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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS VS BRAVESOctober 5, 2019Mike ShildtSt. Louis, Missouri - Workout Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Shildt. Q. You know where this is going now. MIKE SHILDT: I'm not sure. Probably about rotation, with you. Q. Does it depend on whether Hudson pitches at all tomorrow that he would pitch Game 4, or have you decided that yet? MIKE SHILDT: I think Dakota will be our Game 4 guy. You never say never, but I don't think we're going to compromise our Game 4. We've got plenty of pitching. Q. We've all heard the story from Adam's perspective and the front office about how they worked out the deal. What role, if any, did you play in that, either in advising Adam, telling him where he might fit or lobbying for him to come back? MIKE SHILDT: I just remember being, towards the end last year in Chicago, and of course we were in the race so we were putting our attention towards that. And the last day we weren't, officially. And just talking to him about what that looked like. And I asked me if he had anything to say to the group, but I said it with the caveat that I'm asking if it's something that you'd like to say, but it's not something I want you to say because I'd love to have you back, and I was very encouraging about wanting him to come back, but also very clear about respecting his wishes. But I did know at that point in time he had a lot of optimism based on how he finished last year and how he felt. And I know how much competitive spirit he has and the love for the organization, and a love for pitching. So, I was really optimistic he'd come back. And, of course, anytime you get a chance to have Adam Wainwright on your team you want to encourage the front office for that, but that's all that was. We'd love to have him back if he's healthy, would be a great asset on and off the field. It's worked out wonderful. Q. [Inaudible]? MIKE SHILDT: Not really, a little bit of an indicator where his head was at. Q. A lot of people talk about the comforts of home, playing baseball at home, but what are some actual reasons playing a home game here benefits your ballclub? MIKE SHILDT: Well, look, we've got -- you can argue who the best fans in baseball are. If you argue with us, you'd have a pretty strong one. We've got a clear advantage in how we're supported here. We have a beautiful ballpark. And then just the comforts of your own bed and just being at home and just knowing where everything is and the routine and all that. So, but I think primarily it's just the fact that we love playing in our park and we have such great fans that we know will be there and support us. Q. Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, this could be a question from a 2006 press conference -- MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, isn't that cool? Q. Can you describe them working together? I know it's the first time you've talked about this topic, but them working together, just how special it is and how they make each other better? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, they're individually elite players, storied Cardinal players and adding to their stories. That's one thing I appreciate about them both individually, that they have this wonderful, rich tradition and accomplishment in this organization, both of them. But they're hungry for more and expect more and want more, and they're ready for more. And then you combine that and that's such a magic. Few things are magical, but when they are, they're just that. They're amazing. So when you see those two together and you see how they come together, and such elite competitors and such a kinship. And they're both really high character people, speaking to Yadi, rightfully winning the Roberto Clemente Award last year; Waino nominated from our team this year; and, again, a lot of competitive guys that have done a great job off the field. But hard to say there's somebody better than what Waino's been able to contribute. You're just talking about, on and off the field, just elite guys and working together. And it's just so much fun to watch them compete together and how they do it and just the synchronicity to it. Sometimes I'll just step back and watch them being together. It's fun. Looking forward to tomorrow. Q. Speaking of being hungry and competitive, talking about Adam Wainwright, did he say something after his most recent start against the Cubs how he was eager to get out and prove himself? MIKE SHILDT: You don't need to say whole lot, you just know that about Adam. He's a ferocious competitor. Any time a competitor has any type of setback or competes in a manner that they think they could do better, they're champing at the bit to get back out there. I'm excited to let Adam go unleash some of that drive tomorrow against Atlanta. Q. When you look at the first two innings of this series, both Miles and Jack had to fight through some traffic and had a run get scratched against them. Do you think Adam, with that experience and that sort of innate calm that he has in a postseason environment, can help settle that down and get the things off to the way you want them to be tomorrow? MIKE SHILDT: Like you said, both those were scratched to Atlanta's credit. Miles with the back-to-back walks, of course the first one was erased with Yadi throwing out Acuña, but, yeah, you think about sometimes it feels like it's the hardest thing to do, to score a run, and sometimes a guy gets on and gets to second on a ground ball single, or next thing you know he's got a run. I'm comfortable with all of our guys. I know Adam will be in the moment and give us our best chance to compete. I'm sure he'll be ready to go from the very beginning. Q. Miles, do you expect him to be in the bullpen for the remainder of this series? MIKE SHILDT: I think Miles could be an option out of the bullpen. I wouldn't say that's unrealistic. Q. Building on that question about Waino and Yadi, Adam speaking earlier about kind of the symbiotic nature of their relationship between the white lines, the chemistry and the trust and the battery they've built over so many years, can you speak to that and just the way that they work together and just how long it takes to build kind of what they have? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I should know the number. I know it's in the 200, how many starts they've had together -- 265. Just think about that. If you think a typical starter is going to get 30 to 32 starts on the course of a year staying healthy, I'm no math major, but that's a lot of years of consecutive times they've been together. I mean it's years and legitimately historic. So they're both so doggone smart, and to have them synced up it's really a huge advantage. Adam's pitches are his advantage too. He's got good pitches -- the breaking ball has been good again this year; he's able to command the fastball; his cutter has been an effective pitch for him. But just to see, Yadi's super creative, understands the game, sees the game, thinks the game. And Waino is the same way: Very meticulous in his game planning, can be very creative, both can think on the fly. So seeing and having that kind of wisdom and that experience together pretty special. Q. I know there are a lot of factors that go into choosing your starting pitcher, but some of it with Adam tomorrow, it being Game 3, postseason back in St. Louis, all the introductions happen again, kind of the atmosphere is a little more electric being back here for Game 3? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I've thought about that quite a bit, because it's a fair question, and that is when and why do you pitch guys. Why does it -- when does it make sense? And at every turn there's a reason for it. In this case, being back at home and the pageantry, the first postseason game in several years. And I don't think the absence would really matter with the fan base that we have; it will still be exciting. Opening ceremonies, that kind of thing. It's also a rubber-match game. There's a factor to that, too. And you think about it, but candidly looking at the first game, and we thought that's a big game as well. Game 2, if you're down one, it's a big game if you're up one; it's a big game, Game 3; rubber game, Game 4, it's an elimination game. They're all big games. But I think it's appropriate that Adam starts our home playoff game in a deadlock series. Q. Can you describe -- we know Yadier Molina's importance behind the plate; both games he's eliminated an out 27 to 26 having to get because Yadi took care of business. I guess the question would be, can you describe the weapon that is Yadier's brain? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, it's his brain and its his talent. It's a special combination. I'll never minimize any Major League player's ability. But what makes guys consistently elite -- my opinion, clearly -- is Yadi's skill sets. So you just think about how you've been able to stay and maintain high-level performance at the highest level and everything that goes into that, and you're talking about first and foremost your physical ability and then him able to hone his craft with that physical ability. He's always obviously been a really good defensive player. But there's all sorts of layers to that defense, what that looks like, how to call a game, how to work with pitchers, how to see and game plan. And obviously he's developed quite a bit as a hitter and become a very, very accomplished offensive player. He's a good baserunner. But then he's been able to stay in shape, physically. It's allowed him to continue to play -- saw a clip of an interview with Jim Hayes after a game, he said, you know, you're, like, you're ageless. And people want to put age on guys and I appreciate the fact that Yadi hadn't done that to himself. He's got a mindset of being able to play. He says he feels like he's 27, plays like he's 27. And then there's adjustments to the league. The league is always going to try to figure out a way to adjust to you and him being able to stay and be smart with that. And specific more to his defense, the fact you mentioned about taking an out off the board. He's taken a lot of outs off the board that you don't see on somebody being thrown out. He takes the outs off the board on how he's calling the game, how he's seeing the game, how he's setting up hitters. But then also if you think about -- and one thing that hasn't been talked about a whole lot, which is not a sexy category, I get it -- we just don't allow a lot of stolen bases. And we don't allow a lot of attempts or a lot of successes. That also, and I know it's a question about Yadi, but it's a credit to Wiety and Kniz, too. They did a nice job when they've been in there. But specifically Yadi, who carries the mail for us, and the pitchers. Pitchers have done a nice job, no tells, holds, picks, timing, mixing their timing. But Yadi is a big part of why people don't run. Which dovetails into the fact we have the best conversion rate of double plays. So you run, he can throw you out. You don't run, stays, keeps the double play in order. And that's why -- and I can say this and there's no real clarity to how this can be determined, but when you talk about most valuable player and what that means in total -- now clearly it's more of an offensive award, and we understand that. But if you look at that in total about the value of a player during the course of a game and how they impact a game, I'm not trading this guy for value. Q. Without asking you to give anything away that you can't, what kind of challenge does Soroka present for you guys tomorrow? Obviously he's a young guy, does not have a lot of experience with him, but he had a really good season? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, nice season, did a nice job. We know what we're going to get. I don't think there's going to be a lot of surprises about what we're going to get from Soroka. It's a matter of whether we can do what we expect to do. And kind of leave it at that. We'll have a game plan. It won't be very complex but we'll have it. But he's no different than Foltynewicz or Keuchel or anybody we face. We're going to have a game plan; it's just how we execute it. Q. Does the matchup possibly invite the possibility of Matt Carpenter being in the starting lineup? MIKE SHILDT: It does, absolutely. Q. Can you elaborate on what goes into that thinking, because obviously you might give a little to get a little? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, I think the biggest factor to that is their guy's down, he's in that swing plane. He's tougher on righties; he's a high ground ball game. Matt doesn't play on the ground a whole lot. So it's a good matchup for Matt. I would expect you to see him in there tomorrow. Q. How do you feel yesterday when a play you practiced a number of times in spring training you actually pull off that back pick play on the big stage? MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, it's hard to in that environment to get outside yourself and appreciate just a good baseball play, but we do that a lot. It's one of the reasons we're here. And I love the fact -- it's not something -- we've worked on their bunt plays the other day, just to make sure we ran through them and everybody was on with their spacing and timing. It's not a play we've worked on the last six months quite candidly, but it's a play that speaks well of the high baseball IQ of the players. And we knew kind of what was going on in that situation. And key to it, again, Yadi makes a good play to Kolten, gives him a good clean feed Kolten. Kolten has his radar up, and then took his time, recognized where the guys -- because the runner at first, he's trying to get in some kind of rundown, you've already got him in a rundown; Kolten was in control, kept his head on a swivel, looked over and made the right throw over to get Donaldson. You always appreciate, which happens frequently with this team, just the nuances of things and how they're done well. It's just good baseball. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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