Clint Hurdle Ball Quotations

He came in and helped Band-Aid things together and put himself in a good position for what might happen later on down the road. He built his confidence up. He pitched a lot better than he did last spring. He hit his spots, threw all his pitches for strikes and got the ball down.

You don't make the third out at third. You've been taught that since you're six years old. We talked about this the other day. We've done this twice now in the last three ball games.

His breaking ball was on the plate today. The game against San Diego, he kept missing with it. His command was much better today.

His fastball was short (Friday), and his command was mediocre. That being said, you're normally not able to make that statement and have a pitcher only give up one run in five-plus innings at Coors Field. So he deserves a pat on the back for that.

After the line of games he put together going into this start, I had my mind made up when I got to the ballpark that if he gave us good effort through six innings, that's going to be plenty. Leave his confidence at a high and turn it over to the people who have gotten us in position to build some of the momentum we've been building.

With production comes entitlement. If you play better you get more playing time, which means more opportunity. Cory has been on a successful run of late. He is stroking the ball well and playing great defense.

He's exhibited major-league power in the minor leagues and we've seen some flashes of it at this level. He's working hard in (batting practice) and he's working hard in the cage and hitting the ball hard where it's pitched.

He's hit some balls up here at this level that he didn't sniff in the past. Anything down, hard and away, anything down spinning away, he's really worked hard to make some adjustments, and it's really nice to see a guy that's worked that hard.

Hitting a Major League baseball. I wasn't that good at either one. I think I've got the marriage thing nailed down now and that took me three tries. I know I can't hit the fastball anymore.

It's Jason's time to take the next step, and sometimes when players can't get to certain places, it's up to a coach to take them there. I want him to know going in that I've got the confidence in him to do that. By giving him the ball Opening Day, I can't make a bigger statement than that.

He thinks he's found something, a little something to keep his head centered and still on the plate. He made better pitches. His fastball command improved as a the spring went on, his breaking ball sharpened up. He feels confident going into the season.

As far as production goes, it's at the bottom of his baseball card. But as far as leadership and the way he's rallied the team, it's at the top. This year has challenged him in a lot of different areas, made him stretch and grow in a lot of places and I think he has handled it well.

Because they're capable of doing it. And obviously I think the other team would be the first one to tell you, they're not pitching like they can or like they need to. They're probably leaving balls up over the plate. We're getting some balls to hit, and we're hitting them.

That was a tremendously well struck baseball with the wind blowing the way it was and to hit it over the scoreboard it was a quick four runs.

I want him to know that I have the confidence in him by giving him the ball opening day. I can't make a bigger statement.

has hit the ball harder with more consistency than anyone on this ballclub. Anytime you have Todd Helton on your ballclub, that's something.

I am having a blast watching Stewart play. That is a big day with a couple of hits coming off left-hand arms. He struck balls well in the big part of the ballpark. He is a good looking young player.

We can definitely get used to (having Kim around), because while he's had his trials and tribulations in other areas, he's playing good baseball for us.

If he's made a better play in his life in a baseball uniform, I'd like him to tell us about it.

That was a pretty swing. That's a tremendously well-struck baseball today with wind blowing the way it was, hit over the scoreboard.

He made them hit the ball on the ground with regularity. He made some good pitches.

He made nice strides this spring. He just needs to keep making the strides that he made. There was a point in time last season where we were having trouble throwing the ball around the infield. Now he threw the ball accurately, his release times were quick and efficient. I think he swung the bat efficiently. He's using his off-gap again from both sides. He had a good spring.

Sometimes a change of scenery can help out with the confidence level. That's as good an outing as you're going to see at this ballpark for as long as it stands here.

I think you saw the passion he has for competition. The way he kept after it and kept us in the ballgame - a couple early innings could have gone south on him. He didn't let it happen.

I never like to lose a ball game, but the degree of care in spring training isn't the same. You never want to be at the bottom at any point in time.

You've got a double-play ball if he catches it or lets it go. Then Tucker's ball hit his foot. If it was a double play, we wouldn't have run into all that other trouble. We had one bad inning in three days. We played good baseball here.

I don't think there was any big talk or meeting. It was the culmination of holding on to a perception. When you get to a point where you pitch, play defense and play smart baseball regularly, when the game gets clean, you win on the road.

When he plants his front foot and really stays behind his swing, he's got a little gap power. How it plays out, time will tell, but he has the ability to hit a ball out of the ballpark.

He pitched without the fastball we've seen previous to this,

He pitched a good ball game. He was very efficient, threw strikes and changed speeds. We've seen him in a Pirates uniform and he's a no-nonsense guy who comes right after people.

He only had five balls on the ground. He wasn't sharp.

The fact is, Kim pitched without a fastball or command of it. That's usually a recipe for disaster in this park.

You talk about being challenged and answering the challenge. He has hit the ball (recently) as well as I have ever seen him hit the ball.

We got enough mileage out of our long ball tonight before the marine layer hit. That's the latest I've seen the ball travel here in a long time.

Those are called shutdown innings. That's a big part of baseball. When you score, your opportunity to shut out the other team the next inning is there and you need to capitalize on them.

They all got themselves in real good baseball shape coming in. That's what you like to see the most.

He's got skills, but I told him they weren't playing out. And if the skills he has don't play out here, he would have to play Triple-A next year. It's very black and white. And maybe the idea of winter ball spurred him to have a good September.

What we need to do is play better baseball. And then there won't be a section closed down. There will be a section opened up.

It's a fine line between being intimidated and trying to play smart baseball and win a game.

He hit his spots, had a good split and worked his fastball on both sides of the plate. We're not on top of our game offensively and he didn't make it any easier on us.

He got the ball up early but settled in and gave us six strong innings. He was very effective.

We want to see his command, we want him to utilize his pitches, ... We also want to see him use his two-seam fastball and sinkerball.