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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 1ST ROUND POOL DMarch 10, 2017Edwin RodriguezZapopan, Jalisco, México EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Good afternoon, everybody, before anything else. It is a pleasure to be here in México, Guadalajara. The team, we are ready. The guys are enthused about it. We've been waiting for four years. We are ready here, and the guys are motivated. Yesterday we got here a little bit late to the hotel, but that's part of the nature of the tournament. Q. If the team, the way it's built, it's a tremendous team. If it doesn't get to the second round, would you figure that's a failure? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Well, there is no failure here. Everybody is going to go 100 percent here. We are thinking about the gold medal, the championship. We haven't stopped to think if we're going to go through or not go through to the second round. Over here we don't believe it. None of them is going to consider the effort to be 100 percent failure. The tournament was put together, the team was structured slowly, the commitment is there. We are conscious of the other teams. We respect the other teams a lot, and here are names, but you have to go to the field and play. So I wouldn't consider anything a failure. Q. I know you're thinking about this afternoon about the next team, which I think you are still evaluating it. EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Officially tomorrow against México is going to be Jorge Lopez, the right-hander, and he's been followed by Hector Santiago. There was a question that we had to answer, and those warm-up games in Arizona didn't help. It helped get to a conclusion, and we're comfortable with it. Lopez and Santiago, we think it's going to be a matter of strategy, considering that Jorge Lopez should start the game because Santiago is also experienced coming out of the bullpen, an experience which Lopez hasn't had lately. Q. Yesterday there were six home runs between Italy and México, a record of the World Baseball Classic. A lot of people are talking about the stadium in Jalisco, maybe the wind, the altitude, the distance. What do you think? Do you think it's nice for hitters? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we had been hearing reports about the conditions of the stadium, that the ball goes a long way. And then if you add the lineup that we're going to have and we're going to be enjoying, we have to think independently of the score in the game. Other than that, we have to keep scoring, and obviously there's going to be a small-ball team. We have to be aggressive and start in the tournament with regulations and conditions where there is -- if there is a tie in the record, then there are runs allowed, runs scored. Besides, we have to keep playing like if it's 1-1. Q. (No microphone)? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Really both teams are going to be playing the same, doing the same thing. When it's level, there is no damage. Q. (No microphone)? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Yes, exactly. I mean, we have -- we are visualizing the information we were given that the ball goes far here. That's a decision that instead of 13 there is 14 pitchers in order to be deeper in that pitching staff. Q. Four years ago you had the runner-up. Today the team is favored. If you can tell us if there's any additional pressure. And second, the contribution of the people that come here and reinforce. EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: First of all, if we're going to be using the same philosophy we have used in 2013, which is one game, one pitch at a time, the nature of this tournament in 2013, for instance, we lost four games, and even then, we were second, runner-ups. We cannot get too happy with the victories nor too depressed with the losses. It's one pitch at a time, and at the end of the day, let's see what the results say. But about pressure, no. We are anxious to start going to the field, competing in the tournament. Four years is a long wait. Four years ago we were measuring the amount of Puerto Rican talent we have and we want to see them on the field. But it's a great, we like competition, and that's why you train, for this kind of atmosphere. So there is a pressure. There is anxiety. We want to go see the quality of talent. Q. Is it confirmed Carlos Correa is going to be third base, so Lindor goes to short, Javy Baez is at second. Is Correa is going to be third base throughout the tournament? Do you think this time it is too complicated for big league pitchers that have started Spring Training in official games? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: First of all, no. Today's game, Carlos Correa is playing third. Lindor is shortstop, and Baez is second. Tomorrow I wouldn't be able to tell you. We have three high-quality shortstops in the Big Leagues, and any time anybody can play any position. We have certain limitations like Francisco Lindor from his organization. They asked him only shortstop or designated hitter, and besides those limitations, we have to distribute our strategy. And about the Major Leaguers pitching in this park where the ball flies, there is no damage. The pitchers are not in their best form yet, but neither are the hitters. It's a matter of -- I think it's more a case of physical or technical, it's mental. They have to be prepared. In yesterday's game we could see that Osuna, which is used to close games in the Big Leagues and he wasn't -- but in a park like this, in any situation you have to close the game, and it's a mentality, a mental preparation aspect, and that's part of what we're getting ready for. Q. You already said that Jorge is the second game. Can you talk about the qualities of this guy, what made you decide on Jorge Lopez? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Jorge Lopez, first of all, he is a Milwaukee Brewer prospect. The year before last, he threw in the Big Leagues. He throws 95, 96 with a very good curve and a good changeup, and he proved in the training games that he can be effective attacking the hitters. In Arizona he threw two innings and 22 pitches, and we're talking about a starter. We had the option of Jorge Lopez or Santiago. Santiago already had experience out of the bullpen. Jorge Lopez, as far as I know, doesn't have that experience. It was either-or, and we decided on Jorge Lopez. Q. How are you going to manage that talented infield you have, Correa, Lindor and Baez? Secondly, what will be the key for you the rest of this tournament? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Well, how are we going to manage this talented team? Just watching those guys, they are displaying their talent on the field, and in a situation that every one of them is a big friend for the guy right next to them so that they're very happy to get together. We are very happy to be here and to watch them display the talent together. And I think not only Puerto Rico, Latin America and the whole baseball fan industry are going to be very grateful to watch those talented young guys displaying their talent together. How am I going to approach the series, the tournament? Like I say, one pitch at a time. We saw that in 2013. Puerto Rico lost four games, and we went to the final championship game even with that. We have to be very careful not to get too high or too down on the losses, so we have to keep ourselves even keel. So it's just one pitch at a time and being aggressive, and regardless of what is the situation of the game, we have to keep maintaining the same aggressiveness at the plate and on the mound. We have to pitch and we have to hit, regardless of the score at the moment. Q. When you are looking at Lugo against Hernández, who hits .359, your experience factor in this tournament, does it count? EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Of course. When we're talking about Felix Hernández, he's already established for many years in the Big Leagues. The experiences count in a tournament where adrenaline is a little bit higher than a regular Big League game because you are playing for your country. In addition to that, in addition to managing situations of trying to pitch in a game that counts, at this stage of the game, early stage, experience counts, but we consider that Lugo does not just have the physical talent to face Venezuela, but he has the character and the personality to keep calm. He has that even keel. He is mature. And so I think that as far as experience, of course Felix Hernández has to have an advantage because he has to manage a whole atmosphere. But we are confident that Lugo can give us very good innings and keep us in the game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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