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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS METS

October 14, 2015

Don Mattingly

Los Angeles, California - Workout Day

Q. Could you just kind of give us a quick medical update on Turner and Grandal, and the likelihood that they'll be able to start tomorrow if necessary?
DON MATTINGLY: I expect JT to be able to play. I don't think there's been a huge difference change from yesterday what he was able to do. So I expect him to play. I know Yas is maybe a little bit more on the 50-50 line, depending on once he tests the swing and what he's going to be able to do. I don't think catching's going to be any kind of an issue. It's just a matter of, is he going to be able to swing the bat pain free and just allow him to do what he's capable of doing.

Q. Is replacing him on the roster a consideration at this point? For this game?
DON MATTINGLY: We haven't really talked about that. I don't think it would be, but I guess it's a possibility if we get there tomorrow and he absolutely can't lift his arm.

I know Stan Conte was there today who has been talking with Yasmani. He feels good today. His range of motion is better. I think he expects that there's a pretty good chance of him being able to play tomorrow, so that kind of tells me that I don't think that we'll be doing that, but obviously that could change. If he gets there and takes a few swings and can't do anything at all.

Q. Donnie, just to follow up on those two points. Would it be fair then to call Grandal sort of a game-time decision?
DON MATTINGLY: Hopefully a little earlier than that. We would obviously look into -- with that situation it's a little bit sticky, so I kind of look at it like both guys are really going to have to be prepared. Obviously, we'll decide if it's going to have to be a little bit later then both guys will be preparing to start.

Q. With JT, his coming out a little early in the last couple of games, is that medical telling you to pull him or is that JT coming to you saying, okay, I think my time is up here?
DON MATTINGLY: No, JT never comes to me and says, I have to come out. It's always a conversation of medical checking on him throughout the game. We're really confident with Jimmy and Seager, and Seager being able to go from short to third.

So defensively, we don't feel like we're hurt. As we get later into the game and we know if anything is causing him any issues at all and we have a situation, a lead in the situation CHK. We're really comfortable being able to do that. That was fine last night. We felt comfortable with the lead. JT's probably not getting another at-bat, and that's kind of the decision process there.

Q. Just wondering about the talk last year and into this season about the mix of guys in the bullpen getting the ball to Kenley, and I'm wondering how much of that now is still kind of a work in progress in your mind, and if you get envious at all watching what the Royals do or teams like that where they have everything so clearly defined?
DON MATTINGLY: Well, I think everyone in baseball, every manager in baseball would love to say, okay, here's where we're going to go in the 7th, 8th, 9th, we know it. It kind of changes your whole thinking process. That doesn't happen very often. I think we're pretty clearly defined with these type of games in postseason where you know you're in a do-or-die situation, guys are pretty much always rested. You're willing to go farther with guys.

So I think we're pretty defined on what we want to do as long as the starter keeps the game in check. If that doesn't happen and then you're kind of having to try to piece it together, and then your guys are going to have to step up.

Q. Is there any advantage to seeing deGrom twice in a five-day period, or is his stuff dominant enough that if he's on it's just going to be a difficult day no matter what?
DON MATTINGLY: Well, if he's on and he's throwing the ball where he wants and making pitches, it's going to be a difficult day. Obviously, the same for Zack, if he's able to do that, it could be the other way.

I think personally the more I see a hitter, the more advantage I have. Now stuff is still stuff, you have to be able to be able to hit it, a 99-mile an hour fastball. So I think I always felt like as a hitter I have a better feel for him. I've seen it. I've rated the speed. I kind of got a feel for what this guy likes to do.

Q. You had Avilan warming up at one point last night, but you left catcher in to face Granderson, are you comfortable with having Hatcher face certain left-handers, or can you just give me your philosophy about lefties and Hatcher in general and when you would make that move?
DON MATTINGLY: Well, in general, with Avilan up, I think luis is up in the 7th from there, and once we get through that inning, if we feel like that's hatch's inning, he has got his numbers against lefties have been really good. So he's gotten to the point where if we're coming into that inning, it's pretty much his inning. And that situation last night we knew it was partially his inning, and from there we were going to go directly to Kenley.

So at that point, that inning, the 8th and 9th became those two guys, and at that point the lefties -- we weren't worried about trying to match up lefty-righty.

Q. So Avilan was basically if a lefty came up in the 7th that you needed to go to?
DON MATTINGLY: And really, you don't know where that 7th's going to go. That was the biggest issue. Clayton going out for the 7th. First two guys get on, and there is Duda and he just seems to at that point have run out of gas, at that point I'm probably going Avilan, because I'm going to try to keep their lefties on the bench.

They've got Conforto, Johnson sitting there. I'd rather face their righties. So I would try to keep their lefties on the bench at least to David Wright, and then it would be back to hatch. So that was more the 7th. Once you got to the 8th that changed.

Q. I know that you obviously want to go into the World Series and this isn't the end point, but if you could just speak to what sort of satisfied you in this series having come back from down 1-0 and then back from down 2 games to 1?
DON MATTINGLY: Well, it's a really good series, obviously. They're able to get one at our place, and then us -- once, it was a big win for us obviously in Game 2, so we're back to even. Then your thinking kind of turns to we've got to get a split. We've got to get back to L.A. alive and being able to play.

So when we go to leave Game 2, we know we're going to get Kershaw Game 4, so we really want to split in New York at least. If we can win that first game, then we can go for the jugular. But we weren't able to do that.

So we get the split we want and we get the ball back to Zack on full rest, who has been one of our pocket aces all year long. He's pitched great, and we've got to feel good about that situation. Obviously they feel good too. They've got their guy, but obviously from our standpoint, we feel good about getting the ball to Zack.

Q. There is a chance that tomorrow's game will be Greinke's last with the Dodgers. I was wondering if you can provide some perspective on what he's meant to the team and the rare luxury of having two aces on your staff?
DON MATTINGLY: Well, he's been great. Since he's arrived in L.A. it's been basically this year over times three. This year has probably been just a little bit more over the top just because of the tremendous start that he got off to and just continued at throughout the year. So with Clayton and Zack, they've given us two guys that stop streaks, save your bullpen, are just day-in, day-out consistent guys. You can really count on what you're going to get from them 90-something percent of the time. So very, very important. I think that's the value of the two guys. I think if you look at different teams in our division, I mean, we're all kind of the same.

But we did have two guys that were aces that went out every time and kind of posted and pretty much rested your bullpen, gave your team confidence. You felt like you were going to win that day, and that takes the pressure off of the other starters.

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