On this episode, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) is joined by Angels catcher Max Stassi (@MaxStassi10) to talk about what goes into his defensive work.

Max talks about his defense origin story (he was born into catching) and what he focuses on when he frames pitches (1:21).

Max also discusses what it’s like to catch Shohei Ohtani and offers a strong take on the potential of robot umpires and how that would change catching forever (imagine catchers working entirely from their knees) (11:18).

Also, we asked Hall-of-Fame inductee and 7-time Gold Glover Larry Walker on his favorite type of defensive play (19:53).

Mark is then joined by former Baseball Info Solutions Video Scout, and singer-songwriter Matt Halvorson (@HalvyHalvorson), whose songs are often about prominent (and lesser-known) baseball players (you’ll hear a brief excerpt from his latest album, which you can find here) (21:48).Thank you for listening. Stay safe and stay well.