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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS BLUE JAYSOctober 14, 2015Jeff BanisterToronto, Ontario - Pregame MODERATOR: First question for Jeff today? Q. In a game like today, you obviously have a lot of leaders in that clubhouse, but do you turn to guys like Cole or Napoli who have been on the biggest stage of all, won it all, to provide maybe an even keel of some sort? JEFF BANISTER: Yes, and that's a great assessment of our clubhouse and the players that we have, the experience level of where we're at, because we do range from first-year players to future Hall of Famers. So to have guys that have been in this scenario before, these type of situations, to bring some levity to the situation is, I think, very instrumental. Q. The Giants among other teams have been successful in the Postseason with a high contact rate, forcing the action by keeping the ball in play. How much of a premium do you place on that, particularly when it comes to Postseason? JEFF BANISTER: I think it's a high premium really, because it's about being able to force the issue a number of times. You've got to have a different skill set and tool box of things to do during the game. When you become very one-dimensional offense, I feel, in the game it's tough to score runs unless you're just banging the ball all over the place. So I would like to think that we have a group of guys that have been able to do that this year. The key for us is being able to get on base and start some of that process. Q. Jeff, what have you learned about yourself in this process here now that you're here to Game 5? And how did you sleep last night? JEFF BANISTER: Oh, I slept very well last night. Look, this is -- somebody asked me that question, I think, during the Anaheim series about my sleep pattern, and how was I sleeping and do I get nervous. Look, you have a certain amount of heightened awarenesses and there are some anxieties maybe as far as how things and can you get to that National Anthem so we could play the game, because there's so much time in between. Fear for me is a by-product of not being prepared. We put a premium on preparation for all of our guys. We prepared all year long. So I lay my head down at night knowing that this coaching staff, our development staff and these players have prepared themselves just for this moment. We've shown up in these type of games, we've shown up in these type of moments, albeit this is a win-or-go-home. Look, we've had a lot of games this year that have had this feel to it, because we were really at certain points within the season where we've lost games that you felt like you lose the next one, it's all over with and we're not going to recover. That's what everybody was saying. Well, I think that has prepared us for this moment. I laid my head down last night and slept well, got up early, and stayed true to the process of what I do every single day because I trust that our coaching staff and our players have prepared themselves for this moment. Q. What do you think about instant replay being used for these over-slides where sometimes it's like a fraction of an inch that's separating them? JEFF BANISTER: Well, it's the landscape by which we play. Replay has benefited this game and we will continue to get better at it. Technology will continue to get better. It has allowed certain things to come into play that were never in play before. That's the pop-up slide, the over-slide, and we understand it. It is the landscape. Look, we have those feelings of how we think about certain things. And for me, you're given a set of rules that you play about, set of situations that happen and occur, and I love that about our game. We find a way to continue to try to make it a better game, and I love that aspect of it, too. So what I tell our guys to do? Look, we've got a baseball game to go play, let's go play baseball and there's a set of rules we play by and video replay is part of it. Some are going to go for us, some aren't going to go for us. We can't get caught up thinking well, if this one, that one -- no, go play the game. Q. Are you telling your infielders make sure you keep your glove on the guy at all times? JEFF BANISTER: Yeah, we've learned that. That's part of it, yeah. Q. Jeff, should the Blue Jays get out to an early start as they have the last couple of guys on Cole, with a guy like Yovani in the pen, who I assume would be available today, and has handled the Jays well, how short would your leash be on Cole today? JEFF BANISTER: We'll just have to see how the game plays out. It's all hands on deck. Yovani is one of those guys, but we'll just have to see how this game plays out. Q. Jeff, John Gibbons suggested to us that David Price is unlikely to be available out of bullpen today. I wonder whether you believe that, and if you do, whether you consider it to be an advantage knowing that there is not a left-handed pitcher available for the Blue Jays? JEFF BANISTER: Look, we prepared that he is available. I'm not going to assume that he has any player over there that is not available. So we'll prepare for it. And if we don't see him, we don't see him. And if we do, we'll be prepared for it. Q. With Beltre, is he all good after a flight back here because sometimes you can have your back work on you on a flight up. I assume he's in there so he's good. JEFF BANISTER: He's good. MODERATOR: Thank you. See you after the game. JEFF BANISTER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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