Jason Schmidt Quotations

Nobody works harder than him, that's for sure. Just the way he prepares for the game. His intensity level is above and beyond what everybody else's is. He really puts everything into it.

I was surprised. I heard he'd been working out hard. The division is kind of up for grabs. I thought he would come back and give us a little boost. ... If you're hurt, you're hurt.

I don't know what the big secret is.

I felt good. I was just working on hitting my spots more than anything, kind of playing catch. It's a different look with a hitter up there.

I felt good. I just couldn't get things going. I couldn't line up my arm with my lower half and throw strikes.

When I pushed off on that last pitch, I felt a sharp pain. Twinges come and go, but this felt different. It actually felt worse than when I hurt my groin last year. But I feel a lot better today.

I was laughing at myself. Every time I'd throw one 85 and Jeff Kent would pop it up, I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' ... There are other guys in the league who can do it, and it made me a believer in how you can get guys out doing it.

I thought every pitch I was going to come out of the game, ... I had another 7, 8 mph in the tank I couldn't go to, and that was disappointing. Somehow I found a way to get through five innings.

I think when I did it in L.A. the first time (on Sept. 7), I couldn't have thrown even one more pitch, ... (Saturday) I ended up making five innings. I don't know if that's progress; I don't think it's going backwards. I don't think I've made it severely worse, by any means, and now I get another week to let it rest.

Last year, I was just so wild. I didn't have any life. This year, I feel like I have some extension on my fastball and a little life on the end. That's the biggest difference from last year. I just couldn't do that.

Last year I felt good. I just didn't get any results. It seems like since I've been on this team the changeup has been impossible to throw here. I attribute that to Arizona. It hasn't been half-bad this year. I don't know what to attribute that too, but I'm happy with it.

I thought it was a 50-50 thing. I have mixed emotions about it. I'm going back to a familiar team. I never said I didn't want to be here. It's just it would have been a good time to be a free agent.

The arm felt good, but mechanically I just couldn't get going. I couldn't line up my arm with the lower half and give myself a chance to throw strikes. That's the name of the game, and I just didn't do that.

I've been pretty happy. Once the season starts, your concentration goes up another level, but I'm pretty happy with the spring.

I've been pretty happy, (but) once the season starts, your concentration goes up another level. It's nice to get seven innings.

It was a little overwhelming. They told me a couple of days ago I was going to pitch against the Twins. I didn't know how to prepare. I just went out there and threw strikes.

I've always been his biggest fan even when I've been on the other team. We all know what he can do on defense. Running those balls into the gap, you're going, 'That's a double or a triple.' Then I had flashbacks from his Diamondback days ruining my games from the other end with his glove.

I used to think Brian Giles was the best hitter I ever saw when he was hot, but Randy Winn has topped that,

For me, being a guy who doesn't usually get too many guys thrown out, Mike's doing a good job picking up my back.

It's too embarrassing to come off the field before you've thrown a pitch, ... Basically, I just played catch with (Mike) Matheny the whole game. I was at 75 percent. One guy would pop it up, another would hit a ground ball. It was fun in a way.

It's always good to go out there against the great ones. Glavine's pitched like that his whole career. Fortunately, I got a couple of runs early and that helped. I could afford to make a mistake.

It's always embarrassing to come off the field, especially before throwing your first pitch, ... I was going to see what I could do with the first hitter and go from there. Basically, I played catch with (catcher Mike) Matheny the whole game. I was about 75 percent. One guy would pop it up, one guy would hit a ground ball. I just ran with it as long as I could. It was fun in a way.

It's like night and day, ... There were times during that stretch where balls would fall in here and there. You weren't getting the breaks. I'm definitely getting some breaks the second half of the year I wasn't getting during the first half.

You think he's going to slap the ball around like a leadoff hitter, and he's hitting balls into the water. That's got to be one of the best trades for any team.

It's sore. I shouldn't have pitched. The rule was, if I feel anything I'd come out of the game.

It's not any more pressure to pitch when Barry is on your team. In some ways, it's kind of less pressure. Nobody pays attention to you sometimes. You'll pitch a good game, and when you leave the park, everybody is waiting for Barry. I like it.

It was a definite improvement over last year. The changeup has been difficult to throw for me in Arizona, but it wasn't bad (Saturday), and I've always had that slide step, but after coming off surgery it's hard to speed up mechanically.

I'm happy to be in San Francisco ... but it would have been a good time to be a free agent.

I'll have a chance to go out and be a free agent this year and see what happens.

If the money's there, great. If it's not, you might be a little disappointed. But how much does a guy really need? It ends up becoming a point system for players. It's not about the money; it's about the points. You need to get past that.

I assume I'm not (going to start), but you never know. Stranger things have happened.

You can say whatever -- you hope you roll out of bed and throw as many strikes as you want to.

The guy put the hocus-pocus thing on me.