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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES VS BREWERS

October 6, 2018

Craig Counsell

Denver, Colorado - Workout Day

Q. In your experience as a player and manager, how unusual is it for a player with Wade Miley's experience, being 30 years old, to change a lot of the way he pitches? If you go back and look at the pitches he throws, how often he throws them, just his general style, it's changed a lot just since last year.
CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I mean, I think that's more common than you think. I mean, I think the players that last are the players that adapt and change. And Wade kind of hit a wall a little bit in his career, realized that he had to make some adjustments and some changes, and he did it. And I think the player that's willing to do that and kind of willing to see that picture is the guys that survive and have long careers.

I think you give the player credit for doing it, but it's why guys succeed in this league and last in this league.

Q. I know you hate these kinds of questions before games, but I'm wondering what you can say about the bullpen for these two games. Can you stick with the same formula of these guys that have pitched each of the first two games, or is it just a requirement, especially if it goes to four, of Woodruff, Byrnes, Guerra, those other guys have to get involved?
CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I mean, you just -- it's a simple -- we'll just read the game. We've got a day off today. It gives everybody a chance to rest. There's a bunch of guys that I would say yes to.

I do think, on the other hand, it could look a little bit like the Cubs game, the 163 game, where I feel like we're in a position you could say resembles that. So we do have an opportunity to get our guys rest.

But it's still -- obviously it's a chance to close out a series. So if we have a chance to close out a series, we're going to try to close it out. You know, with the exception to me of J.J., who worked really hard yesterday, other than that, I think our bullpen guys, we're in pretty good shape going into this game.

Q. Is your initial out getter for four dependent on what happens in three, or do you have a guy now that you kind of have set in your mind?
CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, we have a couple different scenarios that we can go with, but we'll see how Game 3 unfolds.

Q. Because of the way you're lined up with your pitching and it would afford off-days again like you had going into the Division Series, is it really vital to close this thing out in three? You want to close it out, I understand that, but because of the way your pitching staff is built, this particular pitching staff, is it even more important? Do you know what I'm saying?
CRAIG COUNSELL: Well, we want to win the series.

Q. That's what I'm saying. I understand.
CRAIG COUNSELL: We'll win the series anyway we can. Would we prefer to win it in three games? Of course. But they have something to say about that, and they're going to put up a big fight.

You know, we'll battle for the next three games if that's what it takes. We hope to play a very good game tomorrow night and then obviously get people rest. But you expect to have to battle to win these things and understand that all your plans are not always going to work out the way you script them.

So that's part of it, and at some point, guys like Freddy and Junior are going to be involved in this, and I'm looking forward to that because they're going to do a good job, as well.

We're just playing it as kind of the -- sometimes you've got to let these games unfold, and that's how you know how to play them, and that's what we'll continue to do.

Q. To get the offense a little more cashing in on some more opportunities, how critical would Lorenzo Cain or Jesus Aguilar be if it turns out those guys are still looking for their first hit in the series?
CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, we've played two games. Look, offense is -- yeah, it would be great if everybody got three hits tomorrow and we'd score a bunch of runs. But I have no -- Lorenzo is going to get hits, Aggie is going to hit a home run in the playoffs, a big homer with men on base, I promise.

And so those guys will provide offense. In a two-game stretch, we've got it from some different guys. I guess if you include maybe the Game 163, we've got it from some different guys at times. But we'll get offense from those guys, as well.

The great thing about baseball is it's not LeBron taking the last shot every single game. If Erik Kratz, it's his turn to hit, then it's his turn to be the star, and it's his time to shine, and that's how baseball forces it to be. If you're in the lineup, you get four shots. Everybody is going to get four shots. Nobody is going to get 20 shots.

So last night, Erik was the one that cashed in on a really big opportunity. Hernan Perez cashed in on his four shots last night, and so that's how we scored some runs.

Q. The Kratz story is pretty good. We talk about stories, and I know you enjoy them yourself --
CRAIG COUNSELL: I don't want to preempt your question here, but I did not realize the significance of what Erik Kratz did yesterday. I happened to see his dad in the tunnel right after the game, and he was absolutely overjoyed, and then it probably struck me after I had a little small conversation with his dad that this was a 38-year-old player starting his first playoff game, and then I saw something written that this hasn't happened in a game in forever --

Q. 1905?
CRAIG COUNSELL: 1905. That's forever.

So that's pretty cool. And I didn't think about -- I had no thoughts of that kind of going into the game. Erik has done a good job for us. He's earned his starts. He'll be the starting -- he'll be the catcher tomorrow.

So it's a cool story. It's a cool fact about baseball and hard to believe that -- it's a hard, little factoid to believe, really.

Q. Could you offer thoughts on German Marquez and the challenges he'll present?
CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I'll tell you, he's a pitcher I've always liked. I remember facing him the last day of the season in 2016, or the last weekend, and thinking, wow, this is a really special arm. He's been on pretty good strikeout run right now. You see in his last five, six starts, the strikeouts are really piling up. It's something to take note of. He's got the stuff. It makes sense that there's strikeouts in there because the stuff says strikeout stuff.

We've got some -- the thing I like is that our guys do have some experience against him and do have a little taste of what he's going to have to offer. He is a guy we have to make throw strikes, and that's easier said than done with his stuff, but we can put some pressure on him by making him be in the strike zone.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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