Season 1 of the Woodpeckers Baseball Podcast wraps up with an insightful conversation with Fayetteville Pitching Coach Thomas Whitsett, whose 2019 Woodpeckers staff set a Carolina League record with 1,476 strikeouts. Matt chats with the Woodpeckers pitching coach about what young minor leaguers in the system are doing to improve without games this season (5:30) and what it's like as a coach to watch seven former Woodpecker arms make their MLB debuts this season (7:07), including the standout performances of former Fayetteville studs Cristian Javier (8:17) and Enoli Paredes (10:53). Plus, Whitsett touches on one of the most underrated sliders in the game by a former Woodpecker in The Show (12:18), his early experiences that got him interested in player development (13:24), what it was like to coach one of the Astros' current top-10 prospects as a high schooler (14:40), and a dynamic pitcher-catcher combination to watch in Houston's system (16:26).

2:40- Interview with Fayetteville Pitching Coach Thomas Whitsett

Music: "We'll Never Sleep" by Ryan Anderson, courtesy of the Free Music Archive