Dave Duncan Quotations

We're going to try and do that as often as we can between now and the end. He had a good day (Monday), and that's a positive. Confidence comes from succeeding. He can build confidence this way.

Unless something changes tomorrow or Friday, I expect he'll be out there.

We're not afraid to use Hancock. As long as he's pitching the way we think he should pitch, which is aggressive and keeping the ball in the bottom of the strike zone for the most part, he can pitch in any part of the game.

With the staffs that we'll be going up against in the division, ... there just won't be too much room for error.

We'll see what happens Tuesday. If (Marquis) can get a couple innings on Tuesday, that would line him up for Saturday and then we'll see what goes from there.

Looper is important to our bullpen. Can it be a good bullpen? Yes, if somebody else steps up if he isn't what we expect him to be right away. The key is getting him to do the things he needs to be doing.

Shows you how talented he is. Last year he won 15 games ... re-establishing himself,

Mulder really deserved this game today, because he's probably had the opportunity, or been in position, to win four or five games that we let get away from us after he's been out of the game. It's nice for him to get a special win, and I know this is special for him.

Mulder got out there and I didn't think he was able to finish his pitches. I didn't think it was smart to have him pitch at less than 100 percent if it meant he was going to have a problem with his delivery.

Nobody has eliminated themselves from anything. They both looked good today, and so has Adam Wainwright.

Reyes needs to pitch innings. He needs to show us he can go out there consistently. Hopefully, he'll get 180 innings.

I was attacked on the field. That's what it boils down to.

I would guess that he hasn't grinded it out from start to finish. Is he capable? I don't know right now. I do know he's got the physical ability to be a starting pitcher. But you don't win a lot of games picking and choosing the games you want to really put everything into. You put everything into every start.

If we know who we're playing (in the playoffs), ... that could be a start (for Marquis).

I got started with a basic thought. I wanted to know how each pitcher got strike one. Once I did that, I added this and then that.

But due to the destructiveness of the explosion, we can't precisely identify what happened.

Basically, yesterday he felt better than he did the day before. And today he felt better than he did yesterday. So we had him warm up to see whether he could go.

If I remember correctly, we had some questions leaving camp last year. No matter how good you are - and we have to prove we're good - there are going to be questions.

Getting them all the amount of work necessary is important as long as the three of them are still competing for the job. We're going to try our best to give them equal opportunity. We'll figure out a way to do it.

From here on out he's going to start seeing more situations like that and he's going to be facing big lefthanders. And he's going to have to be ready to start getting them out.

If the three weren't even, coming into spring training, they are even now.

He hasn't needed it. But he's going to need something like that at the major league level. It's hard to pitch at the top of the strike zone.

He did a good job. He came into a tough situation, kept his composure and made some pitches.

He had a good, solid year. I'm happy the organization recognized it. It will be a good experience for him to spend some time here and see what it's all about. This is one of the steps that is part of the process of establishing yourself as a player.

He had a good set of eyes to watch guys in the bullpen. His biggest strength was always his consistency. He could throw a ball for a strike pretty much anytime he wanted to.

He needs to show he can pitch an entire season without being injured. Pitching 180 innings in the minor leagues is a steppingstone to pitching 200 in the major leagues.

We've got to play the rest of the season, ... That decision doesn't have to be made right now. So we'll see what happens.

To fight through a day like that when everything was a struggle, that was a great performance.

He's a location and change of speeds pitcher. It takes a little time during the spring to get all of your pitches going and get comfortable with them. He's doing good.

He's just trying to do too much. Is it because he goes 4-5 (in his last nine starts before the game)? Somewhere in there you do something different, and if you get off your game it's easy to talk about and not easy to get back on it. He needs to get back on his game.

His stuff is there, it's just going to be a matter of time. He'll get into the swing of things.

His velocity is there, and he's more consistently getting the ball down. A few more outings and hopefully he'll be what we're looking for.

He's going to get every benefit of the doubt.

He's been very impressive. I didn't know anything about him really, but he's done a good job.

He was struggling with his delivery and his control. His pitches weren't sharp. But I told him it's a great sign because you're going to have 10, 12, 15 games during the season when it just isn't working. A lot of guys give in to that. But he didn't. He kept battling.

He did everything that he needed to do throughout the course of the spring. He did everything that he needed to do to earn the spot.

He can throw to both sides of the plate with all his pitches. If there is a way to get a hitter out and he knows it, he can execute it.

He knows how to put a hitter away.

He lets me do my thing. If there's something he sees that he wants done, then he lets me know that he wants it done and I try and get it done. I'm open-minded to what he has to say.

He knows what information I want, and I know he's accurate. I work off Chad's base.

The only thing I want to pay attention to is his confidence. Knowing Matt Morris, I don't think he's going to lose confidence and not feel like he can go out and compete against anybody.

It could be a good pitch for him if he can gain control of it to the point where he doesn't make mistakes that are hit. If his mistakes are down, OK. If he makes mistakes up ... I don't think he wants to walk off the field after getting beat on a changeup. But he can find places to use it.

I think the only other guy I've been associated with who was that dominant was (AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner) Vida Blue in 1971. It's just no contest.

I think we have the makings of a good bullpen. It always takes a certain amount of time when you have new people to figure out exactly how they're going to fit in best with your club. We've played six games. I don't think that's quite enough time to have it figured out yet.

It has a lot to do with mental strength. He prepares as good as you can prepare. He doesn't let anything distract him, whether it's a bad call by an umpire, a call that he thinks is bad, an error, or whatever else might go on. He stays focused on what he wants to do and doesn't let anything distract him from that purpose.

That ball was down and away, off the plate. He kind of stuck his bat out there.

I think he's more conscious of trying to pitch to the weakness of the hitter rather than just going after everybody the same way. That's pretty much what he did when he first came over.

I think he's getting there. He made a lot of good pitches today. The ball was down for the most part. He got the ball in on the right-handers when he needed to and he got his split-finger over the plate.

I think he's always at his best when he pitches aggressively. I think that, if anything, that's what he's done, with the exception of a couple starts in there where he might not have been as aggressive as I'd like to see him. But for the most part, that's what he's done. He's pitched aggressively.

I still think it's excessive, but I appreciate them reconsidering and listening to what I had to say.

It depends a lot on who the fifth guy is. You have to consider how long he's going to be sitting out before he pitches again, No. 1, and what benefits you're looking to gain from that.

I thought it was an awfully big fine for what involvement I had. I thought it was an excessive fine.

I thought he threw the ball well. Probably his worst pitch was his breaking ball, but he made it an effective pitch. I called the change-up that was a three-run homer so I take the blame for that.

I thought last year was a miraculous year for him. And he definitely earned my respect last year as to what kind of pitcher he was, what kind of person he was, what kind of competitor he was.

I'm sure by the time the playoffs get here, Ray King will be fine. Because we're going to give him as many opportunities as we can to pitch in those situations, and he's good enough to get the job done.

You knew as soon as he walked in the clubhouse, he was there for one reason and one reason only. That was it.

You can ask yourself that question and give yourself a better answer than I can give you. We'll know (today).

Unfortunately, the toughest competition comes the last two weeks of spring, and I'm not sure where we're going to be (with the starters). It would be nice to be able to see them all in the toughest competition of spring. Will we be able to? I'm not sure yet.

To be a vert guy, you have to train and put on your gear. It's physically demanding.

The question answers itself. For there to just be a debate tells you something about the depth of our starting pitching. I think you could start any one of our five guys. But we're only going to use four. Everybody has the right to second-guess. That's part of it. Part of the decision is what you know about the person and the situation. At the same time, you try to maintain as much depth as you can.

We'd like to see him get on track and feel better about himself. He's an important guy for us. He knows that.

We want to keep Marquis live, ... It's a possibility, a good possibility. It's an idea we've played with.

We'll see how that goes. It's a long season.

We'll see how patient they are in St. Louis. If they're the same, I'll be impressed.

The expectations were probably unrealistic. He was looked at under the microscope. ... It's lot of pressure on him because everybody thinks that he's getting special favors because he's the son of a coach. In reality, it's just the opposite. People are careful not to give the impression they are doing something special for him.

We thought Marquis would be very valuable to us in the bullpen. He can be used in a lot of different situations, and often. I would be surprised if he doesn't pitch quite a bit yet in this series.

We think we're a pitching-strong team. Our guys aren't doing anything they don't expect to do.

When you have a number of guys expressing concern, naturally you share their concern. And there's not much you can do about it other than get frustrated and maybe scream and holler a little bit. But you certainly can't change it. You'd like to think you're getting a fair shake. It has the appearance of being one-sided. And over the course of the game that kind of weighs on you.

We'll keep them ready to pitch and look for opportunities to get them experience. I'd rather see them come out of the bullpen than not pitch at all.

Thursday's game (against the Padres) was tough because there were so many left-handed, right-handed situations,

We don't want people coming up just to sit around.

You get into competition, the juices start flowing.

You get in and get it behind you, and your focus changes the second time around. That's a big adrenaline burst for anybody no matter what the situation is. We needed to try to get it under their belt.

As I told Flores, if we were playing a different team, we may have gone a different direction.

Arm-wise, he looks all right. It would be nice if we would be able to see him some more before he leaves. If somebody were to ask me, 'Do I think he's in condition to pitch?' it would be a bare minimum of work that he would have to put in to be ready.

There's no getting around it until you get into the flow of things, especially as a reliever. It takes at least once to get out there and slow down.

I've seen John pitch. He is a guy that hitters didn't really like facing so we're hoping we can see the same here.

I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for the way he manages a team, not just the game. He's always prepared. He's never caught not in the game. He's always aware of everything that's going on in the clubhouse. He studies the whole gamut - what's involved in managing a baseball team.

Sometimes that's what happens. Used in another role, given a different opportunity - a pitcher finds his strength.

Ray may have recently suffered a little loss of confidence, and confidence comes by succeeding,

Probably the guy he reminds me of the most is Dave Stewart, and not physically,

Delgado was very aggressive and swung at balls that weren't strikes. There was no need in that situation to throw him a strike. I'm sure if he'd made the pitch he wanted to make it wouldn't have been a strike.

You see some things you like, and you see some things you don't like. You don't make decisions early in the spring. You've got the chance to get some things together before you start evaluating.

You never know when you might need help.

The way we've played the last three months hasn't been up to our capabilities, ... We have higher expectations with the players we have. We should be performing better.

There's an aura that surrounds certain guys, whether it's truth or fiction I don't know, but it's the way they're perceived by the opposition,

As much as I could, I tried to stay apart from his career.

About 95 percent of skateboarders worldwide are not vert riders. They don't have vert ramps around. It's easier to ride the streets.

It was a natural progression. It was good for the pitchers to know how much importance we placed on defense. We're always adjusting ... defense as well as pitching strategy.

It's a real plus when you have a guy who can come into a situation anywhere from the sixth inning on and get a huge out for you. It's even better if he can get a strikeout when you need it. That's a weapon not every team has.

It's not really a concern. Izzy's not a guy who really has to have a lot of work. In his case, it can be better for him to throw on the side than to bring him into a (non-save) situation.

It's not just winning games. It's the way he's pitched. He's been pretty dominant. I've seen guys win a lot of games before. But with the exception of Vida Blue in 1971, I've never seen a guy that has controlled the game, game after game after game, like he has.

It looks to me like he's trying to be too fine. He's getting behind in the count too much. When he does know he has to throw a strike, it's in the top of the strike zone. He needs to be more aggressive early in the counts - not as concerned inside and outside as he is up and down ... mostly down. He can go to the corners when he controls the counts.

It's hard to identify who's No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Because at different times, each one of those guys gets on a roll. And at that particular time, he's the No. 1 guy for us. ... Every one of them has had their periods of time when they threw as good as anybody.

The objective is to get (Looper) 100 percent. We don't expect it's going to take that long.

That gives him time to get some treatment and also throw in the bullpen prior to starting a game.

It's a never-ending process. As long as you're pitching, you're trying to learn something new. Anytime you can add a pitch, if it's a quality pitch, it's just another weapon that you have to work with. It's one more thing the hitter has to deal with.

It's big because for these guys to come in and do the job that they're being asked to do early builds confidence in them and for us as well. You hope that it happens enough that it snowballs a little bit and these guys establish the attitude that they need to have.

It was not a close call at all, simply because Marquis can be tremendously valuable to us out of the bullpen,

It was pretty easy to wait. I don't want him going out there the least bit restricted, and then all of a sudden his delivery changes and he gets into some kind of bad habits or hurts himself worse. The bullpen is well-rested, especially the guys that are able to give us innings: Eldred and Thompson. It's a pretty easy decision to make.