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NL WILDCARD GAME: ROCKIES VS DIAMONDBACKSOctober 3, 2017Paul GoldschmidtJ.D. MartinezPhoenix, Arizona Q. Maybe I can get a word from each of you on, if there's one thing that you maybe have learned from the other in your time together here on the team? I know you both prepare very diligently, and you've done that throughout your career. But if you could share one thing that you have learned from each other? J.D. MARTINEZ: I don't know. I just remember being on the other end and just kind of admiring the way he plays the game. I've told him that when I was on first base when he was playing against us and I was like, dude, I'm a fan. I like the way he plays. He's a guy that studies every little thing, and I've always kind of studied just pitchers and just how they're pitching, how they're coming at me and stuff like that. But I feel like since I've been with him he's kind of just opened my eyes like there is more to the game in the sense of studying, and guys move to first. The way guys will pick-off moves to second. Just kind of every little thing about the game. I feel like Goldie does a really good job of playing the entire game and not just one side. PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: Tough to follow that. But I think the commitment to excellence. Just seeing J.D. prepare. I kind of heard it from the guys on the Tigers, but definitely just showing up every day and every single pitch of every at-bat, taking it like it could be his last. I think it's motivated me and probably every one of our teammates as well. You see when a guy's going to give it 100% every day no matter what. If we're winning, if we're losing, tie game, doesn't matter. If we clinch, he was preparing the same way as when we were fighting for that playoff spot. So I think that's kind of a way that you really admire that, and it also motivates you as an individual, and I think all of our other players and teammates as well to step up their game and not give any pitch away. Q. Question for both of you guys. Facing Jon Gray tomorrow night. Goldie, you've not had good success this year against him, and J.D., you have. Can you just talk a little bit about what you expect to see from him and what makes him and what makes him the Rockies probably best pitcher in your eyes? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: Yeah, he's pitched really well against us and really the rest of the league. I think he was the opening day starter. He's really good. He throws hard though. He's got a slider that looks pretty similar to his fastball, and he started using his curveball a lot more too in the second half, which is tough. Now you're worried about three pitches and slowing it down. He goes out there and competes. He mixes it up too. So he's tough. We've seen him, but I don't know if that really matters that much. He's just been doing really well for him. J.D. MARTINEZ: Yeah, he's a power pitcher. In my eyes, he's got a plus heater, plus slider, plus breaking ball. He's a guy that any given night he can show up. Any given night he can give it up. I think to beat him and stay within ourselves and get pitches over the plate and not chasing him really. Just kind of commenting him down. Obviously the guy said, well, he's been hit before and he's been hit throughout the year. So he's a good arm and he's got a lot of talent. But we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Q. Paul, what new perspective did you have on guys like Nolan Arenado and Jonathan Lucroy, getting to play with them in the World Baseball Classic this spring? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: That's a good question. I don't know if anything really jumped out. I think all the guys on the WBC roster for us, who it was kind of like what I was talking about with J.D., just being prepared every day. Nobody got to the Big Leagues or got on that roster or got to the All-Star Game or as a team got to the playoffs on accident. The guys were prepared. They knew kind of their strengths and weaknesses and would really try to improve both of those, but always working toward their strengths too. So I would say there are guys that don't give away at-bats. Defense, guys are ready for every pitch. Nolan's one of the best if not the best out there, and Lucroy's a great catcher too. So watching him prepare for the other team's hitters when we were on the same team for the WBC, you know why those guys are so good. It's not an accident. It kind of just reinforces in your mind that you better keep preparing because those guys are preparing to beat you. Q. How has the success of this team kind of impacted the way the city, the excitement, and the atmosphere that's come around this team toward the end of the season? I know it's a different question for you, J.D., since you weren't here all season. But how would you view the success and the impact it's had? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: It's been great. It's been a while since we made the playoffs here. It was my first year. I got a good taste of it to see the fans come out and support us then. I think there was some hope for us at the beginning of the year, probably outside the locker room and stuff like that. But, you know, got off to a good start and kind of seeing if we were going to keep it going. Then being in September and us playing pretty well, you could kind of see the fans and the city kind of get excited. So I got text messages from friends and neighbors and stuff like that that they were watching the game. So it's pretty cool. Where in the past they wanted to, but you know it's tough when the team's losing. I'm not watching other sports teams when they're losing either, so I'm not blaming any of the fans. You want to go out there and see your team win. It was cool. It was definitely fun to get those text messages and motivating as well to try to keep playing well. That's what we're going to do now. They're going to come out and support us tomorrow, and hopefully we can win ask keep and keep it going. Q. Paul, how do you throw out the tough end of the season you had and just start fresh in this game? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: It's pretty easy. It's not about me. We're just trying to win. So I'll go out there and do my best. But it's not about me at all. So it's just no different. You're going to struggle throughout times of the year. I didn't play well the last week or so, but that's why it's a team game. Q. Paul, for a player who might win MVP this year, you clearly don't like talking about yourself very much. Where does that attitude come from? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: I don't know. It probably goes all the way back to my parents. Just the way they taught me so much about why I've had -- about game of baseball, but it's really about the everything. Trying to make it about me and per the previous question, if you think you've got to figured out, this game is a very humbling game. But I think just understanding that. Q. J.D., just to follow up on that, do you think he's the MVP? J.D. MARTINEZ: I mean, he's got my vote, and I'm a little biased, but he's got my vote. He's the kind of guy that I feel like we obviously all know and kind of feel like he's always been an under-the-radar kind of guy, for as good as he's been. Just from the outside, looking in and being his teammate, you just have that feeling every time we play that he's going to do something. Whether it's kick a ball at first base, tell somebody in the dugout like, hey, this is what he's trying to pitch to you. This is how he's kind of helping people with his game plan. I feel like he always does something that's going to help us win. Q. Being creatures of habit and using Archie's words here, he called the two of you baseball Nerds, how much do you embrace kind of the extra energy inside the ballpark, the sold out crowd, and the adrenaline of the moment tomorrow night? J.D. MARTINEZ: I kind of feel like you want to embrace it. It's going to be awesome, it's going to be fun. But at the same time, you have to control it. I think that's going to be the hardest thing for everyone, both sides. It's just being able to control that environment and being able to control your adrenaline, your emotions and your feelings, because all that stuff's going to be on a high. So I think the players that can really control that and slow the game down are the ones that are really going to do well tomorrow. Q. You guys have faced the Rockies like this is your 22nd game between the two of you since spring training and you share facilities. How much do you admire what a good lineup does? How similar the two teams are built as each other? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: We definitely have a lot of respect for them. We play them a lot. Just like all the teams in your division, you know how good they are and you know it's going to be a tough challenge. I think beyond that I hadn't thought about it that much. You just try to go out there and find a way to win tomorrow. Every time we play them, it's been a tough battle. They have a really, really talented team. They play hard and they play the game. So, I think that's it. There is a lot of respect. Hopefully they feel the same way. We'll go out there and see who wins the game tomorrow. Q. J.D., I've got a question. I noticed you have a breathing routine before you walk into the box for every at-bat. Where did that start? J.D. MARTINEZ: You know, I kind of did it before, but kind of when I came here I actually started talking to Goldie's mental guy, mental coach here when he was here. Just kind of helps me to slow the game down. I don't know. Just release my stress, stuff like that. Just kind of relax when I get into the box. I did a little bit in Detroit, but I just added a little, I don't know, I tense up a little bit before and just kind of let it go. I don't know. It helps me kind of relax. You get in there and you get all jittery. You want to do well, and everything kind of speeds up on you a little bit. So it's just a way to slow it down. Q. Paul, tomorrow you guys are going to have the baseball world to yourselves, and there will be a lot of people for the first time seeing you guys. What do you want them to come away thinking about the Arizona Diamondbacks? PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: I don't know. It would be unfair to say I don't care. We don't really think about what's going on outside. We're just trying to find a way to prepare and beat the Rockies, and I'm sure they're doing the same. So kind of up to everyone else to write the story. The result is one team's going to win. So that's just besides that, I don't know. I'm sorry. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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