He's sore. What we're trying to do is figure out how sore. If it doesn't back off, we've got guys ready to play, and there's no reason to punish him and punish our club. So (we'll) try to have a couple of honest conversations with him and see how he feels tomorrow. |
He's willing to take responsibility, and he's not going to take any credit if he wins. If he loses it's because he stunk. From day one he's been the leader of our staff. |
Here's a new memory for the new Busch (Stadium). I'm at a loss to describe it, man. Albert is just amazing. He works and works, studies and studies, corrects and corrects. |
Here's what I think specifically. I think that [White Sox World Series] championship, more than anything else, was a players' championship. |
His agent [Barry Meister] was talking in terms where it's clear this is not selling -- this is sincere. He's a respected guy, so we said, 'Oh boy.' When a guy is clearly being sincere and not selling, you think there's probably something there. He's definitely worth looking at. |
His back is barking a little bit, so we didn't want to risk it. I think he could have played if we really wanted to push him. I'm not sure we wanted to push him. If it was the playoffs, could he play? Probably. |
His best days off are the early afternoon games. He's got to really work to get going in the early afternoon. That's pretty common, I think. Most guys will tell you that that day game is the hardest one to get ready for. |
His command is like Eck's was. It wasn't command of the middle. It's command of the edges. |
His job was to go out there and give us a chance to win and he didn't do that. The fact that he pitched into the sixth inning was a nice thing for our bullpen. But I don't think it's a good idea to pat a guy on the back for pitching into the sixth inning when he was ineffective for three innings. |
His legs are in real good shape. |
His stock has been up. He just kept it where it was. He's one of the guys I'm talking about. He's thrown the ball well, so there's not a lot of room to maneuver there for Jeff. He's going to have to be as impressive as he can be. |
His swing is good, but it's not so much his swing. He just needs to know the game between the pitchers and the hitters. |
Hopefully this homestand, ... but we're going to wait and see on that, too. |
Hopefully whoever backs up there, it's some guy who infrequently has to play. |
How about Abe Nunez at third base? ... Boy, he has played outstanding for us. Take today's game and say, 'This is how he has played for us all year long.' What an outstanding job. |