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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DODGERSOctober 5, 2014Don MattinglyST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Workout Day Q. Ryu doesn't show a lot of emotion, and perhaps that's because of the language barrier. Regardless of the challenge, he says he's up for it. Do you see him as a guy that doesn't seem to be phased by much regardless of whether it's a regular season start in June or a postseason start? DON MATTINGLY: He seems to be that way, pretty unflappable, you never see him get too frustrated or excited on the mound. And again, I don't know if that's because of the language barrier. Obviously we've seen him in the locker room and he's having fun all the time. But pretty easygoing the whole time. So, yeah, he seems to be that guy that nothing really bothers him. You never know what's going on in the inside. I'm sure he's a little, like everyone else, excited and anxious and all those things. Q. Is Kershaw still going to throw a bullpen session today? You talked about discussing Game4 on the plane. Where does that stand? DON MATTINGLY: Danny Haren is our starter for Game4. I'm not sure what Clayton is doing today. I know he's going to throw. A couple of the guys were going to do something. I'm not sure, I don't know if it was a bullpen or just play catch. So we're still at Danny Game4. Q. (INAUDIBLE)? DON MATTINGLY: Yeah, we have flexibility. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow for us. Anything could happen with Hyun‑Jin. We have to be prepared for that. So then we have to be prepared for the next scenario also. As of right now Danny is the starter. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Q. Just following that up, if you lose, would you flip it or what is the other scenario? You just mentioned if you have to use Haren for Ryu tomorrow, and then make some adjustments, those are the issues? DON MATTINGLY: Yes. Q. So when would you formally, then, basically know after the game tomorrow night? DON MATTINGLY: I don't know about that. I think we ‑‑ if something happens with Hyun‑Jin early we would know if it's ‑‑ if it gets deeper in the game, then we would try to put it together with the bullpen. We wouldn't try to drag Danny into that. When we start the game tomorrow Danny Haren will be ready to pitch tomorrow. So, again, we don't anticipate any of that. We're not really ‑‑ we don't think that's going to happen. But just because of what happened in San Francisco, after one inning, and 20‑something pitches, we've got to be prepared for that. So Danny is going to prepare for that to start tomorrow just like Hyun‑Jin is. He's not going to go out and throw and do the long toss and all of that. Mentally he's going to be ready to pitch tomorrow. Q. So it would be Clayton 5, if everything played out all the way through? DON MATTINGLY: Well, again, we're not making any commitment to Game4 at this point besides Danny Haren. And we're talking about a number of options. What happens if ‑‑ then is it Clayton or possibly Frias or somebody else? Again, we've got to make that decision depending on what goes on. Q. But just to clarify, the only way that Clayton would pitch 4 is if you have to use Haren tomorrow? DON MATTINGLY: I didn't say that. Q. Win/loss could be a factor, too? DON MATTINGLY: Win/loss won't have anything to do with it. Q. You've talked about the reasons why you have trust in Ryu to be able to make the start. But could you just put into perspective how rare it is for a manager to trust any pitcher in this game to ‑‑ DON MATTINGLY: Any of these guys I've got. Q. It doesn't happen often though that a pitcher throws one inning in the last month and then gets the ball in Game 3 of the Division Series. That's a pretty high level of trust, isn't it? DON MATTINGLY: Yeah, I think the reason for Hyun‑Jin is just his track record of kind of his work in between. That tells us so much about him. And then really, what's happened this year, what we've already been through this year. And it's not like he hasn't thrown ‑‑ he's thrown, I think, two bullpens now in a sim game. There was no Minor League rehab games to have thrown. There's nobody to throw to. So he basically did a rehab start. It's not like we're just throwing him out there. And so, again, maybe you're right. But again, Hyun‑Jin is a guy that we trust. And he's been unflappable from the standpoint of anything that comes along he just seems to handle. Q. I was wondering, we've seen a couple of high‑profile situations with your bullpen the first two games. Now you're introducing Ryu into the conversation, what he may or may not be able to do. How difficult, how complex, how trying is the situation for you basically balancing your bullpen in game and with what may or may not happen tomorrow? It seems like it's become a complicated deal for you. DON MATTINGLY: It hasn't been that complicated. It just hasn't worked out very well, as much as anything. I think the first day with Clayton is a no‑brainer for us. We would do it every time. Yesterday is the same. We know Zack. We're getting three lefties in a row, we've done it all year long. We trust that situation. Didn't work out yesterday. But there's nothing in there that we would change. It hasn't been really that complicated to this point. Trying to piece it together and know who's the right guy, that's a little bit, but the situations that we've run into so far have been pretty clear‑cut for us. Again, they haven't necessarily worked out to this point, but they've been pretty ‑‑ Q. I know it's kind of a politically incorrect question to ask, what level of confidence can you bring to bear with that group right now, for what you've had to deal with a lot of the season and obviously these couple of days? DON MATTINGLY: I don't think the traditional way of looking at your bullpen of saying I'd love to have a guy for the 7th, and basically what you see with Kansas City. The 7th comes, this guy gets the ball, the 8th comes, this guy gets the ball, the 9th comes, this guy gets the ball. We were a little bit like that last year toward the end. We just haven't had that luxury this year. So it's just what ‑‑ to me, it is what it is, right? You manage the team that you have right now. This is what we've had to do this year to get to ‑‑ try to get to Kenley in the 9th. So we're kind of used to it. It doesn't make it anymore fun or anything else. It's definitely a little more complicated, because you're trying to match up and who is exactly the right guy. Do you let the lefty get the one righty in between or the righty get the ‑‑ you know what I mean. And those are the choices you have to make. But ideally I'd like to have one, one, one and not have to make any decisions, really. Q. Is there a way to explain A.J. Ellis's postseason performances against the Cards the last few years, when his regular season numbers haven't really been that good against him? DON MATTINGLY: I don't know if I could do that. I think A.J. is a guy that ‑‑ not really, for me to really explain it. I can take guesses at it. But I think A.J. is such a ‑‑ he's one of the guys that you can't measure. He's one of the guys that you can put the numbers guys at him and go after him, and you could say doesn't do this and doesn't do that. But there are certain things that you can't really measure as far as ‑‑ when you start playing as a team and you're playing for your teammates and that means more to you than anything else, I think you get guys that do things that they normally can't do. So it's a different level to be focused and concentration, and when you're playing for the whole, your team is better and you really end up being better than you would be if you're just trying to get out there and get your hits. When you play as a group it's a different power there. Q. I know you mentioned yesterday when you spoke to Kershaw he seemed to be a little bit down. Have you had a chance to talk to him today or anything? I know in the past he's put bad starts behind him. How is his demeanor? DON MATTINGLY: I haven't talked to him today. But I'm not even concerned at all. You don't get to be Clayton without bouncing back in any situation. He's a guy that's a big train. So he's going to go forward and nothing is going to stop him. Q. Just back to the bullpen and Kershaw and Greinke the last couple of days. How much do you pay attention to all the white noise when these things don't work out and people are trying to first‑guess you, second‑guess you, about the moves that you're making? DON MATTINGLY: I try not to ‑‑ obviously I'm not a guy that's going to listen to the bloggers and all the stuff that goes on and everybody that calls in, because to me it's always the same. If I bring J.P. in the other night and he doesn't get an out, it's why didn't you leave Kershaw in. If you leave Kershaw in and he doesn't get the out, why didn't you bring J.P. in. If you bring J.P. in yesterday, why didn't you leave in Greinke. So it's really easy after the decision doesn't work or ‑‑ so I really don't pay attention to the noise. I still always remember, one of the guys that obviously I've learned a lot from Joe, he said you're going to make a lot of decisions, and some of them don't work out. It doesn't mean it's a bad decision. We make the best decisions we think are the right ones. The guy gets his outs, you look like you know what you're doing. If he doesn't get his outs, you look like you don't know what you're doing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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