Ricky Bennett Quotations

He's a very mature kid. He keeps everything in perspective. He's not looking too far down the road. He understands he still has to do some things before he gets to the big leagues. He's good with the media, he's a good teammate and he's going to be big part of our future.

He's done everything we've asked. It looks like he's in shape and ready for 2006.

His win-loss numbers aren't that great, but we're pretty pleased with the way he's gone about his business and the way he interacts with his teammates.

Last year before he got hurt he was lights out. He put up good numbers. I think he?s going to get better as he gets stronger and becomes more durable. I think he?s got a chance to help us in Houston.

He doesn't throw it a whole lot in games, but at least he's trying something he can work on going into next year.

He?s really made an impression on everybody in camp. We went over to a big-league game the other day, and he was very impressive to the staff, the way he goes about his business, the way he plays the game. He?s very focused. He understands what he needs to do to get better as a player and he?s going to work at it every day. He?s moving fast.

He'll get a lot of reps early in spring training, and if he shows us he can handle Class AA, that's not out of the question. That's something he's probably shooting for personally.

This is about the time that you see an increase in velocity. The scar tissue from the surgery is pretty much done. A player usually gets a comfort level of being over the surgery, and I think that's where Taylor is at this point. His arm feels great and he's got a lot of confidence now.

The question becomes, do we re-sign him and take him through that whole ordeal again? We don't know.

As he gets closer to returning to action, we'll send him back up there and start doing baseball activities.