Kevin Millwood Quotations

I threw too many bad pitches. I stopped locating pitches. It was a frustrating day, whether it was opening day or not. I'd be frustrated by this kind of performance in July. I'd be frustrated by this kind of performance if I won. I expect a lot more out of myself.

Sometimes, it's tougher to face guys you don't really know. I think I faced three or four of those guys in the past.

Facing batters who are swinging the bat gave me a chance to see whether I'm being deceptive with my pitches. The best thing was having an umpire behind the plate for the first time. It gave me a better read about what I'm doing instead of having coaches tell me my pitches look good.

It's been pretty frustrating. It's obviously not the start I'd like to get off to, but there are a lot of good things I can take from today and build on. After the first inning, I pitched pretty well. I felt like I was able to settle in and get a lot of guys out after that.

I was trying to get my mechanics straightened out and I think it paid off. I felt normal for the first season, even in Spring Training. Seeing it is not enough, I need to feel it and tonight I could feel I was in the right groove.

I was tired of being on one-year contracts. It was nice to have a good year in a free-agent year and be able to get a longer deal. It's made me more confident and mentally got me back to where I was a couple of years ago.

Being No. 1 only counts in the first round. Everybody has to believe they're No. 1 when they go out there or you're in trouble. ... It's all about giving your team a chance to win and avoiding long losing streaks.

You can number your starters one through five if you want. But every guy that goes out there has got to pitch like a No. 1 guy. If you don't, then you're in trouble.

I was working on throwing changeups and fastballs to certain spots. It felt pretty good out there. Yeah, I'd say I'm where I want to be at this point.

This will be my third opener. The first at home. I'm looking forward to that.