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NL DIVISION SERIES: NATIONALS VS DODGERS

October 2, 2019

Dave Martinez

Los Angeles, California - Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Have you decided on the Game 2 starter and if so, who is it?
DAVE MARTINEZ: It's TBD right now. We're going to wait and see.

Q. Does the Game 1 result factor into that at all?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Not much. But we'll see. Obviously, Stephen threw the ball well yesterday for us. We have other options. So we'll see how it transpires over the next day.

Q. Is Stephen a candidate to still come back after throwing 30-some pitches yesterday?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Most definitely.

Q. What would have to happen?
DAVE MARTINEZ: We would have to see. Obviously, it's going to be a quick turnaround. I would just want to give him a day to recoup. We just got off a flight, so want to see how he feels.

Q. You talked for a few days about how you had to just go all in to win the one game to get to this point. Now does that mindset have to change when you're looking at a five-game series and not just the players do you put on the roster, but the decisions you make and have to manage through a game and through a whole series?
DAVE MARTINEZ: It's always, right now it's we're playing for one game. That's it. And my message has always been clear about now it means more than ever, hey, we need to go 1-0. It's important, especially to win that first game to have more of a series and then go from there. Feel pretty confident Pat's ready to go, so let's focus on just win the game tomorrow.

Q. Given the strength of your starters and when you see teams in the past postseasons, like the Red Sox last year, use starters as relievers in the course of a series, is that something that you think about when it comes to processing and mapping out how the series will look?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Absolutely. We have done our due diligence, worked, and we're still working on some roster construction. Talking to guys, how they're feeling, they're availability. But like I said, these are, to me these are all one-game, one-game playoffs. They all are. It's important if we're winning to win. To get ahead, stay ahead. So we're going to use all options necessary to win a game.

Q. Walker Buehler used the term throwback about this series in the sense that there's so many good starting pitching options on both sides. With so many teams using bullpens more and more, do you sort of think of that, this series in that way, sort of old school, really good starting pitching, probably every night.
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, I mean you know what, good for him that he said that. Yeah, I mean both sides got good starting pitching. It's going to be fun. It's going to be -- like I said, the reason why we are here, I said it all year, is our starting pitchers kept us afloat. And they pitched really well all year. So we depend a lot on our starting pitching. But there's other aspects of the game that we need to do. And I always ask the boys to just come out and play the game the right way.

Q. Anthony was just in here and he said the biggest difference for him this season at the plate is that he's getting lucky more. I imagine there's a little more to it than that from your perspective. What is he leaving out?
DAVE MARTINEZ: You know what, I think he's been lucky for a lot of years now. He's been good, he's just been consistent. I often say, he missed six weeks of the season, so just imagine if he had those six weeks what kind of numbers he really would have put up. He's just that kind of player. For us, he's a guy that makes our lineup go. He really is. I've said this before, from the other side, when I didn't know him as well, just seeing him as a player, I always said the same thing, I said man this guy is just Mr. Consistent. He puts the ball in play, has power to all fields, he's not afraid. What makes him really good, I think, is that he's not afraid to hit with two strikes. And he'll battle you up there and hit the ball the other way. But when he gets to two strikes, there's no panic. I think he has one of the best two-strike approaches in the game.

Q. To follow up on that, I know all the MVP votes are in, but what's your elevator pitch for Anthony to win that award?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I think he's the MVP. I've been saying it for months. Yeah. I think he's the MVP. I think he should win a Gold Glove. He's been phenomenal this year, all the way around.

Q. This is a big year for Rendon and what can come this winter. How have you seen him handle that this year, especially last year, you had another guy who was also dealing with that? And at the end of the season as such, as the end might be near for Rendon in his contract, have you seen anything different or changed at all or has he kind of been the same guy?
DAVE MARTINEZ: As we all know him, he's been the same guy day in, day out. Doesn't talk about it much, doesn't really say anything about it much. He just comes to the ballpark, gets his work in and gets ready to play every single day. It's a testament to the kind of person that he is, that he knows his job, and he just comes to the ballpark, and he's just trying to help us win every day.

Q. Are you ever concerned about players in that situation and when you were playing, did you see teammates who that might have gotten in their head and subsequently leaked onto the field and some of their results weren't what they would want because they were thinking about what was to come down the road?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Oh, absolutely. I've seen players that have become free agents have not so good years, years that they're not accustomed to having because that's what they're worried about. He hasn't done that, obviously. He feels like it's whatever happens, happens. Everything's going to take care of itself. He just wants to go out there and play and help us win. He's always said that, he's here to help us win games.

Q. Was there any point last night that you thought about warming Corbin up, and the fact that you were able to win the game without him, was that a big advantage for you to know that now you have him at full strength for Game 1?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I wouldn't have warmed him up unless we had to go extra innings. That would have been the only case. When we took the lead, we had Hudson and Doo, who's been back there for us. So, yeah, and it's kind of nice coming into today knowing that Patrick's going to go Game 1 and we didn't have to get him up.

Q. A lot of people talk about yesterday. You guys kind of got over the hump in the sense that this team finally won an elimination game. How do you balance being proud of that while also knowing that there's a lot more to do moving forward?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, there's a lot more to do. We have to start by playing Game 1. Focus on Game 1. Those guys, we're all excited about what happened yesterday and what transpired. But they understand what's ahead of them. So today we got our plan, got to sleep in our own bed last night, got up this morning, got on a plane. Wanted them all to come to the ballpark and kind of stretch and take some ground balls and whatnot and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. You guys haven't beaten Clayton Kershaw or Ryu this year. You have beaten Buehler. Were you a little surprised to see him in Game 1?
DAVE MARTINEZ: No, I mean after what I seen from Buehler, man, he's got really good stuff. So all night last night I was tossing about what they were going to try to do and it doesn't surprise me that Buehler is going to pitch Game 1. He's been a guy this year for them, he's been really good. We got a tough battle ahead of us, but I know that our boys are up to it.

Q. Hudson over Doolittle in the 9th inning yesterday, was that a matchup thing, just kind of Hudson was already warming to come into the game, what was the thought process there?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, he was already up. I liked the matchup with Hudson with those guys down in the bottom. We had Doo up at the top of the order, if we got there. So he was going to pitch if we got there.

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