Shoot, 19 years old - it's justifiable. He's got a great arm. The ball really comes out of his hand really well. |
Shoot, he's been throwing real well. We haven't seen anything near like this all spring. He just kept getting the ball up. |
Shoot, it could have been a 10-run first inning if he doesn't make that play. He made a perfect throw. |
Some of it's location. He's got to locate the ball and use his sinker and slider. |
Some of the guys here might be surprised, but I saw him in the American League for many years and I'm not surprised. His health might be the only surprise, but his swing is right. If he's on the field, nothing is a surprise. |
Some people are of the mind-set that you're bringing your best pitcher in the seventh or eighth inning anyway. That's when the game is on the line the most. |
Someday is Sept. 6, |
Someday is Sept. 6. We're struggling to score runs. We want to get (Lopez) in a position where he can drive something in. |
Sometimes you go with the guy with the best stuff. |
Sometimes you have to do what's best for the long haul, not the short-term. |
Sometimes you use your best pitcher in the seventh or eighth. Sometimes those are the biggest outs of the game. |
Sure do. The big thing is, if he's going to be an RBI guy who's going to drive in big runs in the middle of the order, that's something we're going to have to find out. |
Talking to other managers that he's had they like him and think he's a professional. I could tell the first day I talked to him. He said he wasn't worried about the way he was going to be used. Just any way I thought was best. |
That cost him maybe an inning right there. |
That has nothing to do with our record down here. I've been very pleased with the attitudes and the work from Day 1 from all of these guys, even if we had been 11-20 instead of 20-11. Our record means absolutely nothing. |