AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2022

Scott Servais

Rogers Centre

Seattle Mariners

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Scott Servais.

Q. I was just curious, I was asking Mitch how this team has kind of balanced the excitement of being in the postseason. Seattle as a city is obviously on fire right now, excited to watch you guys, but as a team, you didn't run away from the excitement when you also have to balance going out and playing. As a manager trying to level that mindset for them, because sometimes -- it's not like they're not joyful, but you can't be too excited and too amped up.

SCOTT SERVAIS: It can be overwhelming at times. I think our team has done a good job of that all year long. Not getting too caught up in the big moments.

We talked about yesterday we play a lot of close games. We're kind of used to being in those situations. Yesterday was a first time for many of us in this environment, in the playoffs, on the road.

I couldn't be any prouder with the way we handled it. It helps when your starting pitcher is as dominant as it was yesterday. It does calm the waters a little bit.

Our guys, again, we've talked it. Expect the expected. There's going to be some bumps in the road. There's going to be some momentum swings. I think if you're prepared for that going into it, you recognize the situation and the moment in time you're in, and you can slow it down a little bit better.

I thought our guys did a great job with it yesterday.

Q. Did you have a chance to go back and look at some of the pitches that Luis threw? I know pitching in general, all these other places, had some of the pitches and the movement and the movement he was throwing with, some of them had 21 inches of horizontal run on those pitches. How difficult is that to hit or for Cal to catch even with a bad thumb?

SCOTT SERVAIS: It's extremely difficult to hit, no doubt about that when you're throwing with that kind of velocity and the type of movement, and in command. He was in the strike zone all day yesterday.

I was probably most worried about Cal and catching it. His thumb has been a little bit banged up. He did a great job yesterday dealing with it.

He had it taped up pretty good, and we got a special pad in his glove and things like that.

Credit to Luis. Obviously, we all see the talent, but to go out and perform like that on the big stage and stay with it. You can have a good two, three innings, but he didn't let up off the gas at all.

That's what you have to do at this time of year. You've got to keep going down. Pressing the gas down. You can't let your guard down at all, and he didn't yesterday.

Not just Cal catching, I thought he did an outstanding job calling the game yesterday. It kind of goes under the radar the job he has done behind the plate in calling the game all year long.

It will be critical in today's game as well.

Q. When Robbie Ray is pitching, are there a couple of things you look for early where you know he's on that day? Is he the kind of guy that's kind of built in possibility type game like tonight?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Robbie is the epitome of power pitcher, when I think of power pitcher. There's probably a good chance that he will be grunting as loud as he ever has in any pitch today. That's just what he does. He lets it all out. Each pitch, he lets it eat. I love that with him.

I think if there's keys, obviously command in any pitcher. Is he commanding the fastball? Does he have the two-seamer working early in the game? Where's the slider at? Is he landing it early, taking it below late? All those things you're looking for in his ability to execute.

Feel really good about handing the ball to him today. He's going to give us a great effort.

Q. I wanted to go back to right before the trade deadline when you guys acquired Luis, and certainly Jerry and Justin are in talks with the Reds about the possibility of this. When it was finally getting close to reaching the finish line and you realize what you were getting exactly and what that could potentially mean to your team, what were some of your initial thoughts about getting Luis Castillo, someone who would probably months before there was no way in hell he was going to end up anywhere else?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think any manager, any time you have a chance to add high-end, quality starting pitching, you're excited.

I had never seen Luis pitch in person. Certainly had seen him on TV. You can watch clips, and you see the stuff and how it moves and how he operates, but I was extremely excited. I don't know how to even put it in words.

Just knowing we went and got a premium talent, and to put him into what was already a good rotation really excited me for the exact spot we're in right now. To win at this time of year, you need high-end pitching. Starting pitching that you can trust to go out there, go deep, go through a lineup three times. He checks all the boxes there.

Then, once I got a chance to be around him and understand the makeup of the player and whatnot, it was unbelievable the way he performed in that first time out for us in Yankee Stadium against the Yankees who he'd just pitched against five or six days earlier, and just went out and dominated the game against them.

It was a big win for us that day. We had some home runs early and gave him some cushion. He just took over the game.

I remember one of our owners was in town at the time, and I went and gave him a big hug and I said, This is the guys you trade for, you know what I mean?

Again, we gave up good young prospects. You have to do that to get premium end talent in your organization. So those trades are always -- everybody looks back now. That was not a difficult -- at the time it was a difficult trade for those people to make, understanding where Jerry and Justin were and the value we had in those prospects.

But to get the high-end talent in the league, you've got to give up good young players, and I'm glad we did it.

Q. First of all, thank you for our first-ever postseason "let it eat."

SCOTT SERVAIS: That was for you.

Q. Can you walk us through in the eighth inning kind of the factors, whether it be score, who's coming up, point of the game, the decision to bring Castillo back out in the 8th inning, kind of what that was like for you and what played into that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: The game I was watching, I thought he was pretty dominant. I'm pretty sure that's the game you were watching.

The pitches were I think 99 pitches, 98 pitches, something like that to go out, and it was going to be on a short leash, which it was. Probably hitter at a time. I had Muñoz hot and ready to go.

Getting the first out in that inning, great. He had Springer down to a 1-2 count. Ball got away from him. At that point let's just go to Muñoz and move on down the road. He did his job as good as anybody could have expected him to do it.

Pretty easy decision to send him back out. Throughout the course of the season, some of Luis's outings I have pulled him in the 6th inning. He would often say to me, Hey, I got one more, I got one more. I say, We're going to need it in the playoffs. We went and got it yesterday.

That played into it as well.

Q. Scott, you've surrounded yourself with a great staff. Yesterday you briefly mentioned in your postgame Perry Hill and the defense the infield has done all season long. What has Perry meant to this organization and what he has done with the defense?

SCOTT SERVAIS: He has meant a lot to me. When we first brought in Perry and understanding his reputation in the game, and my experience in the game is Ron Washington and Perry Hill. Those are the infield gurus in our game.

I was fortunate enough to be around Ron Washington while I was in Texas. I knew of Perry. I didn't know his program or what he was about, but I quickly realized what Perry Hill is about.

I guess in a nutshell, Perry Hill is about accountability. He holds players accountable. He has a very good program, but it's not a special potion or anything, formula or anything like that that's going to turn you into a superstar.

It's just very basic. It's very structured. It's day in over and over and over and over. That allows you, that preparation allows you to perform in the biggest moments on the biggest stage.

I thought we played very good defense yesterday, to the point where I expect those plays to be made, and I think one of the bigger plays in the game yesterday was the double play that Geno Suarez started in the second inning.

Not an easy play. Kind of a short hop, big hop. He had to come in and pick it with a good feed to second base. It's all the little things.

Getting the feet to the right spot, to the pivot at second base. If he throws that ball two or three feet up the line in towards the runner, we're not able to turn a double play. It's got to be on the back side of the bag. All the little things that Perry hits on these guys every day, it pays off in the biggest moments.

He holds guys accountable, and he has real meat on the bone. It's not just fluff. I think the consistency of that, our players buy in, and they all buy in. It doesn't matter what their background is. Some may take a little bit longer, but eventually they buy in because they respect the consistency of what he does.

Q. Your answer to Aaron prompted two. I hope that's okay.

SCOTT SERVAIS: That's okay.

Q. You mentioned Luis Castillo wanting that extra inning. When he came off the field, right before he came off the field he gave you a little bit of an extra hug and a couple of words. Is that something you can share?

SCOTT SERVAIS: (Laughing.) Probably not. Good question, Shannon. Somebody else asked me that. It was actually my brother this morning at breakfast. He mentioned, Was he telling you he was ready for tomorrow? I said, No, I wish he was. (Laughing.)

No, you have those moments with players and the guys on the mound. He did his job.

Q. The one you can answer: Bottom of the lineup yesterday we saw J.P. hit a ball as hard as I think we've seen him hit in a while. We saw Adam with the hit. What can the bottom of the lineup do for you to help move things along and a little bit of a change in the order today?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, and the change in the order today a little bit, Adam Frazier has history with Gausman. He's done okay against Gausman and laying off the split finger changeup that he throws very effectively.

Understanding there will be changes in the lineup probably every game going forward. Just looking at matchups and what the other team's bullpen maybe will fire at you later in the game and things like that.

But, the value of the bottom of the lineup is huge at this time of year. Everybody has to contribute, and it may be getting a walk, it may be moving a runner, it may be creating a rally, a single or an extra base hit, you need everybody to contribute. You just can't lean on the same two or three guys every day.

I hope Cal Raleigh hits a home run every game he plays the rest of the year. It's probably not going to happen. Everybody has to chip in there.

I think bottom of our lineup is certainly capable. They have done it at different points throughout the year, and we do not have the gaudy numbers down there. Other than the fact that Cal Raleigh did hit in the bottom of our lineup for the majority of the year. He just slid up here recently.

It's a group down there that I trust. They usually find a way to make things happen, whether it's hit by a pitch, it's a walk, it's moving a runner. It's creating opportunities so when that lineup flips over -- and that's one of the reasons I like Julio in the lead-off spot as much as I do is he's a threat to hit the ball out of the park, but when it flips over, you're going to get a good at-bat, especially if guys are base from Julio.

Q. You used Cal's nickname yesterday. When did you first hear the Big Dumper nickname? It also speaks to how comfortable he seems to be now as a person. When he first was called up, you could tell he was very overwhelmed and very nervous. Now he just seems to embrace the nickname and just embrace who he is. How important is that for his success?

SCOTT SERVAIS: It's huge. Being comfortable where you're at and coming to work every day knowing that you are going to have a voice and people listen to you.

I certainly listen to Cal a lot and trust what he's seeing behind the plate.

Going back to the nickname, the Big Dumper, I thought one of the coolest things I saw, my wife showed me last night, she goes, Look at this. There's a group of grade school kids in Seattle all jumping up and down and chanting "Big Dumper, Big Dumper." (Laughing.)

I thought, Wow, can you imagine it's come to this?

But that's what happens at this time of year. Kids have favorite players. It's the nicknames. I think everybody realized the nickname came from Kelenic, I believe, and just threw it out there one day. I don't think it was by design or anything. It stuck.

Cal hasn't backed away from it. I think that's the beauty of it, and his personality is what makes it fun. Everybody can have a good time with it.

But, I think Cal is at the point, they can call me whatever they want. As long as I keep doing my job and helping the team win, he's in a good spot. I think it's great. I think it's very fitting. Nicknames, it's the beauty of the game.