NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS DODGERS

October 14, 2021

Gabe Kapler

Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. We haven't seen your lineup yet. Are you, do you, are you ready to give us one or discuss kind of what went into it with the opener suddenly being announced?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, so we had mentioned that Solano was likely going to be in there against Urías and we're still kind of waiting on Tommy. We want Tommy to go through the workout. He's a potential add to our lineup.

So before we have that squared away it seems like it makes sense to wait a little bit.

Q. Were you surprised by the Dodgers' pitching change?

GABE KAPLER: It's understandable. I don't think it was unexpected. Certainly changes the way we were thinking about today's game, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Q. Without seeing your lineup, are you likely to flip over and start your lefties specifically or are you going stay with your righties the way you were talking about yesterday?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, I think probably the most important piece for us and kind of helps us with sequencing is just kind of seeing how Tommy's doing. It's just kind of the first domino because we want to see how he's doing. And if he comes out of today's workout feeling good, good possibility that we'll end up starting him.

Q. How did you find out the news? I've heard that times managers will text each other just out of courtesy.

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, that was it. Just a courtesy text.

Q. What did he say?

GABE KAPLER: That Knebel was going to start for them. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be short. That's just the direct answer.

Q. Evan was in here speaking with us and we talked about the history and the significance of this game and that heroes can be made tonight and he said it's crazy to think that seven months of hard work could go into tonight's game and there will be a couple heroes. What are your thoughts on just the history aspect of this game and what it means?

GABE KAPLER: I feel like we've felt the support of our fans all season long. They've really brought a different element to the ballpark. And so when we're thinking about the biggest moments, both in the history of the Giants, but also for us this season, I think you have to include the passion and the energy that the fans bring. So that's one thing that comes to mind is how important that energy is for us.

Q. When did you receive the courtesy text?

GABE KAPLER: Kind of evening, yeah --

Q. Yesterday?

GABE KAPLER: I don't think it's all that important to get specific about that. Just got it when we got it and not trying to withhold any information. At the same time just don't know how relevant it is.

Q. Kind of following up on that history question, I realize you're caught up in the moment obviously trying to win the game, but can you step back at all and appreciate the rarity of this, the rarity of a Dodgers-Giants series to begin with, and then the rarity of a winner take all game no matter who the opponent is?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah. No, it's interesting, we've been having a lot of conversations about going back two months or so and could we envision this all coming down to a Game 5 in the DS.

And I think to your point we have been so consistently caught up in the moment, kind of the step right in front of us, that it wouldn't have made sense to kind of visualize how this all might play out.

And now that we are here we really are now focused on winning tonight's baseball game. There's a lot that goes into that. So given all the preparation that has happened over the course of the last week, but then all of the preparation that's happened over the last 24 or 48 hours, now we're in that mode of, okay, let's go execute.

So you can, we can understand the significance of a Game 5 and we can have some of our attention excited and enjoying that moment, and we should, and at the same time I think we can be pretty diligent about focusing on each step and the task at hand today.

Q. I know you're not a rah-rah kind of guy, but considering the significance of this game tonight and what its going to mean for either team, is there going to be a little pregame speech by you for the players tonight?

GABE KAPLER: We're just going to keep things the way they have been all season long. I've had a lot of conversations with our coaches today, kind of about things like this, and we've been really consistent with our process. We have a hitters' meeting every day. We have a pitching coach meeting every day. So myself and Craig Albernaz and Andrew Bailey kind of thinking through the pitching for that night and any conversations that might need to take place with our pitchers.

We talk to the players every single day on an individual basis. That happens both in the clubhouse, but it also happens out on the field. And then we extend those conversations into the game and are continuing to have those, both with our coaching staff, but also with our players.

So with all of that said, if that's how we've done it all season long and it's a formula that has kind of led to quality communication throughout, I personally don't see any need to do something dramatically different on before today's game. I think there's plenty of motivation in that room. Our players right now are kind of keeping the same energy that they have had all season long, which is kind of calm and playful but focused and prepared. I don't know that there's a need to turn up that dial right now.

Q. With the La Stella decision, you've had to take him out of some games early because of the Achilles. So would you start him if he's feeling it, like you said, but then remove him at some point when they do inevitably switch to Urías? And then you talked about after Game 4 maybe having Kevin or Alex Wood ready to go in this game. What was the conversation with them today? Is that still part of any of your plans or are you going to hold them for potential Game 1?

GABE KAPLER: I'll start with the Tommy question. Both of those are good questions. We're not going to put Tommy out there if he's compromised to start the game. So what "compromised" means is he's not able to go catch a ground ball like he normally is. His first step quickness isn't going to be as good. He's not able to take his normal like high-quality at-bats to lead off the game. Those are the questions we're going to ask him.

The answer to all those questions is yes, yes, and yes, there's a good chance that Tommy will be in our lineup. Again, we're not there yet, so we have to kind of think through that.

With respect to Gaus and Alex Wood, we've had conversations with both of them. They're both prepared to take the ball today in any situation. There's no restrictions on them. Gausman has a full slate of pitches, if necessary. I don't know that we would throw Alex Wood out there for 50 or 75 pitches, but certainly capable of taking down an important inning for us or coming in to face a batter or two.

So both of those pitchers are prepared, ready to go. We've had those conversations and, like I mentioned, those conversations are going to continue, which means that we're going to stay flexible and maybe a better word is just nimble. If we need to change course because we have a conversation that gives us more information, then we'll apply it and factor it in.

Q. How much of a challenge is it, opener aside, knowing that the Dodgers could potentially go to another right-hander like Kelly or Graterol instead of bringing Urías right away when you're kind of having these lineup conversations?

GABE KAPLER: Well it's certainly something that we expect is a possibility. So like trying to predict -- and this probably goes for both sides -- trying to predict exactly how the game is going to play out, I don't think that anybody's going to be able to do that. There's just too many variables to consider, too many things that could take that first read on it off script.

That said, we want to be prepared for everything. We don't want to be surprised by anything. So we thought through like any pitcher and any situation. I don't think there's going to be -- just like us, like we're not going to put restrictions or limitations on our guys. I don't think they're going to do that either.

We've talked about this over the last couple of games, but they do know us well. They know our personnel well. We have a pretty good understanding of their personnel and ideas and strategies. Now it's just like watching the game play out and reading and reacting to what the game presents to us and I think they're probably thinking the same thing.

Q. Sorry to ask about that text message again but --

GABE KAPLER: Shocker that you're asking about it again. (Laughing).

Q. Did that come from Roberts or someone else?

GABE KAPLER: Yeah, that came from Dave. We have that good quality relationship where we'll communicate about stuff like that. And, you know, oftentimes bench coaches also communicate, so that's not unusual. I think in this particular case, Doc felt like it was the right move to send me a message directly and I would do the same.

Sometimes things change and strategies change and you try to give the opposing manager, or in some cases, it's bench coach to bench coach, a heads-up on things. So it's sort of as expected, nothing strange about that.

Q. Have you talked to Logan Webb today and any idea how he's feeling or maybe how many Red Bulls deep he is at this point in the afternoon?

GABE KAPLER: (Laughing.) Yeah, that was fun reading about his Red Bull consumption yesterday.

I think it was Danny was -- where is Danny? Somewhere in here.

Yeah, Danny was asking me about that in the dugout yesterday. I actually don't think it's all that unusual around the game. Red Bull's like for many. Let's take Red Bull out of it. Let's just say energy drinks. Energy drinks are very similar to coffee for these guys. I mean, I drink a coffee that's like really big during the day, and so I'm sort of dependent on caffeine to some degree as well. So I think some of these guys are. It just wasn't unusual.

I'm sorry, I didn't answer your question. You asked me how is Logan feeling and how many Red Bulls deep he is. I don't know the answer to the second question. I do know that he's feeling prepared and ready and physically in good spirits, good health.

Q. As to Evan, I asked Evan what it was like to be your teammate back in the day when you were 10 years older than him back in Tampa, whether he saw you as a manager, potential manager. He said, I was too young for that, but as I look back on it, yeah, I can see it now. Curious, what did you see in him when he was that age and what kind of player was he at the beginning of his development?

GABE KAPLER: So the first time I met Evan was, I think it was in the walkway at the Trop to the clubhouse, and shook hands with him and we kind of, similar height, so kind of looking him directly in the eye, and what struck me immediately was his confidence level for, at the time, a very young player. Obviously he's like fifth pick in the draft and Long Beach State and so lots of pedigree, but also fairly young and new to the big leagues, and just really a lot of confidence, swagger, believed in himself and, yeah. So, yeah, those things stand out.

Anything else to follow up with?

Q. No.

GABE KAPLER: Okay.