Again, I think the way I view it is, he's our player and we want to get the most out of him. Sometimes you make some adjustments along the way and you try to understand some people's thinking and you try to get to the same goal together, and I think that's what we're trying to do, and I think this is going to be just fine. |
Again, we hope it may be six innings. We'll see how he gets to it. |
Alex is a ballplayer. He knows how to play. He makes all the plays, he has good range, he has nice carry on his arm. He never is out of position. He just helps you win games. It may not be flashy, but he knows how to play. If you need a bunt, he can bunt. He can hit and run. He's just a good ballplayer. |
All the bad times last year are well-documented. He is as professional as you can be. If he throws like that, we're going to have some kind of bullpen. We want him to be a huge part of that bullpen. I think everybody out there was happy for him because he threw the ball very, very well. |
And I don't think you'll see it again. It's quite a memory. |
And I went back to make sure he wasn't lying. I checked in the cage, and asked the guys who were throwing to him. |
and I'd love you to police yourselves. But if I have to step in, I will. |
And they're already good. I love the idea of guys helping each other. I really love the idea of them winning their own games. That means more than anything. |
Anytime we get two-out hits and they don't, a lot of times that's the difference in the ballgame. Boomer stranded some guys. That's winning baseball. |
Anytime you give extra outs, extra opportunities, it is not good. When things don't happen always perfect, we come back and don't let it throw us for a loop. |
As long as he's healthy, he's a good pitcher, and he will continue to be until he decides not to pitch. We understand what happened last year, but he's too good a pitcher not to be good. |
As long as you hear music playing in [the locker room], it means it ended up OK. |
As much as I like Johnny [Pesky], sometimes that pole scares me. |
As soon as he says he's OK and the medical people say he's OK, we'll send him out there. We just don't want him to hurt himself by sending him out there too early. |
As the game progressed, he got a little more comfortable. It probably helped that when he got into the flow of the game, the ball started sinking a little bit better, cutting. I thought he did a good job. Five innings and keeping us right in the game is what we needed. |