The Scarlet Sitdown: Rutgers Baseball with Josh Kuroda-Grauer

welcome back to the Scarlet sitdown a daily tarum Sports podcast dedicated to covering everything that goes on in Rucker Athletics in the Scarlet's sitdown we bring on special guests every episode to discuss the hottest topics in Rucker Sports I'm head sports editor Ellis Gordon and I'm associate sports editor Josh Meers and today we're joined by special guest and Junior infielder Josh croa grower from the Ruckers basball team Josh how you doing today I'm doing great I'm happy to be here excited to be on the talk show I got to say love your first name it's pretty good I appreciate it you too so yeah early similarity but baseball season is underway obviously it's about to be underway rather I should say well how's your offseason been what has been the preparation like going into your third season on the banks um it's been great I mean The Fall season it was uh grueling at sometimes just a lot of long days at the field um really getting after in the weight room but ever since we came back in January getting ready probably a week away from game play so we're just really excited and just getting after it and what has been like one thing you're trying to like one thing you're trying to improve on this year going into your junior year I think definitely um just my weight and strength I feel like coming in as a freshman when I was probably a buck 75 and then you get in there and seeing guys three years older than you they're lifting so much more weight than you so I feel like gradually from my freshman year to my sophomore year to now I feel like that's something that's kind of been more of an important to me so definitely taking that yeah I mean what's been your favorite memory on and off the field on the banks you've been a couple years now you have any memories that stand out both on and off the field definitely I feel like I feel like on the field my freshman year I think it was the third game of the Big 10 tournament and we played at like 8 or N9 or something we had the night game and it was like uh rain delay Thunder delay lightning delay something like that so we had to wait for like an hour or something so we were just it was a great memory was just being in the locker rooms there just hanging out with the guys telling steving with the boys and then getting back out in the field at like 2:00 in the morning finishing the game and win the game so that was probably my favorite memory so that was my second year at the tarum and I was covering you guys um that was my like first beat so I remember I remember I also remember like obviously I wasn't in there but I was just like waiting waiting I was like oh man when is this game going to start but yeah I'm sure it's different this guy's actually playing the game it's probably more nerve-racking it's obviously more nerve-wracking saying that I'd be going crazy I was definitely not nervous I'd be like I'd be like willing this R to stop I'd be like praying stop you know what I mean anyway um but yeah so I think something that like audience wants to know like sometimes about like the personalities of the head coaches obviously you've now been with Steve Owens for third year he's coach year this is his fifth year I believe coming up what has it been like being coached by him what's his coaching style um yeah coacho he's um he's the man first and foremost he's probably the main reason I came here other than being living 15 minutes down the road so that also was a kicker but um he's a winner I mean you you're either going to love him or not and I love him I feel like what he brings to the the table just his knowledge of baseball having over a thousand collegate wins it's a lot of wins a lot of wins just the stuff he knows and just the amount of players he's gotten to go play in the next level I feel like like I said he's a winner so you just want to be around a guy like that yeah so obviously you mentioned the 20121 Big 10 championship and some of your favorite memories but like I mean take us through that obviously that was a crazy run and it was a lot of fun probably so just take us through more of that I I feel like being my first year in college athletics I mean the main thing is just you want to win but obviously you know you want to find some playing time so that was my biggest thing just trying to work my tail off and just find my way in the lineup and for me lucky enough the coaches thought I was able to play at that level at that time and um I became the star in second baseman at that time and it was just it was just a great group of guys I mean I can't really tell you all the wins and losses we had although we had a lot of wins but I can just tell you all the memories and just relationships I still have with some of those guys from those teams I feel like us getting to the Big 10 Championship was just reflection of who we had on the team at the time yeah and then you know moving away I guess from Ruckers more to the professional side of things you were part of the you were part of the Su this summer you were part of the um one of the 56 players an invite to the USA baseball Collegiate national team training camp what was that experience like how did that help you grow as a baseball player so I feel like just being able to get invited to that was just is just an awesome thing I mean to be able or to just even be invited to be able to put USA on your chest I feel like as a baseball play that's something you always want to do I mean you watch the Olympic games in the world baseball class and you look at the best major league baseball players wearing USA across their chest so I feel like that's just a pride thing in itself and I feel like just being able to be invited to co- participate and play with a bunch of great players from all over the country I feel like it's just a great experience in itself yeah and uh you know was looking at a list Prospect live according to them that you're the number 86 Prospect ahead of the 20 2024 MLB draft so so I mean what's that like is that you know cool I mean obviously you're focused on this season but I mean looking ahead that's definitely a little cool for you right no definitely I feel like being able to get drafted and go play pro ball that's been something that I've been dreaming about since I was probably been four years old but I mean like you said I'm trying to be just levelheaded and have just a focus about this year I just want to win a big 10 Championship with uh Ruckers to bring some horrible home for do you have like a dream MLB team like or like a favorite team growing up um it's kind of where I watch a lot of the Yankees growing up but I'm a Phillies fan oh me too you're a Phillies fan that's what I'm talking about so you're from South Jersey Central Jersey I'm it's why Phillies to be honest I have no idea but I've beeno I've been ruing for the fields for he's from South Jersey so so that makes sense yeah I mean do you have like any MLB player like you want to you know replicate like their game not replicate but any player you look up to um my favorite player of all time is Ken Griffey Jr but I mean you can't really replicate the sweety swings I mean your dad's got to play as well yeah right exactly exactly so I feel like I mean being a little biased I like Trey Turner I like Harper just watching those guys Gotta Love be har got to love him you know that that home run in the that home run in the NLCS always gives me chills always who you telling who you telling my uh my whole family is actually Phillies fans but I'm a Yankees fan cuz I I was born in the city but because of that like I've been around people like you know I was going crazy my brother's big player he's just like really big into the Phillies um anyway um so baseball players are known to be like very superstitious out of like all the athletes do you yourself have a Superstition or does the team at large have a Superstition I guess it changes with different teams but I guess last year would be the best I feel like I don't want to admit it but I'm very superstitious that so is everyone else on the team yeah baseball is just such a super superstitious sport for sure like all around I don't know why it's just a simple game game but it's like a lot of people like think like this is going to help them win before the game after seriously I feel like for me it's it's whatever I did before I had a good game if I have two hits on a Friday I look back on everything I did Thursday what I eat in the morning what I had for lunch what did I do what time did I wake up and I try to replicate that as much as possible and do you switch it up if you have a bad game absolutely AB absolutely right away you don't take any chances two games in a row it's yeah all right I I I I like that like you know it's like it's like habits definely so I want to know how like strong the bond is you have with the Ruck baseball team like how is it like a family there definitely um so I feel like coming in my freshman year I was a freshman there was a lot of older guys but they took me in and it was just camaraderie just like a family feel and then this year I feel like I think we had I think we have 17 or 18 transfer players and that's not even accounting for the Freshman we have so it's just a mix of young old returning players so I feel like with the transfer portal being what it is now I feel like it's kind of hard to get that family aspect but lucky for us we have just a great group of guys who just love being around each other so it's it's definitely a family feel I want to take it back a little bit to the 2021 team I mean I I was again I was covering the team so you guys had like set record wins and then you kind some people thought you got snubbed a little bit from the NCA tournament and also because of all all everything that went down obvious we talked about already with the big 10 with the big 10 um Championship do you feel that way if any if anything does that give you motivation I know last year you guys didn't make the tournament but you also had a good season but for this year did does that thought of you you were a freshman then now you're junior does that thought enter your mind and like we got to like we got to get in this absolutely I mean the goal is obviously to win a big 10 championship for Ruckers of course I want to do that everyone the team wants to do that but obviously you want to make it to a regional Super Regional you want to get to the College World Series so going back to freshman year even though we didn't win the Big 10 Championship we thought for sure we're going to Regional we had a whole watch party for it and everything and just not get seeing our name get called that definitely it definitely hurt for a while but then like you said like it's just kind of igniting a little fire like this year like this is the year to do it let's go make it happen definitely yeah I I mean I know for me I don't play baseball I mean I used to play baseball but for me uh motivation you know always drives me like if I you know didn't do well last game I'm going to work even harder than the next game you know I mean I'm sure that that also goes for college sports and professional sports too so yeah absolutely yeah all right so now more moving on to like a campus oriented they do you have a f do you have a favorite restaurant in New Brunswick or around the area and and off that do you have a pre favorite pregame meal okay so it's kind of like connects with like superstitions a little bit I like G vanelli's Pizza I think it's right on Easton right on the corner I think it's right I I went there a couple weeks ago so Pizzeria but I think I had like a string of like four multi-hit games I think it was like the Indiana series or whatever the Thursday before the Friday game I got fried Oreos oh man the next day two hits fried Oreos all right the next day two hits fried Oreos so fried Oreos equal hits I guess yeah you ain't kidding so that's probably my favorite place I mean they the food's great I love the fat sandwiches the pizza but my main thing is the fried Oreos from there so it's cool do baseball players like I don't know I mean I've never asked this question to like Collegiate you know athletes but do you guys eat are you hungry yeah I mean how can you like The Fat Sandwich how can you not I me yeah of course got it especially freshman you see are you hungry what like I know it's everyone always Hypes it up we got you know you got try to put on weight you know it's a good it's a good it's like good for bulking like you want do quick I need bulking I I listen I I need some buling you better go there I maybe I should go to our hore all right Josh take away our game portion of the interview before we uh end this got a little game for you uh I'm going to going to ask you some questions about your career stats and see if if you you know can get them right oh man here we go all right let's do it all right yeah so all right so so first question I got is how many home runs do you think you have I don't know if you know for sure but how many home runs do you think you have in your freshman and stoper season combined I think it's 11 it is 11 yes ding ding ding ding ding there you go all right you're one of h four cuz we have four of these all right number two how many hits do you have this hard I'm trying to do the my head right now I'm going I'm probably going to be close so let me think 56 68 one 24 127 actually that's close though that's close listen that's good that's good all right what about what about Doubles Doubles 23 yeah 23 yes and this is this is I don't know if this is going to be harder or easier but triples how many triples you got five five yeah and I think cool I'm going to go actually I'm going to get a bonus so you're four for four let's let's see if you can go five for five what's your batting average in the and two years combined it's either it's either I think it's 298 yeah it's either that 20 299 but it's close very close close enough yeah do you have like how often do you check your stats like every after every like G after every series after every game or like is more of a after season kind of thing I feel like that's when baseball players especially get in trouble when they start checking their stats and it sucks cuz last year we just got like a new video board and all that which is great but then you go up the bat you see your stats and it's like how can you not look up there and see it so I try to check my stats zero I try to refrain myself from looking at anything and I feel like you play better that way you don't want to be stat chasing and be like how do you like by the way the new uh video board the elided lights right I love it I feel like Prime Time games Prime Time games how can you not love it I love I feel like baen field is just feel like just the spot around it I mean hopefully in the future they plan to do some more stuff just like building a stadium around it it's just a great space for baseball all right man well thank you for coming on and thank you guys for watching or listening to the Scarlet sit down your podcast for everything rockers Athletics good luck for the whole season the Ruckers baseball team will start their season on February 16th away versus Winthrop their first home game they got a couple Road Series and then they go come home first home game is March 5th at Bonfield versus Wagner College so good luck to you good luck to the team for the rest of the season don't forget to follow the SC sit down podcast and Spotify on YouTube at the daily tarum and Instagram at Scarlet sitdown Ru stay tuned for more podcasts in the coming [Music] weeks