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NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 7, 2018

Justin Turner

Atlanta, Georgia - pregame 3

Q. Good afternoon, Justin.
JUSTIN TURNER: Good afternoon.

Q. How difficult a year has it been for you physically, and when did you start to feel yourself and feel right again, or have you?
JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah. I would say frustrating to be a couple days out of breaking camp and breaking my wrist and missing almost two months. It was tough. I mean, you want to be on the field. You want to be able to help your team win games, and obviously we didn't play very well in the beginning, which made it extra tough to feel like you couldn't get out there and do anything to help.

And as far as feeling normal, throughout the course of the season, I don't think there's too many guys that feel normal all year long. So I don't think it's any different than anyone else who has stuff that they're going through. I was just dealing with my stuff.

Q. Justin, obviously a lot of people talk about the experience factor. Can you put into words what it means the fact that you guys have been here, you've done it; it's not new to you. And does it give you an advantage?
JUSTIN TURNER: Well, I definitely think experience is a good thing. I think the more you get put in an environment, the more you get put in a situation, the easier it is to control your emotions and the anxiety and all that stuff that goes into it. But at the end of the day, you still gotta go out and play.

We do have a lot of guys that do have a lot of post-season experience, and there have been a lot of conversations with some of the guys in our room who haven't been there before. But you know, I talk about us being prepared and built for the playoffs to our team because we did a good job all year long of offensively staying in the strike zone, taking our walks, and as a pitching staff, we throw more strikes than anybody.

So I thought we were pretty well suited for the post-season and told our guys who haven't been there before that they were already prepared for it because they've been doing it all year long.

Q. I understand like a day game in July is slightly different than an elimination game in October, but is there anything about Newcomb that you guys took out of that first outing that you feel like might benefit you guys tonight?
JUSTIN TURNER: He's a good pitcher. He's got good stuff. I would compare him similar to Ferguson for us. He's got the explosive four-seam fastball, he pitches up in the zone, and the big curveball, and it's about not trying to do too much off him. I think keep it short, keep it simple, and try to find the barrel, and you'll have some more success than we've had off him in the past, as opposed to trying to take big swings, do big swings, and you end up swinging through a lot of those fast balls.

Q. Justin, over the last few years, the Dodgers have played a lot of baseball games. How do you guys fend off the physical and the mental toll that that can take compared to other teams that don't play as many games over the years?
JUSTIN TURNER: Again, every team had to play 162 games this year. So I know we've played deep in the postseason last couple of years and a little bit longer than other teams, but when it gets to this point and you get to the postseason, all those aches, pains, the mental grind, that kind of goes out of the window. And you're playing off adrenaline, and you're seeing the prize, you're seeing the target, keeping your eye on that. And that's what motivates you when you're kind of beat down, run down, is everyone in the room knows what we're playing for.

Q. Walker Buehler is known for his great self-confidence, and how has that worked in the clubhouse and how has that manifested itself with you guys?
JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, you know, he's a very confident guy. He believes in his stuff. We believe in him. We believe in his stuff. And I think other than how electric all of his pitches are, the mental side of it is what I think makes him even better. When he has the ball, he's on the mound, he thinks he's better than everyone. And that's a good thing.

Q. Is it hard for you all to accept that when he first came in -- because you guys have all been here and done that -- he's just a rookie?
JUSTIN TURNER: No, not at all. I think we all know Walker and know his personality, and the good thing about him is he knows who he is and he knows how confident he is. And when we kind of stay on him and give him hard times about little dumb stuff, he totally understands that, you know, it's all in good nature and good sense to keep him going the right direction. You know, he's been outstanding for us all year long.

Q. So he's like self-aware?
JUSTIN TURNER: Yeah, I think he's very self-aware. I think he knows that he exudes a ton of confidence, and he knows that we know that he's confident in himself. And like I said, I think it's a good thing. I think that helps him be as successful as he's been on the mound.

Q. With Freese, like outside of what he's done at the plate, how useful has it been having him around in the past month or so, whether it's in the clubhouse or hitters' meetings, things like that?
JUSTIN TURNER: You know, when he first came over, obviously we talked about the experience earlier, and his pedigree is off the charts in our clubhouse. He's probably been in and done it better than anyone else we have. But then as the month, month and a half has gone on, watching him and seeing the connections he's made with the younger guys has been incredible. They flock to him. They're always around him, they're always talking to him. And he has had, I think, a huge influence, a huge impact on a lot of our young players that, you know, we -- not that myself and Chase and other guys don't have as much influence on them, but I think at some point, guys get tired of hearing the same voices over and over again.

So to bring him in and have a new voice and a new guy kind of preaching the same stuff that we preach, maybe in a little bit different way I think was refreshing for those guys, and I think it's gone a long way.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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