Joining us now, former major
league reliever and current
pitching strategist for the
Washington Nationals, sean
Doolittle Sean.
Welcome to the show.
Your title is fascinating.
It seems pretty clear what it
means.
But can you tell us specifically
what your responsibilities are?
It's, um, it's a fancy title
that, um, I think is maybe
longhand for assistant pitching
coach.
Um, it's a bit of a catch all
term but, uh, I do a lot with
our guys and, um I try to pair
what we're doing with some
analytic stuff.
Um I work closely with our
strength and conditioning
coaches, our trainers and our
Bec um trying to give our
pitchers, uh a more holistic
approach.
Um, and with so much information
in the game nowadays, um to have
, you know, essentially three
pitching coaches on staff.
Now myself, Jim Hickey and Ricky
Bonus, um, we're just able to
spend more one on one time with
the guys, um, bring them
information a little bit better
, um, and, you know, kind of
divide and conquer.
Tell Ricky.
I said hi.
First of all, I miss Bones.
I haven't seen him in a while.
Do, uh, but outside of that look
, you've been working, you just
said you've been working with
these guys, you know, all year
long now.
Um Is there anyone in particular
or any one guy or, or any tweet
you've made to maybe a couple of
guys anyone you've taken under
your wing that you're really
proud of, kind of where they've
come out on the back end here
towards the end of the season.
Um I mean, I would love to be
able to take credit for, I think
the, the step forward that Jake
Irvin has taken this year, but I
mean, he's such an incredibly
hard worker.
He's so disciplined, his routine
between starts.
Um I is so good.
Um You know, I, I think I've
really, really enjoyed working
with a couple of our young lefty
pitchers, Mitchell Parker and,
and DJ, hers who you guys
mentioned this is going for us
tonight.
Um They probably arrived ahead
of schedule for us and have
pitched probably more than we
thought they might and, um,
they've done nothing but
continue to work and attack
hitters and, and get better on a
daily basis.
Um So I'm, I'm really proud of
those guys.
I'm, I'm proud of Mackenzie, um
Mackenzie Gore, who I think
everybody knows, um, you know,
has the stuff and the sky is the
limit for him and he went
through a bit of a rough patch
in the middle of the season.
Um, but he kept working man and
his last few starts have been
absolutely electric.
Um I think that's huge for a
young guy to have to go through
something like that to be able
to manage that adversity and,
and, and make the adjustments
and, you know, come out of it, a
better pitcher, more equipped,
um for everything that this game
can throw at you.
Um So I'm, I'm, I'm really proud
of him for that.
Um We've got an awesome group
man.
II, I don't, you know, think
that I'm the reason that these
guys have been having success,
but um I try to be a resource
for them.
Um You know, whenever I can,
sean, you mentioned your young
lefty starters, uh your veteran
lefty starter Patrick Corbyn,
the Nationals don't win a World
Series without him in 2019 and
he obviously it has not gone as
well.
And I was thinking about this
when he was pitching against the
Yankees recently.
I really admire that he hasn't
looked for a parachute out.
He's made every start in these
five years.
I wonder, does it have an
influence on the young lefties
and others to have that
tenaciousness when things aren't
going great for you to keep
going out there?
Yeah, I appreciate you.
You mentioned Patrick.
Um because like you said, he's a
huge reason why I have a World
Series ring on my shelf at home.
Um And um you can't overstate
the value that he has behind the
scenes with these young guys.
Um because, you know, like you
mentioned, there have been some
struggles but he's the same guy
around the clubhouse every day.
He, he comes in and does, um and
gets his work done and sticks to
his routine.
Um I think the, the young guys
see that, um that consistency um
and that work ethic and he's
been an awesome resource for
them.
He's, he's been a really good
veteran presence for them as
well.
Um I think it's, you know, when
we're talking about Patrick, I,
I think it, it goes under the
radar but like, um, you know,
he's been this year, he's done
an awesome job of, you know,
continuing to, you know, go to
post every five days.
Um, he, he grinds out his starts