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MLB WORLD SERIES: NATIONALS VS ASTROSOctober 29, 2019Michael BrantleyHouston, Texas - pregame 6 Q. Some thoughts about going against Stephen Strasburg after seeing him a just few days ago. MICHAEL BRANTLEY: He's a great pitcher. He has three quality pitches that he throws at any given time. We've got to come out with a good game plan, a team approach. And hopefully have some good consecutive at-bats. Q. When Strasburg is on with his off speed he's really locating low in the zone. How do you guys approach? Are you trying to lay off that and see if he makes a mistake up? What's your approach in that situation? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: It all depends if they're landing for strikes or not. His change-up dies a lot, his breaking ball has good bite. We've got to keep him in the zone. When you start chasing out of the zone and getting behind, with his quality of pitches, we're going to be in trouble. We've got to do a good job of staying disciplined in the strike zone. Q. How is it that you guys have maintained the same approach no matter what position you are in this series, very much the same at 0-2 as it was in the clubhouse when you won three straight? And how has that helped you get to this point? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: I think that's the veteran leadership that stepped up. Guys have been here before. They know what it takes to win. I think this is a special team in the locker room that prides themselves on acting the same way, being accountable every day, day in and day out, and we do a good job of it. This is a special team. We win a lot of games together. We do it as a team every night. Q. The fact that you lost two straight at home, did the fact that you were pressed to the limit by Tampa and lost Game 1 to the Yankees, did that help you in the World Series keep afloat? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: I know it's not going to be easy to get to the World Series. Tampa and New York are great teams. It was a fun series, competitive series, and we knew that going into it. Like I said before, we have a lot of confidence in that locker room and every one of the players, whoever steps out on the mound or is in the batter's box at that time, has gotten big swings or done big things throughout the entire year. We look forward going out there tonight and doing it as a team. Q. (No microphone.) MICHAEL BRANTLEY: Zero panic. I feel like when you have a special group, if you look around the locker room with the special talent we have in that locker room and how everybody cares for one another, there was zero panic. Q. When you reference veteran leadership before, what kind of role does Justin Verlander play in that regard? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: Well, JV has been a workhorse for us all year. He prepares better than anybody. I know he's in the video room preparing right now. He's ready to go. Day in and day out just talking to pitchers and the way everybody communicates on this team, I think that's what makes teams special, the special bond that everybody has in that locker room. Q. Through this process when you were down 0-2 you talked a lot about the confidence that was still there. How much of that radiates from the starting pitching that you guys have? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: Our starting pitching has been great for us. Day in and day out they prepare better than anybody I've ever seen, what they're trying to do. They work together. I think that's one of the most special thing that everybody doesn't get to see is how well they work behind closed doors together, coming up with game plans, feeding off one another. They do a great job of just pushing each other to the limit or making each other better day in and day out. Like I said, it's a tight group. A tight unit in there. And we feel confident tonight and look forward to keeping it going as a team. Q. You talked about it a little bit when you first signed here about your thoughts on the organization from a distance. Now that you've gone almost through a full season, what did you learn about the owner and the general manager and the organization here and how they operate? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: I think they do a great job of communicating here. I think they do a great job of putting quality players on the field but at the same time having a good mix in the locker room, understanding that it takes team chemistry to get to this point. You can have all the talent in the world but it's how you push one another, it's how you guys gel together, and how we're playing selfless baseball day in and day out. Q. You talked about how the organization communicates. What makes that good, what makes that strong? MICHAEL BRANTLEY: I feel like I can talk to anybody at any given time. And every player in that locker room feels the same way, whether it's the GM, president. It doesn't matter. AJ, pitching coach, hitting, it doesn't matter. It's all open-door policy that we have full communication to everything that's going on and any questions that you ask are going to be answered. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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