Pitcher Quotations | Page 6

Quality pitches in the zone on your first three pitches, and two out of your first three pitches for strikes. We'd like for a pitcher to throw 12 to 15 pitches an inning.

Sometimes when a young pitcher gets to the point where he's pitching pretty good, he thinks he's being lucky. (Capuano) is realizing he's pitching good because he is good.

Sometimes that's what happens. Used in another role, given a different opportunity - a pitcher finds his strength.

Sam has thrown four outstanding games in a row, and when we can put some offense up early, it's always going to help a good high school pitcher to stay calm and go after them.

(Teams) all prepare better for better pitching now. Your pitcher has to be able to do other things now. You just can't throw it by people.

Our seniors at the top of the lineup do a great job of leading us. All the girls look to them to get us going, as well as looking to Brittney as both a pitcher and a hitter.

Fast-pitch softball is a pitcher dominated game. You're going to have to be able to handle no-hitters. The team that made the fewest mistakes won.

First of all, Nick is a terrific natural athlete. We figured he would be a good quarterback because he is a star pitcher on the baseball team. But we still weren't sure what to expect because Nick had never played the position before.

Errors just killed us today. We're very young with only one senior. The Hope pitcher is probably the best we've seen so far this year, but I was really proud of the way we hung in there and never gave up.

Especially in the U.S., people liken it to a starting pitcher or a starting quarterback, and hockey's different. You're the starter the night you're playing. The night you're not, you're the backup. I don't think a lot about it. You could be the starter to start the season and then two games into the season you find yourself on the bench and vice versa.

Especially the last couple of days people were very excited, more excited than I was, ... I was eager to see how things were going to turn out, but I slept easy (Wednesday) night. ... I'm the second-best pitcher in the National League, which is not that dang bad.

Everything was up. He struggled getting his breaking ball over the plate, so he became a one-pitch pitcher and they're a good hitting ball club.

There's no denying work ethic and creativity. He wasn't an overpowering pitcher during his career. He had to find every angle possible to compete and have success, which he did. So he brings in a different viewpoint.

There's not another relief pitcher out there who has done what Trevor has done, consistently, year in and year out. In my opinion, he has been the best closer over the last decade. He should, therefore, be compensated as being the elite of the elite.

We have to be ready to play. We're a good team, but their pitcher went seven innings and that will win it for you.

Why? His body type, his arm action was real fluid and he had a good, strong arm -- and he wasn't much of a hitter. He just looked like a pitcher to me.

Without the veteran ball club we have, we could have very easily gotten swept, especially against a pitcher like Brad. They beat Mo last night, and this could have turned into a disaster. You give away a game, then get beat, and it turns into something bad. We got the taste out of our mouths.

Thomas faked a late steal and the pitcher bit by throwing to first. It's actually a play we practiced on for about a half hour the day before the game.

We got impatient, we were undisciplined, we chased. But sometimes that type of pitcher makes you do that.

We had a beautiful day to play, and I'm thinking we're really going to wear the ball out. But we didn't hit the ball well at all. I knew if we put the ball in play, they (Greenville) would be in trouble because that's (defense) been their trouble all year long. Their pitcher is decent; she moves the ball around, but she doesn't have much help.

We just have to use this as a learning experience and get back on track for the rest of our conference schedule. We go to Camden Tuesday and they've got a pitcher a lot like the one we saw today, so maybe this will do us some good.

I've become a better pitcher because I've learned to economize.

I've become a better pitcher because I've learned to economize, ... I can throw four or five days in a row, and when Felipe (Alou) gets me up, I almost always come into the game, so there isn't a lot of wasted energy.

The whole first period I was thinking about it, ... Whoops, there's two minutes. Whoops, there's another two minutes. It's like telling a pitcher he can't throw curveballs because we need home runs.

The whole first period I was thinking about it. Whoops, there's two minutes. Whoops, there's another two minutes. It's like telling a pitcher he can't throw curveballs because we need home runs.

Thirty-five games from now, I have a feeling Cedric will be a different pitcher than he is now.

You're always happy when you can get a Triple-A or big-league pitcher because most, as a whole, know what they are doing. Finding a way to win a game or go five innings when you don't have your best stuff is what pitching is all about.

You're at a slight disadvantage (batting eighth) because the pitcher is behind you. That makes it harder because you don't see as many pitches to hit.

You're going to have your 0-for-4 days, but you don't want to have days on defense when you're going to cost the pitcher a run or two, so you have to stay sharp on defense.

You're missing someone who should be high on the list. Al Lopez knew pitching. He knew when a guy was losing it. He didn't take the pitcher out after he lost the lead; he took him out before he lost it. He was a catcher and knew the game. He's first on my list.

In all my years as a pitching coach I've only done what I feel is right to help a pitcher get better, and my experience has been that I've been able to help a lot of pitchers.

I let my pitcher talk me into leaving him in and I probably left him in too long. But in that situation, he's a senior and he's been good for us all year.

After Tuesday night, we had a meeting. I told them that there's no excuse for our pitcher getting 15 strikeouts and us not being able to get six outs without giving up some runs. We had been practicing kind of sluggish, and that carries over. But we bounced back Thursday and started hitting the ball. It was a good mental victory.

I never claimed to be anything other than the type of pitcher that I am, which is to go out and battle as hard as I can to get a win. And it worked. Everybody wants to harp on last year, but I was gone for the heart of the year, hurt.

I know what type of pitcher I can be.

I know what I can do. I know what type of pitcher I can be, and if I take care of my business and prove things to myself, right there that helps this team, because as a pitcher, you're the one with the ball. You have the control of the situations you're in.

I know South, with (Jackie) Eads, has the best pitcher around. We'll see someone just as good or better down here. It's not going to be something new. She won't be anything new to us.

I know they've been going through a tough time. When you score some runs like that against probably the best pitcher in the league this year, it may have taken the wind out of their sails.

I'm a smarter pitcher now. With more pitches to rely on, I've been a lot more effective.

I'm a totally different pitcher than I was at the beginning of the year,

If (pitch counts) were a panacea to our problems, I'd be all for it. But disabled lists are loaded with pitchers. There's hardly a pitcher living anymore that hasn't had surgery.

If somebody decided to use their best pitcher on Tuesday, he might be available on Saturday. Otherwise, I think everyone will be out (of pitching) by then.

I like to think of it as we're all equal. Maybe we don't get as many innings as we would like, but if one of us gets into trouble, we always have a strong pitcher to back us up.

I'm not sure what happened, I expected our bats to come alive at any time. It was mind-boggling. We scored 10 runs on this pitcher the last time we played them, but tonight it was a different story.

I'm talking with Mac almost every time I'm catching somebody in a game or in the 'pen just about that pitcher -- for one, I know that guy's stuff and I'll review it. And Mac gets feedback from me because I've got the best view in the house.

I'm used to pitching a lot so as far as endurance, physically I was fine; but it definitely helps to have another pitcher to give the team you're playing a different look but I don't think it put them at a disadvantage. I felt fine but things happen that way sometimes.

I'm not trying to hit people, but at the same time hitters were very comfortable facing me last year, much more so last year than any year in the past. But there's something you can do about that as a pitcher and you've got to be proactive and do it.

I have no excuses. I've always been a control pitcher and think of myself as a strike thrower. I've never experienced control problems like today. I didn't make adjustments, and we all paid for it.

I'm just like the relief pitcher in the bullpen keeping my arm warm until they call on me. That's the role I take. It provides great continuity for recruiting, just for the direction of the program.

I'm interested to see if he's a pitcher only or a hitter only with the scouts.

I like that kid a lot. He's a fighter and he wants the job. Sosa pitched well last year, and we have six guys who can do it, but Davies is certainly in the mix. He might have to go the pen, but we want him to be a starter. He's going to be a major league pitcher for a long time.

I'm really looking to Violette to be our top strikeout pitcher with a year under his belt. MacDonald and Miller are right there with him and the other four guys all have the ability to pitch well for us.

I liked what I saw. He just got a ball up (in the strike zone) on the home run. I know what he can do. He's a ground-ball pitcher and he knows he's got to keep the ball down to be successful.

I'm like a pitcher in the bullpen, keeping my arm warm. When they call me, I'll be ready to go.

I'm just swinging. To be able to get a big hit and put that much pressure on the pitcher is key.

If you can figure out a way to get a pitcher up here, with all of our players down and hurt, and tell me who you want to take off this roster to bring a pitcher up here .

If you've got a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, you don't take him out and rest him and try to bring him back.

I've had him tell me, 'In the third inning, I'm going to get that guy to pop out to third base,' and then he does it. I've seen us score five or six runs in the fifth inning to put the game away, and he'll come up to me and say, 'How far do you want me to go? Do you want nine? Or does the bullpen need the work, and I'll go seven?' His game plan is going to be different if he's going nine or seven. I've never seen a pitcher think the way he does.

I've got to hit better with two strikes. I have to make the pitcher throw the ball down where I can hit it hard. If he throws it high and I swing I'll just pop it up.

I hope that they felt when I was taking the ball today that we were going to win the game. That's the type of pitcher I want to be.

I just can't figure this team out. I really can't. The more a pitcher struggles, or the higher the ERA is, the worse we do.

I'm going through a really tough time, but I'm know that I'm a better pitcher than I'm showing right now. I'm thinking positive. I'm sure this is going to end and I'm going to have a great season.

I'm proud of our guys for the way they competed. We faced a top-notch pitcher today and our guys had no fear. They think they belong.

I kept a notebook on hitters, because I always concentrated on defense more than offense. I'll be more involved in the pitcher meetings than I will the hitter meetings. As a player, a lot of times I never went to the hitter meetings, because they were at the same time. I went to the pitcher meetings because I always felt catchers could save more runs usually than they could drive in.

I kept telling our kids not to press and just stay relaxed against a pitcher like that.

I'm going to cherish this for a long time. He's a pitcher I grew up idolizing and wanted to be like.

As soon as he didn't break, it didn't cross my mind until after the fact that the pitcher was on first and even though I had to get up, I might have had a shot at getting him at second. If you get a late break on Rollins, nine times out of 10, he's going to beat you to the bag.

(St. Joseph's) pitcher pitched a great game. We just didn't hit. We couldn't get anything through.

That first pitcher they threw at us did a good job through four innings, but when they brought those other guys in we were able to break the game open.

Everybody made good contact. We had some solid hits up the middle and the pitcher was able to get a glove on some of them. She was throwing 50 miles per hour ? you need to be (throwing) 55 to get much movement on the ball ? and 48-50 we've always struggled hitting. We'll pop it up. Tonight, we showed we could make the adjustments.

Takashi Saito is a very versatile pitcher who has been a starter, reliever and closer. We believe his experience over 14 years in Japan will give him the opportunity to make the Dodgers in 2006.

That is unwarranted that he got tossed. An opposition batter charges the mound and our pitcher gets tossed? That is an absolute joke.

Any time you face a pitcher the caliber of Chris Carpenter, you get one opportunity against him. He started quick and it took us until the seventh to get our opportunity to crack through.

It usually takes a couple innings for us to catch up with a pitcher and get used to her. It was like a chain reaction today once we started hitting.

It was a disappointing outing for Zach. He still has a shot at all-conference and pitcher of the year. Alex did a super job of keeping us in the game when we were tied.

Once I was able to get a pitcher who was more affordable and who we liked as good or better, the deal happened rather quickly.

A pitcher can be the leader among the pitchers and be there for anyone who wants to approach him. But he is not that one guy who will go to a hitter and get in his face. Sometimes you need a leader and arms of that leader on the pitching staff, bullpen and the reserves. A position player can cross the line and doesn't mind going over to talk to the pitchers. But pitchers are kind of hesitant to go over to the offensive side of it.

A pitcher is like a goalie in hockey. If you have a good goalie, you can have a mediocre team around them and they can pick you up.

A pitcher like him, you would expect him to get it together and go on a pretty good run.

A pitcher should throw the ball over the plate. He shouldn't be throwing at the guy's head. You can pitch inside, but you don't throw at someone's head. There's no other way to say it. He hit him in the head. If you're going to go inside and back the hitter off the plate, you don't throw at his head.

Any time you've got a power pitcher who throws a breaking ball for a strike, it sets things up much better.

Anytime you go deep on a pitcher in early BP like this, you've got to tip your hat to them, because those guys are way ahead of us.

Anytime you can get the first run against a quality pitcher it's a big run.

It's not a major injury, but in a baseball player, particularly a pitcher ... you've got to be very cautious and very conservative.

All players would be lying if they said they didn't know a pitcher was throwing a no-hitter -- whether it would be their team or the other team. You look up on that board, you know you don't have any hits. I had never been part of a no-hitter. I didn't want that to happen, either.

It's great for another young guy, another good pitcher to match up against. But like I've said many times, it doesn't really matter who's on the other mound. I'm focused on what I can do.

It's got to be frustrating. Any pitcher that goes out there and that happens to you, it's got to be frustrating when he's been pitching so well.

It's pretty amazing what those guys are saying to themselves, what their thought process is. Every pitcher could benefit from that, not just Victor.

It's opened some things up for my playing time, personally. And I think getting (Bronson) Arroyo here - I've faced him a lot and he's a quality pitcher who will help out a lot. It's a good thing.

That's been the biggest one, just since he's a Cardinal pitcher and he's a local guy and actually in the show. He's just a class-act guy. Watching him throw bullpens has been cool, not just for me, since I'm a Cardinal fan, but for the kids.

Their pitcher did a great job. He kept the ball down, moved it in and out and generally kept us off-balance. And we didn't do a very good job attacking the ball today at all.

Their pitcher gets out on the mound and handed us our lunch. The kids did not make any adjustments. They all still tried to pull the ball.

Their pitcher had trouble finding the plate and we had timely hits there.

Their pitcher is arguably one of the best pitchers in Division III softball right now. She's one of five pitchers with 1,000 strikeouts.

Their pitcher locates really well. She can put the ball right where she wants it and kept us off balance all night.

Their pitcher struggled in the first. He walked three of the first four batters and we jumped on the opportunity.

Their pitcher threw a great game and they played good defense behind him. Things just went their way and we came up short.

Their pitcher threw that change-up a lot, and the girls said they couldn't pick it up.

Their pitcher was aware. Wood did a great job there. Most pitchers would catch the ball and start arguing with the umpire. He was very aware. He turned around looked home. He did a great job on that play.

Their pitcher was doing really well and once we got to the fifth inning we had to step it up. We had a couple of breaks and that turned into a huge inning.