Below are some excerpts from what was asked and what he said. I'm going to bed, now. :-)
LET'S JUST GO BACK 24 HOURS TO YOUR LAST START, HOW ARE THINGS GOING, HOW'S THE ADJUSTMENT, HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU'RE KINDA MOVING UP THE SPECTRUM?
SS: Ah you know, I'm definitely getting more comfortable out there, obviously there's a lot of adrenaline going on, I'm starting to learn to harness it, and I'm just going out there, trying to throw the ball down in the zone.
PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, THOSE IN MY INDUSTRY, IS IF DIFFERENT . . . AS THEY PICTURED TO GO UP THESE LEVELS OR ARE YOU STILL THROWING STRIKES?
SS: you know, definitely you know, pitching just like I did in college; it's pretty much the same as it was and it'll always be the same out there; obviously you're facing . . . better competition up here, and obviously there's a lot more fans in the stands, too.
THAT'S A GOOD SIGN.
SS: Oh yeah.
BECAUSE OF THE ATTENTION ON YOU, YOU'RE KINDA LIKE THE LEBRON JAMES OF BASEBALL. IT'S LIKE EVERY GAME THAT YOU PITCH IS AN EVENT. WHAT'S THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE GOT FOR DEALING WITH THE KIND OF SCRUTINY YOU'RE GETTING?
SS: well I think about two years ago Tony Gwinn told me, 'Would you rather be batting .250 and nobody talking to you or batting .350 and having everybody talk to you?' And when you really think about it, you wanna be successful out there, so it's just something that's part of the game. You have to talk to the media and they're gonna want to talk to you.
YEAH WE DON'T ALLOW .250 HITTERS ON THIS SHOW. (FLORIDA QB TIM) TEBOW GETS DRAFTED IN THE FIRST ROUNDAND THERE WAS SOME TALK ABOUT HIS MECHANICS. AND YOU GET DRAFTED AND SOME OF THE DISCUSSION ON YOU IS THIS 'INVERTED W' – AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT THERE WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT YOUR MECHANICS. THE SAME WAY THAT HE (TEBOW) MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS – DID YOU HAVE TO DO ANYTHING? DID YOU NOT BUY IT? DID IT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU WHEN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS (picture of SS's posture while pitching)? DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?
SS: I really don't know what the 'W' is; there's a lotta pitchers in history that don't have perfect mechanics and they're pitching 20-plus years.
THIS APPARENTLY IS IT (picture of SS's throwing stance)
SS: well, you know, that's the way I've been throwing my whole life, you know, haven't had any injuries, so I'm just gonna keep working hard, trying to you know, stick to my plan in between (starts) and prepare for the next start.
AMONG THE ADJUSTMENTS, THAT'S NEVER BEEN BROUGHT UP?
SS: No.
GOOD. WHAT'S THE MOST CHALLENGING ADJUSTMENT YOU'VE HAD TO MAKE IN PRO BALL?
SS: You know, I think definitely, just getting used to pitching every five days, it's a little bit different program that you have to follow, not as much throwing in between. I really like it though, it's nice, to, you know, if you have a bad outing or don't do what you wanted to do, you got four days of rest and you're out there doing it again.
WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE FREE TIME? HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR FREE TIME? DO YOU HAVE A LOT OF IT?
SS: No, you know, that's the beauty of pro baseball is that you're going to the field every day, so when I'm not there, I'm trying to sleep.
SOME PITCHERS TRY TO LOOK AT THE RADAR GUNS, THEY GLANCE OVER THEIR SHOULDER; DID YOU LIKE TO KNOW HOW HARD YOU WERE THROWING?
SS: You know, I think when I first stepped into college I was definitely a guy that would look over my shoulder. Not so much now; you look at the guys in the league, just like (Phillies pitcher) Jamie Moyer, they're throwing 80 miles an hour and he's getting guys out. Velocity isn't everything.
MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION IS, WHEN DO YOU GET TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES? ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS OR DO YOU JUST WAIT FOR THE CALL?
SS: Definitely just waiting for the call. They gave me some things to work on, that's what I'm gonna stick with right now, I'm enjoying every second of it down there in Harrisburg. We got a great team, great coaches, and I'm just trying to learn from everything.
DO WE GO MONTH-TO-MONTH RENT, SIX MONTHS, A YEAR?
SS: Definitely going month-to-month.
. . .
(CINCINATTI REDS PITCHER) MIKE LEAKE – HE'S STARTING THE YEAR IN THE BIG LEAGUES, IS THERE SOME PART OF YOU THAT'S. 'AHH, JEEZ, I WISH I'D BEEN ON THAT (PLANE?)?
SS: Ah, you know, obviously, being a baseball player your ultimate dream is to pitch in the big leagues, but you know, I trust, I trust what the Nationals are doing with me, you know? They're doing it the right way; it's not how fast you get there, it's how long you are there.
(They ask SS, who played with Leake on a San Diego travel team when he was nine years old if there were any other future major leaguers on the team, and SS says no, but also that Leake was known as “Mikey” back then.)
(SS then shows former Nat Aaron Boone and Eduardo Perez how he grips his fastball, curveball/slider, two-seam change-up and sinker)
OFF OF YOUR FASTBALL, WHAT SECONDARY PITCH DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS MOST DEVELOPED RIGHT NOW?
SS: I think definitely closing my freshman year at (San Diego) State I was with this fastball and this breaking ball here, so that's my pitch. I'm really confident throwing that any time in the count; my change-up's been really good ever since I (started) playing pro ball with these smaller seams, it's just gotten a lot better. And then I've definitely been throwing my sinker a lot, too. That's kind of an easy ground-ball out right there.
SO WE HEAR ABOUT ALL THESE TEAMS, MANAGERS AND COACHES ALWAYS TRYING TO GET OUR PITCHERS TO QUICKEN UP IN THE STRETCH TO CONTROL THE RUNNING GAME, SO TO SPEAK. WELL, THE NATIONALS SEE YOU AS BEING SO QUICK TO HOME PLATE THAT THEY FEEL LIKE MAYBE IT'S TAKEN AWAY FROM SOME OF YOUR STUFF, SO THEY'VE ACTUALLY TRIED TO SLOW YOU DOWN, IS THAT RIGHT?
SS: Yeah, you know, I mean, in college, I was always you know, just a straight slide-step every time, you know, I didn't really lose velo(city); all my stuff was still there, and virtually eliminated the running game. But you know, I was right around a second with that, and they wanted me to be more around a 1.3, so they had me starting out with more of a load on my back side, kinda loading right here and getting going, it helps me keep the angle on my fastball a lot better.
DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE LETTING GUYS GET TO FIRST BASE SO YOU CAN WORK ON IT?
SS (amid chuckles): It happens, yeah, it's part of the game.
SO YOU WALK A GUY AND YOU'RE LIKE 'OK, COACH, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, JUST WORKING ON MY MOVE'?
SS: well no, I mean, it's definitely part of the game, you know, it's good to, you know, when a guy gets on first, you know, it's like, 'Next pitch, here we go, ground-ball double play,' And also part of the game, you really have to vary your times and everything, and that's something that they also want me to work on, you know, really controlling the running game.
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH IT? IS IT COMING ALONG FOR YOU?
SS: Oh absolutely, you know, I think it's really more important now because you've got guys with lightning speed out there, and guys on the base paths are a lot smarter . . . they're gonna pick up the little things and . . . be off running on the next pitch, so it's really important to kind of help your catcher out with being quick to the plate and give him the chance to throw out some guys.
WHO ON THE NATIONALS AT SPRING (TRAINING) DID YOU GET TIGHT WITH?
SS: Definitely John Lannan, Garrett Mock, there's a bunch of pitchers up there . . . they were great, they really made my Spring Training experience a blast. I learned a lot from them, especially theguys out here, Randy Tomlin, Randy Knorr, the coaches here in Harrisburg, they've been great, too.
SO YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU CAN THROW HARDER NOW WITH THAT DELIVERY?
SS: You know, the velo(city) is pretty much the same, there's really no difference from the wind-up to from the stretch, but you know, I'm angle to keep that angle to stay in the bottom half of the zone.
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