- [Announcer 1] Swings and misses at the off-speed delivery from Hendricks.
- [Announcer 2] Ted Lilly striking out the side.
- [Ted] Kyle.
- [Kyle] Ted, how are you, man?
- Good. - Good.
- Good winter?
- Great winter.
Great winter.
Yeah.
I'm excited to go.
- You guys are going to be good… you've got some depth.
Obviously, the talent's still there, so it will be
a lot of fun. - For sure.
Yeah, I'm excited for our starting staff, you know, especially with what Darvish was
able to do second half, last year.
I'm really excited just to team up with him.
- So what are some of the things that you, kind of, after last year going
into this year?
You know, you're always every year looking to, you know, make adjustments as the
league makes adjustments, and it's just what we do.
So what are the things that you felt like could help you make a little bit
of stride, you know, and keep up with what's the game…you know,
how the game is changing?
- Pitching specific, I would say my curveball became a much
bigger pitch for me last year, you know.
- And you worked on that in spring.
I remember coming out there quite a bit and not only just the curveball,
throwing it, but also being able to move it around the zone and then to follow your
year, and how you would use your breaking ball in different counts to different
hitters, and pitch backwards at times.
And just having another pitch where you felt like you could throw at any time.
- Exactly, exactly.
- That's the evolution, right?
- Exactly, yep.
Having another pitch, just to have another thing in the
hitter's head, you know.
Being a two-pitch guy is real tough to do at that level.
You know how good those hitters are, you know that.
And yeah, it was fun in spring talking about curveballs and stuff
with you because, I mean, some guys can spin it,
and some guys can't.
You know, not that I can't, but it's, kind of, been a little tougher for me
to develop that, that spin stuff.
And learning from you, I mean, did you throw different types
of curveballs when you played or...?
- I would change shape but didn't command it the way that you do.
And so, you know, it is only, you know, one pitch, I guess, but the way you would
use it, it could act as a couple of different pitches.
- I think repeating your mechanics is the biggest thing, and the biggest stress
for us, I guess, or the biggest challenge, in a way.
Because it can be difficult, but yeah, I think that's my biggest focus, you know,
throughout the off-season when I start throwing is just repeatability,
because like you say, you want all of your pitches to come
out, look the same, everything be out of the same slot,
and then all you're doing is changing hand position.
So yeah, once I, kind of, locked that in, then it's just finding that right spin and
then you can manipulate it from there, like you said, whether it's a get me over
curveball or you pull down a little harder for a chase-breaking ball.
But yeah, if you're not repeating your mechanics, then there's really no chance
for you [crosstalk] going there. - Right, now it just
looks good in the bullpen.
- Exactly, exactly. - At times.
- Not effective, yeah.
- Here comes the 0-2.
Bishop swings and misses at the off-speed delivery from Hendricks.
- So this year, from a pitch standpoint, obviously, you know, you can sink it.
Is there anything different that you intend to do?
- Yeah, so the two-seam has always been my bread and butter, kind of,
with the changeup, just playing those two off each other.
But just noticing, you know, where the game's going,
all these guys are trying to lift the ball, get it in the air.
Last year, it started more for me, and it's probably going to carry over to this
year but throwing more four-seams.
Yeah, throwing more four-seams, throwing more at the top of the zone,
throwing more up and in on guys, so they can't get extended, you know.
It used to be that two-seam down always sink in, you get guys
rollover, ground ball to short.
You know, now, now guys are going out, and they're lifting that ball and putting it
into right-center, you know?
So it's just that adjustment of seeing what hitters are doing against you, and
how you combat that.
So last year I did have some success throwing four-seams just, you know,
right in on guys.
Velocity didn't really matter, it was more just shape
of the pitch, you know?
- [crosstalk] Yeah, especially if they're cheating and they're committed
to one location and...
- Exactly.
If they're starting to dive a little bit out over, and you just put it right there
for them, you know, there's nothing they can do with that pitch.
How did you approach, like, breaking down a lineup?
You know, scouting reports, that kind of thing?
- Yeah. - What was that like?
- I would say, you know, I did get a little bit better at diving
into information, got better but also a little more committed.
I tried to look at numbers that were excessive that really jumped out at me.
- But I think that's where we start as well.
Yeah, you want to see the glaring numbers, and you see whether, you know,
negative or positive, and that's, kind of, what you want to stay away from.
I think something…like you said, you want to pitch to your strengths,
but sometimes…like, I think one of my strengths is pitching to a weakness,
you know, of the hitter.
And so just knowing who you are, I think, and then when you start to look at a
report and a scouting report, you know what to pull
out of it for yourself.
There can be so much information in there.
Like you said, these days they break down everything.
They have all the numbers out there, so you have to really be careful not
to get too much.
You know, just to boil it down to still simplicity and what you need.
- Full count on him.
Back comes Lily.
Man, a couple of strikeouts for Ted to start this ball game.
- When I went to Oakland, you know, Zito had a really good curveball.
And I asked him, and he would throw it off of this finger, and I'd never
seen that before.
- Really?
- He would hook this finger inside the seam and pull down.
Have you ever seen anyone throw a curveball like that?
- No, no. Not [crosstalk]. - Yeah, neither have I.
- And a good one.
- Yeah, oh, great one, great one.
- So, you know, just again, there are so many different ways to throw
good breaking balls.
And I asked, you know, "Doc" Gooden, who you remember,
how he threw his four-seamer and he, you know, right-handed,
he held it like this with the horseshoe out to the side.
And I said, "Okay, so how did you throw that nasty breaking ball?"
He said, "Oh, just like this.
I just got on top of it."
- Really?
- Same grip.
- [inaudible].
Jeez.
That's pretty wild.
So it really doesn't matter… - You know, with all the…
Yeah, how you throw it. - …[crosstalk] at the end of the day,
yeah, yeah. It's more just how you spin it,
what the feel is like, and where that slot is, yeah.
- Swing and a miss.
He strikes out.
- Coming up in your minor league career, who were a couple of the
influences that you, that were older,
had some success in the big leagues that you, kind of, paid attention to?
- So in the minor leagues, I had a couple coaches that were really
crucial to me.
Brad Holman was a pitching coach for me and then Bruce Walton with the
Cubs with us.
Yeah, he was awesome.
They taught me so much.
Pap, he taught me about bat paths, you know, mixing the twos and the fours,
all that kind of stuff.
But when I got to the big leagues, I would say some pitchers, Arrieta,
Jake Arrieta helped me a lot.
He helped me, you know, kind of, cerebrally, just sitting on the bench
watching a big league game, just breaking down hitters,
paying attention to swings, even getting more in-depth
through reading swings, you know, and reactions from pitches,
that kind of thing.
But we would just sit on the bench together, and just lock in, you know,
on at bat or something, and just talk through it.
And it just got me in that mode, you know, that mindset of, okay,
this is how you operate, you know, as a professional up at the highest level.
So I owe a lot to Jake.
But you have the way you pitch, you have your routines,
but you can learn small details that you never really thought about, you know, and,
kind of, makes the difference when you get out in the game sometimes.
So what would you say, when you were playing, were some of the guys hardest
outs for you?
- So when I first got called up in New York, I was throwing the ball well in the minor
leagues at the time and pitching pretty well in the game.
I faced Manny first time, got him 0-2 with a heater and a changeup.
And then threw another changeup that he fouled off, and then went
for an elevated heater, executed that, and he still got inside the ball and drove
it to the center for a homer.
- [Announcer 3] Manny Ramírez.
Straightaway center field and the Red Sox take the lead.
- So, you know, at that time already, I'm thinking, "Okay, that's not normal.
Most guys, you know, they'll foul it off or, you know,
worst-case scenario they fight it into center for a hit, and he's driving it
out of the yard."
You know, thinking back to, like, this is a league where, you know, you make
mistakes, they don't hit singles.
- Yep, exactly. - You know...
- It's damage. - Yeah.
- Yeah.
You execute and you still get beat on it.
And you're like, "What did I do? - Uh-oh.
For me, when I first came up, I had a similar experience, kind of,
with Joey Votto.
He was a tough out.
I mean, he's been one of the best hitters in the game, but I, kind of,
had a similar… I think I dropped in a first pitch curveball for a "get me
over" strike, then I think I was pounding him up an in, and I threw a good changeup
down and away, and he just stays right on it.
And I'm like, after everything I did, got him inside, all that, and stays on it,
that was an eye-opener for me.
When you face the guys that are super cerebral too and just smart in the box
there, think along with the at bat.
You can tell.
You know, you can tell what they're doing and they're thinking along with you.
And those are the most fun at bats that I have.
I look forward to going and facing him, and he's gotten me so many times, you
know, but those are the fun ones, where you have to lock in so hard,
you know, to really try and get that guy out.
♪ [music] ♪
- He struck him out.
- I know you played a few places before you were brought to Chicago, but did you
notice anything, the differences playing at Wrigley Field?
- You know, one of the things that definitely, you know,
stuck out even then and today was the fact that, you know, the fan base was
behind the effort, behind the team.
You know, you could go out there and play hard, you know, show… I think the city and
our team that they're willing to really get after it and play hard.
And so this is one of the things that in my career makes this place a little more
unique than others.
- Yeah, definitely.
I totally agree.
Yeah, I didn't have many other experiences in the big leagues, but just being thrust
right into this when I got called up.
I mean, it was so refreshing.
Like you said, they're behind you no matter what.
You know, I was lucky to have a little bit of success in the beginning,
but came back for my second year and I definitely had some struggles.
And you would've never thought anything was different, you know,
talking to any of the fans.
They're such die-hards.
You know, they just love being there, and we would go through rough stretches
as a team.
You still go out there, and you look up, and there's 40,000 people out
there, you know?
And I think Cubs fans are everywhere.
They're supporting us everywhere we go.
And I know it's a, you know, very, very unique feeling, and you don't get that
many places, if any other places at all.
♪ [music] ♪