Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants OF Gorkys Hernandez joins us from Scottsdale, Arizona and Dodgers beat reporter Doug Padilla from ESPN.com joins us from Camelback Ranch in Arizona.
Hernandez talked to The Sports Virus about the optimism surrounding the 2017 Giants: “…We have the talent. We have everything. Young guys that are hungry to play. Last year we almost beat the Cubs. This year we have a great team. Pitching, defense, everything to get to another post season and another World Series.”
Padilla talked to The Sports Virus about Yasiel Puig: “…It’s going to be an interesting year for him. It seems like we say that every year that this is kind of the year for Yasiel Puig that he can show what he can do. He’s come in fit, he’s a little thinner and he has this desire. He told me guys had given him advice. Albert Pujols and Robinson Cano said this is how you need to handle yourself from here on out. There’s no more of this stuff that you’re doing, distractions that you’re causing. Yasiel said ‘I want to play now not just for me, it’s not about my numbers. I want to play because I realize those guys are watching, they care and I respect those guys and I need to show my respect by the way I play this season’. So, that’s a good sign, but Yasiel Puig has said the right things before and turned around and did the wrong things.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants RF Hunter Pence and 1B/OF Michael Morse join us as spring training continues in Scottsdale Arizona.
Pence photo courtesy of Jon Wells. Morse photo courtesy of The Washington Times
Pence tells The Sports Virus about his friend and new Giants closer Mark Melancon: “It’s a tremendous addition to the club. I got to play with him in Houston so I know that he’s just a confident, powerful presence, a guy that’s dialed into his body, dialed into his work and just a mental beast. So, I was really excited when I found out we added him to the club.”
Morse talked to The Sports Virus about getting signed after seeing GM Bobby Evans at Hunter Pence’s wedding: “I told him I could have the greatest spring training ever and if they don’t have room for me on this team I’m probably just going to take it home. I love baseball, it’s been great to me and I know I could still play the game, but all the other stuff (politics) I don’t have time for it anymore. I just told him to write up a cracker jack contract and let’s do it.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants infielders Brandon Crawford and Christian Arroyo join us. Crawford coming off winning another Gold Glove at SS, Arroyo trying to reach the Major Leagues after solid seasons in Class A and AA.
Crawford photo courtesy of Buzz Feed, Arroyo photo courtesy of KNBR
Crawford talked to The Sports Virus about the Giants new closer Mark Melancon: “I think he’ll be awesome. He was never a guy that I felt comfortable facing so I’m glad I’ll be playing behind him now and I’ll be able to watch other guys struggle with him.”
Blach talked to The Sports Virus about the young Giants players: “…It’s a pretty special group of guys. We’ve got a lot of us that have come up together. We’ve been kind of pushing each other all the way up, so it’s really fun to have that group of guys knowing that everybody’s pulling for each other.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants manager Bruce Bochy and San Francisco Chronicle Columnist John Shea join us from Scottsdale Arizona.
Bochy photos courtesy of Bleacher Report
Bochy tells The Sports Virus about his left fielders: “It’s going to be competitive with these guys. We’ve got a lot of experienced guys battling for a spot on this team and two young guys in Parker and Williamson. We probably won’t make a call until very, very late in the spring. We feel like we have some good choices, have some depth there, but some very difficult calls.”
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about Jimmy Rollins: “Here’s a guy who’s played his entire career at shortstop. He’s darn near 40 years old and he’s learning this new position (second base). You can’t count him out at all. An MVP, the Gold Glove award winner, a World Champion. Now he’s trying to win a job as a back up infielder and Joe Panik has been fantastic with him. Panik won a Gold Glove last year. Even though he’s in his 20’s, he’s really helping out Jimmy Rollins at second base.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
We go back to the bullpen in Scottsdale, Arizona and chat with Giants reliever Derek Law. Plus we check in on Matt Moore following his outing Tuesday against the Dodgers.
Law photo courtesy of You Tube
Law tells The Sports Virus about how his quick pitch came about last season: “I tried it in Atlanta the first time and it worked. As I got off the mound Buster (Posey) said, ‘man that’s a pretty good pitch, I’m glad other pitchers don’t do that.’ I said maybe I should keep doing it. He said, ‘Yeah, I think you should.’ I was thinking if Buster says it I should probably keep doing it.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants Bullpen Coach Mark Gardner and Non-Roster Invitee Chris Marrero join us, plus we hear from Madison Bumgarner after his Sunday start in Scottsdale against the Royals.
Photos courtesy of the San Francisco Giants and The Mercury News
Gardner talked to The Sports Virus about the Giants bullpen: “…those young guys have another year under their belt. The Stricklands and the Laws. They were put in some pretty tough situations last year and did remarkably well. I’m looking for them to turn the corner, be more consistent and give us the bridge to the closer.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
We go to the bullpen for our second podcast of 2017 and welcome in our new “regular” guest, Giants reliever George Kontos. He is slated to join us most home stands for “Kontos Inside The Pen”
Photo courtesy of William Yee
Kontos, who was a Cubs fan growing up in Chicago, tells The Sports Virus about his emotions during the 2016 post season which ended with a title for the team that beat San Francisco in the playoffs: “The 8-year-old inside me was ecstatic, but the grown-up pitcher in me was not really thrilled about it, just how we ended. If they really deserved to beat us I think I might have felt a little bit differently, but I think that we did a little bit of beating ourselves in that (NL Division) series. I think that on the field we were the better team. and we deserved to win, but we just didn’t play to our capabilities in that last game and they won and they deserved it…Now that it’s healed a little bit, I’m happy for the city of Chicago and for the Cubs organization for ending that drought.”
Evans tells The Sports Virus why the Mark Melancon acquisition means more to the team than just him saving games: “…When the phone rings down in the bullpen they almost know who it’s for. I think that’s part of our success in these three World Series is guys knew when that phone rang, what time of the game it was, what the score was, they knew who was going to be getting up. I think that really puts guys minds at ease and they don’t have to give a second thought to the position that they’re being put in. We put ourselves in a tough position last year as we weren’t clear who would pitch the ninth. Now we can allow that to play out for the other guys with a clear ninth guy.”
Regularly throughout the 2017 season we sit down with Giants right-handed reliever George Kontos for Kontos Inside The Penas part of The Sports Virus Inside China Basin podcasts.
Kontos is in his sixth season with the Giants, garnering World Series rings in 2012 and 2014. As an integral part of the San Francisco bullpen, he compiled a 2.90 ERA over his first five seasons with the Giants and has posted ERAs of 2.33 and 2.53 the past two seasons.
After pitching collegiately at Northwestern, Kontos was a fifth round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 2006. He made his Major League debut in 2011 with the Bronx Bombers. An early season trade in 2012 brought him to San Francisco, where he made a name for himself as a dependable set up man.
Don’t miss our insightful conversations with Kontos all season long.
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Crawford coming off winning another Gold Glove at SS, Arroyo trying to reach the Major Leagues after solid seasons in Class A and AA.
plus we hear from Madison Bumgarner after his Sunday start in Scottsdale against the Royals.
Kontos is in his sixth season with the Giants, garnering World Series rings in 2012 and 2014. As an integral part of the San Francisco bullpen, he compiled a 2.90 ERA over his first five seasons with the Giants and has posted ERAs of 2.33 and 2.53 the past two seasons.
Kontos was a fifth round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 2006. He made his Major League debut in 2011 with the Bronx Bombers. An early season trade in 2012 brought him to San Francisco, where he made a name for himself as a dependable set up man.