Even though I haven't been doing so well this year, I like batting in the eighth spot. I was getting a little frustrated in the first couple weeks, because I know what I'm capable of doing at the plate. I came up as a productive hitter. |
He showed us he can be the anchor in our rotation again. |
He was strong. He was almost like the old Oliver. |
He'll be at least in the low 90s by the time the season starts. He has to catch up. His arm strength is not there yet. |
I go out there and tell them a joke or be mad at them. That's part of the catcher's job. You have to learn all 12 guys and really get into their heads. You have to know the way they think and what goes through their minds in a game and just help them out. |
I kind of expected he was going to be a little bit behind. He only pitched one other inning in the tournament, against Canada. But the thing that really encouraged me the most was that he made the quality pitches when he needed to. He made quality pitches and got three quality innings. |
I knew it right away. I just didn't tell anyone other than my catcher, ... Just so he knows why my pitches are acting differently. |
I really hate that word, 'competition.' I don't see it that way. Me and Ryan, we can push each other. We can both get better. We're not hating each other or anything like that. Bottom line is we both want to get the best out of our pitching staff and help this team win more games. If we keep going like that all year, it's going to be good for everyone. |
I really have confidence it will come back. I've been very encouraged by how he came along this spring once he got some innings. |
I was only going to catch one game [for Mexico]. I thought it would be better for me to work with the new coaching staff and manager here. It was a tough decision, but this is a big year for me and I want to do everything I can to be ready. |
It looks like we've got a great staff. Nothing against the old one, but these are some experienced guys, a manager and coaches that have been there in October. That makes a difference. You can see guys out there listening to every word they say. |
It's really a great sign for us that [Perez] is going to anchor this rotation and really show the other four starters that [the team] can jump on his back every once in a while. We just didn't get enough runs for him. |
More tough luck, man. For Sean and for us. It's a big blow. |
The first two weeks, we've had (seven) day games. Then we have the sponsor lunch and we have to get up early that day before a night game. Everybody's not dragging but we could certainly use the sleep. |
The last couple of years we've been getting beat by our division rivals. If we want to get a winning season, we at least have to split the season series with these guys. |