Tyler Glasnow interviews Rays’ top pitcher Brett Phillips

What are the two elements that, once combined, could create the perfect storm of delight and charm for Tampa Bay Rays fans? How about Tyler Glasnow and Brett Phillips on the same podcast?

Well, this week Jomboy Media’s The Chris Rose Rotation had co-host Glasnow grill his teammate and fellow pitcher Brett Phillips. It’s every ounce as wonderful as you could imagine it to be, with Glasnow and Phillips both relaxed and hilarious as usual, and the added element of having two members of the same team play off each other.

At the top of the episode, Rose chatted with Glasnow about his potential timeline for return, and Glasnow said he was throwing at about 75 feet and feeling optimistic about being back before the end of the season. He admits that it drives him crazy to not be able to travel with the team, but he has been watching away games with fellow IL’d-teammate Mike Brosseau.

The full episode is below, but we wanted to emphasize some of the best aspects.

Before Phillips even had a chance to join the call, Rose asked Glasnow if everyone’s favorite airplane was always that happy, and Glasnow heartily enthused that in a game with such emotional ups and downs like baseball, Phillips always exudes incredible positivity.

Rose did ask Glasnow, who spent the All-Star break on a brief solo getaway to Brooklyn, if he’d watched the big game, and Glasnow admitted, “I did not watch the All-Star Game. I had better things to do.” The pair then chatted briefly about the Home Run Derby, which Glasnow did watch, and he had high praise for Shohei Ohtani, calling him a “freak of nature” and the most hilarious compliment, “He’s not a dick.”

With the topic of Ohtani on the table, Rose asked Glasnow about Stephen A. Smith’s controversial comments, and Glasnow hypothesized that the comments might have been meant to intentionally stir up controversy. He also noted that anyone else going to another country with a different alphabet and different language would absolutely need an interpreter (bonus points to him for saying interpreter rather than translator!)

When Brett finally joined the call, they got right into grilling him about the big pitching outing he had against the Jays, and Rose asked, “Glas when you saw your man warming up in the bullpen up there in Buffalo, were you laughing crying or somewhere in between?”

Glasnow chuckled, “My initial reaction my first thing was What the f**k are you doing Brett? and then watching it keep on I was like this is this is good stuff.”

As for the ridiculous routine Phillips went through when he was getting ready in the bullpen? He confessed, “I’m not lying to you. I promise you. I’m telling you the truth. I did not know cameras were rolling. When I was I didn’t even know there were cameras. Like I was making sure. I was making our guys laugh. obviously, we’re getting beat 10-1 why like, I’m just down there and kind of stretching things out. But that’s actually how I throw when I pitch.”

They talked a fair bit about how much more enjoyable baseball is when it’s fun. “I wasn’t going to let a job define if I could have fun or not... if I’m not having fun, I’m not performing for you,” Phillips said. He also talked about how the front office emphasizes letting players be themselves.

Rose asked Phillips about his impressive 94 mph pitch, and if he saw the reaction of the Jays. Phillips laughed, “Yeah, yeah. that was funny. You know, I think their reaction was more so like, they saw the RPMs and they saw like the x and y-axis tilt, and they’re just like ‘That’s elite.’ Not so much that the 94 miles an hour. I had J-Money our statistician and our StatCast guy run my numbers and I just was out there. I mean, had to show elite stuff. That’s what I do.” This, naturally, cracked Glasnow up.

And did Glasnow have any advice for Phillips going forward in his pitching career? “The mechanics are a little rough. But the fact that you came out and threw 94 that’s like, you’re not gonna be like oh my go pitch now because no one’s gonna like if you can be a position player, why the hell would you want to go pitch?”

Last thoughts from Phillips on the pitching appearance? “I’m not gonna lie. I was pretty sore the next day.” He applauded the fortitude of pitchers who have to do the work long term, then noted the worst moment of the evening. “After that one throw when I balked. That was the most embarrassing moment of my life. And so I know that all eyes are on you when you’re out there and I really felt that I really fell all the eyes were on me.”

Ultimately he reminded the group, “I made a few All-Stars swing and miss.” Phillips also compared the experience to being right up there with his World Series walk-off in terms of best-ever experiences in baseball.

Then Brett offered a little insight into Glasnow’s game-day persona. “He gets kinda psycho.”

Rose asked the question we’ve all been thinking: is Brett Phillips always this happy, to which Phillips enthusiastically said he was. He then explained in great deal the 100 to 1000 happiness scale measured in Hz (hertz), the unit of frequency, and how Brett will periodically ask Glasnow in the dugout, “Where your hertz at?”

“He was radiating hertz,” Glasnow said of Phillips after the World Series walk-off. Honestly, the whole podcast is worth it just for that discussion.

It was an utterly delightful hour, and well worth going through the whole thing if you have the chance. It covered everything from Rose and Glasnow talking about politics, to the pair teasing Phillips about his unmade hotel room bed. But if you only go through one part, definitely go to about minute 42 and just vibe out with the hertz.