uh,

yeah, finding consistency with it has always been the hard part.

It's such a field pitch and, you know, a lot of times you're trying to do too much with it or trying to slow your body down too much and it's really hard to throw in the zone.

So I think over the last, um, you know, year or two, I've really honed in on, um, a comfortable grip that's kind of starts the whole process where you're not like finding a certain grip in your glove and like having to repeat it as the exact exact same way every single time to get the same effect where i would see that in the past where it would just be two like totally different pitches from one pitch to the next um so i think the consistency with the grip is really what started it all and then i'm getting over here and just getting really comfortable throwing it in all kind of different scenarios where I think early in my career, I would really only throw it if I was up in the count.

So if I got behind a hitter, they were never going to see my best pitch, which is a tough way to exist sometimes as a pitcher.

So I think that's kind of flipped over the last year or so.

And just being able to use it more effectively, which all stems from being able to throw a first strike.

Is that a case for you at all? Was there ever a change-up that you were looking at and said, like, I want to get like that?

Are the nerves still there when you go out there, or do you, like Cam Booser said earlier, just black

out? Yeah, that's a very real thing.

So I can vouch for Cam on that one.

It definitely happens a good bit.

For me tonight, Yandy had the insurance as I was warming up and getting to celebrate that and realize my job got easier.

I feel like it's been that way all year with the way we win games.

It's just a gritty bunch that really knows how to win and help each other out on different areas of the game.

And finally, what about ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta? What more can you say about him? We know what kind of a season he had at the beginning, but he comes over here, and quite frankly, he's looked like Pedro Martinez since he got here to Tampa Bay.

atmosphere like out there tonight it's yankee stadium it's i mean tropicana field was electric the first two games but this is a completely different animal what was it like for you to pitch in this environment

yeah man those first two games in the trap got me ready for anything i mean that that was those were two of the most electric games i've ever been a part of so uh this this one wasn't so bad honestly it was uh it was a good environment um i i embraced the hostility a little bit i like throwing on the road so um you know was a little rusty there you know got kind of got away from me a little bit for probably a five six pitch stretch and then uh snyder came out and kind of got me right and then i got back in the zone after that and The rest is history.

What were you thinking when you saw Victor Mesa Jr. just drill that thing over the right center field wall?

Man, absolutely no doubter.

Man, I can't say enough good things about that guy.

As a person and as a player, it's been incredible just to be his teammate and sit next to him in the locker room at home and just watch the way he came in mid-year.

And it's like he belonged here from the beginning.

He's just that type of guy.

I asked the right-hander about what's been a remarkable year on the mound.

Yeah, yeah, it's been a wild ride.

I think it kind of feels like it's been like three weeks long.

It's kind of flown by, and I guess time flies when you're having fun.

It's been a fun year and kind of getting closer with all the guys and actually getting a spring training here and getting to settle in and get to know everybody more so than just getting traded over midseason.

I think it's been a nice touch to this year as well.

Could you have ever dreamed it going this well? No, honestly, yeah.

Was there a moment this year where it dawned on you, like, okay, I think I am the closer of this team now?

Brian Baker is a senior vice president at Hasbro, which recently released Blooms by Play-Doh, a floral arrangement modeling kit for adults.

You know, we are no longer exclusively focused on, um, offering products to children.

Our play to win strategy, you know, one of the key tenets is aging up.

They're looking to create customers for life.

It's probably one of the strongest business strategies we could put in place.

Um, you know, as you grow up with our brands, as you grow up with Play-Doh, uh, there is a product there for you that meets your needs at that moment in time.

Was this ever a goal of yours, though, like starting out this season where you're like, that would be kind of neat if I was an all-star?

Yeah, honestly, it never even crosses my mind.

As much as, you know, it's as hard as it is just to get to the big leagues and try to stay.

I think I've been as wrapped up in that as long as I can remember.

You know, the past five years or so is really just trying to be consistent and try to be a good big leaguer and stick around, I think.

Even thinking about All-Stars is almost crazy, especially, like I said, for a reliever, it's really hard to do.

Most of the time there's only a few slots for each league, and to even wish for that to happen was far-fetched for me, I'd say, at the beginning of this year.

Is this something that you could have envisioned becoming the Rays closer?

If the team was stranded on a deserted island, who would you want to be the team fisherman that would go out and save the squad and feed us?

You got at least three, like, really solid options there.

Okay.

On the way, on the, I, on the way here it was everybody giving Palacios-

Right? Uh, it, do you, do you stop and think about that at all or, I mean, how did you get here?

Um, yeah, it's, it's, um, it's pretty crazy to think about, for sure.

I think, um, it's been...

it was a long journey, I think.

Uh- You know, I, I think I, you get so, you know, locked in and, you know, kind of in the moment, you, you kinda, it's hard to look back sometimes.

But, uh, i- in times like this, it is, it is cool to, to look back and remember the days, uh, of being an Osprey, and the good times there and, and, you know, that being a really big stepping stone in terms of, uh, just getting experience at, at, at the D1 level.

Um, you know, being a, a multi-sport athlete in high school, I think that wa- college was the first time in my life that I was only playing baseball, so just that step in the process was huge.

But, uh, is there pride in being the first Osprey to make it to the bigs, now the All-Star, the accolades, and be that name attached to that university?

Yeah, yeah, very true.

And it's like, it's kind of, it's kinda your own thing.

I think that kind of reenergized us and, um, yeah, we cleaned some stuff up after that kind of rocky, I would say a rocky first road trip where we didn't play as good as we wanted to.

But I think since then we've been putting it together really well and then, yeah, a couple, couple hiccups here on this road trip but, um, not, not something I'm too worried about over the long haul.

There's still a lot of baseball left.

So, um, yeah, really just kind of continue the way that we've been kinda, like, finding different ways to win ball games and, um, kind of seeing the old school type of mentality that some of our, like, especially our offense is kind of, like, bunts and s- and base running and just-

Yeah, yeah.

Um, just, yeah, seeing that, I think, uh, I think it just gives us a chance to win a lot of games and I think w- and on the pitching side it's, it's, um, you know, just trusting, trusting our stuff in the zone and, and mixing speeds and throwing strikes.