It wasn't a deal where you're like, 'what a jerk' kind of deal. I know what he's trying to do. |
It's a two-way street. Later in the year if there's another situation like that, hopefully he'll have that same kind of approach. We're getting to know each other here. |
It's been a rough stretch. Myself, I can't accept the outcome of this year for this team. |
It's going to be nice to have a veteran presence with both Todd and Kenny. I had a chance in 2004 to speak to Kenny when he was in town with Texas, and he's going to be nothing but a positive player around here for the younger pitchers. He's going to bring a lot to the table for us, and I'm going to enjoy having him around. |
It's more of an approach. We tweaked just a little bit. ... He wants me to have that mindset that that's the kind of pitcher that I am from the left side. He wants me to think that I can come in there hard and still be able to work away and change speeds. And I think last year I may have tried to finesse too many pitches in there, and it hurt me at times. |
It's not very normal, but Leyland's not afraid to yell at you from the dugout. |
It's situational things more with Leyland. Not necessarily with pitch selection, things like that. |
It's the first time we feel we can go to someone. We had Jason Johnson last year. He wasn't necessarily the vocal leader we needed, but Kenny Rogers is that. |
Leyland's not afraid to yell at you from the dugout. It's situational things, not pitch selection. When he says something, I take it to the bank. I trust what he says. |
Some of these guys, they're still driving home. They're not even home yet and they're finding out all this news. I've been part of this system for three years, and it's a shock to you. It's tough. |
The defense is what makes our pitching work, and they did a great job. |
The most frustrating part is we have the potential to be such a good ballclub, and we're not achieving what we need to achieve. It's so frustrating. We've been so close. |
The thing is, it's not been ugly baseball. We've lost three games, and we've played good baseball. |
There are things you can't explain this year -- things that are hard to swallow. My personal stats -- numbers -- they're easy to put aside if you're winning. But as a team to this point we've fallen short of our expectations, and that's what makes it tougher. |
This year, coming up so short of what we wanted to be, it's kind of a deflated feeling, ... You're in disbelief of how the season has come to this point. I know I am. If you had told me I'd have 15 losses at the end of the year before the season starts, I'd laugh at you. |