I've been pretty happy, (but) once the season starts, your concentration goes up another level. It's nice to get seven innings. |
I've been pretty happy. Once the season starts, your concentration goes up another level, but I'm pretty happy with the spring. |
If the money's there, great. If it's not, you might be a little disappointed. But how much does a guy really need? It ends up becoming a point system for players. It's not about the money; it's about the points. You need to get past that. |
It was a definite improvement over last year. The changeup has been difficult to throw for me in Arizona, but it wasn't bad (Saturday), and I've always had that slide step, but after coming off surgery it's hard to speed up mechanically. |
It was a definite improvement over last year. The changeup has been difficult to throw for me in Arizona, but it wasn't bad today. And I've always had that slide step, but after coming off surgery it's hard to speed up mechanically. |
It was a little overwhelming. They told me a couple of days ago I was going to pitch against the Twins. I didn't know how to prepare. I just went out there and threw strikes. |
It's always embarrassing to come off the field, especially before throwing your first pitch, ... I was going to see what I could do with the first hitter and go from there. Basically, I played catch with (catcher Mike) Matheny the whole game. I was about 75 percent. One guy would pop it up, one guy would hit a ground ball. I just ran with it as long as I could. It was fun in a way. |
It's always good to go out there against the great ones. Glavine's pitched like that his whole career. Fortunately, I got a couple of runs early and that helped. I could afford to make a mistake. |
It's like night and day, ... There were times during that stretch where balls would fall in here and there. You weren't getting the breaks. I'm definitely getting some breaks the second half of the year I wasn't getting during the first half. |
It's not any more pressure to pitch when Barry is on your team. In some ways, it's kind of less pressure. Nobody pays attention to you sometimes. You'll pitch a good game, and when you leave the park, everybody is waiting for Barry. I like it. |
It's sore. I shouldn't have pitched. The rule was, if I feel anything I'd come out of the game. |
It's too embarrassing to come off the field before you've thrown a pitch, ... Basically, I just played catch with (Mike) Matheny the whole game. I was at 75 percent. One guy would pop it up, another would hit a ground ball. It was fun in a way. |
Last year I felt good. I just didn't get any results. It seems like since I've been on this team the changeup has been impossible to throw here. I attribute that to Arizona. It hasn't been half-bad this year. I don't know what to attribute that too, but I'm happy with it. |
Last year, I was just so wild. I didn't have any life. This year, I feel like I have some extension on my fastball and a little life on the end. That's the biggest difference from last year. I just couldn't do that. |
Nobody works harder than him, that's for sure. Just the way he prepares for the game. His intensity level is above and beyond what everybody else's is. He really puts everything into it. |