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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: NATIONALS VS CARDINALS

October 12, 2019

Dave Martinez

St. Louis, Missouri - pregame 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. With the youth movement in the game today how cool is it to lead the oldest team by average age in baseball and also how helpful is it to have these built-in off days for guys like Zim and Howie to play every day?
DAVE MARTINEZ: It's huge. I didn't realize we were the oldest team in baseball, to be honest with you. But these guys are professionals, they're veterans, they get it, they're playing really well right now. But the days off makes it a lot easier to keep them in there.

Q. You started Zim three days -- or three times in a row now against right-handed pitchers above guys like Asdrubal, what sort of led to that decision?
DAVE MARTINEZ: He's swinging the bat well, he's playing good. I've always said this, for me, he's one of our best, well he is our best defensive first baseman, as we saw yesterday by the play he made. And when he's healthy, he's swinging the bat, he's playing really well, he's running well, he's a guy. So I like him in the lineup.

Q. You guys haven't attempted a stolen base yet in the postseason. That was obviously a big part of your game during the regular season. Is that just a byproduct of maybe who you faced, you faced a lot of lefties with Los Angeles, or is there anything else going on that it hasn't felt worth the risk?
DAVE MARTINEZ: We had those lefties that hold runners on well. Yesterday the starter held runners on well and you also have Yadier who throws the ball well. So we want to steal bases but we want to be smart about it. We just don't want to run into outs.

Q. Zim kind of just keeps his emotions kind of even-keeled, in check for the most part. But have you gotten a sense of kind of what this run means to him to be healthy and contributing and playing as much as he has?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, for me, obviously he's waited a long time to be in this position. And he's been -- people don't see his emotions, I see his emotions a lot in the clubhouse. He's fired up, he's excited, he wants to play, he's ready to play. I've asked him to do different a role when he came back and he accepted it. And he just wants to be a part of it. And like I said, he's playing really well right now and hitting the ball really well.

Q. I don't think anybody asked you yesterday, would you have let Aníbal go nine? And how much were you sweating that whole debate, do I let this guy finish a postseason no-hitter?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Well, if you watched our bullpen we had Rainey up in the 7th, and then we got Doo up. So, but, yeah I was going to let him try to finish. I mean, if he gets Martinez out, he was going to go. So we were basically batter to batter at that point. I think maybe that was his fifth or sixth time all year that he went over a hundred pitches, so I definitely had some concern.

Q. A little hidden thing last night is that because he went so deep, you only had to use Doo. How does that set up your bullpen for tonight and really the rest of the series because you've got so much rest?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, it was huge. Today we get Huddie back. I haven't talked to Doo yet, but I'm assuming, I think he only threw like 18 pitches yesterday, four outs, which was huge too. So I'm assuming he's going to be good to go, especially with the day off tomorrow. But bullpen's fresh and ready to go.

Q. Yesterday you mentioned when talking about Daniel that family comes first. How did your playing career and having a family while you played maybe inform that opinion?
DAVE MARTINEZ: I never missed any of my kids births. I think that's important. I told them that. Because, hey, believe it or not, he was, he wanted to be with the team, and I told him I think that it's important that you're with your wife, it's a big moment in your family, I know you have other kids, but it's huge. You got to be supportive and we get it, I understand, and hopefully the baby cooperates and which she didn't, little stubborn little thing. But he's here today and I told him that his teammates will pick him up and we'll be okay. I actually, I told him, I texted him last night and I said, hey, I got a name for your little girl, and in Anibala Sean Hudson.

(Laughter.)

Q. When Doolittle came off the IL he wasn't really Doolittle for awhile. Do you remember when he kind of looked like that guy to you and do you kind of think of him and Hudson, I guess, as duo closers at this point?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Dual closers, yeah. Yeah, you know what, we tried -- after he came off the IL we were building him up to get to this point. I said this all year that in a perfect world he's our closer, he's done it, he understands it, he knows the role, he's good at it. But we wanted to build him up. And now he's throwing the ball about as best as I've seen him throw the ball pretty much all year. His fastball is good, spin rate's good, he's a huge spin rate guy, and he's using other pitches very well. So with him and Huddie in the 8th and 9th and maybe in the 7th, I feel like we got a nice stopgap there.

Q. Yesterday when Marcell Ozuna batted in the second inning he hit the heck out of the ball but it did not leave the ballpark. Can you describe your emotions watching that and did you think it was gone?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, I mean when he hit it, he hit it you awfully high and awfully hard. The thing I know about this time of year is the air gets a little heavy, so I was just hoping that the air was really, really heavy after he hit the ball and it stayed in the park.

I think Gomes hit a ball really hard too and it short-hopped the wall. So I knew that the balls weren't going to carry.

Q. Can you describe the fear factor that it is facing a hot Marcell Ozuna who is doing really well in October so far?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, he's awesome. He's one of those guys where he's dangerous, especially with guys on base, so we got to be awfully careful facing him.

Q. I asked the same question to Mike about half an hour ago, but if you knew that the ball was maybe not carrying like it was in the regular season, whether it's weather, something different with the ball, would that affect at all your decision making when it comes to lineups or maybe defensive positioning things like that?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, we definitely, our outfielders played a little bit more shallow yesterday than they normally do, only because we figured the ball was not going to travel as far. The other thing, too, is that I talked to the guys about maybe, last night, if they get an opportunity to bunt for hits or whatnot, that go ahead and try it. By the way, I did not tell Juan Soto to try to bunt (smiling). He did that on his own. I scratched my head on that one, but you know what, he's trying to play the game.

Q. You've talked about the value of Hudson this year. What is it like getting a reliever in the middle of a season, you also have a new pitching coach, just determining what his role is because he's had various roles in the past?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Yeah, we, Riz traded for him, we got him, we knew he was having a pretty good year with Toronto, but we haven't -- I only saw videos of him at that point. So we had to make sure that -- and he was really good, all year long he was really good with inherited runners, which we struggled at. So I think the first I put him in was with guys on base and he did really well in Arizona. So I kind of eased his way. And by having conversations with him, I asked him how much has he pitched in the 9th inning and without hesitation he says, hey, if you need me in the 7th, 8th, 9th, I'll be ready to go. And he's been that guy. Whenever he's called upon, he's ready to go and he's a guy that throws strikes, attacks the strike zone, and he's been very good for us.

Q. With a pitching staff that's as competitive as yours is, internally and against the opponents, how high did Aníbal set the bar last night and was there talk about reaching that level or matching it or beating it, if possible?
DAVE MARTINEZ: Well, we have Max Scherzer pitching today. As you know he's very competitive. I just hope he comes out and pitches like Max Scherzer and doesn't try to do too much. But I know he's excited and I know he was excited yesterday watching Aníbal, so I just want him to go out there and compete. But these guys get it. The big reason why we are here is because our four starters, they pitched well all year for us.

Q. Michael's back in the lineup being, having a little bit of trouble, how do you balance not wanting to bring back Victor before he's a hundred percent for sure and how do you balance wanting to give Michael a chance to step back maybe?
DAVE MARTINEZ: For me, it's just about Victor's health and getting him healthy. I don't want him to come back and just play one game and get hurt. I want him to come back and play multiple games.

So Michael's doing fine. For me, yesterday he had good at-bats, he did. He didn't get a hit but he battled, put a ball in play with 3-2 and that's all you can ask for. But his defense, as we all know, we don't miss much on defense with him out there.

Q. The way you guys finished the season you certainly came in with plenty of confidence. But can you describe, I guess, the extra conviction that a team might pick up as it gets further along in a postseason run?
DAVE MARTINEZ: You know, hey, these guys, they're playing well. I've said this before, for me and for those guys we have been playing playoff games since end of May. We really have. We put ourselves in a hole and we had to get out of it. These guys have been playing really well since then. So I don't want them to change, I don't want them to think of this as being something different. They're having a lot of fun. The message is always the same, hey, let's stay in the fight and go 1-0 every day.

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