Joe Girardi :
Joe said that he felt the relievers are building back arm strength, for example, Tommy Hunter and that should reflect in continued better performances. He felt all the pitchers in the game threw the ball well. Arrieta in particular was doing very well and would have remained in the game had the rain delay not happened.
When asked about the dugout conversation with Hector Neris he said that it was to tell him that he threw the ball well. Joe felt that Hector had struck out Robles ( so did I ) but didn’t get the call.
Asked if Arrieta might have come out after the delay, he said that after it had reached 45 minutes they decided he wouldn’t continue, if there had been no delay there was no doubt that Jake would have continued in the game. He also said Third Baseman Jean Segura’s play that turned into a double play was huge and that Jean has been a great teammate, is happy, smiling and joking ... relaxed and has openly accepted playing any defensive position.
Jake Arrieta :
He said that in his last bullpen session that he worked on release point ... that sometimes it sways to where it’s evident to the hitters that the ball coming out of his hand will not be in the strike zone. He felt that he was very consistent in this game in keeping the ball down in the zone and had great movement. He also said the defense behind him was very good, that his approach is to pitch to contact and the defense is key.
When asked about Hector’s recent struggles he said that Hector works very hard and will figure it out ... that when he’s off it’s not by much and that by working each day with the coaches he has no doubt that Hector will get back on track. It’s an anomaly when Hector doesn’t have success, is very talented and the team has full confidence in him.
Speaking about the team offense he said that teams that score a lot of runs are usually very successful. He said that Alec Bohm looks like a seasoned veteran hitter and that he’s happy to see him having success. All players will go thru ups and downs and that the challenges the team has encountered thus far this season in regards to inconsistent games have been an obstacle but that now they seem to have a chance to play every day that he expects things to pick up for everyone.
JT Realmuto :
He said he didn’t think the home run he hit was going out, that he felt he got under it and thought it was going to bounce off the fence. It’s the first one he’s ever hit that bounced on top of the fence and eventually over the top ... definitely unique.
In regards to Roman Quinn he said the team really enjoys watching him run, that he’s a weapon from whatever base he’s on and puts the defense on their heels ... is really enjoyable having him as a teammate. He feels that Hector threw the ball much better in this game, has had struggles commanding both the splitter and fast ball but that he’s close ... that this game indicated that.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Comments