The bullpen guys are going to have to grow up just like the starters, just like our shortstop, second baseman, first baseman, right, center and left fielders probably. It's OK. Just because a guy is young doesn't mean he can't play. It just means that no one in the public besides maybe farm directors and the press know who they are. They can still play. There's a reason that they are top prospects. |
The extra two days won't hurt. He was confident he could pitch, but the toe has been bothering him a little bit. |
The fans want to see a good product. This is a young organization - it hasn't been around 50 years like others. It's going to take time for the Miami area to build up a huge fan base. |
The first seven games are obviously not what we want. Could have been better; could have been worse. ... I think guys are trying to do too much. They're so anxious to get off to a good start and prove they belong here. |
The first thing you look at is his receiving. You don't see him boxing balls. He's actually getting strikes for pitchers and he's keeping the ball in the zone. For me, that's step 1. Gary wanted to get him comfortable with that first. |
The game always looks better when you hit. Guys swung at pitches in the zone that they liked. |
The great thing about Joe was that he let me say anything I wanted and I was never fearful of saying anything; that's the greatest guy you can work for. Joe's a very trusting guy. One of the big things I learned about him was his patience and the importance of knowing people. |
The knock on him is he needs work on his defense. I think he's been excellent. |
The mood has been fresh every day. They've been able to put the past day behind them. Our guys are so youthful and energetic. The one thing we've been trying to impress on them is that nobody's looking over their shoulder. We don't want them to feel like every at-bat could be their last. |
The most important thing I learned from Joe was how important it is to know your players on and off the field, ... It's a long season and there's a lot of things that come up through the course of the season that can make it difficult to go out and have your entire mind on the game. |
The one thing I've said about [Olsen is people don't see the ball [well]. I can't really tell you exactly why, but there's some deception there and I really like him. |
The one-run losses are getting closer in a sense. We got over the big hump tonight by tying it in the ninth, but the we couldn't get over the smaller hump to win it. |
The one-run losses are getting closer. |
The only way that as a manager or as a player that we can change that is for our club to play better and for people to enjoy watching our club. My job is to get our club to win, whether there's one fan in the stands or 60,000. People like winners. |
The only way we're going to find out if these guys can play is to test them. These guys are all following a dream and want a chance. |