John Gibbons Guys Quotations

We knew what we needed to do to improve. We targeted some guys and we were hoping to get one or two of them. You never expect to get your whole wish list and we almost did that.

We like a couple guys down there in Triple-A that can come up and do that job. We're not looking at it as a one-time deal. Of course if the guy comes up and struggles, we may change that. But we want the guy to make a few starts until A.J. is ready.

We know what these guys are doing. They're a very aggressive team and they're playing really good baseball right now. That's the way they play. They've got some guys that can run the bases. ... Let's just keep the guys off the bases. Then they can't steal.

Very few guys come along like that, once every 20, 30 years, guys who take the game by storm right out of the gates. Hernandez is just way ahead of most 19 year olds, that's the difference. Otherwise these guys don't get here that fast. Same thing with Gooden. I don't know about that comparison yet, but he'd be pretty good if he is.

Obviously, it's a great thing to honor your country and to get that type of experience on such a big stage, but we're a little bit selfish in wanting those guys back as soon as possible. With so many new faces in camp this year, ideally you'd like to have all of them around as much as possible to establish chemistry and continuity in your lineup. But it's a great experience for Vernon, who's getting the most playing time of anyone.

Ideally he gets through. But for his sake you hope he gets claimed. Guys who played for you in the past, you always want the best for those guys.

He's got to get to know everybody. We tell guys to catch the guys they don't know, but especially him.

We make sure we're not pushing guys too fast, too early. And then, as we get about a week or 10 days away (from the regular season), we'll push it a little bit harder.

He's pitched great for us the last two years, so he ought to be able to throw with confidence. But it's a tough business. He's one of those guys that lives and dies with his outings because he cares so much.

Guys when they get tired they lose their location. What happens is they got reach back and give a little extra to maintain what they got and your location suffers but you maintain your velocity.

I talked to him today about a few things and I hope he got the message. You see guys on the other side like (Derek) Jeter and (Gary) Sheffield get down the line.

It breaks it up a little bit -- gets them out there to face some competition. It gets the guys on the mound seeing hitters that are swinging and working on making some pitches. It revs things up a little bit.

Our guys have been very confident swinging the bat. From top to bottom we've been pretty effective, and that's what you have to have. All the good teams do.

Our bullpen has been very good all year but those guys are tired right now. Everybody's tired.

Some guys get by with a lot of hard-hit balls that are outs, they get a ton of runs scored for them. You look further than just results. You see what they guy's featuring and that will tell you everything.

Those guys have been doing that all year.

We're not eliminated yet. I'm proud of the way the guys have played this year, they get after it. We're only going to get better.

We're due. We're overdue, ... These guys can hit. We've all seen them hit. Believe it or not, what happens, when you struggle as a whole, everyone tries to do that much more. It may not always look like that but you start to press a little bit.

We want these guys to get into a rhythm.

We left some guys on. We had some chances to get to Leiter, but we just didn't cash in there. It happens.

We don't need one leader. We just need everyone to come together. Vernon and Zaun and I'm sure the new guys will do their part, too.

We'll work that out. We've got a good bullpen. We've got a couple guys searching right now, but we'll need them and they'll be fine.

You guys are pretty much right on it. But things could change.

We hit some balls hard right at guys today. That's baseball, we also benefit from that, too.

Baseball's a gamble. We went for the top two guys out there. We're banking on them. And they're banking on us.

Anytime he goes out there, you know you can count on him. You look at the last couple years here, and he's always won for us. But he's always been the odd man out, too. He just forces his way in there, comes out and wins. There's something to be said for guys that are winners.

Alex made some adjustments to his stance. I just see him better than I've ever seen him. He's more aggressive. He's not getting overpowered at the plate. I see him as one of those guys getting better and better. This is going to make it tougher, because he's not out there every day. You hope it doesn't stunt his growth. Right now you're looking at it as what's best for the team. He'll get plenty of action.

They need to see me around. I like to lock in on those guys sometimes. I like to put a name with a face and see what they can do. They're trying to impress me and trying to impress everybody.

It says something about the guy, how strong he is. Strong character guys and quality guys, the sun has the tendency to shine on guys like that in the long run.

It's more about the guys on the top of the lineup.

It looks better, but I told these young guys certain games that I'm going to get them into, so I'm going to do that, ... I think it's important. ... I think it's fair to them. We're paying them a lot of money -- we may as well get them in there, right?

It's not always pretty, but certain guys find a way. That was the best I've seen him this year.

I'm sure there's been some guys who have been using it for a number of years. Like anything else, some do, some don't. I guess we have see when there's day games after night games.

I'll be proud of the guys if we show that we've gutted it out.

If somebody takes the bull by the horns, it makes sense to keep the hot hand out there. We'll see. It won't be easy because guys all want a lot of playing time, but we can make it work.

I just told him that it's still the same game. You make your pitches you get guys out. You don't and they get you. It's still the same game of baseball. Sometimes it takes a while to figure that out.

He's one of those guys that, when he's on, he can shut you down. And the good ones, when they get in jams, they get out of them. A lot of times, that's where games are won and lost, but the good ones rise to the occasion.

He's up there in appearances in the league and he may have had more tougher type saves than other guys out there, more than one inning saves,

He's up there in appearances, and he may have had tougher type saves than a lot of guys out there. He's had more than just the one-inning saves. Just a couple times, we've held him out due to number of appearances in a row. Do you guys remember any of those?

He's a proven winner, some years some guys just get that.

If it all clicks for this kid, you've got a very good player because he can do everything. He's a five-tool player and those guys are very rare. So when that does happen, those are the kinds of guys that you want out there all the time.

If he drives in 60, that would be fine. He's got the knack too for some clutch hits because he puts the ball in play and that's a big thing when you have guys in scoring position.

I don't see any evidence of guys pressing. We've had some good at-bats. We just have hit any long balls lately.

I don't think we'd have any other choice really. Those guys in the Minor Leagues are stretched out a little bit. We'll see.

How many guys in the league would love to do that?

You can pencil those guys in, when the season starts, for 130 RBIs apiece. That's a given. They don't miss. That's why they're MVP candidates.

You can pencil those guys in, when the season starts, for 130 RBIs apiece, ... That's a given. They don't miss. That's why they're MVP candidates.

All I know about my guys out there is they get after it. They don't quit. There's something to be said for that. In the long run, that's going to help us out.

The first day we got down here, I said, 'The numbers are against you, but you still need to approach it like you're going out there to try and make this team.' I just want him to have fun. I don't know what teams are looking (for a catcher). Certain teams, if we try to get him through (waivers), there's teams that may want to go with the young guys and might take a chance on him. It's unfortunate he had those couple years where he was injured.

The longer you're around, guys see you enough, you figure some guys out. They've got good arms, they've got the stuff to get guys out regardless. It's all about locating and pitching ahead.