Jim Tracy
Jim Tracy
command consistency course delivery fifth fourth good hurdle maintain needs next overcome throughout
He was real good early, and then his command wavered some there in the fourth and fifth inning. The next hurdle that he needs to overcome is to maintain the consistency of his delivery throughout the course of his start. He's making strides.
himself mission pitch rotation starting
He's on a mission to pitch himself into the starting rotation and right now he's succeeding.
ability area command innings latter needs pitches pleased progress strikes throw
He really understands that he needs command and the ability to throw strikes when he pitches in the latter innings of games. I'm very pleased with the progress he has made in that area this spring.
feels
I'd like to know what that feels like.
huge realize
He'll get his at-bats. He doesn't realize what a huge backer he has in me.
start stretching
And then we'll go from there and start stretching him out.
consistent fine necessary paul saw starter surprised
Paul did a fine job. He displayed the characteristics necessary to become a consistent starter at this level. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw more of that in 2006.
aware guy hit home runs seen type
He may not have seen live pitching, but he's the type of guy who wouldn't take long to resurrect his hand-eye coordination. I don't think he hit 700-and-something home runs by accident. I think you would have to be aware of him.
boils fact hit needed simply
It simply boils down to the fact that they got a hit when they needed it and we got a base-on-balls.
second sitting three top
It was just sitting in the zone. Three runs, and we're going to play catch-up from the top of the second inning on.
people special
He's a special player, a very special player. People know that in our game.
challenged challenges chance hearing maybe people situation succeed
Challenges are something that I like very, very much, ... I like hearing people say or maybe think that this is a situation you don't have a chance to succeed in, I'm very challenged by that.
field great helped left longer reach saw short somebody swing trying wall
He got out of his game. He got out of what helped to get him off to a great start. I saw a much longer swing in Houston. I saw a very short wall in left field and I saw somebody that was trying to reach it way too often.
aware extension fact
I was made aware of the fact that an extension was not something that would be a possibility.