Mike Scioscia Needs Quotations

It is something that we would welcome, but it is not an absolute necessity, ... does not have to hit home runs to be productive. What we need is for his production to get back to where it needs to be. He is one of the premier RBI guys in the last few years and we need that to re-emerge.

I think we were all surprised at the level he came into camp at compared to where he was when we saw him in October. There was a tremendous amount of work that was needed, and he did it. He's in the shape he needs to be in.

We've talked about that for awhile, ... It's something we'll continue to look at very closely. ... His velocity is good and at times he throws to his pitching spots, and that needs to continue. ... We feel he has enough in his tank to do what any of our starters need to do down the stretch.

He needs a little more time to see if it calms down. We don't want it to get worse. It is structurally sound. There is just some inflammation.

He laid off some pitches to get in some hitting counts, and when he got a pitch to hit, he was on it. I think he's got all the tools he needs now. It's going to be a matter of stamina, and maintaining it.