Raul Dominguez Media 43
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00:00Your first thoughts about opening up your second season here as manager?
00:04Yeah, I mean, last year was a really good year.
00:07That was my first opportunity to be a manager here in Somerset.
00:11And, I mean, I have a really good feeling when I was at home.
00:15And they called me like, yeah, you're going back to Somerset.
00:18And, I mean, this is my second year here.
00:20My second year as a full-season manager and feel like I'm more prepared.
00:24I mean, I got that experience last year, and I'm excited for this year too.
00:27How much more prepared do you feel going into year two?
00:31I remember when we talked to you last year, you said you were going to kind of feel it out your first year.
00:35Yeah, I'm way prepared.
00:36I mean, as soon as I got that call when I was in Panama,
00:40and I just tried to do everything, tried to cover everything,
00:44just communicating with the staff especially.
00:47And just prepared myself, having all those notes in the computer, trying to get ready.
00:52And just tried to be prepared as possible to start the season.
00:56And I think we're in the – I'm in a good spot right now.
00:59I mean, I'm ready.
01:01I'm ready to go.
01:02And, I mean, I have that meeting with the staff in SPIN training down in Tampa.
01:06And I think – I mean, this is going to be a way better year, way better start for me.
01:12Obviously, it's early, but what kind of team do you think you have on your hands this year?
01:15A lot of young players.
01:17You know, we got – I mean, those players last year with a lot of experience,
01:21like Jason Dominguez, Pereira, Wells.
01:24I mean, those guys that finished in the big league.
01:26And this is a new year.
01:28We have a lot of new faces in this team.
01:30Players that played Hudson Valley last year.
01:33Some pitchers that they're pitching that is on a full lead that never pitched in high air.
01:38It's going to be the first time to see those guys.
01:40And I'm excited to have that team.
01:43I mean, 2024, new challenge, new goal with those guys.
01:46Starting pitching, what do you see as your starting rotation right now?
01:49Right now, I've got Mason here.
01:52He's going to start the first game.
01:53Then Deese, who was a reliever last year in Somerset here, the second half of the season.
01:59And Berlin will be the third one on the first series.
02:02So, that's the three pitchers that we're going to start the home series.
02:07At Ketcher, you've got three different guys.
02:10Do you kind of foresee Ben Rice, you know, splitting Tyner with Augustin in the games,
02:15I guess, when he's not catching a play at first base and kind of keep him in the lineup every day?
02:19Is that the plan?
02:19Yeah, yeah.
02:20We have the same plan for those guys.
02:22I mean, they're going to be able to play some first base, to be a DH.
02:27And, you know, the goal for them is just to keep getting at bats.
02:31But the main goal for them is just to be ready behind the home plate.
02:35I mean, they were working really hard on the spin training.
02:38And, yeah, we're going to keep that rotation with those two guys.
02:41You mentioned Deese is going to pitch Saturday.
02:43Is that move into the rotation a permanent type of situation where he's going to be a starter this year?
02:48I mean, I don't know.
02:50I mean, this is what I get before I got here to Somerset.
02:55And, I mean, he's going to start as a starter right now.
02:58And, you know, things change quickly.
03:00So, for now, he's going to be a starter.
03:02So, throughout spring, he's been working as a starter?
03:04Yeah, he was working as a starter.
03:06Sometimes he's pitched a backup, sometimes a reliever.
03:10But, yeah, right now, the plan is to have him as a starter.
03:14Can you talk about Messenger being your starter opening day?
03:18Yeah, Messenger will be the starter for the opening day.
03:21And your thoughts about how he's gotten ready as far as spring training?
03:24Yeah, I mean, he's doing really, really good yet.
03:26Over there in spring training, he's been healthy.
03:29And things that I know about him, I mean, he's misread with the secondary pitch, especially the slider.
03:36He's really high.
03:36So, we're going to keep working with him with that.
03:38And, I mean, he's a smart guy.
03:40I mean, that's one of the guys that I have here that is really smart.
03:44When he prepared during the advanced meeting, he prepared himself really well.
03:48And that's something that he has to continue just to go to the next level.
03:52A lot of eyes on Spencer Jones this year.
03:54When you see him have that impressive of a big league spring training as he did, how optimistic does that make you for what he can do here this year?
04:01Oh, my God.
04:02Yeah, we've spent a lot from him.
04:05And, you know, I have him last year here for the last, what, three, four weeks of the season.
04:10And I didn't see the real Spencer Jones last year.
04:14And what I see this year in spring training was amazing.
04:18Like, it seems like he worked really hard in offseason.
04:21I mean, he got there, like, working really hard with his defense, offenses.
04:26So, I spent a lot of good things from him.
04:28So, I mean, he's excited just to start the season here.
04:31And I told him, I mean, you start here, but you don't know where you're going to end.
04:35Just got to keep working, stay with the plan, stay with the objectives.
04:38And, I mean, that's another guy that we can't wait to see him keep going just to see him, we can see him scrambling or in the big league.
04:47You mentioned that you haven't seen the real Spencer Jones last year.
04:51Obviously, there's a lot of talk about swing adjustments and stuff like that this year.
04:53But what have you seen that's kind of changed and kind of make you feel like you're going to see the real Spencer Jones this year here?
04:59I would see a lot more energy.
05:02I mean, it was a long season, not just for him, for everybody.
05:04But when he got here, I mean, we were dealing with a lot of workload, like, on practice.
05:09Like, you know, the last month here, we didn't do too much on the field.
05:12We're just trying to prepare those guys for the game.
05:15And, I mean, this is the opportunity for me to have him here early in the season to see what he can show.
05:23And I think he's going to show a lot of good things on the field.
05:26Anybody else who's kind of standing up for you in terms of your roster at the back?
05:29So, maybe you're looking for big things from this year?
05:31That pitch at Brock Salvage.
05:36I mean, I've seen him, like, twice in spin training with the Proxped Games.
05:41And I saw him in the complex when I was there.
05:44And that's a kind of interesting lefty that we have.
05:46And I know that's another guy that has three pitches with a really high miss swing.
05:53And I can't wait to see that guy, too.
05:55I mean, he's really, really aggressive, really patient in the mound.
05:59Like, I mean, he's very competitive.
06:01And that's one of the guys that I would like to see him here.
06:04Do you have a relief pitcher you perceive primarily being, like, your ninth inning guy?
06:08Or are you just going to kind of mix it up?
06:09No, we're just going to mix it up a lot.
06:11Because everybody, everybody, you know, the plan for the pitching, like, everybody can pitch in the seven and the eight.
06:16Everybody in the bullpen can be closer.
06:18So we don't have any closer right now.
06:21So everybody's going to be available to do whatever they pitch in the middle of the game or they can be closer.
06:27Do you think the bullpen is going to be a strength of yours this year?
06:29There are so many guys that were here last year that are kind of veteran guys in AA.
06:33Do you just feel really good about that unit in the back end?
06:36Yeah, I feel strong with the bullpen that we have here.
06:39Like, you know, Alex Mauricio, Mayat, those guys, the other guys that we're going to have in the bullpen.
06:48I mean, I feel really comfortable.
06:52The new, Carlos Gomez is going to be here.
06:54And the new guy, Luis, he's going to be here too.
06:58I know he's a short guy, but he got a power arm.
07:01So, yeah, seems like a pretty, pretty good bullpen to start the season here.
07:05You have the three guys, obviously, that are going to go this weekend and obviously Selvidge whenever he's here and ready to go.
07:11Do you have a guy that projects as the fifth guy in that rotation?
07:14No, not yet.
07:15Not yet.
07:15I mean, you know, it depends what happens, AAA or in the big leagues.
07:20So right now we only have those three guys.
07:21I know Selvidge is going to pitch at some point, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday in New Hampshire.
07:28So right now, officially, I got only those three guys.
07:31Is it fulfilling for you in your first year as a manager?
07:33You kind of alluded to it earlier.
07:35You started last year with guys like Dominguez, Pereira, Wells.
07:38By the end of the year, those guys all cracked the bigs.
07:40Just how fulfilling is it in a player development role for you to see those guys make it that far?
07:44Yeah, that's, again, at the end of the season, I remember last game we played here.
07:49And, I mean, we want to win.
07:51I mean, after we developed all those players and the last game here at home, losing to nothing.
07:58And I would just talk to myself, talk to my family in the office, like, late at night.
08:03And I was thinking about those good moments when we sent those guys to AAA, then when they sent those guys to the big league.
08:10And when I went back to home, I went happy.
08:13Like, I was happy, like, to see those guys in the finish, their season in the big league.
08:18And that's something that I'm looking for this year, like, and I already talked to the player.
08:22I gave that example to them.
08:24Like, hey, this is what happened last year with those guys.
08:27So, again, this is just the start.
08:29This is where you're going to start.
08:30You're going to start in Somerset.
08:31But, I mean, this is your career.
08:34I would like to see you in the big league.
08:35But it doesn't matter what happens.
08:36Just keep working.
08:38How's it been working with the new staff?
08:39I know last year you worked with Grayson, who's moved on to the Mets, and Jake, who's in another role now.
08:44But just having a new hitting coach and pitching coach here, what's it been working?
08:47Like, kind of equating with yourself?
08:48Yeah, I got Jake last year.
08:51But, I mean, I got some good conversation with Kevin.
08:55I mean, he was in Hudson Valley last year.
08:57But I spent a lot of time with all those hitting coaches just to know them, like, how they do stuff and send them with the pitching coach.
09:04Like, he came here last year for the last week of the regular season.
09:08We were playing New Hampshire.
09:10And, I mean, it was good just to know those guys before they sent me the staff that I'm going to have here.
09:17And we got one really good meeting, like Somerset staff meeting up there, just to get a good communication.
09:23This is how I'm going to do this, and this is how you're going to do this with pitching, hitting, like, in all departments.
09:30And I think they know that it's important to be on the same page.
09:33Like, all goal here is just to keep helping those players.
09:36And I think this stuff is really good.
09:39I mean, last year I got really good staff, and the staff that I have this year is really good, too.
09:43Are you getting kind of scattered on board about Richmond, about what you're going to see when they come in on Friday?
09:49I think you only saw them once towards the end of the year last year.
09:52What were your thoughts about them?
09:53Yeah, we didn't play.
09:55We didn't play them last year.
09:57I know Kevin, the analytics guy, Matt Wells, and the pitching coach and all those guys, they're preparing.
10:04We're using those days, especially now with the rain.
10:06We spent a lot of time in the computer just to try to be ready for Friday and just kind of know, like, every pitcher, every hitter that they have, just the way that they play.
10:18And now we're ready for Friday.
10:22Tomorrow is another day that we're going to practice on the field.
10:25We meet with Matt Wells, the analytics guy, and we meet with all the coaches again tomorrow to see what is the plan that we're going to have for this weekend.