Welcome to the first episode of The StormCast in 2021! To kick off the new year, Jake Eisenberg and Tony Boone welcome Jake Kalish, who's been a stalwart member of the Omaha Storm Chasers pitching staff since he made his Triple-A debut in 2017. 

Inside the conversation with Jake Kalish (5:41-42:44):

• what he's been up to since the 2020 "season" ended (5:52)
• how the lack of reps in 2020 will affect player's careers (6:39)
• if he ever got the chance to hit at the Alternate Site since he was a two-way player in college at George Mason (8:17)
• how he learned to switch-hit (10:10)
• the process of increasing his velocity this offseason (14:52)
• the importance of mechanics and optimizing "pelvic velocity" (16:40)
• memories from his experience playing for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and why he looks up to Jason Marquis (23:37)
• Cody Decker's "Mensch on the Bench" mascot doll (24:32)
• the time Jason Marquis visited his elementary school (26:19)
• out-dueling Clayton Kershaw in Oklahoma City in 2017 (28:12)
• what he loves about Omaha (34:17)
• favorite Omaha jersey (35:43)
• Runza vs. Wawa (36:22)
• go-to food spots in Omaha (38:00)

Afterward, Tony answers the trivia question from our last episode (44:35) and shares a new on (46:16).

Trivia Question: Jake Kalish threw seven shutout innings against Oklahoma City the night he out-dueled Clayton Kershaw. Who was the Omaha pitcher who threw the final two innings of that game?

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