Okay.

So, um, [laughs] um, he brought me in to throw in front of the coach there, Dave Griffin, and, um, Shane Prance was the pitching coach there, who's now one of my good friends.

Um, so basically threw in front of, front of him at a shop, and then I made a video about, you know, like a video of me pitching, and I posted it, and then like a day later I just decided that I was gonna go to Purdue Northwest.

Um, and got a, got a good offer and, um, I thought, "Why not?" And then, uh, went to school there for four years.

The reason why I didn't leave is 'cause I was, I was playing and I was developing and, um, you know, I got to go play summer ball, um, for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen, and then the following year went to Traverse City, Michigan, and played the Northwoods League, and I did that two summers in a row.

And then, um, this, uh, Hunter Brown was in, um, with, he's with the Astros.

He was in, um, my conference.

[laughs]

[laughs]

Um, so yeah.

I mean, I'm throwing, you know, the hardest I've probably thrown in my career, um, so far.

And I, and I give a lot of credit to our, our, uh, guys in the weight room, uh, Jason Meredith and, um, Jose Salas.

They, they do a great job, uh, w- with everyone and, um, making sure guys are getting in there, getting their lifts in and, um, you know, take the attention and focus it on certain things that you're gonna do on the mound, uh, with mechanical things.

And I think that's helpful a lot.

And I give a lot of credit to my, uh, college coach, 'cause [laughs] I hadn't, I didn't lift in college.

Okay.

How do you mentally handle stuff like that, Chad?

Yeah.

Um, you know, those last two outings, uh, in Vegas and against the Phillies just really wasn't getting, um, the cutter to the right spot.

Um, you know, it's, it's my pitch, and anytime I'm not able to command it, um, it, it's gonna, it's gonna be a rough time out there.

So, um, went back to the drawing board and, um, you know, took a couple days off, mental reset and, uh, just, just found a way to, to find it again.

And, and, and like you said, it, it's one of those things where you gotta have a short memory and it's, it's next man up mentality from there.

But do you feel that too, Chad, and the guys in the clubhouse, when you just win two out of three, or you win four out of six? If you keep doing that, that is getting the job done, and that's what this team seems to have done so well.

Yeah.

Like, who you're talking to and, and how you need to try and be honest, but also you've got adrenaline and you want to keep pitching.

Yeah, I, I think that you want to-- as a starter, like, you obviously want to go as far as you possibly can.

Um, that's what we're built up to do.

Um, I think, you know, about the s- the difference between, like, now and, and, um, like when I was starting is I'm not thinking about those things as opposed to when I was starting, I was thinking about how deep am I going to get into this game for the boys, you know.

Um, whereas now I'm, I'm grabbing the ball and, you know, I don't, I don't know how long I'm going to go.

So I take that away from everything I do now.

And, um, as far as, like, you know, [clears throat] pitch count and stuff like that, I think, like, the game's transitioned differently, 'cause in college I, I mean, I was throwing 110 pitches, 115.

... always been, uh, the just cutter first guy? Were you that way in college, or was that something you learned when you joined the organization? And then, like, how much, uh, has watching Corbin Burnes, like, taught you about how you should be approaching pitching?