Aaron Nieckula
Aaron Nieckula
great mentality needed pitches
He did an outstanding job. He made pitches when he needed to, (showed) great mentality and made adjustments when he needed to.
benefit earned fifth instead opportunity short team term thinking
He earned an opportunity to go that fifth inning, but we are thinking more long term instead of short term right now. More for the benefit of the team than the individual.
ahead ball behind fell guy kept saw worked
Shields kept the ball up, out over the plate, fell behind guys. That's crucial. Their guy worked ahead and you saw what happened. Our guy fell behind. It just wasn't his day. We'll see how he rebounds.
excited experience nice road
I think they're excited to get out on the road and experience some of the other ballparks and cities. It's nice to get out and experience the road a little bit.
door hitter opens pressure trying
That's like a hitter trying to get his first hit of the season. Trying to get that first something off of your back, it kind of alleviates the pressure and opens the door a little bit.
accept bigger bit coach deal forward front great hitting lurking manager office opportunity shadows whereas
This a great opportunity to be around the game. Obviously, there will be a little bit more responsibility. As (the) hitting coach (last season), I was kind of lurking in the shadows whereas the manager has to deal with hitters, the pitchers, the front office and the fans. It's a bigger responsibility, but one I accept and look forward to.
excuse guys kinds
Submariner like that, you don't see those kinds of guys too often. But that's really no excuse.
bullpen coming days few hitters stuff
After a few days off, you can get lackadaisical or lethargic in your play. Yeah, our bullpen was healthy, but at the same time, when you don't see live pitching, when you don't see live hitters and you don't see live stuff coming off the bats, it's a lot different.
bullpen chance coming door good held job offense whether
Really from Day 1, the bullpen has done a good job of coming in, whether we're up or we're down, and they've held the door to give our offense a chance to score.
ballpark baseball doubles eight extra goes guys hit savvy score team timely wanting willing
We've got some team speed. We've got guys with baseball savvy out there that are willing and wanting to take the extra base. It just goes to show that you don't need to hit the ball out of the ballpark or hit doubles and triples to score runs. We scored eight runs. It's timely hitting.
base error knock last men via walk
We got men on base, via walk or an error or the base knock that last inning. We just couldn't do anything with it.
ball cap guy hitters job keeping ran staff throwing tip
We ran into a into a guy that was throwing the ball very well ... you've got to tip your cap to that (pitching) staff today, they did an outstanding job of keeping our hitters down.