Q&A With Bryan Petersen

[Admin]

Marlins outfielder Bryan Petersen took some time out to answer a few questions for MarlinsBaseball.com. Bryan can be found at PeteyPipes.com and on Twitter at @peteypipes

 

MarlinsBaseball.com: Can you describe the moment you got the call-up to the big leagues for the first time. Who gave you the news and what was your initial reaction?

 

Bryan Petersen: I remember that day extremely well not only because it was really exciting but because it was my sister's birthday. It made the call home super easy because my family was sitting down to dinner. I asked to speak to Carleigh my sister and told her the news and happy birthday. She then screamed and told me fam. The initial news came from Edwin and I distinctly remember a shaving cream pie.

 

MB.com: You were thrown into a tough spot last season having to come off the bench in the big leagues, something you were not accustomed to. Is there anything you did different this off-season to prepare for a potential bench role?

 

Bryan: Not this offseason. It's really hard to phsically prepare for that role. It's more or a mental thing and I had a long offseason to make sense of all I learned last year. In spring I've just been working on keeping my timing up because I felt like that was the first thing to go in that role

 

MB.com: Is there any significance to the number you wear or was it just a random selection?

 

Bryan: It was given to me.

 

MB.com: Growing up, a lot of boys only want to become professional athletes. Was this your only dream too or did you aspire to be anything else?

 

Bryan: My mom used to call me jack of all trades. I was a pretty active kid. I played hockey, basketball, soccer, a little golf, and football. I loved action sports too like surfing, skateboarding, wakeboarding and quads and dirt bikes. I grew up watching john Wayne movies with my pops and always have wanted to be a cowboy or in the military/ law enforcement. I pretty much love to try anything new. I even read Warren buffet's book buffetology at like the age of 13 and thought I was gonna be an investor. Baseball was always my passion though and I've stuck with.

 

MB.com: We've learned on Twitter that you grew up as a Dodgers fan. Do you still follow the Dodgers and cheer them on when they aren't playing the Marlins?

 

Bryan: My love for dodgers is a hard thing to explain. Ever since I can remember I've been a dodgers fan. I'm a dodger fan because my dad was a dodger fan, you know? I thought I

was cool if I loved what my dad loved. I grew up watching those guys play and there were my idols. Now that I'm a marlin that just doesn't go away. Do I still root for them, no not really. But that fan inside you never goes away.

 

MB.com: Who was your idol growing up and why?

 

Bryan: Ken Griffey jr. I collected his baseball cards, tried to hit like him, and tried to play outfield like him. Cap Ripken was a close 2nd - what that guy did is just flat out unreal.

 

MB.com: You've played all 3 outfield spots during your career in the minor leagues. Which one of the spots do you prefer and why?

 

Bryan: I've talked to a lot of outfielders about this and its' usually the same answer. Left field is the hardest and not really a lot of fun. Centers the most fun and coolest. Right is the easiest and a lot of fun too because everyone thinks you have a hose.

 

MB.com: Who is the toughest pitcher you've faced so far in either the Majors or Minor Leagues?

 

Bryan: Carlos marmol. Good luck.

 

MB.com: Which stadiums do you most look forward to playing in and why?

 

Bryan: I look forward to coming back to LA again. I want to play in the stadiums that hold tradition. I got to play I. Wrigley which was awesome. Fenway would be cool and new girls got to be a blast

[dim]

MB.com: You've played all 3 outfield spots during your career in the minor leagues. Which one of the spots do you prefer and why?

 

Bryan: I've talked to a lot of outfielders about this and its' usually the same answer. Left field is the hardest and not really a lot of fun. Centers the most fun and coolest. Right is the easiest and a lot of fun too because everyone thinks you have a hose.

 

 

Bryan hit this one right on the money.

 

Nice interview man. Awesome stuff.

[Hotcorner]

nice stuff Admin! I got a couple chances to talk to him when he was with the Suns, very nice guy.

[Hammerhead]

Awesome stuff. I like Pete. He seems like a cool dude.

[Erick]

MB.com: You've played all 3 outfield spots during your career in the minor leagues. Which one of the spots do you prefer and why?

 

Bryan: I've talked to a lot of outfielders about this and its' usually the same answer. Left field is the hardest and not really a lot of fun. Centers the most fun and coolest. Right is the easiest and a lot of fun too because everyone thinks you have a hose.

 

 

Bryan hit this one right on the money.

 

Nice interview man. Awesome stuff.

 

 

If that's so true, why is it that some of the worst "OF'ers" in the game, who would be DH's if it was an option, end up playing LF instead of CF/RF?

[Iowa]

Good work Lur

[dim]

MB.com: You've played all 3 outfield spots during your career in the minor leagues. Which one of the spots do you prefer and why?

 

Bryan: I've talked to a lot of outfielders about this and its' usually the same answer. Left field is the hardest and not really a lot of fun. Centers the most fun and coolest. Right is the easiest and a lot of fun too because everyone thinks you have a hose.

 

 

Bryan hit this one right on the money.

 

Nice interview man. Awesome stuff.

 

 

If that's so true, why is it that some of the worst "OF'ers" in the game, who would be DH's if it was an option, end up playing LF instead of CF/RF?

 

*facepalm*

 

Seems everybody is just looking for an argument.

 

The question is subjective. I've played all three positions, and I've always felt that LF has always been the hardest. Center is fun since you are basically in control of the entire OF, and RF is exactly like Peterson says it is.

 

BTW: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6182277

[Erick]

MB.com: You've played all 3 outfield spots during your career in the minor leagues. Which one of the spots do you prefer and why?

 

Bryan: I've talked to a lot of outfielders about this and its' usually the same answer. Left field is the hardest and not really a lot of fun. Centers the most fun and coolest. Right is the easiest and a lot of fun too because everyone thinks you have a hose.

 

 

Bryan hit this one right on the money.

 

Nice interview man. Awesome stuff.

 

 

If that's so true, why is it that some of the worst "OF'ers" in the game, who would be DH's if it was an option, end up playing LF instead of CF/RF?

 

*facepalm*

 

Seems everybody is just looking for an argument.

 

The question is subjective. I've played all three positions, and I've always felt that LF has always been the hardest. Center is fun since you are basically in control of the entire OF, and RF is exactly like Peterson says it is.

 

BTW: http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=6182277

 

 

I'm not trying to start an argument; I just simply disagree with what was said.

 

Also, I don't think the article proves me wrong. CF definitely seems like a more fun position, but look at the main point of the article. The Texas Rangers don't want Josh Hamilton to play CF because his offense is too valuable, and CF is a more demanding position than LF. It's the very same reason why the Marlins won't experiment with Stanton in CF.

 

And if you want to use the "I've played and the corners are more difficult because you have to read angles" line, how does that make RF easier than LF? RF has angles just like LF; the only difference is you actually need an arm to play RF.

 

Look at all the LF'ers in the big leagues; for the most part, you'll see that it's a position based on offensive production.

 

Heck, look at the Marlins history. Guys like Chris Coghlan (no experience), Miguel Cabrera (fatter version), Logan Morrison (little experience), etc. have been placed in LF, just because of their bats. It's a rather irrelevant position when it comes to team defense, and it's not all that demanding.

 

When GM's are looking to build their teams, they'll be looking for CF'ers instead of LF'ers for a reason.

 

Again, I'm not trying to start an argument. I just don't see the logic in LF being the most difficult outfield position to play when the crappiest outfielders are usually put in LF.

[Admin]

Cabrera was actually still fairy svelt when he played LF.

[Erick]

Cabrera was actually still fairy svelt when he played LF.

 

 

 

Fair enough. Either way, he played plenty of RF where he was absolutely horrible, and was moved to LF where he just so happened to be better. As is the case, more often than not, with players. Especially at Dolphin/Pro Player/Joe Robbie/Sun Life Stadium, it's much more difficult to play RF. All you have to do in LF playing for the Marlins is learn how to play the teal wall, basically.

[Erick]

And to add even more to the Cabrera discussion, the same guy who was passable in LF would never, ever be able to play CF. This is the case with many LF'ers in the big leagues, as well.

[Hammerhead]

Given that he also played some RF too (781.2 innings), Adam Dunn has played 8376.1 in LF. That should tell you all you need to know about how GMs view the position.

[Admin]

And to add even more to the Cabrera discussion, the same guy who was passable in LF would never, ever be able to play CF. This is the case with many LF'ers in the big leagues, as well.

 

I wasnt arguing your main point, just pointing out that Cabrera didnt appear to shift to the Krispy Kreme diet until he moved to 3B, which is fairly ironic if you ask me considering the extra athleticism needed to man that particular position and he was replacing a loved and pretty damn good glove man in Mike Lowell.

[Erick]

And to add even more to the Cabrera discussion, the same guy who was passable in LF would never, ever be able to play CF. This is the case with many LF'ers in the big leagues, as well.

 

I wasnt arguing your main point, just pointing out that Cabrera didnt appear to shift to the Krispy Kreme diet until he moved to 3B, which is fairly ironic if you ask me considering the extra athleticism needed to man that particular position and he was replacing a loved and pretty damn good glove man in Mike Lowell.

 

 

The Marlins always seem to have a guy or two playing out of place defensively every year. Then they wonder why they're consistently below average, defensively. I think we'd all be rather shocked if Chris Coghlan isn't absolutely terrible in CF this year. Hopefully that experiment doesn't last too long.

[Admin]

I personally think he can be adaquete.

[Rabbethan]

You're missing the point, Erick. LF needs the least physical talent to play of the three positions, because your arm doesn't need to be as good and you don't need as much range. But if you have the physical talent to play all three positions, so that it's not a factor, LF is harder to play because of the way the ball breaks on you.

[Overhed]

I think Cogs is athletic enough to be ok in center (then again I remember a guy by the name of Reggie Abercrombie who was athletic and horrible).

 

From my experience with my RTTS player in The Show (lol) the tough part of LF are the monster line drives that curve and come at you screaming. Those are tough to react to.

[SilverBullet]

I think Cogs is athletic enough to be ok in center (then again I remember a guy by the name of Reggie Abercrombie who was athletic and horrible).

 

From my experience with my RTTS player in The Show (lol) the tough part of LF are the monster line drives that curve and come at you screaming. Those are tough to react to.

 

 

Oh I've been thinking of this for months! When I think of how Cogs has to make the transition to center, I've always imagined those RTTS games in The Show! Just glad to see I'm not the only one who connected these outfield questions to that game. lol

[Erick]

You're missing the point, Erick. LF needs the least physical talent to play of the three positions, because your arm doesn't need to be as good and you don't need as much range. But if you have the physical talent to play all three positions, so that it's not a factor, LF is harder to play because of the way the ball breaks on you.

 

 

 

No one ever really mentioned that specific "point" so I don't believe I missed anything.

 

Also, regarding the bold, when you're playing RF I'm assuming there are angles too. What's the main difference? This is all subjective. The only point that really matters is that every RF'er in the big leagues can play LF; the same can't be said, vice-versa. And there are a bunch of corner outfielders who would look ridiculous playing CF because they're not athletic enough. The fact that it takes more athleticism to play CF can be used as a reason to explain why CF is the much more difficult position.

 

I could really care less what individuals say about how much more fun it is to play CF. Baseball players don't really care about sabermetrics/defensive statistics, so they probably don't even know just how much they suck at a certain position . It's a lot of fun to run around in CF and catch some balls; I'm sure it is. That doesn't mean you're a good CF'er.

[Schnellders]

Nice job Admin getting an interview with Peteypipes. From following him on Twitter he seems like a cool guy who always has time for Marlins fans.

[Rabbethan]

You're missing the point, Erick. LF needs the least physical talent to play of the three positions, because your arm doesn't need to be as good and you don't need as much range. But if you have the physical talent to play all three positions, so that it's not a factor, LF is harder to play because of the way the ball breaks on you.

 

 

 

No one ever really mentioned that specific "point" so I don't believe I missed anything.

 

Also, regarding the bold, when you're playing RF I'm assuming there are angles too. What's the main difference? This is all subjective. The only point that really matters is that every RF'er in the big leagues can play LF; the same can't be said, vice-versa. And there are a bunch of corner outfielders who would look ridiculous playing CF because they're not athletic enough. The fact that it takes more athleticism to play CF can be used as a reason to explain why CF is the much more difficult position.

 

I could really care less what individuals say about how much more fun it is to play CF. Baseball players don't really care about sabermetrics/defensive statistics, so they probably don't even know just how much they suck at a certain position . It's a lot of fun to run around in CF and catch some balls; I'm sure it is. That doesn't mean you're a good CF'er.

I've mentioned it about 4-6 thousand times on this forum. This is the 4th time we get to this part.

 

Also, what you're arguing is like, what's harder, distance running or doing the job of a nuclear physicist? Sure a distance runner can sit around all day in front of a computer, but the average nuclear physicist would probably fall apart of he just tried to go run a marathon.

 

We're talking about guys (Cody Ross, Bryan Peterson) who have the athletic ability to play all three positions. Take that out of the equation. They all say they have more trouble playing LF than any other position. Enough with the "Nope, no you don't".

[Erick]

You're missing the point, Erick. LF needs the least physical talent to play of the three positions, because your arm doesn't need to be as good and you don't need as much range. But if you have the physical talent to play all three positions, so that it's not a factor, LF is harder to play because of the way the ball breaks on you.

 

 

 

No one ever really mentioned that specific "point" so I don't believe I missed anything.

 

Also, regarding the bold, when you're playing RF I'm assuming there are angles too. What's the main difference? This is all subjective. The only point that really matters is that every RF'er in the big leagues can play LF; the same can't be said, vice-versa. And there are a bunch of corner outfielders who would look ridiculous playing CF because they're not athletic enough. The fact that it takes more athleticism to play CF can be used as a reason to explain why CF is the much more difficult position.

 

I could really care less what individuals say about how much more fun it is to play CF. Baseball players don't really care about sabermetrics/defensive statistics, so they probably don't even know just how much they suck at a certain position . It's a lot of fun to run around in CF and catch some balls; I'm sure it is. That doesn't mean you're a good CF'er.

I've mentioned it about 4-6 thousand times on this forum. This is the 4th time we get to this part.

 

Also, what you're arguing is like, what's harder, distance running or doing the job of a nuclear physicist? Sure a distance runner can sit around all day in front of a computer, but the average nuclear physicist would probably fall apart of he just tried to go run a marathon.

 

We're talking about guys (Cody Ross, Bryan Peterson) who have the athletic ability to play all three positions. Take that out of the equation. They all say they have more trouble playing LF than any other position. Enough with the "Nope, no you don't".

 

 

I have no idea what you mean by the "nope, no you don't" comment. I don't even think I've said that in this thread.

Either way, Bryan Petersen's subjective opinions aren't true. For example, he says RF is the easiest because people think you have the best arm. That's just a very silly thing to say. It's not a matter of thinking; RF'ers DO (in most cases) have better arms.

[Overhed]

I'm surprised that such a heated discussion has come up as a result of such a light-hearted interview.

 

I would say that while LF has more room for error (less ground to cover, don't have to worry too much about runners taking an extra base) it has the unique challenge that most balls that make it there have usually been pulled (a lot of the time smoked) by a RH hitter. This results in a tough time reading the ball off the bat because usually the ball will have some crazy spin and hook quite a bit in the air.

[Beetle]

Nice interview. Thanks as always, Admin.

[dom2613]

Ive always heard you put the guy who is the least athletic and has an average to below average arm in left or if you wanna ease the stress on a big hitter. Center and right are probably easier if you have the right skill set. I still don't see how left is the hardest. I guess with most hitters being right handed you get lots of scorching liners, balls breaking different ways, and balls to play off the wall.