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MLB WORLD SERIES: METS VS ROYALS

October 30, 2015

Chris Young

Flushing, New York - Royals pregame three

Q. What was your sense of this club when you joined it in the spring, and what have you discovered about it since then?
CHRIS YOUNG: Well, from my first day it was evident that this team had an expectation to win and get back to where they were last year. I think everybody was disappointed and motivated to return to the World Series and hopefully win it. And it was so apparent from day one. I think I said this before, I called home and told my wife, "This team truly expects to win." And it felt different than other camps I've been in, where there was more a hope to win than an expectation. And I think the team has lived up to that all year with the way they've played.

Q. Is there anything special you've had to do to get ready to come back on three days' rest? Has it changed your prep at all?
CHRIS YOUNG: No, I came in yesterday and got my normal routine in and just treating it as a normal start. Like I've said, I'm here to do whatever the team needs, whether that's relieve or start. And my body feels fine, physically, I'm not worried about bouncing back and excited to be out there tomorrow.

Q. I guess it's always interesting when you go against your old team. Is it special to do it in the World Series?
CHRIS YOUNG: Well, yeah, no matter who you play in the World Series it's special. It's what every player should play for. It's certainly what I've aspired to participate in my entire career.

And, yeah, to do it against a club that I have a lot of friends over there, I have a great respect for their organization. I'm grateful for the opportunity they gave me. And certainly to see them and their success over the last few years, since I last played here, it's great. I'm happy for them. I just hope we find a way to beat them.

Q. Good to see you back in Queens. Speaking about your tenure with the Mets, you pitched well but seemed to always get hurt. Do you remember what the injuries were? And were you concerned that the career was over, particularly in 2012?
CHRIS YOUNG: The first year it was a shoulder capsule injury. It was really one injury. I came from back from that and next year rehabbed it and made 20 starts for the Mets that following season. So it was one shoulder injury.

Q. I can't think of it, I guess I'll have to go pay Elias or something, but you've won a game before you actually now will make a start. Do you have a sense of how unique some of the things you've done both in relief and starting this season?
CHRIS YOUNG: Not really, no. I don't really get caught up in the statistics. There are a number of pitchers that deserved to win in that game the other night. I just happened to get it. Individual wins and losses are somewhat -- I don't know -- it's crazy for me to think that a pitcher gets an individual win and loss. When the Cleveland Cavaliers win a game, LeBron James doesn't get the win. Tony Romo doesn't get it for the Dallas Cowboys; it's the team. Baseball is the same way. It's a team sport. It's an individual team sport but collectively it takes everybody to win these games.

So I don't really look at it -- I'm just happy to be part of a great team, a winning team and for the opportunity they've given me. And all the statistics, maybe one day I'll look back on it and appreciate it. But if a win was defined a different way 150 years ago, I probably wouldn't have had it.

Q. Just over the past few weeks it's not just been that you've been pitching effectively, but your velocity has gone up several miles an hour. I'm curious how you attribute your process, whether it's the emotional moment, it's the emotion of pitching with the loss of your father. Is it just a question of some rest? What is it that you think has allowed you to sort of go back to really the way you were pitching in San Diego?
CHRIS YOUNG: Oh, I don't know if there's one specific answer. And I don't know if I know the answer to that. I just know that physically I feel good. I can say from a physical and mental standpoint I prepare and I put in the work, I put in the effort. Last year when the season ended I was extremely disappointed with the ending of the season, and I went home and I got to work immediately. I said this isn't going to happen again. Two bad starts last September and I felt like it hurt our team's chances in Seattle of making the playoffs, and that motivated me all offseason. And maybe that's why.

Maybe it's the extra training. It was the first offseason in a while where I was able to actually train and not rehab, per se. And so maybe -- there are probably a lot of combinations that are in play here that I can attribute to that. But ultimately I think some of it is just the adrenaline of pitching for something that I've strived to do my entire life. When you get in that situation the emotion, the adrenaline and everything, you know, it takes you to maybe levels you haven't seen in a while.

Q. When you were here as a Met there was a different kind of team, different kind of expectations. When you were here, what did the horizon look like for the Mets? What did the future look like?
CHRIS YOUNG: When I was here I thought we had good teams. I enjoyed my time here. I really liked it. I love the city. I love the fans. I love the organization. And I thought that the team was going the right direction. You could sense that there was a group of guys that really wanted to win. And there was some development that needed to take place. And certainly that has happened. And with the horses they have in the rotation and the pieces offensively, it's why they are here in the World Series. And it's extremely impressive. They're a great club, and I'm extremely happy for them.

Q. When you were a champion, you're a champion forever. And I wanted to get your thoughts on what inspiration you took last week when you went to the Hockey Hall of Fame and saw all those Patricks on the Stanley Cup?
CHRIS YOUNG: Well, it's cool. It's like you said, once you win a championship, it's a part of history. As I said, I think every player strives to be part of a championship club. For me to have this opportunity here, with the group of guys that really embody, in my mind, everything a team should be, completely selfless and care only about winning. They don't care how they get it done; they just want to win. To be part of that it's so special for me. It's everything that I could play for. And I'm just beyond grateful for the opportunity the Royals have given me.

Q. Given what you've been through in your career, is it extra meaningful to be on this stage and particularly do what you did on Tuesday night?
CHRIS YOUNG: Oh, again, I don't get caught up in the individual significance. It's more about the team for me. To be part of a winning team and contribute to a win, whether that's pitching in relief or starting, not pitching at all, whatever this team needs to do. If I can help them win, that's what I'm here to do. And to bridge the two questions together, it's about a championship, and that's the ultimate goal. It's the ultimate goal for everybody in that clubhouse for us.

So I think each and every person in there would sacrifice whatever they need to do for the team. And so it's just -- I can't really describe the feeling of it. It's just there. And everybody knows what's the most important -- what the most important goal is and that's the team.

Q. Sort of a hypothetical, could you have gone another inning in relief the other night and still been available for tomorrow?
CHRIS YOUNG: I guess we don't -- I don't know. It doesn't matter. It's irrelevant at this point.

Q. You didn't have in mind a limit of 50 pitches?
CHRIS YOUNG: It was about winning that game. And we'd get to Game 4 when we get here. And I said that all along. It really didn't matter to me. Again, whatever the team needs.

Q. As a starter you have to prepare for each batter multiple times in a game. How different was it going into your last outing knowing it's probably one time for each batter? And how will that carry over into tomorrow night?
CHRIS YOUNG: It's always one time. You don't face multiple hitters at the same time. You face one batter at a time. That's always my approach. It's one hitter at a time, one pitch at a time, so it doesn't change.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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