He didn't hit it very well at all, but he hit it in a wonderful spot. That's baseball. |
He doesn't realize what a huge backer he has sitting here. I respect him to the nth degree for the way he's handled himself. |
He doesn't walk many. It changes the perception of the guy that's hitting against you versus a guy who tries to hit the corners. Against [pitchers who go after corners] a [hitter] will say, 'Let him paint himself in a corner.' [Capps] doesn't give you that option. |
He gave up four solo homers and he didn't let it bother him. We had a very good second inning with timely hitting. And we took advantage of a mistake. |
He gave us more than you would expect from a young kid, offensively, ... and defensively, he made many nice plays at third. |
He gets himself in trouble if his arm doesn't get up where it's supposed to be, and he ends up leading himself to home plate with his elbow. You may throw from a slope downhill but, because of the position of your elbow, you're pushing the ball out of your hand uphill -- and, when you do that, the ball will go up. |
He gets it. He gets situations. He gets who's batting ahead of him in the lineup and he gets who's batting behind him. To have a winning-caliber team, you need players like that. |
He gives you the impression that he learned how to pitch, not just throw the ball, but do what he wanted to do with it, at about the age of 10. He has a real understanding of what he's trying to do. He comes in every day with a plan. |
He got 13 ground ball outs, and that's good for a nine-inning game. That's an indication of how well he pitched. That's a very positive sign ... It's March 18th, and you want to see your pitchers starting to sharpen. |
He got out of his game. He got out of what helped to get him off to a great start. I saw a much longer swing in Houston. I saw a very short wall in left field and I saw somebody that was trying to reach it way too often. |
He had 13 ground-ball outs. That's a lot of ground-ball outs for a nine-inning game, [let alone] a five-inning stint in spring training. That gives you a pretty good idea of how well he pitched. |
He had a few more three-ball counts -- too many -- than I'd like to see. That puts him in a vulnerable position. |
He had a little extra jump in his delivery. This was precautionary. |
He had a shooting pain that was really bothering him. |
He had a tough time today, but that happens. You have to keep in mind that he's only 22 years old. He isn't going to be great every time out. I thought his mechanics were off a little bit. |