Clint Hurdle Tim Quotations

I thought he took a very positive first step. He didn't get outside of himself. In the first inning he was mid-20s in pitches, but he battled. He didn't give up a big inning after that. Any time there was traffic, he held runners well. He made pitches when he had to. He mixed his pitches. He held the left-handers very effectively. A big outing for him and a big win for us.

Matt has had his ups and downs the last few games. He delivered the big hit for us so this couldn't have come at a better time for him.

Nobody's under a magnifying glass. You put somebody under a magnifying glass long enough, you burn them. The guys that didn't pitch well, they know who they are. Through honest self-evaluation, they'll see their location and the adjustments they need to make the next time out. That'll be the critical area to watch.

When he plants his front foot and really stays behind his swing, he's got a little gap power. How it plays out, time will tell, but he has the ability to hit a ball out of the ballpark.

If he stays the course with it, obviously he'd be thrown into the mix. But again, time will tell. Let him play. Let him finish the season the way he's been the last two weeks. Then we'll have a topic of discussion.

We had to revisit that from time to time. But by the end of the season, that added more volume to what he did accomplish.

His hip wasn't a factor. His command was an issue. He basically pitched out of the stretch the entire time he was out there.

He's had to have two very very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. He's probably learned some very valuable lessons through this year. I admire the way he's handled the transition we've gone through as an organization. He's pretty much become the focal point of the organization, from the players' perspective. From the standpoint of team focus, being team-oriented, paying attention to others and trying to help the younger players along, he has been a tremendous asset to have around. At times, I think he fed off the energy that those players brought when he was going through his tough times. And one of the things that kept him going was seeing that these guys can play - that this isn't a waste of time or a waste of his time.

This will be a very exciting day for him. He's put in as much hard work into becoming a starting opening-day player as anybody that we've ever had. He's had 11 years in the minor leagues and to get this nod at this time in his career has to be very gratifying.

We have a youthful lineup. They have gone through a stretch where they have collectively come up short driving runs in. Each time it doesn't happen there seems to be more importance or a heightened awareness the next time, an added weight to be fit into place. That's just part of the experience process they have to get through. They have to realize that no matter what happens, we're going to play another game.

has hit the ball harder with more consistency than anyone on this ballclub. Anytime you have Todd Helton on your ballclub, that's something.

Every year at this time of the season you tip your hat to them. If you ever get people saying that about your organization you are in good shape.

The bond is special between a father, especially relative to his father's age and the time (in his life),

He's welcomed the opportunity. There comes a point and time in your career where you do what you are asked to do.

I think there is improvement. More optimism maybe today than there was yesterday.

I'm not sure how much we're going to let him swing the bat. He can be somebody else's laboratory experiment. I've had my time with it. ... I'm working on the premise that he can still hit.

That's a big hit in this ballpark. He's capable of a lot of things and he's finding his own way to contribute. We have one big hit tonight. He had it and it's a four-run swing. He picked us up big time with the bat.

We stuck him in there when we ran out of other options last year. He settled into that role real well. He's not just a guy hitting behind (Todd) Helton anymore. He's a legitimate fourth-place hitter.

He made nice strides this spring. He just needs to keep making the strides that he made. There was a point in time last season where we were having trouble throwing the ball around the infield. Now he threw the ball accurately, his release times were quick and efficient. I think he swung the bat efficiently. He's using his off-gap again from both sides. He had a good spring.

Initially we stuck him in there because we had run out of options. He is a big kid who has some power and we thought maybe we can find a guy to pick up some run support when they didn't want to pitch to Helton. Obviously he took that opportunity and ran with it. He is a legitimate fourth bat in the lineup. He is not just hitting behind Helton any more.

Numbers speaking, he made one error the whole time he was at shortstop, which speaks volumes. He handled himself remarkably well. He showed major-league poise.

Nobody here has taken him and put him in a chair and tried to get him wound up so tight that he can't perform by breaking down his mechanics, ... We've kept things as simple as possible for a young left-handed pitcher to go out there and perform. I really believe that, at this point and time in the season, this is one of the more challenging things that's happened to him in his career. This'll be a good barometer of who and what he is.

The confidence that comes from getting on any type of run gives you that confidence once you initiate that run again. We've got to pitch well, we've got to play solid defense and we've got to get timely hitting and execute, which is what we did for the last three months last season - with a lot of guys people didn't know against a lot of teams with some pretty big names.

It's Jason's time to take the next step, and sometimes when players can't get to certain places, it's up to a coach to take them there. I want him to know going in that I've got the confidence in him to do that. By giving him the ball Opening Day, I can't make a bigger statement than that.

Our young players give us reason to be optimistic for the future. Holliday continues to improve and should become a good offensive player.

We had our chances, but didn't come through. Now it's time to focus on the Reds.

It's a big pick-me-up. Some guys showed up big time tonight.

We're going to give him a little more time to work his way out of it. He's an important part of the lineup without Todd. . . . He's not trying to pull everything. He's conscious of going to the right side. When he gets hot, he can do major damage.

I was trying to shake some things up. I knew we'd lost six games in a row. I was going to jingle any time I had a chance to jingle today.

He has made progress every time he has gone out and played, ... We need to see if he fits with us going into 2006. We're pretty set with (right fielder Brad) Hawpe and (left fielder) Holliday.

We decided to eliminate the uncertainty. There's no timetable (for his recovery). We need him healthy. Once he is able to play, we will get him out on a (minor-league) rehab assignment and get him some at-bats.

He has said the same thing for three outings. I'd like to see him make an adjustment. . . . We have people in Colorado who have seen it, but it's been awhile. If he knows what's wrong, God bless him. Fix it. It's been a long time since Zach Day has pitched well.

I'm going to give him some time to work out of it.

We have a starting pitcher on the disabled list right now and he will come off sometime this season. So competition, there's always competition.

I think by far and away he was way ahead of the pack at the time he went down. But the numbers he has now, they still spell out pretty good in the big scheme of things if you want to dissect numbers and break them down. Everybody else had an opportunity of three months to really put some distance between themselves and him and elevate themselves, but it didn't happen.

Every year you show up here, you at least have a fraction of hope. This year there's a lot more substance to go with that hope. They know (the division) is open. It's time to make a statement on the field.

Every year, there is an air of optimism and a lot of hope attached to it. This year, there is still hope, but there's more substance and not as much hope.