That's what we're here for. To figure out, where does he stand and what can he do? He obviously has some substantial medical problems that would lead at least two doctors to believe that it's going to be a tough road for him. |
That's when he cemented an impression on me. I thought, 'OK, we got one.' I'll never forget that performance because that showed what his character was and his makeup. |
That's why Bagwell went through what he did. It's important to them. They're cornerstones of the franchise. |
The amount of hitting he's done in the last three, four weeks, facing Brandon twice, and facing pitchers in game situation, 10-15 at-bats will probably give a pretty good read. |
The fact that it's not getting worse in one area, not being a medical person, I would imagine that's a positive. |
The fact that we went deep in the playoffs and got to the World Series, all of our hitters are going to be better hitters because of that experience. Jason Lane's a better hitter. I was watching the World Series video over the weekend. Jason's at-bats in the World Series were pretty impressive. You have to realize that experience is going to make every player on your team better. They're experienced World Series players. |
The freedoms we give him - he has used them to our advantage, ... Baseball can be somewhat monotonous, day after day, the same places, the same people. We get into a grind. I think to break up that grind may be a positive for him. |
The hardest thing for him, he has such a ritual, the way he prepares for a game. It got him out of sync. |
The health is not an issue. It's the willingness of Roger to play, and we just don't know that. To tie up resources for that long of a period of time would really hurt our ability to move forward. |
The issue that he's having has really been resolved from the surgery. He's got great extension now. By getting extension back 100 percent, he'll also be able to build his strength easier. I think he's now less of a liability from an injury point of view now than he would have been before. |
The more I talk to the players, the more excited I get. I just get the sense from the guys that even though they're happy we were able to do what we did last year, in their minds there's a lot more work to do. |
The player has an idea how he feels, and the doctors tell us their feedback. This is the only objective way you can measure things like arm speed and different angles on his arm. It should be interesting to hear what Dr. Andrews has to say. |
The thing we have to determine is whether we're going to take 10 or 11 pitchers. We'll sit down with the staff the next several days and talk through the what-ifs. |
There are no issues at all that we're aware of. Our hope is to get the roof open by tomorrow to hopefully get some sun on the field -- if there's any sun to be had. |
There are so many issues intertwined. It's a tough situation for the player, it's a tough situation for the team. |