Jeff Blauser Quotations

We'd like to be selfish and keep him here. But we're here to help him try to get to the next level.

We're just going through a spell right now where things aren't going our way.

I got that first one out of the way. I am just happy that we won a game. I'll never forget it. But I am more excited for my guys. It's a lot better for them than it is for me. These guys needed to get off to a good start and continue their journey to the big leagues.

He has had some good at-bats and has had a flair for the big hit here recently. We saw that from him in spring training. Anyone who has seen him play realizes he has a lot of energy. He's working on focusing that energy into the important aspects of his game. He has an ability that you don't see every day.

He was impressive. Even when Blanco got that hit, he still managed to keep us in check. I don't know much about him, but from the looks of it, he has a good future ahead of him.

He could throw two pitches for strikes pretty much whenever he wanted. When you can do that, you'll be pretty effective.

I thanked him for sending a top-notch major league pitcher to face us in my managerial debut. He got a chuckle out of that.

Our pitchers have pitched well from our starters to our bullpen. We have a tight pitch-count program here and every one of the pitchers has pitched well. I am proud of them.

I still look at him as a player, so it was nice to see what he's been able to come in here and do. My hope is that our regulars here will watch, embrace and learn everything they can from him while he's here.

We've done a lot of good things the last two nights. We're putting ourselves in position to win games.

We all know the situation - those umpires, regardless of whether they're in the big leagues or in A-ball, they have good days and bad days.

We didn't help our own cause much. We didn't put a lot of heat on them, that's for sure.

It would be nice to get a few more hits spread out over the course of the game, but we'll take them anyway we can. We had some opportunities tonight and it was good to see us take advantage of them. The guys battled their tails off tonight. It should be a big boost for these guys mentally to get them relaxed and get them on a roll.

That was a big hit. I don't ever think we're out of the game, but that put us just one shot away, especially with the way the wind was blowing out there tonight.

There was definitely a sense of minor relief in the dugout tonight. They've been pressing a little bit. ... We had the one big inning (a four-run sixth), and it's contagious. Guys started hitting.

There were some good things out there. Unfortunately, when you're battling through what we've been battling, things like that seem to happen to you.

The replacement guys, I'm confident they're going to umpire to the best of their abilities. They have a lot of pride, obviously, in what they are doing. And they have a lot of passion for the game, or they wouldn't be here.

Acosta did an outstanding job. After the first hitter, he settled down.

That'll probably go down to the last week here. It's way too early to tell on a lot of guys. You can look at last year's (Class A) Myrtle Beach roster and get some ideas, but ...

I am not worried about our hitting. We're going to be fine. We've got some guys that swing the bat up and down the lineup. It's just one of those things where we really haven't got going yet. We have had some opportunities, but just haven't come through yet but that's just part of the game. It's obviously a little more glaring when you start the season that way.

He probably feels pressure to duplicate that this year. This is a big jump for those guys coming from 'A' ball to Double-A, probably the biggest jump they'll make.