in the top 10 of bats as an everyday player because he comes over. He's playing every day. So you have a potential to get a speedy elite contact bat in the outfield against this class of bats. Yeah, you're ranking pretty high. I would assume he's going to get around $100 million.

[00:15:37] I think I couldn't find a real estimate. But based on his talent and the length of the contract, he's probably going to get probably around five years. I would imagine he's going to get somewhere around the $100 million range. So it's not like he won't be well compensated to come over to America. And that's, of course, on top of the posting fee that the teams are going to have to shell out for him. Now, there is a negative to trying to sign a guy out of Korea, Lyle. There have only been, I didn't realize this number was so low, 26 total players ever from

[00:16:05] Korea have appeared in Major League Baseball. 26. That's not that many. There have not been very many. And when we look at hitters, there's been even fewer. There has. And a bunch of them have been Mariners, funny enough. Deho Lee, G-Man Choi, Shinsu Chu. Like a bunch of them have been Mariners. So I don't think, to circle back to your point about the contract estimate, I don't know if he's getting $100 million.

[00:16:34] And just in comparison, that's about what Masutake Yoshida got this year, right? Who was going off in Japan and was probably putting up numbers that were a little bit better than Lee. And just to give some a reference in case it's not familiar to you, Japan is a step up in terms of the level of competition from Korea. So Japan is closer to big league talent than Korea. Neither are perfect simulations, but Japan is much closer.

[00:17:01] And if Yoshida was doing what he was doing in Japan and got close to $100 million, I would guess Lee's going to get less than that. I was honestly thinking something in the 5 for 60 range, maybe 5 for 70. I don't know if he's going to break the bank. And I know Scott Boris is his agent, but $100 million is a lot to put in a guy that is essentially unproven. Yeah, you're right. Okay. So maybe a little bit lower than that. And if it's 60 million, if it's 100 million, I don't really think it's a question if the Mariners could afford him or not.

[00:17:30] We both know that they could. And if they really thought that his bat was big league ready, they could do that. I know he's a great bad ball hitter. Lyle, there's a great video out there of him hitting a ball essentially off his shoelaces that the pitch was literally thrown at his foot and he was jumping out of the way of not getting hit with the ball. And he still swung at it down there, still made contact and got a base hit out of it. It's a pretty funny, you could hear the announcer kind of chuckling at it.

[00:17:55] But you mentioned some of those Korean hitters that have come over to America. The only ones that you can flat out say are successes in the entire history of KBL players coming to America is essentially Sin Su-Chu. He's the only one who's made an all-star team. Ha-Sung Kim has had an excellent season for the Padres, but I say his sample size is still a little bit too small to clarify him a successful hitter in Major League Baseball.

[00:18:22] A lot of his Ha-Sung Kim value, Kim's value comes from his defense. So he's got like the odds are stacked against him and that's what's going to make teams a little more hesitant in signing this guy. And also for a little bit more context, I believe the general consensus of the KBO is somewhere between AA and AAA, while the NPB in Japan is the league ranked somewhere between AAA and Major League Baseball.

[00:18:50] This would be no different than a probably 24-year-old top prospect in AA who's obliterating the ball, coming up and playing at the Major League Baseball. That's about what this would be. Along with the fact of now starting to get into some of the negatives with Lee, he's not really much of a power guy. And in his MVP season, he hit 23 home runs, but for his career, he hit 65. So 23 of his 65 bombs all came in one season.

[00:19:19] He's projected to be a very good contact hitter, or at least in Korea, he was known as a very good contact hitter. But if that's the way he was hitting in Korea, to expect 20 to 25 home run power to translate over to the US and to Major League Baseball seems like a bit of a stretch. So I would have to guess his power is going to get significantly slashed down once he comes over to the majors, which if that happens, that's already knocking down his value a ton, right?

[00:19:48] So that's number one. Number two is if he's seriously injured, because again, it's not an ankle sprain. It's not like he tweaked it. No, he missed three months with a broken ankle. So there's now a question of what's his mobility going to be like? Is he going to be comfortable in the box again? Is he still going to have the speed that he had because he can steal some bases? So there's some question marks just about his bill of health, too, along with the fact that most would expect his power to be cut down.

[00:20:17] Yeah, and he's a center fielder, too. So he would the teams that sign him and they believe in his ability, they'd want him out there playing every day. And if his bat can't catch up, can't catch up to Major League Velocity, by the way, which is the biggest difference essentially between Korea and Japan and Major League Baseball is the velocity of fastballs. It's not the breaking stuff. It's the fastballs. In Korea, you just don't see consistent 96, 97, 98, 100 miles an hour like you do in Major League Baseball.

[00:20:46] So that's going to be an adjustment for him. And the contact, if you have power, I mean, you can accidentally hit balls over the fence and that improves your value. With contact, you got to put a lot of balls in play and you have to find the right spots. It doesn't always work out. I mean, especially with the Mariners and contact hitters. Look at the contact hitter the Mariners brought in last offseason. Cole Wong's a contact hitter. How'd that turn out for him? Oh, no, he was the worst player in baseball.

[00:21:13] There are positives and negatives to this thing. And I don't know if the Mariners would be the favorite to sign him either. He's in a free market. He can do whatever he wants because he's 25. Korea operates with the same rules as Japan in terms of international players. If you go there before 25, it's the international signing pool money. But as soon as you hit 25, you're a free agent and all the team needs to do is pay a posting fee.

[00:21:43] So he was teammates with Ha Sung Kim in Korea. If he's going to make the choice to go to sunny San Diego, where Scott Boris has already sent his clients before, that it seems like it might work out and might help his transition into the big leagues a little bit and leave the Mariners at a bit of a disadvantage. So that would be a pretty clear fit is San Diego, a team that needs outfielders. And Lee and Kim were former teammates. So there's one. The Giants are said to be invested in Lee.

[00:22:11] So that's another team that's going to be interested. I think the Mariners, again, will do their homework and I'm sure they're at least going to. I should say I say check in on him. I'm sure they're going to do a step further than check in. I'm sure they're going to at least feel it out right and see what the market kind of says about Jung Ho Lee. But yeah, I'm just not sold for kind of the reasons you're talking about. You want to draw another comparison. You just talked about Colton Wong, a guy that's a contact hitter and had a really good record of being that.

[00:22:41] Well, another thing Jung Ho Lee's done in Korea is so he doesn't strike out a lot. He walks a decent amount and he has a little bit of power. Well, who's another guy that kind of fit that bill that the Mariners tried to bring in once upon a time? Actually, not once upon a time. Not too long ago. Jesse Winker walked, controlled the zone, didn't strike out a lot and had a decent amount of power. That didn't work out either, especially in T-Mobile Park.

[00:23:05] So for those reasons and for just how tough it is for Korean players and international players to move over to the U.S. and transition is really tough. It's tougher for hitters than it is for pitchers. And to do it as a hitter, you have to be next level special, which is why Shohei is such a unicorn. The fact that he can come over and do what he did and to really thrive here, I think

[00:23:32] you have to be above and beyond like all of the rest of the talent in the league in Japan or Korea to prove that in the majors. I have a couple examples of it too, which I'll get to here in a minute. But yeah, I just have my questions. If he was going to be the third or fourth bat the Mariners acquired this winter and it was a project, they didn't have to sign him for that much. I'd say, all right, maybe if they sign Jung-Hoo Lee and tab this, the Mariners as their highlight move of the offseason, there's going to be problems.

[00:24:00] Yeah, there is going to be problems. Here's my question. Do you know, is it easy for guys to move between the KBO and MPB? Because I was thinking if Jung-Hoo Lee was really that dude and he was that special to plate, wouldn't he be playing in Japan? Yeah, that's interesting, especially because he was born in Japan. I don't know what exactly the story is behind that. And I feel like you don't see it that often, right? With guys that go from the KBO to the MPB. I'm sure it happens sometimes, but it's not regular, I don't think.

[00:24:30] So that is interesting that he never moved over to essentially try to emulate what AAA quote unquote would be like of the MPB rather than the AA-ish level of the KBO. Seeing those numbers, I'm sure he'd be good enough to play in the MPB. I don't think that's an issue. No. So here's an example I drew, right? And I think, again, it's not exactly fair to Jung-Hoo Lee to compare him to other international players.

[00:24:57] But just as kind of a barometer here to give people some idea of what I'm talking about for why we're maybe not exactly sold. I know you're going to know this name, TJ. You're a certified ball knower. But just in case for any of our listeners that may not remember the name, Shogo Akiyama, the Reds signed him a few years ago. He was out of Japan. And he was awesome over in the MPB. I mean, look at some of these numbers. This dude hit 20 plus bombs in each of his final three seasons there. He was a career 301 hitter.

[00:25:26] He had a career 824 OPS in Japan. And that competition is better than Korea. He had a really good stint and career over in Japan. Shogo Akiyama in Major League Baseball lasted parts of two different seasons, was a career 224 hitter, had a 594 OPS, and did not hit a single home run. There are reasons I'm skeptical. And looking at somebody like Akiyama, who played at a higher level than Lee, it just

[00:25:55] makes me a little nervous. You remember Jung Ho Gung, don't you? Yeah. Yeah, with the Pirates. Played for the Pirates. He was okay, flamed out after just a couple seasons in Major League Baseball. That dude slugged 739 in Korea. 739, a 40 homer season. And came over to Major League Baseball and was outmatched by MLB pitching.

[00:26:20] And Jung Ho Lee did not have as much success in Korea as Jung Ho Gung did. I think Gung was a little bit older, but still didn't have quite the same success overseas as Lee did. And now, you know, now he's expected to come over and produce. And man, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough. Especially, you know, you bring him.

[00:26:46] It would be, this would be a little bit more of a reasonable path, say, if you bring them over and you send them to AAA for some time. But the problem is, when you sign a guy to a $60 million contract, he's not playing in AAA. You don't sign guys to go play in AAA. So that puts the pressure on you a little bit. Again, I think the level of talent you have to have being an international player, as a hitter

[00:27:12] especially, to come over to the U.S. and have that type of success is pretty unprecedented. If you want to talk about a guy who's really going to get some money as an international bat and free agency next year, you can fast forward to who we're going to be talking about a year from now and Munitaka Murakami from Japan. Man, that's a guy who actually is probably going to warrant a lot of money because he's put up just absurd numbers in the NPV.

[00:27:39] That is a guy who, when you look at his skill set, you could say, oh yeah, he might get to America and just be a star. It's not a guarantee, but he feels more like a slam dunk than somebody like Jung-Hoo Lee would be. So if you're a team out there that wants to throw a lot of money at an international bat, teams may wait 12 or so months to do it for Murakami. And if you're somebody listening to this podcast and you don't know this name yet, you might want to look him up. Yeah, you might.

[00:28:08] And again, I recommend going to look at some of the other Korean bats that have come over. Give yourself a little context before you get excited about some of these numbers you've seen. There's a lot of peripherals that we like with Lee, but just the odds, the odds do not work in his favor. Here, one slight positive that might help ease his transition to Major League Baseball. He didn't share an outfield with Yassiel Puig. I wonder what he taught him. I can only imagine. I really can't.

[00:28:38] Like, like, hey, buddy, while we're waiting for this pitching change, want to pull out our phones and make some bets? Can you gamble in Korea? I don't even know, but Yassiel Puig was doing it. That's true. Probably some very interesting things and teach him how to bat flip a little bit, too. I'm sure he was being a helpful, savvy veteran. Anyway, go check out Jung-Hoo Lee, a very interesting name, very good player over in Korea. But we'll see.

[00:29:07] We'll see what ends up happening with him this offseason. He'll get posted. He will get signed. Will he be good? We'll just have to wait and see. Before we get to our interview with Reed Van Scooter, a word from BetterHelp. Is something interfering with your happiness or preventing you from achieving your goals? Regardless, if you have a clinical mental health issue like depression or anxiety, or if you're just a human who lives in this world who's going through a difficult time, therapy can

[00:29:34] give you the tools to approach your life in a very different way. That's why I'm excited to tell you about today's sponsor, BetterHelp. BetterHelp's mission is to make therapy more affordable and more accessible. And this is important because finding a therapist can be really hard, especially when you're limited to options in your area. BetterHelp is a platform that makes finding a therapist easier because it's online, it's remote. And by filling out a few questions, BetterHelp can match you with a professional therapist in as little as a few days.

[00:30:02] It's easy to sign up and get matched with a therapist. There's a link in our description. It's betterhelp.com slash marine layer pod. That's betterhelp.com slash marine layer pod. Clicking that link helps support this podcast, but also gets you 10% off your first month of BetterHelp so you can connect with a therapist and see if it helps you. So if you're struggling, consider online therapy with BetterHelp. Click the link in the description or visit betterhelp.com slash marine layer pod.

[00:30:32] It was great getting to get Reed Van Scooter onto this very program. You got to go meet him when those awards were given out last weekend of the season and we're able to follow up and get him on here. Very interesting journey from Coastal Carolina on into the big league level and now the Mariners 2022 minor league or 2023 minor league pitcher of the year. It's been really cool getting to know some of these minor league guys, which is why it's

[00:30:59] been fun to do some of these player mini mic interviews that we've done, not just at T-Mobile Park and with the big league guys, but doing it in Tacoma and doing it in Everett and doing it for some of these minor league guys when they were receiving their awards a couple of weeks ago and having some of them on the podcast now too. I think it's cool for fans and us for sure to get to know some of these guys as they work their way through the system because minor league baseball has as much access as ever now.

[00:31:26] And now when guys come up, people know them by now. People know who they are. They know what they can do. And especially since they seem more open and available to do things like media interviews, people know more things about them. And there's a bunch of great dudes out there, especially in the Mariners organization. Reed's one of them. I thought he was really, really straightforward. I thought he was a great dude. I thought he was very transparent about what his journey has been like. And he was really fun to talk to.

[00:31:55] I think he's a guy that if you listen to this interview, similar to some of the other minor leaguers we've had on, you'll walk away from it saying, yeah, this is a guy that is pretty easy to root for. So I hope you guys enjoy the interview because he was really fun to talk to. We'll be rooting for him. And we really hope you guys root for him as well as he makes his way up through the minor league level. To hear a little bit more about Reed, let's get to that interview and hear from Reed Van Scooter. All right, we've got Reed Van Scooter on with us.

[00:32:23] He was the Mariners minor league pitcher of the year. Pitching prospect in the Mariners system. Just finished up a year with the Everett Aqua Sox. You're back in New York now. I know we were talking about that a little bit pre-recording. You grew up not too far away from Buffalo. So my first question is, how many tables have you jumped through since being home? Actually zero because I really don't want to get hurt doing that. A lot of my buddies, like, you know, separated shoulders, like got hurt big time.

[00:32:51] So I mean, it's fun to watch, but I try to stay away from the actual breaking of the tables part. What's the age that, you know, your event, like people, it's like a rite of passage for Bill's fandom. Is there a point? That's a great question. But I see videos of people doing it of all sorts of ages, you know. So I can't give you like a real range, but I know a lot of people, a lot of people like doing it. Is it an option when you retire? Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:21] If my body still feels good. Okay. So you have had friends and family do it then. You've just always stayed clear of it. Yes. I've had many friends do it. Yeah. I just never actually did it myself. Well, if you want to stay healthy for a baseball season, that's probably the fiscally responsible move. So I'll give you credit for that. Thank you. So I know you just came off winning a pretty big award. You won the minor league pitcher of the year in the Mariners system, got the award just a little over a week ago, at least at the time of recording this.

[00:33:52] But in terms of winning the award, did you think you were ever in the running for that? Like, did you even know that was a thing that you had a chance to win it? Honestly, I didn't know it was a thing until about three quarters of the way through the season. And then one of my buddies reached out to me and said like, hey, you know, like you could win that. I'm like, that's pretty cool. But, you know, the biggest thing for me was to just not think about that. I don't really, I just try to stay level headed and, you know, don't think about any of that

[00:34:20] stuff during the season, especially like when I'm out on the mound and stuff, you know, I just figured the best way to do as best as I can every day is to just treat it as another day where I do the best that I can, you know, and then just go from there. What was the moment like when, I don't know who called you? Was it Scott Hunter? Was it Andy McKay? Was it Jerry? Jerry, who gave you the call? And what was it like when you realized you won it? Matt Snyder called me. And it took me by surprise. He texted me. He texted me and said, hey, Reed, you got time for a quick call?

[00:34:50] And I was like, uh-oh, I don't know. I was like, I don't get a lot of text messages from this guy. And I'm fairly new in the org. So I don't really know. I don't know a lot of people. You know what I mean? So I was kind of nervous for the call, actually. And then he called me and he was like, I'm happy to make this phone call on the Mariners' behalf. And I was like, oh, it's a good thing. Okay, this is cool. And then he told me I won the award and gave me some details. And I was ecstatic.

[00:35:17] I called my parents right away and was like, I mean, it was funny. I just got off the phone with my dad, I think. And then I called him right back. I was like, Dad, I won that award. That's crazy. Like, you know, so it was really special. It was really cool. It was really cool. Okay, you were wearing a pretty nice suit to accept that award, too. Did you have that beforehand? Or did you go out and buy it because of the ceremonies? So I went out and bought it because of the ceremonies. So I wanted to look sharp.

[00:35:46] You know, I've always wanted like a nice suit, you know. And the blue, when I saw the blue, it spoke to me. You know, I was like, there we go. That's what I want to wear. So it fits in with the colors of the team. Also, you were the only person wearing a tie, too. So you show up and you look around. It's like, oh, everyone else has got a top button undone. But me, I'm all good to go. Yeah, what's funny is I actually, funny story. I actually forgot my tie. And I thought everyone was going to wear a tie. I had no idea. But my buddy who I brought with me on the trip, I realized I didn't have my tie.

[00:36:16] So he Ubered to a store 30 minutes before I had to go to the field and got me a tie. And thankfully, I mean, we picked out a decent one. But I was all nervous that I wasn't going to have it. And then it turns out no one else had it. And I was like, okay, whatever. What was the coolest moment of that day? Wow, that's a great question. It was honestly one of the best days ever.

[00:36:41] I would have to say walking out with Andy in front of 40,000 plus people, it was very surreal. The most people I've pitched in front of in my life was probably 6,500, 7,000 at Vancouver on a Wednesday night, which is more than I pitched in front of in the regional in college. So going out there in front of that many people and just, you know, they weren't going nuts in the stands. But like, you know, I heard chatter.

[00:37:09] It was a beautiful thing. It was really beautiful to see, you know, my family there, my friends there. It was amazing. I'm going to ask a little bit of a cliche question off that, but I am genuinely curious, which is why I wanted to ask. So when you got out and got that award and just that whole weekend of being there, between the pack crowds, seeing how fired up the big league club was for the final weekend, they're still fighting for a playoff spot, like everything. Is there some sense of, wow, this motivates me a little bit more to just keep grinding

[00:37:39] and keep going so I can be a real part of this one day? Absolutely. I think it was extremely motivating. It, you know, it made me want to just, you know, work even harder and make sure that one day, you know, one day I get to step on that mount. So it was really special. And then, so if we were going to dive into your minor league year, which is what all led up to you getting this award, I want to take you all the way back to when you first got to Everett. Well, first off, had you ever been to Seattle,

[00:38:09] like into the area before you got to Everett this year? No, I've never been to Everett or Seattle. Honestly, the farthest west I was, was spring training complex in Peoria. So that's, that's the only time I've ever been out there. But man, it is a beautiful part of the country. I got to say, you know, like the, the mountains in the background, the, the, the hills, the water, it's all, it's a lot different than the East coast. It's truly beautiful. What was your reaction the first time you had to climb up one of those mountains? Have you climbed up one of those mountains yet? No.

[00:38:39] So I didn't have my car out there. So I, I was, uh, I was riding passenger for anyone I can get a ride from all year. Did you get to explore much like anywhere during your off days when you were at home? Um, for all-star break, me and a few buddies went on a, uh, a little like camping trip for two nights out in gold bar. Um, that was awesome. You know, it was just three day trip with a few boys. It was, it was great. That's about all we got to do though.

[00:39:06] Um, you know how the schedule is, it's pretty packed all year. Um, but yeah, that was really fun. I'm glad we got to get away from baseball for a little bit, get our minds reset going into the second half. The first time you show up at Funko field, like the first time you walk out to that ballpark in Everett, you look out at center field and you see that fence is what 350 feet away. Is there a part of you where you're looking out at that thing? And then you kind of look left, you look right. And you're like, this can't be real, right?

[00:39:35] Like you're turning to somebody and saying like, are they going to move this back when the season starts or what? Yeah, that was funny. I heard a lot about that wall coming in. You know, uh, it's not a, I wouldn't say it's a very pitcher friendly park. That's for sure. But, uh, it's a great stadium. I do like the stadium. It's a fun atmosphere to play in. And, uh, I know, I know, I guess some of the, uh, the signs in the background can throw off some of the hitters with the white in the background.

[00:40:02] Uh, so I guess apparently one advantage was that hitters told me was curve balls are tough to see out of the hand. Uh, so, you know, there's, there's pros and cons to every field. You just got to find them. How much did it change how you pitch stylistically? Um, nothing. It didn't change anything really. I think of myself as a more of a ground ball pitcher, you know, uh, a, uh, soft contact pitcher, you know, I'm not going to strike out the world, uh, but I'm not going to walk a lot of guys.

[00:40:32] So my job is just keep the ball on the ground and let my defense make the plays behind me. We heard from an interview you did this season that the guy you look up to in major league baseball and that you sort of style yourself after is Max Scherzer. What, what specifically, uh, like what specifically about Scherzer is so I'd say intriguing to you and something you want to model after. Of course, besides the fact he has 3000 strikeouts and is in the hall of fame. Yes.

[00:40:57] Uh, I would just say one thing you can't measure, uh, statistically is how much dog you have in you, you know? And I, I like to take pride in the fact that, uh, I know for a fact that nobody on the baseball field is ever going to out-compete me, especially in the batter's box. Um, you know, I'm going to lose battles many times, but no one's going to, no one's going to out-compete me, you know? And I know, I know that when I watch Scherzer pitch, it's a beautiful thing because I just

[00:41:24] know that no matter what, like no matter how good or how bad he does, that guy is always giving it 110% no matter what the situation is. So off of that, how, sort of a tough question. How do you add dog to your repertoire? It is a tough question. I would just say like, you know, just controlling what you can control and not worrying about the, the other stuff. Like, you know, if you give up a grand slam, like you, you have one second to hang your

[00:41:53] head, then you got to lift it right back up and go right back to work. There's, there's no time for that stuff. If you want to be successful, you know, um, the hardest part about baseball is that it's a game of failure, you know? So every time you fail, you like, you have to be used to it. You have to not be okay with it. And you have to get back up and do as best as you can, because the only way to get out of failing is to just keep working and keep doing the best you can. And then the rest takes care of itself. Have you had a Scherzer moment where you're sitting, you're there in the windup and you're

[00:42:23] just like cussing into your glove. You're so just amped up and locked in and you're just staring a hole through the umpire and the batter and all that's just coming out of your mouth is curse words. Not necessarily curse words. I mean, sure. Here and there, of course. But, uh, but, uh, honest, I just, the intensity, the fire behind his eyes is exactly like, it just, you know, it lights me up as a baseball player to just, to see that and to be like, wow.

[00:42:50] Like everything he does, like he does max, max intensity, max intent. And, and that's just a, one thing you can't measure is a baseball player. So, or statistically. So I just like to not necessarily model my game after him because I know he's a whole different type of pitcher. Um, but mentally, I think it's something to definitely look up to. You know, it's funny. Another similarity, the two of you guys have is you do both throw five pitches.

[00:43:18] And for you, correct me if I'm wrong on this. You don't really throw a four seam fastball, right? No, I don't. I throw a sinker and a cutter. I threw a four seam in college, but I throw a cutter now instead. So that was going to be my follow-up was I'm sure at some point in your life, you probably threw a four seamer because that's what every kid just starts out by throwing, especially kids that pitch. And at some point, clearly you got away from it. So what was it you found with the sinker or just, I guess, more so getting rid of that four seamer that helped you more? Yeah.

[00:43:47] So my, my four seam is kind of a dead zone four seam. It didn't really ride a lot. It didn't really run a lot. It was, it was, it would do both like the same amount. So it was easier to see as a hitter. Um, so, uh, they wanted me to switch to a cutter because, you know, I'm not, I'm not the guy that's going to blow 97 by you in case you guys didn't know that about me. Um, but, uh, so the cutter, I feel like he's, you know, another soft contact pitch, which just helps me out with my repertoire.

[00:44:16] What about the Mariners pitching philosophy has stood out to you the most? Justin, that has resonated with you the most? It's tough to say what the most, but I would just, what did the most, but I would say that just that they have a good feel with figuring out what each individual is good at. Um, and because before this season I threw, I had a whole different arsenal. And then this season coming into the year, I was like, Oh boy, like I didn't throw a sweeper.

[00:44:45] I slowed down my curve ball. I throw a cutter. They changed my changeup grip. And now the only thing that stuck with me was my, my sinker, which I used to call a two seam. So I was like, okay, well, we got to start fresh here. But, um, the way they had me work with it and just practice it every day and stay focused. And that was really my job was to really stay focused every day and try to get every pitch 1% better, whether I was pitching in game or not, because when it comes to game time, whatever you got that day is what you got that day.

[00:45:15] I don't focus on anything like doing anything extra, doing anything that I'm not good at. Just play to your strengths. And that's how the game goes, you know, but, uh, just focusing on them every day really, really was my plan. And they ended up working really well for me. Was there any, some of the numbers they present you with and how you're tracking, how your outings are doing? I know you guys have shove reports. Lau and I've seen a wee little bit of it. Was that coming from college, a data overload? Was, was that something you embraced?

[00:45:45] That's a good question. Yeah, it was, I didn't know anything about analytics. I didn't know anything about anything with that stuff. I just knew how I like to pitch, you know, and I just like to compete. So my biggest thing was I, I, in order to try to, you know, make them happy, uh, you know, get better with myself. I had to, I had no choice, but to try to embrace it. And I felt like that was the best way to go at it or else, you know,

[00:46:14] I could just cause more problems with myself. So, uh, the way I embraced it was just, you know, diving in and trying to really learn about it all. Like learning how to, you know, alter pitches here and there, how to make my sinker sink based on my, uh, release angle and all that stuff. Like I really had to learn all about that stuff in order to improve, like personally as a player. So I thought that was really interesting how, how they go about it.

[00:46:40] Which is the one that you think helps you the most that you're most glad that you learned? Which what? Like just which like number or metric that you look at that reflects the quality of your pitches that you think, I'm glad I know this now. I wish I would have known it earlier. Yeah. I would say like my target vertical and horizontal like movements. So, you know, with a, with a sinker, they don't want you to throw a riding fastball because it's not going to sink.

[00:47:09] So, um, same with my sweeper, like sweeper, you need to cut down on your vertical and increase your horizontal. And they taught me how to do that. So I, I just embraced the whole process of fighting through it every day. You know, like when my four seam, I had, I had tail on it. I had a natural lefty tail. Wasn't a ton, but it was definitely a lot easier than making the ball go glove side with my cutter. You know what I mean? That was a huge, huge challenge for me. Okay.

[00:47:36] I know you said you used to call your sinker a two seamer for, for people that don't pitch and can only watch on TV and try to depict it that way. Is there that much of a difference between the two pitches? Not necessarily. I would just say a two seamer has a little bit more ride to it. And you know, it just, it kind of goes for a lefty. It would just go arm side. Um, but my sinker, I call it a sinker more for, you know, personal, like what I see it

[00:48:05] in my head, what I see it doing in my head. So, uh, to decrease the vertical movement on it, which means like to help the ball go down more as well as tail, I just had to make some adjustments and it's, it's not a huge difference, but in my head, in my head, it just helped me out to call it a sinker. What's a pitch you watch every day at the big league level or at the minor league level that you're just like, man, I wish I could throw that. Uh, a hundred mile an hour fastball. Anyone specifics?

[00:48:34] Anyone specifically? Um, that's a good question. Uh, Otani, he throws like, he's just got the most ridiculous arsenal. Like, you know, his, his, uh, his flatters look like they're sweeping and they're like 88 miles an hour or actually better example, Matt Brash, Matt Brash's slider. Oh my God. It's ridiculous. It's everyone in our org looks up to his slider. You know what I mean? At spring training, did you get to cross over with him at all and talk to him?

[00:49:05] Not really, but, uh, he actually played in college near where I grew up in Niagara. And there's a kid from my high school that I used to look up to a lot, uh, growing up. His name is Zach Kolejewski and, uh, he played in Niagara. So he always says like, whenever I see Brash, like tell him hello. But I never really crossed paths with him so far. Have you heard any stories from minor league guys or even big league guys that stood in the box against them in spring training? Like, like, are there just some horror stories about looking at that sweeper?

[00:49:34] I haven't heard any just because I probably haven't been with the org long enough, but I can only imagine what seeing a hundred up and in. And then that sweep, that 90 mile an hour sweeper. I just don't understand how, you know, he's truly blessed to be able to throw that because that's, that's not something you can just teach someone to throw that, especially that hard. When you got to spring training for the first time this year, you were in minor league camp,

[00:49:59] but was there anyone you got to shadow a little bit and learn from to, to, to, I guess, try and learn how the, how the Mariners operate as an organization? And, uh, and also on top of that, like, did they embrace you? Um, honestly, I kind of just stuck with like the people I knew. I, I really didn't know. I didn't know what I was doing going into spring training. I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was the one of the, maybe the oldest guy in our draft class last year being a fifth year out of college.

[00:50:29] So I didn't, I didn't really know anything about the Mariners coming in being such a far West coast team and stuff. But I, I just embraced the process of just watching everybody do whatever, whatever they were doing. And I like to watch, uh, like the bullpens, the big league guys throw the bullpens because I'd be stretching out there and stuff on the turf and Luis Castillo, Castillo, Robbie Ray, like all those guys, Kirby just dotting up all the time. And it's super impressive and I, and they make it look so easy.

[00:50:57] So I, I just thought to myself, if I can become good enough to where that looks easy all the time, like, you know, you know, you can make it, you know, like, so I just, I just focused on, uh, all the positives that I saw from everyone. And I just try to take it in. Was there ever a thought that you may or may not think about another career path? Cause I know, for example, something you've talked about is like doing stuff like the CIA,

[00:51:22] for example, like when you went through all those injuries in college, I mean, it's a huge credit to you. I think that you've pushed through them and then just have had the season you've had and had all the progression you've had, but some people don't ever come back from stuff like that. So for you, like, did it ever cross your mind where you thought maybe I'll do something else? Well, um, it's, it's tough, you know, like when you're going through that, when you miss two years and then you come back and you're like, not good. It's, it's very tough mentally.

[00:51:51] So my, you know, like people ask me like, what do you want to do other than baseball? What do you want to do? And I was asked so often, I was like, I got to come up with an answer just so I can stop telling everybody I don't know. And I look like an idiot. So, but, uh, so I really just, you know, I've always been like a very, you know, psychological thinking person, if that makes sense. So I just, I've always been interested in stuff like that CIA, FBI, uh, just something where you got to think a lot.

[00:52:21] I love that stuff. And, uh, like me and Jared Bayless had some very interesting conversations this whole season. He's, he's a really smart guy and, uh, you know, just stuff like that keeps me interested. But, uh, but truthfully, I, I never thought twice about how I would come back from injury. I just, I just had to pray and hope that it worked out, you know, and just never, never waver, you know?

[00:52:46] So is that like a true crime podcast on the bus kind of relationship with, with you and him? Not necessarily true crime, but like we play one, we play a lot of chess. Yeah. Um, yeah, we play a lot of chess and, uh, but we would just, we, a lot of just scientific stuff, you know, uh, yeah, stuff like that. Like how, like, I don't even know how to explain it.

[00:53:13] It sounds like from the way you're describing working with the CIA or the FBI, I mean that you're, you would be shooting for more of like a criminal minds role, right? Yes. That like profiling and, and really trying to understand other people. Absolutely. Like being a spy or something like that. Like I just, I, you know, like, but also like that thrill of like kind of being in the line of fire type thing. Like, you know, like I feel like I work well under pressure.

[00:53:41] So I feel like a job that, you know, you have to work under pressure would be exciting for me to wake up for every day. You know, like pitching in front of thousands of people isn't an easy thing by any means, especially if you're doing bad, but, uh, you know, just stuff like that keeps, keeps me interested, you know, keeps my brain awake. How's the chess community in baseball? It's bigger than you would think. Honestly. Yeah. Like, like Harry Ford, great chess player.

[00:54:10] I'm two and one against them for the record. Um, Cole Young, great chess player, uh, Brandon Schaefer, you know, we all really kind of, uh, just started playing halfway through the season, especially when Schaefer came up from Odesto. He, he brought this like chess board over that was like magnetic so we could play it on the bus and the pieces wouldn't fly all over the place. So we, we just started doing that all the time. And I started dedicating my time to like, you know, getting better at that.

[00:54:37] And just so I was all, you know, I like to work at stuff and I hate not being good at something. So, you know, it just became a big interest for me. So it sounds like you might've answered my question here. Cause for example, the two of us, TJ and I, at least in like, in terms of our baseball friends and friends of fellow sports, we get called like the nerds. Cause we're into the analytics. We're into like spending time on baseball savant, all that stuff. I was going to ask between these conversations between you and Bayless, did the rest of the team look at you guys and be like, well, what in the world are these guys talking about?

[00:55:07] Yeah, I'm sure they did. A lot of guys would tune us out in the bullpen. That's for sure. But I mean, it's not the personal, you know, we just, you know, like talking about stuff that interests us, you know, as anyone else does, but I definitely would consider myself a nerd as of these past couple of years for sure. So is, is the chess like play, you guys might have tournaments, you guys just are competitive head to head. Is that like the intro to eventually get to the big league level and you start playing

[00:55:36] a lot more poker or are you guys hoping to just keep the chess going throughout the minors? Oh, we, uh, we played poker long before we played chess. Yeah. That's what I thought. Back to college. Honestly, my roommates and I played way too much than I care to admit, but, um, you know, it's not like we're throwing a lot of money around, but we just, it's just fun to play competition against other people. That's, that's my favorite thing in the world is, is competing.

[00:56:03] You know, my dad never let me win in anything until I was able to truly be him myself. And all those years of losing, I just, I, I never want to lose anything ever again. I just, I hate it so much. Uh, it just instilled something in me, you know, that I, I honestly think is one of the biggest blessings to why, where I am now, you know, you know, there's a ton of pitchers from this Everett team this past year. And maybe this is just a funny observation, but there's a lot of guys that had the flow

[00:56:32] going this year, especially the pitching side. Like there was you, Sam Carlson grew his hair out this year, like Reed Morgan and Matt Willrod have long hair. Bayless kind of has long hair. Like there's a few of them. So was it a coincidence or were y'all like, yeah, let's just grow it out this year. Honestly, it was pretty coincidental. Like we all, I mean, I didn't know any of those guys coming in, but, uh, maybe it was something they talked about, but, uh, I, I just didn't. Um, I had the flow a little bit last season and, uh, you know, I just liked, I liked it,

[00:57:02] I guess. And, uh, this season, I just thought I, you know, I would, I would get it cut if I really started, you know, not pitching well at all, but I thought it was working for me a little bit. And I just, you know, that was, that was why I kept it. Um, Reed Morgan, I know is never going to get rid of that hair. Uh, he's super proud of it. And I gave him credit. He just got some beautiful hair, but, uh, yeah, I'm not sure. I know the pitching community having some flow is, is fun to have, I guess, you know?

[00:57:32] So I, I, I don't know. It's a good question though. So Reed Morgan, best hair on the team confirmed this year. I'll give him that. I, I'm going to have to tell him I said this on here. He's going to be so happy, but yeah, great hair, great blonde hair. What's it like getting to throw to Harry Ford? I love throwing to Harry. He, he, uh, he got a lot better throughout the season too. Like him and I work really well together, you know, uh, um, he's a dog behind the plate.

[00:58:01] And that's, you know, it's, uh, a lot of catchers are dogs, you know, but, uh, he, he's, he's super special player. He's got a super bright future. I, I'd love to like, you know, go up the ladder with him and keep throwing to him. Um, he's got a lot of hype around him, but he is really a great, great kid too. I, I got a lot of respect for how he goes about the game, how he goes about the community, how he goes about like other kids and fans.

[00:58:28] And he, he really puts a hundred percent effort into, into every aspect of the game. And I have nothing but respect for him. And, uh, he's, he's going to be, he's going to be a special player. No doubt in my mind. Sounds like the two of you were on the same page for the most part, which of course you have to be a pitcher thrown to a catcher, but it sounds like the way you're talking about them, like you guys were really in sync throughout the year, which is a credit to the year you had and a credit to the year he had, I'd say. Yeah. Yeah. We were definitely on sync.

[00:58:54] Uh, I, the first, uh, first few games of the year, you know, we had to get used to each other. Uh, cause you know, with the pitch clock, I throw five pitches and if there's a pitch I want to throw and there's five seconds left and I shake, like he has to kind of know what I'm going for, you know, or else I'm going to get a violation. Cause I can't, I don't have time to shake. Like two, three times. Um, so that was, that was the biggest thing was, uh, getting on the same page with my

[00:59:19] own arsenal, figuring out my own arsenal to, uh, the best, best of my ability to, you know, throw specific pitches and specific counts in specific situations. And it took, it took all season. I'm still learning, you know, but, uh, the mistakes that were made were just helped me learn. But Harry did a great job of having my back all year. Was the pitch clock a big adjustment? It was, and it wasn't.

[00:59:47] It was in the sense that I've never pitched with it before. Um, but it didn't take me long to get used to it. I, I found ways to make it, um, beneficial for me. At first I was like, oh, this pitch clock. Oh my God, it sucks. I'm going to hate it. But I ended up embracing it because, you know, that's the, the only thing I could do was embrace it or else it would tear me apart. You know, I don't want it to eat at me. So I found out ways to just, you know, try to use it to my advantage.

[01:00:14] Uh, you know, a lot of hitters, um, I'll just put this out there. A lot of hitters like to call time when it's O2 and me being, you know, a strike thrower, um, I get to O2 and they call time and something like I, what I love doing is just staying on the mound. And as soon as they step in, I can hold for, I can hold for 17 seconds, you know, and then throw a curve ball in the dirt, you know, but as I know, I know as uncomfortable as it

[01:00:41] gets staring at the hitter for 18 seconds, right into his eyeballs, they're more uncomfortable in the box. You know what I mean? So that's, that's what really gets me through it. And, but, uh, I think, I think it, I think it's good for the game at this point. It speeds the game up. Uh, and honestly, I enjoy using it to my advantage as much as I can. As a pitcher, would you be for or against the automatic strike zone? Oh, I don't know. Um, I don't know.

[01:01:09] That's such a tough, I've thought about that before too, honestly. Um, I guess I'd have to experience it before I, cause I've never, I've never thrown to it before. I don't know how small it is. Um, but I assume it's not a big strike zone by any means, but, uh, I feel like the adjustment definitely could be made, but if, if that were to happen, I would just have to deal with it, you know, but I'm not sure if I would like it more or not.

[01:01:35] Maybe the challenge system's a good middle point just because then it's still a normal umpire calling balls and strikes. But if you watch a pitch that you dotted up on the outside corner, get called a ball, you can just go, yeah, I want to take a look at that. And then you can actually see if it was a strike or not. Like they used it in AAA this year, obviously. And I saw a couple of games up in Tacoma this year. I thought it worked really well. That's a great, I totally forgot about the challenge system that that's a great middle ground. If they're going to do it, I, I definitely highly suggest they keep it with the challenge system.

[01:02:05] How do you know how many they get? How many challenges they get? I want to say each team gets about a handful of game. I'm going to get the number wrong. It's like four or five, right? I think five, five sounds right. And then if obviously you're right, you don't lose the challenge, which you would hope you don't lose it. And you got to be, again, you got to be strategic to you in the first inning. You get two outs, no one on and they miss a pitch. It's like, well, I might need this later or my team might need this later in the game.

[01:02:34] I just can't be out here saying, oh, let's use all five of our challenges in the first inning. Yeah, no, that's a, that's a great point. I didn't even think about that. That's a really good point. You don't want to be selfish as a starter and just hog them all. And then in the eighth inning, it's a tie game, bases loaded. And then, and then something happens and you got none left. That would, that would not be good. But yeah, honestly, the challenge system, I do think is a great idea if they're going to do the automated, automated strikes zone. You know what it's called. We're all for it.

[01:03:02] And I think, I think we agreed it was kind of a good middle ground too. Yeah. Before we wrap this up, Reed, we had five kind of fun questions just on the lighthearted side that also could give fans a chance to get to know you just a little bit better. So we've got them written out and our first one we had for you, which is what is your go-to pregame and postgame meal? Postgame meal. I would say, that's a great question.

[01:03:28] The one we got this year, I would say was the, uh, uh, what was it? Chicken and rice bowls. That was with teriyaki bowls. They were fantastic. Oh man. I forget what the name of the restaurant was, but when we got them, like every game that I started, which was awesome because I didn't have to worry about getting a pregame meal. But postgame, postgame was probably those steak and potatoes we got with those potatoes were super creamy and they were, they had like bacon in them. Oh my God.

[01:03:58] They were to die for. But yeah, I don't know what each meal is called, but there you go. So it teriyaki is not like, that's a very West coast and Seattle thing for the most part, Pacific Northwest thing. So, uh, or are you happy you discovered that? Yeah, absolutely. I, uh, I've always liked my chicken and rice. So putting some teriyaki on it was a, was a beautiful ad. Yeah. Katsu is really good too. I'm a big fan of that. Okay. Next question.

[01:04:27] Your three favorite TV shows ever. Ooh, that's a great question. I would say the walking dead breaking bad and Ooh, the third one's tough. I'm watching suits right now. And I think it's really good so far. I got to, I got to, I got to go with entourage actually for the number. Just I've seen the whole thing. Great show entourage. Where are you at in suits? Suits is amazing.

[01:04:57] I love that show. Season two, but it's awesome so far. Yeah. Awesome. I keep rotating between that and ballers. I don't know which one I like more. They're both great. Sounds like I might have to get into suits because TJ said it's good. Now you're saying it's good. It is good. It is very good. Okay. Third question for you. We were going to ask, what would you be doing if you weren't playing baseball? But as you pointed out on here, you've asked, you've been asked that about a million times.

[01:05:23] So I'm going to alter up the question a little bit and ask, what was your favorite road trip of the year? And your least favorite road trip? That's another good question. I would say my favorite road trip of the year was going to Vancouver for the playoffs. We were one and one at home. Going to Vancouver was so exciting. Even though I wasn't going to get a chance to pitch unless we make it to game five.

[01:05:49] But it was just the excitement within the locker room, the coaching staff, just everyone riding it out together. The long season, we were like, this is the most excited we've been all year. It was awesome. It was a great trip. Even though it didn't pan out how we wanted it to. The vibes in the locker room, the relationships that were made. Even after we lost, the relationships we made were incredible. And they should last forever. So that was a beautiful thing.

[01:06:20] And I would say the worst one, that's tough. I would say the one time we went to Spokane and it just rained all the time. And I like their stadium. And it's just, I hate the rain. So I guess the rainiest trip definitely makes it the worst trip. Question. Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, good news for you.

[01:06:44] Well, the not so good news is you're part of an organization that is in a city where it just rains all the time. Good news is, Big League Ballpark has a roof. So when you get to the show one day, you don't have to worry about the rain. Which, side note, we talk about this all the time. I think every Big League stadium should have a roof to avoid rain outs. But that's just our take on here. I agree. There's enough money in the sport where they can make that happen, I feel like, you know? We're with you. Fourth question, your favorite all-time baseball player.

[01:07:16] My favorite all-time baseball player. I would say, I mean, I gotta say Derrick Jeter, man. But honestly, Andy Pettit. Because, you know, I mean, I grew up a Yankees fan. Being from New York, obviously. But my dad's a Mets fan, which is hilarious. But I would say Andy Pettit, you know? He's just, he had that dog in him. He was a lefty. He was just good at everything. Like, you know, respected guy, you know?

[01:07:46] And I would definitely have to go with Andy Pettit. That could be another great guy to model your game off right there. I mean, another lefty. Didn't overpower guys, but had an unreal career. Yeah, absolutely. 21 seasons and all that stuff. Yeah, he was special. The last one I've got for you. If you were to make your Big League debut today, because this answer could change in a year or two. But if it was today, you were making your debut. You're running out to the mound. Crowd's packed. What song's playing as your entrance song?

[01:08:15] So what's ironic about that is I've had Cinderella Man by Eminem the past two years. And the past two years were the best of my life baseball-wise. So I can't change it. So I got to stick with that one. Cinderella Man by Eminem. That's a really good one. And I always wonder about the guys that have country songs as their walk-ups. And no disrespect to country music, but I just think to myself, like, does that fire you up? Does that motivate you before you take the mound?

[01:08:44] But I'm just thinking about Cinderella Man blasting a T-Mobile park here in a year or two. That would be sick. Yeah, no, I'm excited for that. That would be awesome. I only hear about the first 10 seconds, and then I look at the catcher, and then it's gone, like, completely gone. I don't hear anything after that. But those 10 seconds, though, they really get me in my bag, they call it. And what do you mean by that, in your bag? It gets me in my zone, you know? Like, I'm going to war, and there's nothing that can stop me from going to war right now.

[01:09:13] That's what I feel out there. Love that. Yeah. Well, Reid, this has been awesome. I hope Mariner fans have gotten a chance to get to know you a little bit better. We've certainly enjoyed getting to hear a little bit about your story. And as you know, we'll certainly be rooting for you. You had a great season this past year. I'm sure it's going to continue, and we can't wait to watch your continued success. And we appreciate all the time. Yeah, thank you guys for having me. This has been super fun. I appreciate it. Good luck to you guys with everything as well.

[01:09:41] Really enjoyed the interview with Reid Van Scooter. We hope you guys did too. And this is another arm to follow, making his way through the system, because we know the Mariners have developed arms. And for a guy that just won minor league pitcher of the year, he's got a chance to be another one. So hopefully you guys got to learn a little bit about his personality and now just watch him continue to thrive in 2024 and beyond. So with that, that'll just about wrap up this edition of the Marine Layer podcast. You guys know the drill.

[01:10:07] You want to listen to the full form podcast, you can do so on Apple, Spotify, Google, and Amazon. If you're listening over there, make sure to follow us, download our episodes, leave us the five-star review. The reviews, the downloads help us out a ton. Watch us on YouTube too. So we've got a whole video side of the podcast over on YouTube. Head over there. Like, comment, subscribe, turn notification bells on. And then follow us on social media, on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube shorts at Marine Layer Pod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle.

[01:10:37] As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.