[During the 2004 season,] he seemed to be trying to show everybody what he could do, probably throwing every pitch as hard as he could. Now he's learned that there's nothing wrong with 93, 94 on the corner, either. I think he's thinking more like a pitcher instead of just trying to throw the ball by every single hitter. |
Complete games are not our priority. If it happens, that'd be great. |
He's a very good athlete, first of all. It looks like things come pretty easily to him. He has a great arm and great stuff. |
I don't think it's that unusual for young pitchers starting out to struggle a little bit. |
I have to get a feel for knowing these guys. I'm not that brilliant of a coach, I'll be the first to tell you. But I know that the more I see someone, the smarter I'll get and the more I'll learn. I have six weeks to watch it live and in person. Tapes are tapes. |
I like his chances down the road. When that will happen, I don't think any of us will need to answer. We'll just all observe and let the player tell us if the time is right. If the time is not right, it's no sin for him to be pitching down in the minor leagues. |
If he didn't come in shape and he didn't throw well, I would have been no use to him. He got himself in shape, the best I've ever seen him in. He did what he had to do. He came in focused. He made a good showing of himself. |
Sure, you have mixed emotions. I've been here a long time and I wanted to see this thing through. I wanted to see this team become a winner. I'm going to miss that part of it. There's some good kids there I'm going to miss. I'm going to be watching how they progress. |
The game has changed. Now they take the ball from you after six, seven or eight innings. |
They gave us an opportunity to look. At no point did they step in and say we don't want you to do this or that. They left us free to make our own decision. |
You could see it in the way he talks. He has an aggressive nature, and there's nothing wrong with that. |