Buck Showalter Joins BBT To Discuss The ALCS Vs The Royals
Orioles manager Buck Showalter joined Bob, Glenn, and former Oriole Joe Orsulak to preview the upcoming American League Championship Series matchup against the Kansas City Royals.
Buck Showlater on Baltimore Baseball Tonight
The Baltimore Orioles will continue their quest for the teams first World Series title since 1983 this Friday as Game 1 of the American League Championship Series will be at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as they will take on the Kansas City Royals. Both teams are coming off sweeps in the divisional round of the playoffs, Orioles over Detroit and the Royals over Anaheim.
Buck and the guys start the conversation talking about the weather and Buck jokes about having way too much time but reassures fans that, at this point in the season, "We're both playing by the same rules. They have time off. We do... Guys don't get too much out-of-whack, especially the pitchers they can take some time off and not really lose much."
Bob Haynie asks Buck about the flip-flop between Miguel Gonzalez's projected start and Bud Norris getting the call in Game 3 at Detroit. Buck said, "I like Miggy in Game 4 with the start time and I liked Bud available in the bullpen for the first 2 days, which would have put him in Game 2 if we had to use him. Once we didn't have to use him in the first 2 games, he was fine to go Monday in that 3:45 start as opposed to the 1:37 start. There was a possibility we could have been playing at 12:07 Tuesday and Miggy's background is pretty good in those type of starts." Slack also chimmed in on the topic, asking Buck if the time of day and visibility for the hitters, with Norris' "nasty" stuff at 95-96 mph with a sharp slider, if he thought that would make it harder on the hitters than Miguel Gonzalez. "Yes." Buck answered, "Joe you knew the answer to that." Buck goes on to talk about Miguel's stuff, "I remember in the playoffs against the Yankees, he was 92-93 the whole game. We've got a 4:07 game on Saturday with 6:34 sunset so that's going to be the tough visual day for this series... I think you'll see Miggy start a game this series."
Glenn asks Buck what he does with the players to keep them fresh and active during the downtime between series especially following a pretty hot ALDS. Buck said that Monday was a travel and rest day off. Tuesday they played simulation games. Miggy threw 3 innings. Ubaldo, McFarland and Matucz each thew an inning. Basically the equivalent of a three inning game. Brady Anderson and Wayne Kirby were "on top of everything." It was all about getting loose, take batting practice, and fielding ground balls. Wednesday they're going to do it again with Tommy Hunter and Darren O'Day since they've had some time off. The team will also get more into the preparation for Kansas City on Wednesday.
Bob goes back to the game on Sunday, comparing the crowd at Comerica Park to the rowdy fans at Camden Yards. Buck said he thought the fans were engaged but just waiting for something to cheer about. The fans did come to life in the 9th inning, hoping to inspire their team. Buck remarked that the Lions lost the 1 o'clock game so he wasn't sure if that had anything to do with their energy level but if a pitcher is on their game, "they can really suck the energy out of the park."
Buck talks about his coaching staff and the great job they have done this year. The job they have done has allowed Buck to "do a lot of things and stay on top of things that you don't have the time to worry about because you're so involved in something else. It's just made it so easy for me. It's a real tribute to our ownership and our front office. We are the only coaching staff that is completely signed for next year. Go around to the other 29 clubs and see how many of them have 6 coaches that are already re-uped for next year. That makes it a lot easier to coach, players feel more confident when they know guys are going to be there and they know there's going to be a consistency."
Joe talks about the scouting for these contests. There has to be a lot of trust placed in the guys that go out and scout the competition to come back and report to the pitching staff, Dave Wallace, Jim Presley, etc. to relay to the pitchers and the hitters. Buck agrees and says "we've had guys out for 2-3 weeks at least with all clubs just like Kansas City does... You don't want to have the numbers dictate the whole thing. There's things that you can only get from being at the game, watching things that are going on, on and off the field. People, unfortunately in our game sometimes, like to share information. Nobody can keep a secret in baseball. So, sometimes when you keep your mouth shut, you'd be surprised what you might hear."
Glenn asks Buck about the pitchers, left handed pitching, long relievers and such. When talking about the team's readiness and preparing against the opposition, Showalter replies, "We have a pretty good idea. We're working off of their roster from the previous series. If there are some changes, we're prepared to plug in. We're ready to go. I've got a pretty good idea, after hearing the coaches... and listening to the advance scouts about what might help and what might not help, there are some adjustments to be made and we're gonna do it."
The BBT crew also talks to Buck about Chris Davis' spot on the roster moving forward through the Postseason, the Royals and Orioles starting rotation, and the Orioles mentality that they can and will win.
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