We've talked about it since last year. Hopefully at some point in time it evens out. We'd like to think it will. |
What he's meant to us and what he does in the middle of games, you certainly can't minimize that. |
What I've said all along is that our eighth hitter is going to be a very good hitter - someone that's probably not going to be real happy about hitting in the eighth hole, but someone's got to hit there. |
What most developers and builders don't fully realize is that we have another choice. |
When a fastball is coming in at an angle like that, it's very tough to tie him up. |
When he (Valverde) is healthy, that's what you get from him. |
When he says he's 100 percent, he's ready to go, I'm going to give him one more day. |
When he starts throwing and hitting, obviously, will dictate when he is going to be ready. |
When we got up there in big situations, ... we weren't very good. |
When you first get to the big leagues, if you're any kind of fan at all, you have to get over the awe factor and feel like you belong. And I think every time he goes out there and moves down in the game and has some success, he keeps growing. |
When you have a long career, there are going to be down years. He's not happy with the year he had. He expected more and we expected more. I absolutely think he'll be better this year. |
When you have an opportunity like that, off a pitcher like that, it can be pretty demoralizing. But Claudio goes right back out there and shuts them down. |
When you're that young, you get jumpy and try to show what you've got and try to pull balls. But he stayed out there with him and (the ball) got out there in a hurry. |
Whether he plays, pinch-hits, whatever, he's certainly going to be a force. Emotionally, it can be a big lift for them. . . . I don't know if it will change (the playoff race) or not, but I know they're excited about getting him back. |
With our bullpen, we feel like we're deeper and more experienced. |