Jim Tracy League Quotations

The main thing that I wanted to get across to both of them is to not feel compelled to force things, because the important thing for both of them to realize is that we have two very special Major League players here. We have to find playing time for both because they really kind of complement one another.

The best way to approach a player with his type of ability and talent is to feel like you've developed a type of environment to allow his development to continue on its natural course. With what we have done this winter, we have put this young man in a position to where his natural progression as a Major League Baseball player has a genuine opportunity to take place without heaping any unexpected expectations on him.

If this kid maintains the same type of mentality and approach that he possesses right now, it's a matter of time before you start strongly talking about the fact that he is a candidate to come here and start a Major League game. I look at this guy as being a very good starting pitcher some day.

It's the difference in the game. I give him a lot of credit. He battled. This kid, in two starts, has shown me an awful lot of character, and I know he is capable of winning at the Major League level.

He's not a stranger to the Major League level, ... I've seen him play a dynamic center field. There was a time where his tools were absolutely electric. He was a very highly touted, talked-about player.

I am a big believer in the fact that stuff gets people out, not what looks cosmetically correct. Stuff is what gets major league hitters out.

When half of the team is the pitching staff, there are some intangible things that are important. We can sit here and talk about hitting all we want. But that won't help the other part that is vitally necessary to the success of the Major League team, and that's the interaction that takes place between two guys 60 feet, six inches away from one another. That's just as important as anybody's batting average.

That second run was the result of 100-percent effort that he's given each time he's on the field. It's a very noteworthy play and the difference in the game. You can't teach that, but winners do things like that. You have to want to do it. I'm impressed with this player. If his bat reaches its potential, he's an every-day Major League player, in my opinion.

You make bad pitches to Major League hitters, they put the fat part of the bat on the ball. When you are involved in games like that, regardless of what stages it's at, you don't have the luxury of making a mistake and not feeling like it's going to cost you. It is.