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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: NATIONALS VS CARDINALS

October 15, 2019

Anibal Sanchez

Washington D.C. - pregame 4

Q. When the team got off to a bad start this year, there was a lot of speculation that Davey's job might be in danger. This is a hard question to answer, but how might the team have reacted, and how did he turn the ship?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: You're asking about somebody's reaction?

Q. Yeah, when the team got off to a bad start, like when you were 12 under, there was a lot of speculation that he might get fired. How might the team have reacted to that?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: Always when you've got a really good team and the result is not there, there's a lot of speculation. I remember that I read an article probably the end of May, and they say that probably the whole team is going to be traded and all those situations. But at the end, we're here. Whatever we've done to be here was really good and all the speculation is done.

That's the good thing for this team. We never pay much attention to what's going on outside the clubhouse, and we create a good team. From all the speculation, where we are right now, we turned it around really, really good, not only as the result, but as a team together. We play really good together, and we show really good baseball after that.

Q. Aníbal, with the way that you guys have started this series, the three starters, up until this point, it's Patrick's turn tonight, could you have ever imagined you guys would not have allowed an earned run to this point in the series?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: I mean, I think it's like a continuance of this answer. The way we started the season to be here, I think everybody just played hard. Everybody just go outside and give the most that they can to bring some really good games for the team. At the end, we got like positive results, and that's why we are 3-0 right now.

Q. How would you describe what you and Parra do in the dugout and what you bring to this team?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: Parra, he bring a lot of energy to the team, no doubt. Since the first moment that he stepped in the dugout, I remember in L.A., he make his first noise about like positive thoughts on the clubhouse. From that moment on, we try to bring -- like try to have fun, instead of more like play hard. I think at that point, we are really behind on the division.

But this guy is unbelievable. He's funny, and he's happy, and he brings all the energy to the team. I'm glad to have this guy on the team.

Q. Aníbal, the success the starters have had in this series, how much of that is related to the scouting reports that you guys got on the lineups of the Cardinals, and how different are those? How more detailed are they in a series like this than, say, in a regular season series?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: I think most of the people forget who is either Scherzer or Strasburg or Corbin. Those guys are one of the best starters on the team. Like everything right now, come out so good. Personally, for the whole starters, we work out separately. I don't have the same stuff like Scherzer. Scherzer don't have the same stuff as Strasburg. Strasburg, he's not a lefty. So Scherzer, Strasburg, and I, we're not lefties. All four, we got so different stuff.

We're working separately. We prepare our game separately. At the end, we got really, really good communication with the culture. What happened in this series right now, we don't give so far any kind of chance to the team to start a rally. All three, like it started with me on the first game, Scherzer and Strasburg yesterday, we hit the corners like pretty good, and that was the key so far for the success that we have right now.

Q. Aníbal, when you came out of the game in Game 1, it looked like you pointed across to the Cardinals dugout. Was that for José Martínez, to kind of acknowledge him? And he also did a social media post about you. I was wondering if you saw that and what your friendship is like.
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: Yeah, for me, he's a really, really good player. He showed respect on everything he had done on social media, and of course, I have to show respect to him, especially because probably we're from Venezuela, and I just give -- you know, just -- it's not like congratulations because he did his job. He didn't do anything wrong. I heard a lot of people say like, oh, why he against you? I say, no, man, he did his job.

We're in the position right now, like I say, hey, man, this guy got a base hit, and this guy hit a homer, so the game's tied. A lot of things can happen after that. So I just try to give a high-five or take my hat off to him.

Q. Aníbal, how is Max Scherzer different than when you were teammates with him in Detroit as a pitcher and as a teammate?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: As a pitcher, he's like -- he's more mature on the mound. I think this guy, he was good back then, but now he's unbelievable. Like I don't know what he done. I think he like get another level of the pitcher-wise, and the confidence that he got on the mound is unbelievable. Always he was a competitive pitcher. He's so smart on the mound, but now like the whole ability that he has to pitch and compete and represent the team that he play for, he's unbelievable. That's a different Scherzer than I played in Detroit to the Scherzer right now.

Q. Also on Max, last night, every time the TV cameras showed him in the dugout, he's jumping around, he's talking, he's moving constantly. What is he like on the days that he doesn't pitch? And do you guys like him like that, or does he actually get annoying?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: We love it. We love it. At the end, that's what we're talking about, like -- I love the team. That's the word that we always use for Scherzer in the dugout. He's a hyper person. He's a fighter. He always wants to be like on top of the game. He don't want to miss anything during the game. For me, the impressive part for Scherzer, he -- since the 100 and something games we've got so far since the season starts, he's always outside for the first pitch. He's incredible. It's something that I respect for him. He respect the teammates. He respect everybody else.

That's why I think everything comes out good for Scherzer.

Q. You guys have made it pretty clear that you're trying to build off of each other's starts, and there's like a competition there in a good way of passing the baton. How hungry is Corbin to get his shot at this? He's had to sit and watch you guys dominate for three games now. Has he said anything about eagerness to go out and show what he can do?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: I don't have the opportunity to talk about that with Corbin, but I know for sure, as a pitcher, he is excited to be on the mound. I think like he's -- I always call all those situations like a domino effect. So I think he's pretty excited. Like I say, I don't have the opportunity to talk with him, but it's no doubt he just wants to go there and show the best.

Q. Aníbal, not to get too far ahead, but in 2012, you guys swept the Yankees and had several days off, and then you got swept in the World Series. That possibly could happen with all the days off this time. Could you talk about any negative effects that all those days off had for you in 2012 before the San Francisco series? And if you don't mind answering in English and Spanish, as well.
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: For me, everything that happened in 2012, I think it's more mentally. I think, if I don't mind, that happened in 2006. They worried so much that it would happen again to them, that didn't happen. I think it's more mentally.

For us, if you got the opportunity to win tonight and got several days off, I think we've got so many veteran guys that they're going to do anything to keep it in check and in keeping with everything we've done so far. I think those guys are pretty good. Like I say, they're veterans, and they know what they have to do.

Q. Aníbal, you were just asked how Max Scherzer is different now compared to how when you were both with Detroit. How are you a different pitcher now compared to back then?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: A lot. I don't throw high anymore. I don't got my slider. I use more of my slow change-up. From that, I'm always, I think, my whole career, I use command. I always worry about command. Hit the corners, up and down. That's what I worry about even when I throw hard.

But right now, I think I use more experience instead of try to challenge someone or see what he can do with that pitch instead of this pitch. I just try to keep my game plan all the way from the beginning to the end. I try to -- I don't want to just play around with anything because I don't have an electric fastball to challenge nobody.

Q. Over in the ALCS, there's been some conversation about pitch tipping, and I'm wondering, as a pitcher, how much of a concern is that in today's baseball, worrying about tipping pitches?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: Right now, it's a lot of technology in the clubhouse. Like it's not something that's coming right now. I hear for many years people say, okay, this guy do this with his glove when he's going to throw a fastball and go slower with some pitch. If you, as a pitcher, show something different to the hitters, as professional hitters, they're going to take advantage of that. It's no doubt. It's not hidden. I don't think it's that. If you show something different every pitch, of course they're going to take advantage of that.

Of my personal opinion, I think -- I remember that I was tipping my pitch in 2012, and I used to be with my glove on my chest, and from that moment, like I started tipping. And that's why I'm using my glove on my belt just because I was tipping my pitch. So after that, you as a pitcher, if you know that, you have to make adjustments, you know. Nothing's going to change.

Q. Aníbal, how did you figure out that you were tipping your pitches? Did you see it on video? Did someone tell you? And why did you make that specific adjustment? How does that allow you to not show?
ANÍBAL SANCHEZ: I remember that I faced a team that hit, like, pretty good against me, and I started against -- I threw against that again, and they started hitting pretty good, and I say, what's going on? So one of the coaches told me, I think it's that you're tipping your pitch. And I said how? And he showed me, and it was true. I said, okay, if that doesn't work right now, I need to make the adjustment.

That's why I put my glove on the belt because right there, I don't make any kind of move.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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