Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen on 2023 World Series run, All-Star Game stories and more
it definitely helped that we were coming here to play as opposed to a place we weren’t familiar with we’ come here we we the guys on the team had experienced the crowd they experienced you know getting our teeth kicked in like I think it would have been maybe a different story if we were to go to like [Applause] Atlanta by ball onto the track at the wall it’s gone run turns on a ball deep right field and go what a game what a moment all right I am pumped to be joined again on the show by Zach gallon Ace of the Arizona Diamondback sitting in the stands at Dodgers Stadium what a day man thanks for joining me yeah I appreciate you know what’s funny as I actually thought about that I’m like I need to sit in the stands at Stadium more often like I see like I’m sitting in the seats behind a Dugout where like the celebrity sits I’m like why don’t I just why don’t I I got sit over here so yeah I’m enjoying the the fan life I love that I love that so it’s been had you on last year lot has changed a lot has changed since then pitched in the postseason pitched in the World Series how was postseason baseball what was your first postseason experience like yeah uh a lot of fun um definitely more mentally draining and exhausting than I would have guessed um or I guess could have could have imagined uh but yeah it was a lot of fun I mean you know I think everyone that follows baseball knew knew our story and knew kind of what had transpired you know from a team that had 83 wins or something like that I forget what we had but yeah just to get in and make the noise we did but yeah we we had a we had a blast and then just it’s it’s interesting to be on the edge of your seat every pitch of every game for a whole entire month um but yeah it’s something I’ll never forget I mean you guys did you were rolling uh once you got in you guys are rolling you beat the Brewers you sweep the Dodgers you have that great series with the Phillies where honestly not a lot of people gave you guys a chance when you had to go back to Philly win two games there finally the Rangers in the World Series when did you guys feel or maybe not even as a team when did you feel like man this team legitimately is good enough to to get to the world series I mean you guys ran through that postseason yeah I mean I like we felt like early in the year that we were good team I mean I think at one point we were maybe 15 games over 500 like you know maybe 80 90 games in the season so like okay this isn’t a fluke but we’re playing really good baseball and then we had a little kind of just dry spell like you know three or four weeks where we just couldn’t catch a break and we just felt like we were one kind of piece away in the sense of like getting seaw walled just like let’s add some to our Bullpen the length on our Bullpen out a little bit then let let’s just see what happens and yeah I mean we our whole thought was like let’s just get in like we know we’re a good team we’ve been a good team all year we’re we kind of Hit the young team slump of like hey this is 162 Game season it’s not a 110 Game season and so we kind of just like let’s just get in and let’s just see what happens um and it was like this weight like we you could tell we were very tense and and and pressing hard the last couple weeks of the Season knowing that like we just needed like one win or two wins or whatever it was and then as like soon as we got in it was like the weight just was lifted off our shoulders and we could just play free and easy and kind of how we were earlier in the year I love that I can ask you this while you’re sitting right there but I mean it’s the postseason they all matter the exact same it’s either win or go home but you guys swept the Dodgers and that had I mean inner division rival uh play them in the playoffs again a team that everybody was picking everybody was saying that Dodgers have too much Firepower you guys take them down and sweep them how I mean how cool is that yeah it was cool I I mean you know i’ we’ve come here and and I’ve been a part of a fair share of um ass beatings for a lack of a better word when you come here it’s like uh man let’s just try not to have that happen I I I think I said it last year when I was talking about just you know recounting the whole thing was like it was almost I don’t want to say an advantage for us but it was it definitely helped that we were coming here to play as opposed to a place we weren’t familiar with we’d come here we we the guys on the team had experienced the crowd they experienced you know getting our teeth kicked in like I think it would have been maybe a different story if we were to go to like Atlanta or phly like you know maybe I think we were just kind of used to the environment and it didn’t really we didn’t have that shock value of like we just were like we’re a good team we just went to Milwaukee and beat them two games like why can’t we just come here and play like it was almost like we didn’t have the nerves like we you know we’ve played in dodg stadium before we’ve seen the crowds get Rowdy like it’s gon to be nothing new to us so I think that helped us out so having the DS in Dodgers stadium and then being able to take that exp by by the time you get to the Cs you know you fit you know you’re supposed to be there you know you can win games having that I don’t want to say first big series because he obviously had to beat the Brewers but having that big series B at a place that you were really familiar with helped a young team yeah for sure and I think also doing it you know with the wild card being three games it’s like okay we won two now it’s like all right can we prove to ourselves we can win we can win three games in a five game series and we did it and it’s like okay yeah yes to your point like then you get to the to the Cs and at this point you’re like all right we beat the Brewers who won their division we beat the Dodgers who won our division like why can’t we go to Philly and do the same thing so yeah it was it was just like kind of we just kept laring on on like this belief that like we could do it we could play it and we just got hot at the right time I’m interested from a pitcher’s perspective because you head into the World Series and and have to game plan for a lethal lineup but specifically a guy like adalis Garcia who was perhaps the best hitter on the planet at the time that that series was beginning how do you head into that series and and game plan for a guy that’s not only not only can he hurt you he can drive a ball out of the yard but a guy that’s on top of the world at the moment and absolutely in fuego what’s the game plan process like for him yeah it it was definitely not easy um you know you’re like all right I’m the game plan for Seager you’re like I got that down figured that out and then you’re like damn I got do sitting right behind him it’s and I’ve known ad doas since since 2017 we played together in St Louis so like only gets hot there’s not many people that can get hotter than him when he’s like going so yeah at had time like you’d said he was maybe the hottest hit on the planet if not the second hottest behind Seager um yeah so it was just like my thought was um you know anytime you have guys like that like in any lineup you know whether it’s you’re just facing a lineup in a regular season it’s like hey let’s try and get the bottom in the order out like so that way those guys in the top of the order don’t come up with Runners on base and so my thought was like I need to make sure I do a really good job of trying to get the guys out in front of seagar and Garcia so that way if they do clip me it’s a one you know it’s a solo Homer maybe it’s a two but like trying to prevent the big inning um I think is where you can kind of try to have success with guys like that what did you learn about what did you learn about yourself pitching in the playoffs ultimately the World Series did you do you think you became a better pitcher on the other side of this being able to look back and and experience that yeah I think um I’d kind of said it all throughout last year that like I just didn’t feel right physically not unhealthy or anything I felt healthy I felt great I just felt like I was off like I wasn’t clicking like I wanted to like I knew I had the ability to so for me I I was you know looking back now um it’s kind of I’m proud to say that like I you know pitched 240 something Innings and didn’t feel right for about 39 starts like just felt like I was just off like just off I was really close so to go you know and you know pitch all over the World Series and and you know take a no hitter into the seventh inning in game five like when I was like I got nothing left like I don’t I don’t know what else to try got like I’ve tried everything thrown everything against the wall nothing seemed to really stick for more than a start or two so let’s just see what we got like let’s just try and give the boys a chance to win tonight and you know see what happens so realizing that when you felt that way that you could still pitch the way you did obviously helps you as as a pitcher helps your confidence and everything going forward right for sure and I think I learned some things too that like maybe don’t over complicate things I definitely have a tendency to just over complicate the delivery or whatever it is I’m feeling just trying to search and like but I think that’s for me that’s more of the mental part of it it’s the that’s my preparation you know when guys talk about putting the work and preparing some guys have it you know whether it’s a recovery thing or whatever mine’s the throwing and knowing that I’ve tried everything before that start and I’m like all right I’m going to go I prepared in my mind so sometimes maybe just simplifying that and and maybe not over complicating it and trying to just you know figure out what the basics are what the basic principles that like make me good and what I can rely on and yeah it’s you know the game it’s a learning you’re learning every day yeah yeah and you also last year made your first All-Star team shouldn’t have been your first but it was your first you’ll take them or you can get them take talk about that take us through that experience for you I mean how how cool was it did you have any like any surreal moments happen in the clubhouse or anything How cool was that yeah no it was cool um yeah like you said I felt like I was really close um you know 22 I I pitched really well and then just kind of struggled the couple couple starts before that and just didn’t make the team and the 21 I got hurt so it was like it was just kind of this just culmination like all right I finally achieved something that like wasn’t necessarily a goal of mine as a kid but it became a goal like when I it’s like baseball became a a job for me so the profession like I think I’m good enough to be an Allstar like I think I could do this and then so to be able to you know check that off the list is really cool and just to kind of take it all in I mean there wasn’t really one um scenario I guess I mean I I I really um you know admire what Kershaw does just to kind of be around him and you know just the the Legacy he’s had on this game and just how long he’s done it and how good he’s been just just to kind of be around him you know pick his a little bit I sat in front of him on the the bus one day I think from the red carpet so like just you know little stuff like that that you don’t you don’t think about um and then for me I like the Home Run Derby I watch the kid like all the time like that was sort of be in the on the field for the hel Derby and watch guys like you know ad doas and Randy guys I I played with in the my leagues to participate in it um I thought it was a really cool experience yeah that’s awesome man that those memories looking back on All-Star games you remember them but I always feel like growing up the Home Run Derby stick out and I remember I’ll forever remember like one of my first All-Star Game memories was the the Like finway Home Run Derby with Maguire and 700 feet that’s how Mark Maguire fan like because that’s like the first memory I really remember of like baseball being on TV was like Mark McGuire was hitting balls what looked like 900 feet and I was like I want to be like that guy like yeah it was just like I’m like that guy’s awesome and that’s how I became like a Mark Maguire fan like this guy’s the best he get a homer every time he steps up to home plate like would want to be this guy you know H so so far this year in 2024 Dbacks have struggled a little bit time of us talking under 500 currently but with a team that has more experience I felt got even better in the off season what do you think is the reason so far for a bit of a slow start yeah I mean obviously I think um injuries definitely um played a big part I mean we lost Paul we lost seaw wal for probably about a month um it just kind of just shortens up the bullpen a little bit you got guys pitching and rolls maybe they’re not used to you know just a little bit of uncertainty like you know how Tory was going to manage the bullpen stuff like that I mean we got uh Merl’s out for three months e Rod’s out three months like you know guys like that like you know that’s tough and then you know we’re missing missing Domo and and at guys just you know at the bottom of the lineup that that do their job defensively turn the order over I mean it’s and I gotta give credit to honest of the guys who’ve stepped up in their place I mean Kevin Newman’s been playing unbelievable and then Jake McCarthy has been great it’s just we just seem to be I don’t want to say in a funk we just can’t get more R it’s like we’ll win like two games and then we’ll lose one you know lose two games win one like it’s like we can’t you know rattle them off you know obviously you don’t want to lose them but we can’t it’s like one way or the other so we’re just trying to hold our head above water um you know and try to make a little push here for when those guys get back and then you know see what happens but yeah I mean I think I think we the experience we had last year of Allstar break through the second week of August that were just awful we had we have a lot of guys still here from that and are like okay let’s not panic but we got to you know you know maybe put this thing in the second or third gear a little bit happens yeah dude I I gotta tell you right before opening day this year had Jack flare on Jack flare actually came in studio and and talked to him there and he told us that you hosted him on his official visit at UNCC first what can you tell us about a young 18-year-old Jack flare uh yeah so I hosted him on his offici he’s the all funny story he’s the only recruit I ever hosted like by myself like so yeah so I would be like I would just say the coaches like hey I don’t really want to H like this this like I don’t really want to host like the money I want up losing money because you guys don’t give us enough money to pay for food and all this that whatever so I’m like I’m losing money and I’m like then I gotta figure out where to sleep in my door like I’m like nah I so they come to me and they said listen this is the one guy we’re gonna ask you to host like can you host him and I said all right you know that’s fine they said he’s probably gonna be a first-rounder and we’re gonna need to do everything you can to get him here said all right I’ll see what I could do so yeah so I had Jack um Jack pretty quiet back then like didn’t you know like was just there just to chill and like have a good time like wasn’t like I mean we’ve had some guys like good buddies of mine that you know that I played with that came on their official and it was like these guys are ready to party Ja Jack was like he was just there just chilling just wanted to have a good time I think we went to like a I want to say went to like women’s volleyball game like we just walked on campus like just did like you know normal stuff like and at the time we had a Ben and Jerry’s on campus which I’ve never seen before but we had one on campus and I thought the thing that was gonna get Jack to come to Carolina was I’m like hey man we we got they got this fire milkshake here let’s go get milkshake so we went I did the best I could jack wound up getting two million so I think that was probably better than the milkshake from Ben and Jerry do you feel like it do you feel like you went wrong anywhere do you feel like a failure because he ended up signing and not going to UNC is there anything you could have done better no I I I think uh I think Jack I think if you ask Jack he’ll tell you I had a good visit obviously you know I gotta leave some things unsaid you know but like I think we had a good time and I think Jack would have come but I think I probably would have taken the two million too I don’t I’m not stupid I think I would have taken the two million just well you guys had a you guys had a pretty good duel recently just out there you know tossing strike on 19 guys over 12 Innings uh it was fun to to watch you guys doing it all yeah it was fun to watch you guys go back and forth yeah no it’s good that’s that’s the either second or third time i’ I’ve thr against Jack in like the last six months um and it’s always a good battle I mean I I’ve same thing I’ve known Jack since I was 17 but then we were in the Cardinal system together so like I was you know I’ve been around you know baseball terms for a long time kind of see the evolution and the progression like of his career and like how he’s just kind of developed over time um has been pretty cool to watch I mean yeah I wish he would went to Carolina he probably would have helped us win a lot more games we could have used we could have used this 18-year-old Jack flarity but it is what it is what’s the what’s the relationship like now are you guys like tight when You Face Off are you texting the night before do you talk after and catch up like how are you guys close yeah it’s like one of the like you name it one of the those it’s uh I saw him on Friday during BP I just went out you know we were just chopping up and he had texted me I think earlier in the week on Wednesday when the matchups finally got released that we were pitched against each other and then we chopped it up on Friday for like 10 15 minutes something like that just catching up I saw him earlier in the year in Vegas um I didn’t know he was out there he called me we were there for the all MLB thing and he was like are you in Vegas I’m like yeah so we went we just hung out for like an hour um grab the drink so yeah every time I see him we we we chop it up it’s uh you know we go back so always gota always gotta see what’s new with him I saw I saw a clip of uh him and your manager Lolo get going a going after it a couple days ago what was going on there oh this is why you wanted me on the show because about this all right uh no yeah I think so what happened was basically from my understanding was that um Jack you know he likes to dig Mound out I pitched against him before and no digs it Mound out in the third or fourth inning my foot my like back foot got caught in his like hole or whatever by the rubber yeah and felt like my hamstring grabbed on me so I just said to to the Umpire I’m like hey I I this is an injury concern for me like I I want to be able to pitch the whole game like I don’t want to you know and I said I can we get the mound fixed so fixed the mound and then after the second I came out for the second time and I just was like Hey you know I this is this is a concern for me I’m not trying to be that guy of getting the M fixed like obviously you know but um I Larry vanover was the crew chief and and I just explained to him like Hey I just don’t feel safe pitching on this and he did a great job of like no listen you have to be comfortable um you know to pitch and be healthy we want you to be out here so that’s fine like just as much as Jack has the right to dig it out like I I didn’t I never had a problem you know with Jack digging it out like ground crew was out ready to fix it before you know I even came out two innings there was two they were the demount was done before I even got got to the got to the rubber so I didn’t think it was that much of a delay um but yeah I think just I don’t know maybe Jack felt you know something different I didn’t even know that they were they were drawing at each other I was watching something on the iPad like checking where pitch was and I said to somebody I said who’s what’s going on and they’re like like tor’s johned somebody and then I saw after the fact that it was Jack I was like and yeah I’m like I’m Know Jack for 17 like I I don’t have a beef with him like I if I can fill it in he could dig it out like I I doesn’t matter to me you know you know you know me Zach that’s what I like to do I ask the hard-hitting questions put people in uncomfortable spots that’s the nature of this show you know yeah I was I was very uncomfortable with answering that like yeah I’m like I wanted to go see him answer the game be like hey what were you doing like why like but I didn’t get a chance to see him on Sunday so when I see him I’ll be like hey you know can you not dig it out that far so I don’t I don’t get hurt but no we’re good he did he said when he was in studio that you have more Jordans than anyone he has ever met uh would do you agree with that do you have more I gotta I got a disagree he’s got to know somebody by now that has I mean yeah maybe I don’t know I I don’t think I have that many Jordan like do you know the number do you have a number it’s it’s not more than a hundred like it’s not I would say conservatively it’s not more than a hundred like so it’s there’s got to be people you that like have more Jordans that he knows so but yeah he I did see when he when he was in studio with you and he was I had the shoes in the uh like plastic containers under my bed because like just in case you know the sprinkler system goes off and I got Jordans on there I can’t I can’t have getting ruined like but I didn’t have that many pair with me like I think at the time I only had like five or six pair like I I I didn’t I didn’t bring everything I had down at school I’d maybe switch them like you know maybe the next year I’d bring a different pair or whatever but yeah I didn’t have that many but the collection has definitely grown since made more money now I can afford I can afford more Jordans is there anyone is there anyone in Major League Baseball that you’ve run across that’s a bigger sneaker head than you are yeah Jeremy Guth is a huge sneaker head um he’s he’s a he was showing me his collection we got to chop it up at like this card um you know dinner Sky put together he invited me and he was showing me his collection and I was like that’s pretty impressive I got nothing that Stacks up to that um jock Peterson’s got I don’t know what Jo Peterson’s full collection I’ve heard that but the shoes that jock wears I’m I’m assuming that his his collection is pretty solid um other guys that I played with um Merl’s got a good collection I don’t know that it’s huge like I don’t know that it’s a ginormous collection but he’s got some really quality stuff and then I’ll give you a sneaky one well it’s probably not sneaky anymore but John j’s got like a storage container full of shoes and he’s the same size as me so I’m was bald a pair and then he was like actually I’m not going to sell him now so I was like I had like 10 pair I was ready to Buy’s like I don’t I think I’m just gonna hold on to him so speaking of speaking of Jack and the uh the UNCC connection you got a new guy on the team Jordan Montgomery I faced him a ton in the minor league South Carolina Guy what’s that like is there is there any beef in the locker room and he walks in you talk a little when he first walks in no no no he no see there’s I think everyone just wants to have a rivalry with Carolina we don’t have a rivalry with like we I mean Walker’s already in the clubhouse so like I don’t really you know I just do if I say anything I just oh yeah you mean the real real Carolina that’s all I say and that tends to fire him up but no there wasn’t any there wasn’t any kind of um you know whatever beef about you know he’s cool he’s awesome he’s he’s pretty lowkey he just kind of keeps himself um you know I like to watch him work you know we we saw him a good bit last year I think we saw him once with St Louis and then we saw him once in the regular season with the Rangers and then saw him you know couple times in the playoffs so um yeah he’s he goes about his business really good he’s he’s he’s got a plan when he’s out there but yeah we I maybe after I got off this call I’ll go say something about the real Carolina and South Carolina you’re telling me UNC has no Rivals not South Carolina not Clemson everyone else calls you guys a rival but you don’t have one yeah like this and I’ll give you like it actually you know what’s funny is the Duke the Duke rivalry is just basketball really like it’s really just a basketball rivalry If You’re Gonna Go a whole entire University rivalry it’s NC State like that’s okay that’s the only that’s the one that I would say that if you asked a Carolina fan like and I don’t even know if they would consider that a rivalry but that’s probably the team that UNC the university as a whole hates the most is NC State yeah they’re just like yeah always a lot of fun man I appreciate you hopping on uh thanks for doing it from the seats at Dodger Stadium and uh you’re just telling me before you hopped on you’re trying to you’re trying to take it upon yourself to go sit in the seats in major league stadiums and take it all in that’s what I’m trying to do I mean why not I mean these SE are pretty comfortable here people probably pay a lot of money so I’m getting to do it for free I appreciate it dude good luck talk to you soon I appreciate it have a good one man what a fun conversation just wanted to thank Zach gallon again for joining me one of the best in baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks dude’s an absolute stud and has been awesome getting to know him as a player getting to know him as a person talk to him for a bit at the World Series as well and to have him back on the show uh it’s really fun catching up with him and talking baseball it was really cool talking about the playoff run and and getting inside his mind there of how he grew as a pitcher but also the team just yeah once once we knew we were playing the Dodgers dodg Stadium we’ve been there before we’ve gotten our ass kicked there before so what more can go wrong and and just taking that and building on that throughout the playoffs it was really cool how how he spoke about that I thought so I had a lot of fun talking to him I hope you all had a great time listening make sure you subscribed wherever you listen to your podcast Apple Spotify wherever you can also watch every episode on Spotify you can watch on our YouTube channel flip and bats pod there and also follow us on Tik Tok we are getting closer to 100,000 followers put some really cool stuff out on there as well and hope you check it out so thank you all for listening thank you again to Zach Gallen for joining and until next time my friends remember find your bat and flip it peace [Music]
Ben Verlander welcomes 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star starting pitcher Zac Gallen to the show. Ben and Gallen discuss Arizona’s run to the World Series last season, sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and what game planning in the Fall Classic is like. The pair then discuss if Zac is the biggest sneakerhead in MLB and he shares some stories about hosting Jack Flaherty during his time at the University of North Carolina.
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Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen on 2023 World Series run, All-Star Game stories and more
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Can the Diamondbacks reach a 2nd consecutive World Series?
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