Ricky Bennett Quotations

He doesn't throw it a whole lot in games, but at least he's trying something he can work on going into next year.

He'll get a lot of reps early in spring training, and if he shows us he can handle Class AA, that's not out of the question. That's something he's probably shooting for personally.

He's doing a nice job. This year, coming into camp, we finally started to talk to him about his mechanics and what our plans are for him this spring. Last year, we let him come in and get used to the program. Now, we're taking it to step two and really getting focused on making some adjustments to prepare him for the season.

His win-loss numbers aren't that great, but we're pretty pleased with the way he's gone about his business and the way he interacts with his teammates.

He's a very mature kid. He keeps everything in perspective. He's not looking too far down the road. He understands he still has to do some things before he gets to the big leagues. He's good with the media, he's a good teammate and he's going to be big part of our future.

He's done everything we've asked. It looks like he's in shape and ready for 2006.

I think it's good for the younger players to get the experience, and hopefully they can get something out of it.

Last year before he got hurt he was lights out. He put up good numbers. I think he?s going to get better as he gets stronger and becomes more durable. I think he?s got a chance to help us in Houston.

The question becomes, do we re-sign him and take him through that whole ordeal again? We don't know.

You hear about Fernando and Jason, and everybody kind of forgets about Taylor, because he had surgery, his numbers last year were just so-so. He's missed some time. But he's excited. If he goes Triple-A, it won't be a disappointment. Hopefully things will go well in the spring, and we'll see what happens.

As he gets closer to returning to action, we'll send him back up there and start doing baseball activities.

This is about the time that you see an increase in velocity. The scar tissue from the surgery is pretty much done. A player usually gets a comfort level of being over the surgery, and I think that's where Taylor is at this point. His arm feels great and he's got a lot of confidence now.

I hope he inspired some of our students and reminded them that coming from a small town is not a negative. Here, when somebody is successful, we all take part. And in tragedy, we all pull together.

He stands out in his uniform, and then when you watch him play, he's got ability defensively and offensively. We don't have many guys in our system that have the ability to hit for average, hit for power and play average to above average defense. He's a guy that shows those talents. That's what makes him exciting. He plays with a lot of energy and he's got some tools. The ball jumps off his bat.

He?s really made an impression on everybody in camp. We went over to a big-league game the other day, and he was very impressive to the staff, the way he goes about his business, the way he plays the game. He?s very focused. He understands what he needs to do to get better as a player and he?s going to work at it every day. He?s moving fast.