Down the middle to most people, but maybe a low strike to him because he's 6-foot-12. |
Everything he got hurt on had to do with location. He had his good stuff in the bullpen, good game plan. We just missed with our spots, and then you tip your cap to their lineup. They hurt you when you make mistakes. |
From my standpoint, there's not a whole lot different that he could have done. He's passionate. He cares about the players, he backs the players and never once bashed them to the media. I thought he handled things very well and took the pressure off the players. He's taken the fall now for a couple of months. If anything, he might have been too supportive of us. |
He has a slide step and still throws 98 [mph]. To me, that makes him that much more special. |
He showed his stuff today, no question. |
He threw a rocket. He's a heck of a player. |
He threw some good pitches early that got called balls, and it just seemed we got in some bad counts because of that. No offense to the umpire. I thought he threw the ball better than his line showed for sure. |
He was locating. When that happens, the hitter starts thinking. You start playing with his emotions when you pitch that well. |
He's awesome. He's got as good a stuff as we have in this organization. |
He's throwing hard, but it's under control. |
I actually had a 17-pitch at-bat one time. The problem with long at-bats is that you typically miss pitches you should have hit, so you can't get into a mental game. |
I had to turn them off. |
I thought he actually threw the ball better than his line was. |
I've always taken the approach of working hard and being prepared. I feel good right now and look forward to winning this year. |
If you look at the way he was continually getting strike one down in the zone ... if he does that, he can do whatever he wants. |