Dave Duncan
Dave Duncan
easy game goes last needs nine somewhere starts talk trying
He's just trying to do too much. Is it because he goes 4-5 (in his last nine starts before the game)? Somewhere in there you do something different, and if you get off your game it's easy to talk about and not easy to get back on it. He needs to get back on his game.
contribute expect game gets
If Looper gets his game back, which I expect he will, he can contribute as much as Tavarez, if not more.
agreed difficult efforts games himself needs putting situations start talked thinks wants
I don't think (Looper) is where he needs to be yet, and I don't think he thinks he's where he wants to be yet. I know he's not because we talked about it. It's a long season. I think it's more important we concentrate our efforts into getting him into some games and some situations where it's not critical. That way he can re-establish himself before we start putting him into difficult situations. He agreed with me.
ability advantage appear ball club game league major middle pitch shown type
He's shown that he has the ability to pitch at the major league level. Opportunities come in different ways. When you get them you have to take advantage of them. If he makes our ball club he'll probably appear in the middle of the game as a situational type left-hander.
blue controlled exception games guys seen winning
It's not just winning games. It's the way he's pitched. He's been pretty dominant. I've seen guys win a lot of games before. But with the exception of Vida Blue in 1971, I've never seen a guy that has controlled the game, game after game after game, like he has.
ability choosing games guess physical picking start starting win
I would guess that he hasn't grinded it out from start to finish. Is he capable? I don't know right now. I do know he's got the physical ability to be a starting pitcher. But you don't win a lot of games picking and choosing the games you want to really put everything into. You put everything into every start.
based both decision fourth game looked ready spring
I'm not ready to make a decision based on today's game. It was the first game of spring for both those guys. If it was the fourth game of spring, I think it would be looked at a lot differently than it was today.
aware games hard hope influences presents situation win
You can't always do what you would like to do, so you just hope the situation presents itself. You're aware of how much they're throwing, how hard (the starters) are working. That influences what you do. But we're still going to play the games and try to win them.
deserved five four game games nice opportunity special win
Mulder really deserved this game today, because he's probably had the opportunity, or been in position, to win four or five games that we let get away from us after he's been out of the game. It's nice for him to get a special win, and I know this is special for him.
control delivery games great guys kept pitches season sign struggling
He was struggling with his delivery and his control. His pitches weren't sharp. But I told him it's a great sign because you're going to have 10, 12, 15 games during the season when it just isn't working. A lot of guys give in to that. But he didn't. He kept battling.
adjusting defense good importance natural pitchers pitching placed
It was a natural progression. It was good for the pitchers to know how much importance we placed on defense. We're always adjusting ... defense as well as pitching strategy.
lets sees wants
He lets me do my thing. If there's something he sees that he wants done, then he lets me know that he wants it done and I try and get it done. I'm open-minded to what he has to say.
excessive fine
I thought it was an awfully big fine for what involvement I had. I thought it was an excessive fine.
chart people question stuff
I'll chart anything that I want to know that I think is important. I've had people question it. Sometimes, I've tossed out stuff that I've charted as being not important. Who can say one way is better than the other?