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NL DIVISION SERIES: NATIONALS VS DODGERSOctober 3, 2019Stephen StrasburgLos Angeles, California - pregame 1 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What told you today in your body or your mind that you were ready to pitch tomorrow versus how you felt yesterday right after the Wild Card game? STEPHEN STRASBURG: You just get a good night's sleep. Obviously we had a late game there in DC and traveling yesterday and just get a chance to recover a little bit. Q. Starting pitchers are such creatures of habit. Can you talk about how your routine has evolved and how much, if at all, pitching in relief in that Wild Card game kind of disrupted or changed it? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, I mean it is something I haven't done in a really long time and it is what it is. So just try to focus on what you can control and just disregard everything that you can't. That's kind of the nature of the business. Sometimes you're going to have to deal with some things that you wouldn't expect and bottom line is you still have to go out there and compete. Q. Davey referred to your outing as the equivalent of a bullpen session. When you consider all the work you did in throwing before the game and the game itself, the high stress of that, how comparable is that to a bullpen session? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, it was definitely the most adrenaline I've ever had for a bullpen, so yeah, I mean it felt good. Q. It's been 10 years since you were at San Diego State and all the draft mania surrounding you at that time. 10 years out, how would you say you've grown as a pitcher and become kind of who you are and where would you say you are now in your career? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, it's kind of what you would expect playing nine, ten years at the highest level. You have ups and downs and I think you learn to manage them a little bit better. Just realize that at the end of the day when it's all done how do you want to look back on it. And really, it's going out there and doing everything you can to be the best version of yourself. Q. Just when you thought about taking the ball for tomorrow was there any concern on your part just about your arm or was it an easy call for you that it's the playoffs and you kind of want to be on the mound there? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, I'm just one of 25 guys and we have had an amazing run all the way to this point and excited to get the opportunity to keep it going. But really, I mean, it is, my arm's felt great all year and my routine's kind of improved this year over previous seasons. Q. What changes in your routine are you kind of most proud of or just think that you feel most happy about? STEPHEN STRASBURG: I think it's learning how to manage throwing in between, when you don't feel right, kind of knowing what you got to do to make yourself feel better. It's just understanding the length of the season, understanding your body better, and really just making those adjustments when you need to. Q. The usage of your curve ball this year. What was the reason behind sort of incorporating that pitch more into your arsenal and what has that pitch meant to the success you've had this year? STEPHEN STRASBURG: I mean, it's a pitch I'm really confident in throwing and throwing anytime. I guess you would say you just, sometimes you got to look at the data and maybe lean on it a little bit more than you have in the past. I think there comes a point in everybody's career where you don't have the fastball that you can just blow by guys all the time, so you have to learn how to pitch a little bit more. Q. When you look back to the 2017 playoffs against the Cubs when you had those couple starts, what did you learn about yourself during that series? STEPHEN STRASBURG: I'm not really sure. It's an amazing experience and highlight of my career. Still the same person and I try and be the same person from the first time I stepped on a baseball field. Q. Going back to kind of the long view, when you were drafted, kind of impossible expectations were placed upon you. How would you say you have dealt with those expectations over your career and managed them, if you will? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Yeah, you realize that the expectations are always going to be there and I think it's pretty obvious that the expectations that people had for me from early on were a little insane. And I think you just become more comfortable with yourself, more comfortable with the results, and you set yourself to your own standards, and those are always going to be more important than what others think you should be doing. Q. For you what does comfortable mean? What does that incorporate? STEPHEN STRASBURG: What does comfortable mean? Q. Yeah, in terms of where your expectations are for yourself, in terms of what you want to accomplish? STEPHEN STRASBURG: Well, I know that, I know how much hard work I put in every off season. I know that, the type of teammate that I want to be, I know the type of dad that I want to be, husband that I want to be. All those things don't really change depending on the numbers that you put up or the numbers that are on the back of your baseball card. Those are things that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life and that's fundamentally what's most important. I don't have a crystal ball. I'm going to go out there and give it everything I have and we'll see what happens. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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