Russ Springer Quotations

He looks good. He's free and easy, and the ball is coming off his hand better than it did all of last year. In the first outing, you want to see how a guy's ball is coming out of his hand.

He has multiple pitches, down-in-the-zone type stuff. If they needed a guy to go in the rotation next year, I wouldn't hesitate to put him there.

It gets harder to leave the kids every year, but at the same time it beats working for a living. I'm glad to see the guys again. All the bullpen is already here. We'll play a little catch and shake loose some of the weariness.

You don't think the game's going to go as long as it did. You go out there and try to get your inning in, and if your spot doesn't come up (in the batting order), you try to throw another zero. A game like this that takes so long, you better win it, or it will take the air out of you.

We wouldn't have it any other way, that's the way it's been all year. If we're going to go to the next round, we've got to scratch for it just like we've scratched all year. And we've got a group of guys here that obviously have shown they've got what it takes to scratch it out when our backs are against the wall.

I got up to 80, 85 percent and stopped there. I'm pretty happy with where it is. I don't feel any of that sharp stuff. I feel some bruising, but it's getting better.

He's had an awesome year. He's been throwing consistently all year long. We realize what he's doing down there, and what kind of year he's having.

I felt better today than I did yesterday. Where my rib is pulled, he actually said it was in a good spot. Hopefully, it'll be a shorter healing process.

We kind of put up a fight at the end, we just came up short. We know we belong on the same field with these guys, and I think they know it.