John Gibbons Year Quotations

If we're going to do anything this year, we need a big year out of him. So the sooner he can get ready the better. He's feeling good.

From day one of spring training, he came in with mental toughness and helped set the tone for our team. He had an all-star year for us, so he's very valuable for us.

But it's his first year and he has done a pretty damn good job.

What we want him to do is get up there and turn it lose, ... He has a track record to prove he's a productive big league hitter. It's been a tough year for him. I think his timing is back.

Our bullpen has been very good all year but those guys are tired right now. Everybody's tired.

I think he may be a little tired. This is his first year doing it and what's affecting him now is his location. Usually you don't see it in velocity, you see it in location.

I think he may be a little tired, to be honest with you. He's in his first year doing it. I think what's affecting him right now is his location -- and you usually don't see it in velocity, you see it in location. ... At this time of year, definitely, you've got to make sure you don't just throw him out there when he may not be at his best.

It has been a long year but I look back at it more with a sense of satisfaction and optimism. I think we've learned a lot and we're ready to move forward.

We could go with Reed if he's in a particular lineup. We might have McDonald in there against certain lefties. There's some flexibility there. I expect Russ to be even better there this year after getting the first year under his belt.

Well, I'll tell you, about a year ago in November the National Zoo had its first litter of cheetah cubs born. And when we had them debut, the very first day, we had over about 2,500 people file through just for them. And I don't mean to make it a popularity contest, but they were nowhere near as popular before their debut as this panda cub.

We expect to compete all year long. In saying that, we haven't done anything yet. Talk is cheap.

We're going to need them. There are going to be days in the year we are going to have to call on them to do the job and hold the fort so we can try to win a game. They did that today.

Very few guys come along like that, once every 20, 30 years, guys who take the game by storm right out of the gates. Hernandez is just way ahead of most 19 year olds, that's the difference. Otherwise these guys don't get here that fast. Same thing with Gooden. I don't know about that comparison yet, but he'd be pretty good if he is.

He's still young enough. He can finish this year and go down to play some winter ball,

He's using the whole field. Last year he was primarily pull -- when he did things he was pulling the ball. He made a conscious effort to go back to using the whole field like he did when he first got here. He's a natural. He's a gifted athlete.

It's kind of a natural progression. The guy's got the stuff. He's starting to believe in himself, too. The first time up -- rookie year or whatever -- until you establish yourself, you're never sure if you belong. You feel like you almost live and die with every outing.

We expected to have a better team than we've had here in a while. The key is to play to good against the teams you're going to compete with all year because there's been optimism built up, expectations and you want to keep that going. You don't want to come out of the gate slow and let the teams you're trying to overtake in your division beat your brains in cause then everybody's like where's the progress?

There were days in spring training when I would approach him after he got a couple of at bats and ask him if he had had enough. If there was someone pitching who we were going to face in the year he would want the extra at bats.

I don't worry about these guys, ... They've shown up every night all year long. I haven't seen us tank it yet and I don't expect to.

He's not missing by much. But I would say that what's hurting him this year is a few too many mistakes ... like keeping the ball up.