Rick Sweet Quotations

We did not have many good swings against him. He made some guys look bad out there.

There are some issues to be addressed. But I think I will be able to get them all enough at-bats.

Whenever you have to make a spot start, it takes you anywhere from three to five days to recover. And we're just not getting enough innings out of our starters.

The pitching is upholding its end. Our offense is just a click off. When it gets there, we'll have a pretty good lineup.

He will throw a quality strike and then throw a couple that are not. He's got to get it to where he has control of every pitch he throws.

He has very good stuff. He just needs to throw more strikes. That's the problem.

He got people out. He spotted the ball pretty well. He hit spots that he wanted to hit.

He looks great. He's been swinging well and playing good defensively.

He's been home for three days, and he walks up and gets the game winner. That's why we signed him.

He keeps hitting gaps and running, and he's 30-plus (actually 32) years old. He's the one who told me, 'I guess I'm just getting old.' But it's hard on you with all that running, especially as hot as it is.

Guys who do walk people tend to be more your power pitchers who get a little bit wild. We don't really have any power pitchers.

Our starters are young, but they're very solid. They've been giving us some great games.

Some guys are trying to do too much right now, plain and simple.

I won't even ask him if he needs a day off, because I can't trust him to tell me honestly. I just have to tell him, 'You're off tomorrow,' even though he won't like it.

I'm so impressed with him. He knows how to get people out. Sometimes guys who don't throw hard don't get opportunities, but if he keeps pitching the way he's pitching, he might get an opportunity.

That was huge. We spent a lot of time in spring training working on two-strike counts. We practiced that, as far as putting the ball in play and cutting down your swing a little bit, and it paid off.

Without a doubt, his work ethic is the No. 1 reason why he is where he is.

Well, we don't have to come back here, and that's all I can say. We just need to get out of here.

We opened up at home last year -- it was a lot nicer, and that was a big difference.

The fact that we have something to work at, like battling somebody in a pennant race, means that pride will step in for us. It will force us to play hard and focus on the game.

We sat down and had a little talk with our bullpen and got everybody in roles. That's been a big help the last three games. Guys didn't know when they were going to pitch. Now everybody in our bullpen knows exactly when I'm going to use them.

Every time Stratton comes to the plate, everybody stops and watches. It's very exciting to watch players like that hit. You just shake your head, because not many people can do that.

We expected our offense to really be the strong part of our team. But we got off to such a poor start in Ottawa, and it's like we're still trying to get that big hit to get us going.

Ben pitched a very good ballgame (until the fourth), but one of the things he has to learn is, when things are going against him, he doesn't know how to step back and say, 'What am I going to do here? What do I need to do?' He just keeps throwing. That's something that experience will help take care of.

Everything's up. He'll throw a good pitch, but there are too many bad ones right now and they're going to get hit.

A lot of these Americans can't skate, so I'd hate to see that. It might be a lot more dangerous than playing ball in those conditions.

They have been (the best team in the league) all year, from Day One. They haven't had a glitch.

It's hard to believe what he could do if he could stay healthy.

That's always an emphasis. If you want to say pitch to contact or get ahead or throw strikes, it's all the same. You've got to throw the ball over the plate to be successful, especially at the higher levels.

The last couple of games, we've had a lot more consistent at-bats and a lot more consistent approaches.

I really thought our pitching did a nice job, our defense was not very good and offensively we did not hit like we will hit.

In the big leagues you can just call up somebody to put in there. In Triple-A we're pretty much on our own. We've just got to figure it out because we're not going to get any help.

Because you're going to need one in the big leagues.