A lot of times the game is basically played away because that's easier. Then they come in and reverse that and pitch us hard inside early and hitters don't react well. They start pulling off the ball and kind of looking for it (inside). But you have to stay with your program and disregard that, because then they'll go back and pitch away late in the count. You can't deviate from your approach. |
Adrian wanted to talk about his hands, and I wanted to discuss his legs. Really, this was a situation where he needed greater movement off his back hip. This spring, he regained control and direction of his swing and body movement, and you see the difference. |
He just amazes me with what he can do. |
He's got a chance to use a lot more of the field now. He becomes much more dangerous when he does that because it gives him a chance to utilize his speed. |
I don't even want him thinking about home runs. |
I don't think we have any real big holes in our lineup. |
I saw the tapes [from last year], and I saw a guy that was uncomfortable and not attacking the ball. But we met and everything went well. We made a lot of progress. I think he's very hungry. I think you're going to see a very different Jeremy Reed. |
I'll give pitchers credit where it's due, but we have to control what we do. We've got to go up there smart. We can't just go up there winging it. |
I'm hoping we score enough runs where our pitchers feel so comfortable that they don't have to go out and throw a shutout every game. Hopefully, we complement them a little bit better this year. |
In the middle we weren't very good today. They didn't particularly have a good day, but it's just one day out of all these. I thought the energy was there. The thought process was there, but the execution was not. |
It's a really good sign that he's hitting. He left hitting the ball pretty good. He was hitting it long ... and far. |
It's mostly confidence. From a technical standpoint, you look at last year's tape and compare it to the year he had with Dodgers, and there's not a lot of outstanding problems. He's close technically, with maybe a little tinkering or refining needed here and there. |
Jeremy's one of our priorities right now because he's our center fielder and we just need to make him better. We're spending a lot of time with him to take care of some of the holes he has and just to make him a better hitter. |
Obviously, when you don't get any hits, there aren't any opportunities. |
Rome can't be built in a day and I know there's been a lot of good people here before. It's a challenge for me certainly. Hopefully, I can help and I can make a difference. |