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MLB WORLD SERIES: NATIONALS VS ASTROSOctober 30, 2019Ryan ZimmermanHouston, Texas - pregame 7 Q. As a veteran player who has seen the game evolve over time, what did you think last night with Soto and Bregman and the exchanging of the bat? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Like you said, you've seen the game evolve. Things like that ten years ago would have never happened. And I'm not here to say it's good or bad. I think everyone has their own opinion on it. The game has definitely gotten younger. I personally don't think there's a place in the game for that stuff. But I'm not the person that makes all the rules. There's different thoughts nowadays. I think more importantly, you need to look at the guys that hit the home runs. I think that's the important thing for baseball; the young talent and what those guys are doing, what they've done for a couple of years now. So more importantly, I think the game is in good hands with talent. We'll see what happens with all that stuff moving forward. But I think the most important thing to know is that the game is in good hands with the young talent. Q. One of the only people that's been here not as long as you, but as long as you, is Rizzo. Over the years, what have you seen from the way he approaches things and how he's put this team together? Have you seen him change at all over the years or not? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I think Mike's a baseball guy. He always has been. He leans on his scouts, on his guys that go watch games. He's evolved just like everyone else has with the analytics and all the data that's available. That information is useful. I don't think you have to be one way or the other. I think you can kind of blend it together. And I think he does a really good job of that. But he's huge on chemistry and clubhouse stuff, not bringing in bad teammates, not bringing in bad guys. Before he makes really any sorts of moves he'll will reach out to us and ask if we've heard anything about this player or that player. So he's big on that kind of stuff. I think we've always had good groups of guys here. And obviously talented, as well, but when you get that blend of talent and guys who are in it for the right things, you get special groups. Q. Do you think the base-running rule that Turner was involved in last night, do you think that needs to be changed, altered? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I mean, the rule -- because the base is in fair play it makes it interesting, especially for right-handed hitters. And I play first base and I can tell you, most right-handed hitters run exactly like Trea did last night. And I'm not going to sit up here and interpret the rule and say whether they were right or wrong because I don't do that kind of stuff. So I don't know if we're going to have to do something with the base, if you're going to have to put the base in foul ground, if you're having to put another base out there. I don't have the answer nor have I really had time to think about it right now. But, yeah, I'm not going to sit up here and say one person was wrong or right. But there's definitely some, I guess, maybe gray area in how the rule is written. Q. What have you observed about Max the last few days behind the scenes? Obviously it's been emotional and crazy. And what do you expect from him tonight? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, for him not to pitch the other day, I've seen Max pitch through a lot of things, and to see how disappointed he was, you could tell he tried to do everything he could to pitch the other day. That guy, he pitches 32, 33 times a year. When it's his turn to get the ball, he takes the ball for the most part. So for him not to do that the other day I knew something was wrong. And then for him to kind of get some treatment and start to feel better each day, it's a great job by our medical staff. They really kind of all hands on deck and did whatever they needed to do. I don't know what they did. And then as far as what to expect tonight, I mean, I didn't see it, but I guess he was throwing last night in the pen at some point, which is typical (laughter). That guy (laughter). But, yeah, I mean, I think as much as Stephen is kind of stoic and quiet and doesn't ever even make like a facial expression, Max is sort of the other way, where he almost gets really amped up for these games. So I'm assuming you'll see vintage Mad Max out there, huffing and puffing and doing what he does. So I'm looking forward to it. This is why you play the game. Obviously their guy is pretty good, too. We're going to have to do some things right against him to get some runs. This why you play the game. This is why you watch the game if you're a fan. This is what baseball is all about. Q. If there were one or two things, if someone came up to you and asked what's the difference between baseball in Washington in September 2005 and October 2019, how would you describe that? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Such a loaded question. Well, we have our own stadium now, so that's good to start with. I think, and we've talked about this quite a bit, I think getting the stadium was huge. And I've said that from the beginning. Coming down, being owned by MLB, it's tough to be a team that doesn't have their own ownership group. Once the Lerner family bought the team and we got the new stadium, you at least had sort of a foundation and a base to start off of. And then from there they started growing, the farm system. The people that build the front office that nobody ever really talks about that have been here pretty much as long as I've been here, that make a lot of the decisions that nobody talks about that are huge decisions. And then you can go into the neighborhood, the area around the ballpark that's grown so much. The fan base, obviously, basically starting new in '05. It's been much talked about, as well, to the point where in '12 we made the playoffs a year or two earlier than people kind of thought we would. And then from there we've kind of been expected to make the playoffs every year. So you're really talking about '08 to '12, so four years of growth for an organization to then be expected to make the playoffs. And then all of a sudden if you don't get past the first round of the playoffs, you're a huge disappointment. So it all happened kind of fast. Which, if you play at this level, that's kind of the expectations you want. You want your fans to be disappointed if you don't make the playoffs. But it all happened very fast. It's been fun to be a part of. It's been fun to kind of grow with the fans, with the neighborhood, with the community, with the organization, really. Q. When Kevin Long came in as hitting coach he had had success with two teams in New York. How did that help him mesh with you guys and how his approach fit in with some guys that were already established like yourself? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I think what Kevin does so well, he's positive, he's there every day, he's ready to work, and he let's you be you. There's no right way to hit a baseball. There's no right way to get ready to hit a baseball, that's the beautiful thing. You can do it however you want to do it. And if it works, that's how you do it. So as a hitting coach I think you have your theories and your ways that you think are right, but I think what K-Long does so well is he learns each person individually and basically teaches to their strengths. When you feel like you have no chance, you go down there and he talks crap to you, and somehow makes you go out there and believe you can get two hits that night. And I think that's part of -- honestly, maybe not part of, more of the hitting coach's job at this level than anything else. We've all been hitting them pretty much the same way our whole career. And when you make it to this level you can use some help and you have little things. But I've always said, this is your career. It's not Kevin Long's career. If I don't get hits it's not K-Long's fault. As a big league player you should prepare yourself to hit. And I think he does a really good job of knowing what each person -- kind of what makes each person tick, and he uses that to his advantage. But his personality, his enthusiasm, his positivity every day, it's enviable. Q. Whenever somebody has had success this time of year, you often hear how they might have a slow heartbeat. Juan Soto seems like the opposite of that to a degree. How do you see him leverage the energy of October and it seems like he rises to the occasion under these conditions? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I think we all enjoy playing in October. I think that's why you play the game. As far as how he rises to the occasion, I think he's just a really talented player. People that usually have success in the playoffs and are really talented do it the entire year, as well. It's just not as many people see it. Now once the whole world sees it everyone talks about it. Juan has kind of been doing this literally since the day he came up. And the scary thing is he's only going to get better with the more experience that he gets and as he learns himself as a player and as a hitter. So, yeah, the sky's the limit for him. It's been fun to watch so far, and I look forward to watching it for years to come. Q. As someone who's been around forever and watched Stras -- RYAN ZIMMERMAN: It's all right, I'm used to it (laughter). Q. And watched Stras develop, does his performance this fall do you think vindicate what the shutdown happened in 2012? And was there a time that you guys in the clubhouse doubted that that was the right decision? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I mean, we talked about this, gosh, I think someone asked me on a conference call about this after the Dodgers series. And I said in 2012, I really think the organization had the players' best interests in mind. It wasn't a popular decision. I don't think -- I think Stephen wanted to pitch. I think obviously all of us on the team wanted him to pitch. So sometimes the hardest decisions aren't the most popular decisions. But there's been a couple of guys that have tried to push through that kind of innings limit or threshold, and a lot of them haven't done so well with it. And everyone said, You never know when you're going to get another chance to make the playoffs. You never know this. You never know a lot of things. It's easy to say that then. I can't promise you, I can probably tell you that he wouldn't be the pitcher he is now if he would have -- say he pitches and we go on to win the World Series that year, you're talking however many more innings. Yeah, I mean, I think it would definitely have affected him. Who knows, we could have won the World Series that year and he could be fine, too. But I think the most important thing is the organization really did have the best interests in mind for the player. And I think sometimes that gets lost in the equation. So I respect the heck out of them for doing that for Stephen. Q. This team likes to always treat every game like every game that precedes it and every game that follows it. What have the last 18 hours been like trying not to think about what this game means and what would happen afterwards if you win? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I mean, everyone tries to do everything as normal as they can. Someone asked me last night what it's going to be like. I told them, I don't know, I've never done it. But I guess the slogan we've lived by since June is: Go 1-0 that day, and we've got one more chance to do it. Every day is not easy. It's never easy to win a game in the big leagues, it doesn't matter who you're playing. It's especially not easy to win a game in the big leagues when you're playing a team like that. They've had a ton of postseason experience. They've been in some games like this before. On the same hand, we've had a few elimination games in the past month or so, as well. So it's two pretty good teams going at it. Like I said before, this is what you play for. This is what you sacrifice things for. This is what you work so hard for in the offseason. This is why you grind through the regular season when things aren't going your way. Yeah, you've just got to try to go 1-0 one more time. Q. AJ Hinch was just in here and says he expects Max to come out breathing fire. What has he meant to this ball club since he got here in 2015? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I've listened to some of AJ -- AJ's a good interviewer. I've listened to some of his stuff. He's a sharp one (laughter). Sorry, what did you say, what do I expect? Q. What has Max meant to this club since he got here in 2015? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I mean, you're talking about borderline -- it might not even be borderline, best free agent signing of all time. What he's done since he's come here, who's he been, obviously, as a player, but I think people watch how he goes about his business, watch how hard he competes. When he's out there pitching and, unfortunately, more when he's not pitching in the dugout, I mean, he pushes you to the limit. In the dugout sometimes it's from annoyance. But on the mound -- he challenges everyone in every aspect of whether it's the actual game, whether it's working out before the game, whether it's when the pitchers go out there and hit. Everything is a competition to him. And I think you can kind of breed -- it's contagious, I guess, is the best way to put it. If that guy's going to do it, and everyone else has got to do it. I think just his mindset, his competitiveness, the way he goes about his business. He's a special guy and a special teammate. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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