AL WILD CARD SERIES: RAYS VS GUARDIANS

October 8, 2022

Jeffrey Springs

Progressive Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: First question for Jeffrey.

Q. How do you go about today mentally not knowing if you're going to pitch today, start tomorrow? How do you kind of go about the day?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Just like any other day, to be honest. It's kind of all hands on deck, so I understand that everybody's going to be available and, I mean, I'm excited to pitch. So hopefully whether it's today or tomorrow. Just looking forward to the opportunity to try to help us win. So we'll see what happens.

Q. What's your sense of the guys kind of coming in this morning? Most of these guys have been in an elimination game situation before. What's the vibe in there?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Honestly, kind of just act like normal. Everybody understands that we got to win or we do go home. So it's, nothing really changes. Like you said, a lot of guys have been in this situation before, so it's kind of trust in each other, we're going to show up and be ready to play. So have a lot of faith that they're going to show up and it should be exciting and ready to go.

Q. It seems like you guys have gone, you've had a couple times this year where you've been challenged, whether it's by injuries or some losing stretches or something like that. Do you feel like this group is able to kind of weather those kind of things?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Yeah, I think over the course of 162 you see all kinds of things that you kind of got to overcome, whether it's injuries or a bad stretch. This game's hard. Over that many games there's going to be ups and there's going to be downs. But I feel like we've been through a lot of those. So pretty resilient group.

I think it's going to be a good game, and I think it's going to be fun because, like I said, everybody knows what's at stake. If we don't win, we go home. So I think that's going to add a little extra fuel to the fire, and hopefully come out ready to play.

Q. You know what it's like to come back from injuries. How impressed have you been with Tyler all summer long and what he's done and what he's done here in the last couple weeks?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Unbelievable. The guy's, he's an incredible pitcher, human being, the work ethic, everything that goes into coming back from an injury like that. He tackled it head on and, I mean, crushed it. I remember watching him last year, it's like you would think he was months ahead of schedule just from what he was able to do. It's really is incredible. That's kind of the only way to put it. It's like he never missed a beat. Like, he didn't miss any games at all. You saw the stuff last week, he's throwing bullpens, 96, 98, and it's like, he's special, a special player. He works hard, he puts in a lot of work to be who he is, so a lot of credit to him.

Q. On a personal level does it make it a little easier not knowing if you're going to pitch having been a reliever for so long to prepare for whether it's today or tomorrow?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Yeah. Yeah, being a reliever the past couple years you kind of, you know, understand that role and what it's like down there. You don't know who it's going to be until the phone rings. I think that's helped a lot in the transition to a starter, to be honest.

But, yeah, I think that I'll be ready to go down there for sure having done it before. If it's today or tomorrow, whatever, I'm just ready to pitch.

Q. What has impressed you most about Cleveland's lineup? You heard so much talk about just their ability to make contact.

JEFFREY SPRINGS: Yeah, that in itself. They got some guys that can run the ball out of the yard, hit for power. The swing and miss is impressive because they don't really do that very much at all. 1 through 9, even their power hitters they put the ball in play, you know, if you're in a good count.

But it's impressive. Their bat to ball skills is probably one of the better lineups in baseball, if I had to guess. They understand the swing and miss, if you can put it in play, you have a chance.

But just probably they don't really swing and miss hardly at all is probably the most impressive.

Q. I know a month or so ago when you had that short little three-inning outing and the freshness really helped you a lot. How do you feel after doing the same thing this week? You feel a hundred percent fresh going into today and/or tomorrow?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: I feel good. It definitely helped. And then just the playoff atmosphere I think is going to help too. The extra adrenaline. Understanding this could be it. So I think that's going to kind of take over whenever I get to take the ball. But I'm excited to pitch and feel really good.

Q. Having a young one at home has the schedule been as disruptive for you as the other guys? Getting up this early and stuff?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: No, not really. When you have a little one you learn to run on a little sleep. But the excitement of the playoffs, to me, I think anybody in there, it doesn't matter what time we play. It could have been 9 o'clock this morning and we would show up ready to play.

So it's exciting. You kind of forget about what time it is and things like that. Just you're ready to play and try to win.

Q. What did you think of the crowd yesterday? Was it kind of exciting to be out there, even though it was a little chilly?

JEFFREY SPRINGS: No, it was great. Cleveland's got a great fan base and they were into the game. That's exciting. Even from the dugout, knowing I'm not playing, it's still exciting. They got a lot of great fans and a great fan base.