Bryan Price Guys Quotations

My goals with these guys the first time or two they touch the ball is to throw the ball over the plate, and he did that.

Nobody wants to miss part of Spring Training. Not only do you have to get your arm in shape, but you have to get a feel for your delivery and feel for your release point and I think that's probably where he felt a little naked heading into the season. He just didn't have the innings the other guys had.

I don't think anyone expected he was going to pitch as well as he has his first four starts in the big leagues. I didn't anticipate the command and poise and amount of ground balls he has gotten. He has been a strikeout/ground-ball machine. Not a lot of guys get the ball in the air against him.

Some times lack of success is just lack of experience. So what we have to figure out with the young guys is what was missing. Was it a command issue? Was it related to emotional distress? Or were there some things physically that they weren't doing that didn't allow them to be successful.

There's so much more when you get to the big leagues than a young player can anticipate. And that's beyond the pressures of trying to pitch well from the start. So we will have a good long talk about some of the things that can end up being unexpected hurdles when guys get here.

To a man, our guys have come in and thrown the ball over the plate. Like a lot of staffs, getting the first one under their belts is sometimes the most tenuous. But our guys have come in and done an absolutely great job at working ahead in the count, establishing a low strike zone and challenging the hitter.