Bob Melvin Quotations

When we got up there in big situations, ... we weren't very good.

What he's meant to us and what he does in the middle of games, you certainly can't minimize that.

We're still in a position where we don't think we're out of it. We haven't had a great year, but if you look at it, we're 6 1/2 games back at this point in time in the season and you still feel like you've got a chance.

We're playing for our lives now.

Certainly he's a force. Whether or not he's in the lineup, he'll make you think about what you're going to do. ... I think emotionally it could be a big lift for them.

He got off to a tough start. And having that big contract, pitching at home, can sometimes weigh on you. I don't think he'd admit that, but you really want to start things right, especially being back home, with a new team. And that didn't happen for him.

He gave us what we needed. The ball was diving probably more so than we've seen, with the amount of strikeouts that you saw. I've said many times, there are sinkers, and then there's what he throws up there.

He's a four-pitch pitcher. He mixes it up well, and he kept us off-balance.

His whole career is he'll walk some guys, but he makes the big pitch to get out of the inning.

He's going to battle just like he has every year. Nothing's been given to him ever. This organization has always been in a position where we're trying to win. He's never had the opportunity to play every day and he's had to fight for everything's he's gotten and this spring it's going to be the same way. He's going to be fighting for his at-bats and to make a team. He's a very talented guy and usually you don't have a guy that talented in a situation like that.

He just seems like a different guy. You can see that he's got a lot more confidence in himself. . . . We're going to take the best arms, the best guys we see fit.

It doesn't mean I don't have any confidence in Shawn, because I do.

Whether he plays, pinch-hits, whatever, he's certainly going to be a force. Emotionally, it can be a big lift for them. . . . I don't know if it will change (the playoff race) or not, but I know they're excited about getting him back.

We've got a lot of very enthusiastic guys that are here already.

We're kind of in that difficult line, where you still feel like you're in it. You still go out there and try to win every game, yet you have to look periodically at these other guys. It's not a real comfortable place to be, yet that's where we are and guys are going to get some days off from time to time.

We wouldn't have him here if we didn't think he could handle it. Just talking to him and looking at him, he certainly doesn't look like an 18-year-old. He can gain a lot of experience just talking with these guys and watching how they play the game.

Everybody talked about, when we brought Russ in here, he will get out of his own jams but you have to be patient with him and he did today,

(Dustin) threw reasonably well, but his curve wasn't as good as it could be at times.

It wouldn't surprise me if he had a career year this year.

I've never said anything disparaging about Wally Backman and I refuse to do so now.

Randy seems to have come in here with a different attitude this year. He's thrown the ball well both times he's been out there and today was as good as I've seen him throw.

As a starter, you need to mix in a couple more pitches, at least one more.

They understand we're in a precarious position right now as far as trying to get some other guys in some games and get a look at them yet still go out there and try to be as competitive as you can,

It's not something I can relate to. He's a power guy who does those things. You look at the end of the year and he's going to be 35-plus and right around 100 (RBIs) and that's the kind of guy you go out and get and pay that kind of money to.

It's good. We've struggled all year here, especially scoring runs and getting anything going. We had some pretty good, enthusiastic crowds the last two days, and it was good to put on a good show for them.

It's tough to put a kid in that role. He certainly has that going for him. He can be one of those guys that does all those intangible things.

He stayed up the middle with a couple, which is good to see, ... Sometimes he gets a little too pull happy, with the added power he has.