Bryan Price Quotations

We're going to familiarize ourselves with (Hernandez) so we can get a pretty good idea, as we enter the season, of what we can expect with him as far as workload goes. I don't want to say, though, that because he threw 125 innings or so last year, that he's not capable of throwing 180 or 190 innings this year. It will all be based on how he feels.

What he's doing in the present is beyond anyone's expectations. The maturity is unequaled.

We're going to have to work a bit on growing up.

We want him completely healthy, and we want his mechanics sound. Until that happens, he won't pitch.

We hope to see some real signs of the rotation coming to life in the last month. Or, inevitably, you're going to have to make a decision.

My feeling was somewhere in the last couple of days it just didn't look like I would be involved, that I was going to be a consideration for the managerial position.

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 have enjoyed my time here, but after 18 years I think it is time for me to go somewhere else. For me to keep growing as a coach I need to get out of my comfort zone and this is a way to do that.

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.

He hasn't done anything that suggests that he isn't ready to be here from a physical or emotional standpoint. He has the persona. He has a complete understanding that he has a lot of talent and that he's utilizing his talent. He has a delivery and an aura that represent a confident force.

He has to learn that a 95 mph pitch in the middle of the plate is not a good pitch.

He is kind of a combination of everything we have in the rotation. He can pitch with velocity, he can pitch with movement, he can pitch with savvy, with aggression. He is a real pro. He covets information, and he utilizes it.

He has some decisions to make. I'd like to make myself available to him if he has some questions about me or what he an expect from me as a coach. I know the organization and myself would love to have him on the staff.

We throw him a lot of hard stuff inside. A lot of teams do that. But he doesn't miss against us. He's got our number.

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'll be a guy that's going to eat a lot of innings. That's important.

It didn't look like I would be considered for the managerial position.

I think that Gil will be pitching for us again this year; that's my expectation. But the idea is to get him 100 percent healthy. There's no need to rush.

I think were asking a little too much to think about it having that kind of impact. But it's not going to do any damage whatsoever. It would be nice to see some effect from it. It's going to be a pretty important final month for Matt.

Sure, I'm interested in Arizona, of course. But beyond the obvious connection between Bob and I, I'm just as much interested in making sure that this would be a good fit for me beyond that.

My philosophy is that really good pitchers know their mechanics and are able to self-correct when the game is on the line. A pitching coach can't go out there every time there's a tough situation.

We're really pleased. He's been very vocal to our staff, that he's here to serve them. He puts the lion's share of his focus on defensive play. He's a real pro. Pitchers sometimes shake to the wrong pitch. The sign of a real good catcher is that he runs out there and doesn't let the pitcher make that mistake. He's shown a propensity to do that. I'm really impressed.

We didn't see any significant velocity until the last five, six, seven starts. He's throwing the ball better and the velocity has been on the increase the past four or five starts.

We're not trying to saddle up Freddy and have him carry us into the postseason. We just need him to be a significant, reliable contributor to the starting rotation.

The contrast in their pitches is significant. Yet both of them are positioning themselves to help us in their own way. If you looked at them side-by-side, you may not notice Jeff. Felix does it in an awe-inspiring way, Jeff just does it.

Thornton is progressing, has progressed this year. Matt has not only had limited big-league experience, but limited experience, period.

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.

Everyone was pretty confident he was going to pitch better than the league, which he did, and he was going to force our hand, which he did.

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.

There's just a strong feeling that we need to have options. When you lose 99 games, you open yourself up to change.

The romanticism of a voyage, for whatever age, is here and alive aboard the QE2.

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 been nothing to suggest he'll crack when he is challenged more. I see consistency in his work ethic, routine and demeanor.

It's just being smart. We want to see where he's at in a day or two. If he's in good throwing shape, he'll be ready to go.

It was encouraging to see him play a nice game of catch today without any reservations or restrictions. He looked good. He seemed to feel pretty good.

It's nothing serious, it's soreness we're told to expect as he starts throwing harder and harder. It's soreness, but it's not in the same area he hurt in April.

It's a matter of familiarity. Working together, catchers get to know what pitchers like to throw in situations, like with two strikes. They know what a pitcher can do, and can't.

It's hard not to get overly excited about him.

It wasn't as pretty a line score as I'm certain he would have hoped for but it had no relevance in my eyes.

It was OK. He's still on a day-to-day basis. We haven't scratched him, but we are certainly going to see how he feels tomorrow, especially since he threw a pretty lengthy 'pen today.

I'm overwhelmed and frustrated. I don't know what the difference is.

He's a professional. He brings savvy. He brings a different element. There's a lot more that comes to the park with El Duque beyond his stuff.

If he's on, you'll see a guy pitching so far beyond his years it's frightening.

I don't think he'd be here if we considered him raw and vulnerable. The real challenges lie in just preparing him or dealing with the things he's going through for the first time that most 19-year-olds are going through in rookie ball.

He came back and really gave us a chance to win. He comes out and establishes that he's going to throw strikes, and that gets him into a good rhythm.

He really commanded the low part of the strike zone and he pitched ahead in the count. His ball-strike ratio was outstanding (28-61). His two previous starts he was up in the zone and he pitched behind in the count.