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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 2ND ROUND POOL F

March 14, 2017

Tony Pena

San Diego, California

Q. Good afternoon, Tony. I'd like to ask if Starling Marte's health, who I don't see in the lineup. And I'd also like to ask you with regard to the stadium. I imagine that it has influence with regard to the defense and the lineup.
TONY PEÃ‘A: First, the defense has nothing to do with the stadium. I told you that I'm going to be playing all my guys, and I'm playing them. One way or another I will have them inside. I will have all the players. And the ones that have their own organizations, Machado has been a shortstop throughout the training, and he's been preparing, and I don't want to have the pitcher for Machado out, and Marte is also doing well. And when he played, the day he had a little bit of pain, but I wanted to make sure he was at 100%, and when he's ready to play, I will play him.

Q. The second round with very strong teams, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
TONY PEÃ‘A: This is a killer team. This group is -- I think they are four teams that the pitcher will have quite a bit of responsibility. All teams are very similar. They have an extraordinary offense and defense. And we'll see in this group. I think they're very strong.

Q. When we see the enthusiasm from the fans and the passion from the group that was in Miami that was supporting you, and now coming home to San Diego, knowing that Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the whole world is going to be watching here in the United States and in our respective countries. What is the mentality going into this game tonight?
TONY PEÃ‘A: We are going to go out, and we are going to go out with the same intensity. We're going to go out with the same attitude. One thing I want, I want my players to enjoy themselves, and we have done that, and I continue to approach with the same approach.

One of the things that we have done is we want to move forward and we want to have a good time. We want to have a great time.

Q. With regard to the perspective of the difficulty in these games, have you approached the Dominican Republic to understand how the country has been letting these three games --
TONY PEÃ‘A: Yes. The Dominican Republic, those three games, they were absolutely in their homes watching the games. It was a total stop. What we're doing, we are representing, and I'm sure that our countries from afar, they are sending us that positive energy, and we're receiving it.

Q. (No audio)?
TONY PEÃ‘A: Before we started to put this ballclub together, Beltre was in the ballclub early as a third baseman, and then Beltre got hurt, he feels something when he coughed. Then Machado was playing shortstop in Spring Training to prepare himself to be a shortstop in this ballclub. Right now I want to play Beltre at third, but also I don't want my best defensive players to be a DH. Because if I lose the DH, I didn't have that experience from anybody better than Machado can play third, which means I have a shortstop that can replace that position. But I want Machado to start at shortstop today.

Q. You know from your time with the Yankees that it was always a thought if we don't win the World Series this year, it's a failed year. I wonder, with all the talent you have and all the expectations from your country back home, if the Dominican does not win this tournament, is it a failure?
TONY PEÃ‘A: Not necessarily, but we are not here to lose. We are here to win. That's the way I approach it. My approach is to win every game, and no matter what. My players, they know that because I already passed that message. Of course. Every time, it doesn't matter, every time you lose, you lose, and nobody wants to lose. You want to be part of the winner, and that's our mentality.

Q. You haven't been able to line up what others thought from the very beginning the ideal outfield that would include Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte starting. Is there an issue with his ankle, or did you decide to alternate them?
TONY PEÃ‘A: Those are just precautionary measures. And now Marte feels a little discomfort, so I'm not going to take a risk to lose Marte for the rest of the game. When Marte tells me he's ready to play, then I will play him.

Q. Dominican Republic will confront Puerto Rico, which anticipated to be with the major baseball players throughout the world. How do you confront a series like this?
TONY PEÃ‘A: Well, like I said before, this is the killer group. There are four nine-innings; that none of those four groups has to actually have a hard time with. The United States, Puerto Rico, and they come with the same mentality that we come with. They obviously are not here to lose, and we have to move forward, this game, this rhythm.

Q. With people like you, Carlos Martinez, aside from the procedures that are going to be implemented in the first games, do you think that Petco Park gives a lot more confidence like Marte?
TONY PEÃ‘A: When you're dealing with a game like this, all the games are the same. We have to think that we're going to confront Puerto Rico, which is an incredible offensive team and great players. And I have a great pitcher, and the best pitcher that's going to start the game today.

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