Any time you have success in a situation, you gain confidence. A big thing obviously is that you have teammates to get on base to allow you to do that. |
Any time you have success in a situation, you have confidence. |
Both guys had great stuff. Everything was low and sinking, and that can make it hard. |
But I'm not a base stealer. I'll pick my spots. I have enough speed. |
For me, the most important thing is to help the team win ballgames and play good fundamental baseball. They've been real supportive of me, and that helps me relax and go out and enjoy playing. |
Getting a fast start is important, and fortunately we scored early. We got rolling in the first inning. |
He's a great pitcher. We're fortunate to get some good swings off him. |
Hopefully, I want to be a guy who's a good hitter who will have power. I don't want necessarily to be a power hitter. I want to be a good hitter first. ... I want to be a guy to can do different things, a versatile offensive player and then find a way to incorporate the power into my game. |
I appreciate it because I realize the things individuals go through to get to that opportunity. I feel so blessed. I'm thankful for that opportunity, but really, in some ways, you have to put it all behind you and you have to go out there and compete and play the game and find a way to get things done for the team. |
I felt I got a good bead, then the wall became a factor late. I was fortunate to get up and catch it. |
It was huge. The big thing with Corey out there is that he can play great defense. Today, I don't think he was happy with what happened at the plate. We talked right before we went out there [for the ninth] and said, 'Man, you can make the play that makes the difference in the game in center field,' and he did. |
Of course there's pressure. I know it's been a long time since the Cubs have produced any good position players, but that's not our fault. We just have to do what we're capable of doing. Hopefully, five or 10 years down the road, we can look back and say, 'See what we started?' But for now, we have to live in the moment and help the Cubs win this season. |
That should, hopefully, be every player's goal -- to get up in those situations and want to come through. When the game is on the line, you bear down more. It doesn't always mean you come through. Something I may have done in the past is try to do too much. |
That's what I'm trying to do every time I get up there. I'm still learning how to drive the baseball. Nothing's going to change for me today -- same approach. I'll stay in the middle of the field and work counts and get good strikes to hit and get on base to set up the lineup. |
That's what we're trying to pride ourselves on. We definitely have guys in the middle of the order who can drive the ball, but we realize our role and we're trying to make the most of our offense. |