• last year
Jackson Nicklaus talks to media Feb. 22, 2024.
Transcript
00:00 Small thing to say, but it seems like the guys that are returning have started really well.
00:05 Yeah, I mean we all learned a lot from last year. A lot of us had to do some growing up to do.
00:10 We really kind of grew as men and we grew together.
00:13 The team's playing well together. I know we're 2-2, but could have easily flipped that around in the 4-0.
00:18 So we feel really good as a team.
00:20 How tough was last year for you? Not to bring out bad juju or whatever, but...
00:24 Nah, it's all good. Last year's over with. There's something that I need to learn, something I need to grow.
00:28 I need to grow up a lot. Last year, mature a lot.
00:31 So I'm not happy that it happened, but it's probably something that needed to happen.
00:34 It made me work harder this offseason. It made me realize my weaknesses and really work on them.
00:39 Especially that last month. Was this maybe the first time in your life you were just like,
00:42 "I need to get the hell out of baseball right now. Just get away from the game."
00:46 I mean, you know, it's part of it. You hear a lot of people talk about it.
00:48 That's the first time in my life I've really ever had to handle adversity like that.
00:51 Definitely something that I needed to learn how to deal with.
00:54 Definitely something that I'm happy that I'm able to work through.
00:57 I'm happy that I was able to come back and join the team and be able to come and be someone who can factor again in the 2020 season.
01:05 You obviously had a good summer. You built a little bit of confidence.
01:09 Yeah, the summer was great for me. I needed to go and kind of figure out myself a little bit.
01:13 I needed to go and grow up after having a really good freshman year.
01:18 Thinking that I could just go out and roll the ball out there.
01:21 Something that's not the case. I had to go and work. I had to go and earn it again.
01:25 Coaches really helped push me. Coaches really helped me develop as a man and as a leader on this team.
01:29 It's something that I'm really happy to have.
01:31 I'm sure you would have preferred to win the other night, but how good did it feel to get a couple homers for you?
01:35 I mean, it felt good to have some balls leave the yard, but a win would have definitely been,
01:40 I would have rather go 0-4 and win than go 4-4 and lose.
01:43 What's it been like working with Jackson up the middle, just in terms of the chemistry and communication?
01:46 How's that going between you two?
01:48 We worked our butts off all offseason together. He's a great kid. Great family.
01:53 Works his butt off every single day. You know he's going to come and bring it.
01:56 He's an intelligent kid. He knows the game of baseball. He's always locked in. It's been really fun so far.
02:02 What's there to say about the group? I guess that you come back on Sunday,
02:06 obviously you can't erase it before and deficit again on Tuesday.
02:09 Just kind of sticking with it even when you get into a little bit of a hole.
02:12 One thing we're really trying to build off is one thing the 22 team had.
02:14 We had a relentless spirit. We didn't really have that last year.
02:16 We're really trying to find ourselves. You know, four games in, being able to show that we can come back after down four runs,
02:21 that's something that we didn't do at all last year.
02:23 Having that ability to fight and never be out of it is something that we really are trying to pride ourselves on.
02:28 We want to have a relentless spirit. We want to be able to have every game be a ball game,
02:32 whether we win or lose. We want it to be competitive.
02:34 What's it been like watching what Snyder's done over at third, so for both offensively and defensively?
02:39 Snyder's a great, great guy. I'm really happy that he's part of this team.
02:42 He brings a great spirit to the ball club every day. He brings good energy.
02:48 A veteran guy, knows his way around, knows how to communicate, knows how to handle the bat,
02:52 definitely knows how to play the field. He's a great addition to the team, and we're really happy to have him.
02:56 What's it been like to see Spike off to such a good start as well?
02:59 You guys are both playing well. The history that you guys have, do you guys just kind of feed off each other?
03:03 Yeah, I mean, Spike and I, we're roommates. We're best friends. We go out and we spend a lot of time together.
03:08 We went through last year together. He had a better year than I did last year, but it's definitely fun to be with him.
03:14 It's definitely fun to watch him grow as well as I did, watching him be able to come out there and compete
03:19 and kind of flip the script a little bit on what the narrative was in this team
03:23 and go and show that we're going to come out here and compete and win a lot of games.