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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERS

October 3, 2018

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Workout Day

Q. Guys, I was wondering, for Lorenzo, as you started negotiating with the Brewers, did you know they were looking at Christian?
And for Christian, when that trade happened, did you know they were about to sign Lorenzo, and then what the reactions were when you found out that they got both of you guys at the same time basically?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: I mean, I didn't know I was going to be a Brewer until I got the call, and then when I got the call telling me I got traded over. They said stay tuned, we might have some more exciting news coming later today. I didn't know what it was, obviously, and when you get traded, it's a little bit hectic and crazy afterwards, but I saw that Lo ended up signing over here, and I was really excited.

I knew a little bit about the Brewers. I knew they had a talented young team. Obviously what Lo has done in his career, and he's won a World Series before in the past, and I knew he was a great player, so I was excited to have the opportunity to play alongside him, and it turned out to be a great year, and it's been a lot of fun so far.

LORENZO CAIN: Yeah, what he said.

Q. Did you know they were trying to trade for him?
LORENZO CAIN: No, I did not. I did not know that.

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Lo doesn't like this very much.

Q. You know what the Brewers did last year, you knew what they were trying to do this year, and you knew they were looking at you guys as pieces to get them over the hump. Is there pressure that comes with that, and how do you embrace that pressure?
CHRISTIAN YELICH: I don't think so. Obviously, like you said, they had a great team last year. They fell one game short of the playoffs, and I think you're just trying to add to what they already had. You're not coming over trying to be anything more than, in my case, the guy they traded for. Some good advice that I got from some guys that I played with along the way, they said, be the same guy, do what you do, don't try to do anything more or anything else. That was the goal from Spring Training.

The group that we have in there was so welcoming, and it made the adjustment so much easier coming along. The first couple days of Spring Training you felt like you were a part of the team, a part of the family, and we've kind of just rolled since then.

Q. Baseball is letting people know it's okay for players to show emotion for teams, to act like they're having fun, and that's one of the trademarks of you guys.
I want to ask how you feel about it, that everybody can see how much joy you have, that you like each other, and especially for you, what did you think the first time you heard Brent Suter doing that thing?

LORENZO CAIN: I didn't know what to think actually. He has a lot of energy, brings a lot of energy to the team. It's a lot of fun. He always finds different ideas to loosen the clubhouse and just make it a lot of fun on the field. He's definitely nice to have on the team for sure.

Q. How important is it for both of you?
CHRISTIAN YELICH: For what, like the energy or just to have fun? I mean, I don't think it's any extra effort to show emotion. I think it comes natural. I think the games and the intensity and the situations bring it out of you.

I don't think you're going into the game, like today we're going to show this much more emotion. I think you guys saw that from us down the stretch when the games became meaningful and we were in the race for the division and everything that played out.

Yeah, it's exciting times. I'm glad it's being embraced. You're not trying to show anybody up, but it's just what it brings out of you, the atmosphere brings that out of you, and it's a lot of fun to be a part of.

Q. How important is it for you guys to have Game one here tomorrow at Miller Park, and how much do you feed off the excitement of the fans here at Miller Park going into tomorrow's game?
CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah, I mean, the fans have been great. They really have. They've come out and supported us all year, especially down the stretch. This last series we played here against Detroit, this place was rocking. And for us to have potentially home field throughout the National League side of the playoffs is huge for us. And to get to get it off here tomorrow in Miller Park is really exciting. And the team feeds off that. We feed off that. And it's an unbelievable atmosphere.

Q. Your emotions right now, the excitement going up to this Game one, talk about that.
LORENZO CAIN: It's a lot of fun. The fans bring the energy. It definitely rubs off on us. We'll try to go out on the field and get it done. We will bring some energy. We'll be ready to go, and hopefully get a win.

Q. Christian, I want to ask you about your power numbers. A lot of times in this day and age guys when there's an increase in home runs, they'll look at launch angle data or try to get the ball in the air and really subscribe to that theory.
I know in the past you had been hesitant to do that. I was wondering if that changed this year, and if not, if you can -- if you had an explanation for your spike in power numbers.

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah, no, there was no conscious change on my part, no buying into the launch angle or anything like that. It's a really in-depth conversation. It's something that's going to take a lot longer than the time we have here to explain.

But no, I mean, I stuck with what I've been doing my entire career with a few adjustments, but focusing on launch angle was not one of them. There were some, but that wasn't one of them.

Q. (No microphone).
CHRISTIAN YELICH: I think it's just learning yourself more as a player. I think it's learning what you do when you're successful and knowing what you do when you struggle and trying to maximize those stretches when you're feeling good and really try and get to the bottom of it when you're not feeling good and shorten those stretches.

I think that's the goal, I think, every year is to get better as a player and learn something about yourself every single season and try and make adjustments. I think that's what happened this year.

Q. The theme in the clubhouse when we were asking what does it take to be successful in the postseason, whether it was Kratz or Mous, they were saying just to be yourself, but times ten. Is that easier said than done once you step on that field and you get the feel of a crowd in October?
LORENZO CAIN: Yeah. You've got to be yourself, believe in your teammates, rely on your teammates, understand you can't do it by yourself. It's going to take a total team effort. From top to bottom from coaches, from strength coaches to training staff, it's going to take everybody. We adopted the motto over in KC keep the line moving, so just believe that the guy behind you can go out there and get it done.

Q. How important is it for you guys to have a guy like Braun in the clubhouse with you this postseason, and how important has his emergence in the second half been for you guys?
CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah, he's been here before. He's been in this organization for a really long time. And I think we just as a team, we really try to put it in perspective in the second half, especially down the stretch, of focusing on one game at a time and not getting caught up in the big picture or how far out of the division we were, what we had in front of us, and we were just focused about, hey, let's just win today or tonight and control what we can control and see how many of these things we can string together in a row. And when it gets down to the final push, the little sprint at the end, we'll see where we stand. And that's what happened for us here in the second half, and Braun, like you said, was a big part of that, and we're going to need him going forward here in October.

Q. Lo, you've won the World Series before. You've been here before, and you know what it takes to win the World Series, but what gives you the confidence that this team has what it takes to do the same thing?
LORENZO CAIN: A lot of fight, a lot of heart. Guys want to do what it takes to find a way to win. We've been battling all year long. Think we were out of it back a few games in September, and we found a way to win the division, so that just speaks for itself. We believe in ourselves, trust in ourselves, and I think we can go out there and make a good run.

Q. Lo, in KC, you guys had those three great relievers that locked down games at the end. And here they use it even more, they use four or five of the starters. They won't even name a start for tomorrow. If you know who it is, we would love to hear it?
LORENZO CAIN: I don't know.

Q. What is it like to see a pitching staff operated like that and it seems to be the key to this team's success?
LORENZO CAIN: It's nice to have. Once I started out after maybe five, six innings to have a locked down bullpen like that is definitely needed in the playoffs. A lot of great hitters. Those guys have been doing an outstanding job all season long. We've been relying on them a lot this season. They've definitely been worked a lot. But at the same time, they're ready to go, and we're going to continue to rely on them the rest of the stretch. We'll see what happens, but those guys have been fantastic.

Q. Not playing in the same league as Christian, what did you know about him as a player, and then early in those Spring Training BP's or whenever it was when you started to see the kind of player he was, what impresses you about him?
LORENZO CAIN: Yeah. I didn't really know much about him, being in the AL for so long. But I could tell the first day of Spring Training, just watching his swing, how consistent it was, driving the ball to all fields. Long and lengthy, he has power to all fields. Like I say, day in and day out, I get a chance to watch it, and it's definitely impressive. He shows up every day, and you guys have seen it all year long. He's been dominant out there. Definitely nice to have him on our team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERS

October 3, 2018

Christian Yelich

Lorenzo Cain