|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AL DIVISION SERIES: INDIANS VS ASTROSOctober 5, 2018Terry FranconaHouston, Texas - pregame 1 Q. Tito, was there kind of a defining moment for Carrasco this year? Do you think he's been pretty consistent? TERRY FRANCONA: I thought when he came back from his DL stint, he's been pretty good. I mean, he's always been good, but it seemed like his E.R.A. probably dropped a full point from that point on. He's been good the last three months. Q. Terry, how healthy was Corey Kluber a year ago in October? Was there ever any thought at any point that maybe we shouldn't run him out there? And how would you compare where he is this year versus last October? TERRY FRANCONA: No, there never was. Like I think I said, he didn't ever make an excuse. We were kind of beat up on a number of fronts. Sometimes when you have a lot of question marks, sometimes the answers to some of them are no. Tried to eliminate as many as we could this year. Q. Tito, when you added Donaldson and you bumped some guys down a little bit, and the way Gomes and Kipnis and Melky hit, how much more comfortable were you lower in the lineup because you were so top heavy? TERRY FRANCONA: It seems like early in the season, if the top of the lineup didn't hit, it could be a tough day. With Melky down there being a switch hitter and Kip driving in the runs he has, and Gomer being consistent all year, it's given us a chance every inning. That's the idea, to put pressure on pitchers and not give them innings off, and things like that. I think we're situated better now where we're competitive 1 through 9. Q. Terry, was there anything about Josh Donaldson that you didn't know that you know now from having him in your clubhouse for a month? TERRY FRANCONA: He plays cribbage. Did not know that coming in. Again, we did our homework pretty good and watching him on the other side for a number of years. It's easier to pull for him when he's taking those monster swings when he's in our uniform. No, he's a good one. I give our guys credit. They went and got a guy, and we knew there was a little bit of a gamble, but I think between the medical and Josh, we did it right, and he's in a pretty good place. Q. Tito, when you look at the organization as a whole since you've been here, you guys have kind of bucked the trend, so to speak. Small to mid-market team that has kept winning. Just how have you done that? What do you see? Is there a key element in that that has made you guys be consistent and maybe kind of push the window a little bit? TERRY FRANCONA: Well, I think our starting pitching has always given us a chance. But I'd like to think that it's the people. Starting with Chris and Cherney at the top. Again, I say a lot because I feel that way. I think that is something we view as the strength of our organization is the way we work together. We know where we are kind of in the pecking order of salary structures, so we can't make big mistakes, but we make decisions together, and we try to figure out our challenges together. It's a good way to do things. Q. How big a part is scouting in that? I mean, it seems like, especially for you guys, it would have to be the lifeblood. TERRY FRANCONA: That and our minor league system. But like we were talking about earlier, guys like Dave Malpass, we rely heavily on guys like that, and everyone is afforded an opinion. I think that's one thing Chris and Cherney do so well, people feel safe giving their opinion because that's not always the case. They know that it's welcomed, and when you leave a meeting, you're not going to get laughed at. You're one of us. We may not always agree and you're not supposed to, but it's welcome and appreciated and respected. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|