Rick Sweet Quotes (16 Quotes)

Ben pitched a very good ballgame (until the fourth), but one of the things he has to learn is, when things are going against him, he doesn't know how to step back and say, 'What am I going to do here What do I need to do' He just keeps throwing. That's something that experience will help take care of.

He keeps hitting gaps and running, and he's 30-plus (actually 32) years old. He's the one who told me, 'I guess I'm just getting old.' But it's hard on you with all that running, especially as hot as it is.

Without a doubt, his work ethic is the No. 1 reason why he is where he is.

We sat down and had a little talk with our bullpen and got everybody in roles. That's been a big help the last three games. Guys didn't know when they were going to pitch. Now everybody in our bullpen knows exactly when I'm going to use them.

Every time Stratton comes to the plate, everybody stops and watches. It's very exciting to watch players like that hit. You just shake your head, because not many people can do that.

He will throw a quality strike and then throw a couple that are not. He's got to get it to where he has control of every pitch he throws.

A lot of these Americans can't skate, so I'd hate to see that. It might be a lot more dangerous than playing ball in those conditions.

Whenever you have to make a spot start, it takes you anywhere from three to five days to recover. And we're just not getting enough innings out of our starters.

I won't even ask him if he needs a day off, because I can't trust him to tell me honestly. I just have to tell him, 'You're off tomorrow,' even though he won't like it.

Guys who do walk people tend to be more your power pitchers who get a little bit wild. We don't really have any power pitchers.

I really thought our pitching did a nice job, our defense was not very good and offensively we did not hit like we will hit.

The last couple of games, we've had a lot more consistent at-bats and a lot more consistent approaches.

That's always an emphasis. If you want to say pitch to contact or get ahead or throw strikes, it's all the same. You've got to throw the ball over the plate to be successful, especially at the higher levels.

Our starters are young, but they're very solid. They've been giving us some great games.

I'm so impressed with him. He knows how to get people out. Sometimes guys who don't throw hard don't get opportunities, but if he keeps pitching the way he's pitching, he might get an opportunity.

That was huge. We spent a lot of time in spring training working on two-strike counts. We practiced that, as far as putting the ball in play and cutting down your swing a little bit, and it paid off.