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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DODGERSOctober 2, 2014Don MattinglyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Workout Day THE MODERATOR: First question for Don is in the back to the left. Q. Do you have a Game 3 starter yet? DON MATTINGLY: Hyun‑Jin Ryu. He came out of the game good. Got him scheduled three to inning four. Q. Do you expect, not that he needs it after the season he's had, but do you expect what transpired in game six of the playoffs against the Cardinals last year is going to be any extra incentive for Kershaw tomorrow? DON MATTINGLY: I kind of think like everything, Clayton is going to use everything as extra incentive all the time. I think that probably that game fueled him all winter in his training, then he had a bad game early in the year against Arizona, I'm sure he used that. I think he's always on the hunt and he's always moving forward, so I think any extra fuel that he can use or even perceive to use in his own mind to keep him training and keep him going, I think he would use that. Q. What is the difference in having a healthy Ramirez, a healthy Ethier and a healthy Kemp, rather than what you had last year from those three guys? DON MATTINGLY: We went in healthy, with Hanley we thought, it didn't last very long. So obviously, he was a big part of our offense last year, kind of him and Adrian at that point last year were the kind of guys that were our thumpers in the middle. It's kind of turned in this year to our most consistent guys in the middle now have become Adrian and Matt. So, to have Matt back is another weapon. To have Hanley in there just adds to our lineup. So I think that, in general, for us, we're healthy. We're pretty much going in full strength. With Hyun‑Jin being able to pitch Game 3, this is our team. So, we can't really ask for anything more. We're going into it with all our guys. Q. The rhythm of your preparation when there's an unusual start time, 3:30 in the afternoon, going to be very hot out here tomorrow, outfield sun a little bit different, can you talk about how you're preparing that way? DON MATTINGLY: No, we're not doing a whole lot different. Besides having the work out right now. Our workout, we chose the 3:30 slot. Just so we would be kind of working out at that time. The heat, I don't think that's going to have anything to do with it. It will cool off as the game goes a little bit. So I don't worry about that. I don't think any of that's really a big factor. It will be the same for both clubs. We have played a number of, obviously, a number of day games, we end up playing as the games go on, that time of the day. So none of that really, I don't think is really part of our preparation, other than just practicing at this time. Q. What's a realistic number of pitches to expect from Ryu after all this time? DON MATTINGLY: He's pretty much been around the 100 to 110 guy all year long. We haven't pushed him much past that. We don't expect him to be any different going into it. That, obviously, would depend on how he gets there, if there's a bunch of battles in there trying to get there, and how he's pitching. But we don't feel like he's lost a ton of arm strength or anything like that, this is late in the year, and if anything, Hyun‑Jin is the right guy for missing this much time. And the other guys know that he's not a bullpen guy, he doesn't throw bullpens in between. He's been through this once before, I think he missed 21 days or something like that, came back and threw really well. You see him after he sits out for 15 days and his bullpens are right on. He throws the ball where he wants. So he's not a guy that we're really concerned about coming off this layoff. But we'll still be the same, even when he's been a hundred percent fully healthy, he's been a 100 to 110 guy, unless everything goes really smoothly. Q. As good as those two starting pitchers are tomorrow and with the shadows likely to creep in not long after the start of the game, how important is it for teams to get off to a good start against these guys? DON MATTINGLY: Well, I would like to, as you draw it up you're going to say, well there's going to be a few innings where you're not into the shadows, but the game's become what they are. All starting pitchers of these guys' quality, I think you want to get them early. Once they get settled in and get in their rhythm, they cause you all kinds of problems, just because of the assortment of pitches and when they start getting their feel and their touch, they just keep you in the rocking chair all day long and make it tough on you. Shadows just add to it. But I think the shadows are something that's hard to talk about too much, because they're going to have the same ones, so equal playing field, doesn't make it easier, but these guys make it hard enough on you already, so might as well just get after it. Q. With Clayton missing that time in April, do you look at him as being fresher at the start of the playoffs than he was last year? Do you put any stock in that? DON MATTINGLY: Well, obviously, the analytics guys, as we start looking at the end of the season, we were looking for ways to cut his innings a little bit. Be able to keep him, his innings down because he pitched late into the season last year. So I think the little early thing he had going on where he missed a few starts really took all that out of the equation. So, I think he's thrown less innings, I don't know if that makes him fresher or not. But he has been pretty much on normal everything. Everything's went well, we have been able to down the stretch, we had a number of days off. So we were able to go, we were on for the most part guys are getting the extra day rest on most of their starts. So we were able to stay on that pattern. I think he feels good. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to fight to worry about the innings as the season went on. Q. When you all played last year there were some open criticism from them about your celebration methods and then also a lot of talk about the Cardinal way. Are you guys really that different an organization from them, do you feel, or do you feel it's been over blown? What's your feeling on that? DON MATTINGLY: Well, I think we're two great organizations, honestly. I grew up in kind of well, obviously, in the Midwest and with the Cardinals and that area and they're obviously a great organization. I look at the Dodgers the same way. Historically both organizations have just been tremendous organizations. We have a lot of respect for what they do. How they do it is how they do it. But I think our team is, we are here to play, too. We're not that much different. I'm sure we rub some guys, some teams the wrong way, but that's who we are. We're trying to play the same game. Q. The Cardinals announced their playoff roster today. Are you going to? DON MATTINGLY: We're not going to announce it right now. We're still kind of having some discussions. I would say we're probably 98, 99 percent where we want to be, we just in trying to tell as many guys as we can, so most guys know where they're going to be tomorrow. Everybody knows actually where they're going to be tomorrow. There's just a few guys that don't know if they're going to be active or not. So, still talking about that. We hope to have that decision made by the end of the day today. When Ned wants it release that, I'm not sure. But we're getting close. Q. So I take it then there will be some guys here who aren't active, some guys who won't be here, who won't be active still and what sort of goes into the thinking about keeping a guy here who wouldn't be active? DON MATTINGLY: No, we'll travel with the number, we'll travel of a few guys that are with us and continue to work out. Obviously, some for different reasons. Third catcher, someone would get hurt you need to be able to get them there quick. Certain guys are going to be around just for the experience of being around. So, we'll have a number of guys that travel with us. We have a number of guys that are in Arizona working out. So, I think we're similar to most organizations. A few guys travel with us, other guys will be continuing to work out at our spring training facility. Q. Last year, they hit Ramirez early on, kind of took him out of the series. I think they have hit him at least once or twice more since then this year.  Is this a matter of like aggressive inside pitching by them? How do you deal with this and what are you telling your guys to do to look out for as the series gets started? DON MATTINGLY: To be honest with you, it's hard to go into a series thinking about who is going to get hit and who is not going to get hit or if somebody gets hit. Our preparation has been just that, trying to get ready for Wainwright and his pitches and what he does. Make sure our guys are ready to play baseball. I think for the most part intimidation doesn't, is not going to be something that we're concerned about. We always protect our guys, I don't feel like from the very first day I've been here that we have ever intentionally hit a guy because he was hitting against us. Now we protect our own guys, but we're not going to go after anybody. Honestly, it's not something that I even really think about. The game tells you what to do and what you have to do. Q. You said that the roster's not finalized yet, but we were here on Tuesday, are there at least some players between since Tuesday that you have sent either to Arizona or who aren't here? DON MATTINGLY: Correia and Chris Perez are two guys that we have let know that they weren't going to be on the roster. Q. Are they in Arizona or are they, or no? DON MATTINGLY: Kevin is, I think he's home. But continuing to throw. And Chris is the same. They will continue to throw and have the possibility of if something would change for us, to be able to get back. THE MODERATOR: All right, thanks, Don. DON MATTINGLY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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