Bullpen Quotations

There's been times where I've come out of the bullpen thinking I was going to throw a no hitter, and I've lasted two or three innings. So I try not to use my pre-game warm ups as a barometer of how I'm going to pitch.

In '05, '06, '07 and '08, I wasn't throwing any changeups at all. Maybe two or three per game. In '09, I started playing with the grip, started throwing it in the bullpen and playing catch. It came out really good.

I was feeling good during long toss but when I got to the bullpen it got a little tight. I didn't want to come out but they explained they don't want anything to happen to me. I appreciate that.

Let's be honest, Pedro for five innings is better than no Pedro at all. With the way our bullpen is going to be structured, having a day off Tuesday, it might not be so bad to have him out there for only five innings -- assuming he's healthy and that's the most important thing.

Shows consistency. But that's what my goal is: trying to be consistent as often as I can. I've said this (before): If you go out and be consistent and give this team a chance to win with the defense, offense and bullpen we have, we're going to win a lot of games.

Obviously, you lose two quality guys and you ask guys to do some things they haven't done before and you're hoping somebody can pick it up. The bullpen is a work in progress right now.

My leg cramped up in the eighth inning. It was like getting an elbow to the knee. I wanted to go back out and finish it, but it was best to let the bullpen finish it.

My legs got a little tired when I got around 90 pitches, but I was hoping if I could just keep it 3-2 after the second home run and get through the inning, maybe the bullpen could come in and pick up the last four.

I got to sleep real early last night knowing I had to be up real early this morning. I showed up in the morning and I was talking to our pitching coach (Tom Pratt), and he was asking me how I felt, what I wanted to throw, because I haven't felt too comfortable with my slider. But in the bullpen I felt like I had (the slider). I felt like I had everything.

I got us through six, ... But the bottom line is, our bullpen came in and picked me up when, reasonably, they could have been tired.

I'd like to see him play in the bullpen so he wouldn't be on the field,

I didn't miss any bullpen sessions. I just missed batting practice. You can throw all of the bullpens you want, and it's just not the same.

I don't expect perfection. Just keep us in the game, keep us around. You can't use the bullpen at that rampant of a pace.

I don't know that he's got everything he had back then. I don't think he throws as hard. But our scouting reports still say he's an effective set-up man, and he's going to make our bullpen stronger.

If we had gone 11-6 over the last 17 games, we would have won 89-90 games. That's all it would have taken. But you know, baseball is a game of luck, health and bounces. It's hard to play when guys you are counted on are injured. More than half your bullpen had injuries. It was like all the injuries happened at once hit us.

Last year was a pretty good bullpen. (Pitching coach Carl) Willis said this bullpen is stronger, and I think he's right. We proved today that we have a good bullpen.

We need a real potent bat in the lineup, we need starting pitching, we need some late-inning bullpen help and then we need to beef up our bench.

Miner pitched well, and the guys in the bullpen have thrown strikes and gone after guys. They're making some pitches when they have to. I'm really feeling good right now about the way the bullpen has pitched in these first two games.

Matt's ability to retire batters in tough situations makes him one of the premier set-up relievers in baseball. Last season, he had an important role in the bullpen and we're thrilled to have him for two more seasons.

The price was high, but to be able to get a proven bullpen arm who has pitched at a championship level, it was too good to pass up.

The price was very high, ... But to get a prime bullpen arm, you have to give up something.

I hate to do too much of a diagnosis without talking to everyone. I think there are some pitching needs. There were some positive steps at the end with the bullpen getting settled. But defending your own turf is a big issue. Winning at home and doing better at home are important things.

I have a pretty good idea of what areas you can cross into and what areas you can't cross into when you're a bullpen coach,

Halsey, that was a great effort by him. And the bullpen came through again.

Half of our bullpen drives pickup trucks, ... They go hunting. They don't go to South Beach on their off days.

I can't say enough about our bullpen coming in and picking me up. I'm a control pitcher, so I don't rely on great velocity anyway. It wasn't a big deal for me. I was able to move the ball around a little bit and got away with a few pitches.

From my understanding, yes, I'm competing for a bullpen spot. It is subject to change at any time.

I feel much better about our bullpen right now.

I don't remember how I got from the bullpen to the mound.

Certainly it would be a little disappointing. But the bottom line is I didn't go to the bullpen because I pitched poorly last year.

Ian pitched his heart out tonight and really deserved for something good to come out of this start. Unfortunately, our bullpen could not shut Evansville down and we lost another game late due to a big inning.

Building a bullpen calls for going from the back forward. Having an established closer like Nathan along with a reliable setup guy in Juan Rincon is a key. Then we had Jesse Crain emerge as a quality sixth- and seventh-inning reliever.

Bullpen, I think, is the most unpredictable part of the game, for me. You can build a quality bullpen so many ways. What I want is to slip a few pieces of it in and then bring in a lot of quality arms, then sort it out from there.

Burgos has done pretty good, but this has our bullpen out of synch -- it puts everybody in different roles, whatever those are.

I don't know what other bullpen is better in the major leagues. I really don't. We have four setup guys and one of the best closers in baseball. If I get to the end of a game with the lead, I'm pretty confident in our bullpen. That's the strength of our team.

I felt good in the bullpen and even when we came out in the first inning I felt fairly good.

I felt kind of down in the beginning of the year down in the bullpen. But the bullpen helped me out a lot, getting my confidence back, and I'm taking that out there every day now.

I felt great out there. I felt comfortable warming up in the bullpen and just took it out there on the mound with me.

But the bullpen did a great job and my teammates helped me out.

Having Marquis in the bullpen is probably going to help a little bit. Even though some probably are going to say their bullpen is a little suspect right now, I don't look at it that way.

He's a great pitcher, but that doesn't mean we have to lose a series to a team I think we're better than. We're going to make all their other pitchers throw strikes and make their bullpen beat us.

He's a bullpen guy. I don't think there is any doubt that's the role he's best cut out for.

We talked a lot about mechanics. Being tall, when something mechanical can go wrong, it goes wrong in a hurry. We talked about what he watches out for and the things he does in his bullpen sessions. It was good stuff.

Huddy struggled in the one inning again, but that was about it. And the bullpen was good again. It's on a roll right now.

Huge ... having a start like Zach did for us today, there was no option but getting him that win. It showed how we can match up in the bullpen. We haven't been able to do that. When we can, this bullpen is going to be tough to crack.

We may be in a situation now that we don't need to (piggyback starters). Depending on the game, you look at what your bullpen brings. We're just looking at the schedule now figuring where we need to slot people.

Having a big game like I did tonight and having a game where I'm able to keep my pitch count down through nine innings is going to help out the bullpen the rest of the weekend.

He could be a lot like Scott Eyre, ... He has the same type of breaking ball, a 92 to 93 mph fastball. You don't see too many bullpen guys like that.

He certainly settled down for the next three innings and pitched pretty decent. We got the lead and the bullpen did a nice job for three innings." ()

He was in the bullpen for them earlier in the year, and I think that was only his seventh start. Left-handed, running it up there at 92 with a good breaking ball, he was definitely carving us up. He threw very, very well.

He was really focused this winter and it showed right away with his bullpen quality. It just looked like he really came here meaning business from the very first day. It looks like he has the potential to get back to where he was and go beyond.

He didn't really pitch deep into the game against the Yankees. He's done it before this year, and he came out in flying colors so we're confident he's going to get to a point in his game where we have some of the arms in the bullpen we're going to get to.

He has been the foundation of our bullpen since 1993. And it's great to know that he'll continue to close out games and pursue major-league records in a Padres uniform.

He is going to be built up as a starter. With the rehab, he needs to be built up that way. You can't retard the progress by putting him in the bullpen and limiting the innings and pitches. He is going to need to get the work as a starter.

He was dodging bullets all the time. Your luck sometimes runs out but we got out of here with what we wanted. Five or six innings, 85-100 pitches. And we had enough guys in the bullpen ... he did his share and the rest of the guys picked him up.

He was dominating the strike zone. We stressed that in the bullpen session earlier in the week.

He's had some issues with volatility, but we felt that he probably was the only available bullpen guy at that time of that ilk. And we needed one. He ended up being a very good acquisition for us.

He's got 13 wins. That's a difference maker with the amount of injuries we've had to our pitching staff this year. We were able to dip down in the bullpen and have him start - good start after good start, five, six, seven innings every time out, giving us a chance to win.

(Good defense) affects you in a lot of ways. It prevents your pitcher from throwing too many pitches in one inning. It gives your bullpen a rest because your starter may be able to go a little deeper into games. Cameron is going to save games with his glove.

He's a very experienced bullpen arm. The landscape of relief pitchers is fairly inconsistent year to year, but Dan has remained consistent.

He's a very good guy, he's a great teammate. He's good in the bullpen with the younger guys and he's free with his advice and he speaks his mind and sometimes it isn't always a kind remark. To be a true teammate, something needs to be said when it needs to be said. He's the type of person who will do that.

He's a very important part of the team. When he's pitching well at the back end of our bullpen it really allows everyone to fall into place.

He's been there and done that and he knows the game very well. He can help out the bullpen a lot and give them a lot of advice because he's been there and he was very good at what he did.

Hopefully, we can work a few more fastballs in there. At the end of the year, I was able to locate my fastball better. That's what I've been working on in the side sessions. I've maybe thrown 10 sliders in the bullpen. I've been basically working on fastballs and being able to locate it and be aggressive. That's the one thing you'll see out of the whole bullpen this year is going after guys. You sit around and talk, and that's the mentality that it'll be.

He's been doing a good job for us. Beverly's been giving us five or six good innings each time, and we've been able to keep his pitch count down. He could go longer, but we want to make sure we use everybody in the bullpen and try not to wear ourselves down before the end of the year.

He's been great and I think that's been a big boost for our bullpen. To put him in a bullpen that's already got some pretty good arms is huge.

He's getting an opportunity, and he's taking advantage of it. He's been good from the first bullpen (of spring). He came in ready. He has the attitude that he wants to make this club.

He's going to catch a bullpen (session) or two.

(If) I put McCarthy there, I have six guys with no experience in the playoffs in the bullpen and now a rookie to close the game. El Duque knows about the playoffs.

He does it every year. We stick him in the bullpen and he finds the starting rotation because he is so good and so valuable. I'd like to have two of him -- one in the bullpen and one starting.

He gave the bullpen a real nice breather.

He looked good in the bullpen before the game. He just could not find the plate.

Just take a little breather and let the bullpen come in. They did a nice job. I don't need to go out there every time and pitch seven, eight innings.

Just one or two pitches, and then things got out of hand. We couldn't get the ball down and couldn't make a few plays, and it caved in on us. It was all of a sudden, boom. It was a great 2-1 ball game, and then ... you've got to make pitches. And the bullpen has been a bright spot for us this season. They've been strong for us. They gave it up tonight, but they've been consistent.

My role, because I'm versatile, it can change, and it still could, ... Even if I run off four more victories, I could be in the bullpen for the entire playoffs. I'm just happy to be a part of the roster of the Red Sox and be solid on this team.

Like Mac said, I was trying to throw too hard, and that's maybe why I was everywhere, so we made a trip to the bullpen today and I felt better. The velocity was better.

Look at his arm, his age. He's got a chance to be a very good starter. I don't think we're even considering the bullpen right now. He's got too much going for him the other way.

Marks was really special. I thought he was the key. Those three zeroes gave us a chance to get to their bullpen a little bit. I thought that was the difference in the game.

I saw the effort (Friday) by the guys in the bullpen and I knew I needed to push myself a little more.

Javy did his job tonight, the bullpen did their job tonight. We couldn't get the hit with men in scoring position.

Jay brought an element we haven't had in the bullpen here for a while. We started right after the season talking to him about coming back. The fact he was honest about coming back allowed us to get it done so quickly.

Jason did what we needed in our pitching system, staying away from the three-run inning. He didn't have his best command, and we knew the bullpen was fresh and ready to go. We figured we'd score some more because they were starting to get a little low on pitching.

Names don't win games. We have to go out and swing the bats more. You don't want to fall behind this club because their bullpen is pretty good.

I thought he was trying to be too perfect. I told him we needed to be competitive because the bullpen was getting ready to warm up. He responded.

It hasn't really affected us that much. We've had our own storm going on in the bullpen all year long, so nothing's different now.

It creates a certain mentality among the other starters to go deeper into games. It makes your bullpen so much better. Everybody knows their roles. It helps save the bullpen.

I was just so proud of how the team battled, really unbelievable. I didn't pitch well, but I can't feel bad the way the team played behind me and the bullpen came in and shut the door.

I was just trying to keep my team in the game. I wanted to throw five, at least, and get the game to the bullpen. I was hoping we could score some runs, so that the bullpen could do (its) job.

I talked to Matt and I talked to Chris Doering, and I told them to stay in the bullpen for one more year, ... You never know.

Last Friday night, we only struck out four times and we got a (complete game) thrown against us. So sometimes the strikeouts get pitch count up and allow you to get into the bullpen a little quicker. I think we gave (Schmidt) maybe one easy inning, but for the most part, you do the best you can against that guy. He's tremendous.

I think the early bullpen injuries really threw us out of sync, ... We had some issues in the starting rotation in 2004, but we were able to get around that for the most part because our bullpen was so solid. But this year, we didn't have that same thing going for us.

I think we're in good shape for the rest of this series, pitching-wise. I'm hoping I won't even have to use the bullpen tomorrow night (tonight) with (Grant) Dorn and Can (Oil Can Boyd) pitching for us.

Our pitching has been coming around. The starters have been giving us plus innings and the bullpen has been holding it. The confidence level has risen big time around here - you can feel it.

Our pitching. I told them that we're not going to do anything unless we pitched well. Our starters have done a nice job and our bullpen has been much better.

Our pitching was outstanding this series and I really thought our bullpen was good.

Our starting pitching has been consistent and our bullpen seems to be stabilized. We are playing pretty good baseball right now.

Our starting pitching wasn't what we thought. (Jason) Schmidt started opening day. Kirk Rueter was the second day. Then (Brett) Tomko, then Lowry. Then the whole picture changed. Rueter's not even here now. Tomko is in the bullpen twice. Lowry is our No. 2, and we don't have a No. 3. We have three children we could throw in any order.

Our bullpen came through. Kelvim shined the whole night. Kelvim made some big pitches and gave us a big lift.

Our bullpen came up big time tonight. Gustavo struggled. He might be getting a little tired. He's closing in on that 200-inning marker. His last couple of starts, his ball has been up.

Our bullpen did a great job, and we dodged some bullets,