Royals commentator Rex Hudler praises Blue Jays’ energy and hunger to win
By Cam Lewis
6 years agoHoly hell, this was a treat to listen to. Rex Hudler, former Major League player and current Kansas City Royals commentator came on Baseball Central with Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker to talk about the Royals this afternoon. He wasn’t short on praise for the Blue Jays team he got to see yesterday.
Seriously, go give this a listen. If you’re skeptical about this team and their 11-5 start, Hudler’s words might change your mind. If you’re all in on The Blue Jays Are Actually Good, this will reaffirm everything you believe about this group. The way that Hudler speaks about the Jays is so emphatic and so genuine it’ll give you goosebumps.
It starts off with Jeff Blair asking Hudler about the struggling Royals and where the team is at now that most of the pieces from their 2015 World Series team have moved on. They go into discussing a Royals rebuild, and, from there, a Blue Jays rebuild. Jeff Blair mentions how the Jays don’t need to tank out because they already have a wealth of prospects, then Hudler agrees about the importance of young guys coming into a winning atmosphere. From there, he goes off about what he digs about this Jays squad…
REX HUDLER: I saw a Blue Jays team last night that was playing every pitch, every ball in the field like it was their last game of the season. I was impressed by their attention, pitch-to-pitch. Maile’s at-bats, you’d have thought someone told him before the game this is the last game you’re ever going to play in, son. That’s the approach you want from your players every single day. The intensity, the willingness to win at the professional level is No. 1, but it doesn’t always work that way. We know from watching the game for a long time that goes in cycles and it’s also in contagious. The winning atmosphere, the scoring a bunch of runs like the Blue Jays have been able to do early on in the season to pressure teams late, they all know they’re going to get this team if they’re behind. That’s the best trait a team offence can have that has to score runs to win. John Gibbons has done a great job, Shapiro has done a great job, having to find a short stop in Diaz, then Solarte, they knew they were going to need some depth. That’s the No. 1 thing for a GM, depth is so important to last the entire length of a 162-game marathon. Look what your guys are doing. They are playing for their lives. Solarte, I weep when I hear his story of losing his wife, and then I watch him take his at-bats, he’s swinging hard, he’s got a smile on his face, he plays with joy, he’s having fun. Those are my kinds of players. Player who know tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. You love those guys, plus the fact he’s nine, ten year minor leaguer. Those guys are hungry. Diaz the shortstop is hungry. The second baseman Travis is hungry. I see the right fielder, your guy from the Cardinals, he’s hungry. Has he got off to the best start? No, but I see him trying and giving effort. I see your guy Smoak who’s a mature ball player, even without the $50 something million you have on the disabled list, you have players that are hungry. That’s the bottom line.
I’ve been buzzing since yesterday’s back-to-back wins. You could really feel that there’s a different magic to this team that was really lacking last year. In the first game, the Jays weren’t getting calls from the umpire, they were hitting the ball hard but right into outs, and Jaime Garcia allowed a couple of home runs. But still, the team didn’t get down and they rallied for a huge win. In the night cap, they were dominated for six innings by Danny Duffy, then, as soon as he was out of the game, they pounced. Back-to-back-to-back walks, a huge hit from Luke Maile, two more great at bats from Devon Travis and Steve Pearce, and suddenly the team was ahead. After Ryan Tepera gave up the lead, Roberto Osuna and Tyler Clippard grinded two scoreless innings out, giving the team a chance to win in the tenth, and they did.
You simply didn’t see that resilience last year. I think Hudler really nails it on the head when he talks about how hungry players are. Solarte has a tragic story and he doesn’t take anything for granted. Diaz and Grichuk were thrown away by the Cardinals this winter after losing their full-time roles in 2017. Travis cherishes every game on the field because of his injury history. Guys like Clippard and Axford had no idea if they’d be playing this year or not. Despite injuries to Josh Donaldson and Kendrys Morales, someone new is stepping up every night, and it’s a damn treat to watch.
I touched on this in an article I wrote a couple weeks ago about the bridge to 2020. When Bo, Vlad, Nate Pearson, Anthony Alford, and whoever else reach the Major Leagues in the next couple years, you want them to be breaking on to a team with energy. You don’t want them being thrown into a garbage fire playing in front of an empty stadium. Based on how things are going thus far, I’m thrilled about the group the prospects are going to be joining.
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