AL DIVISION SERIES: MARINERS VS ASTROS

October 11, 2022

Scott Servais

Minute Maid Park

Seattle Mariners

Pregame 1 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott.

Q. No roster changes from the Toronto series. Was there any contemplation of making any adjustments and kind of what went into the decision-making with that process?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, we're certainly looking at everybody that's been a part of our club all year long and trying to put the best roster together no matter how all the pieces fit. We discussed a number of different things. We just felt where we're at -- and this series being a little bit different with the off days. And then we don't play back-to-back days here and then have an off day and then three in a row. So having the extra off days played into the fact that we decided to keep it the same, 14 position players and 12 pitchers.

Q. They announced all three of their starters. Do you have a Game 3 starter that you decided or are you going to play it by ear based on what you see in these first two games?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, we're going to play it by ear, see where we're at. I think that's the best way to go right now for us. Certainly, we'll run Logan today and Luis Castillo here in Game 2, and then see where we're at.

Q. I'm curious about Adam Frazier and his evolution since he's joined the Mariners and how does his swing maybe ideally suit postseason circumstances?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Good question. It's a very short swing. Obviously, he's a contact guy. That's what it's about. In the playoffs, with all of the power stuff you see, you need balls in play, you need to make things happen. You saw it happen the other night. He was right on almost every pitch thrown to him the other night.

So, again, it does help that you do have that contact guy. That's what he brings to the mix. I don't think you'll see him, I would love to see him hit a home run, but I'm not expecting it for sure.

That's what Frazier does, he does a pretty good job. And he can put the bat on the ball really no matter where it's at in the strike zone. He doesn't have a big hole. Because at this time of year everybody's got all the information, all the scouting reports. If you've got a hole they're going to attack it.

So Frazier does a great job with that. He understands who he is, and his ability to keep the line moving is critical for us.

Q. In the Wild Card era, I think there have only been six divisional matchups between divisional teams. How does that kind of play into your preparation, having the familiarity, how you handle things in game, is that a difference-maker?

SCOTT SERVAIS: We're certainly very familiar with the foe. You know, it does change things a little bit, I guess, in the fact that you maybe have an idea how their players react to different things based on matchups, personal history may be a little bit bigger than it is against a team like the Blue Jays or somebody else that you just don't play as often.

So that plays into it some, but at the end of the day, you got to go out and play good baseball. You got to play clean defense, you got to control the strike zone, all the things that we believe in, and then do it over and over and over again.

So it's, the beauty of playoff baseball is about winning the game. But the fact that you are so familiar with the opponent and you've got that personal history, I think it helps a little bit. It helps me anyway. It's all about predicting what might happen, which we're all terrible at at this time of year. But it does give you a better sense of where things need to go.

Q. When you and Jerry and John agreed to do the step back a lot of talk was about competing with the Astros to win the division title. Obviously, you didn't win the division title, but you're here now. Do you think the team as you constructed it is better suited to play against them? The run prevention, the pitching with more swings and misses, to kind of cut down on more opportunities? I think we've talked about it before, when you've struggled here, it's because you gave them extra opportunities here in this park. Do you think you're better equipped now than maybe ever before?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I definitely think we are. It starts with pitching. Pitching has been the backbone of what we've done here all season, certainly starting pitching. And you need to have high-end starters plus stuff to get through a lineup three times, and certainly, a lineup that is as productive as theirs has been.

So I do think that we're much more equipped to play against them, to compete against them, and beat them than we ever have been in the past. I say all that, if you look at the regular season numbers, we're still 16, 18, whatever games behind them. But where we're at right now, and I will say, you know, we have not played the Astros without Luis Castillo on our roster. He will not play in today's game, but I hope he factors very, very big in this series.

So we have a little bit different look to our team, but it will come down to executing, making the plays defensively, and, you know, Perry Hill has a saying, 27 outs, no more. That's what we need to keep it at, 27 outs.

Q. In looking at Kirby and just what a weapon he can be out of the bullpen, how many days do you typically need to have for him when he's just gone the one inning and is it important to have him just coming in on a clean inning and just begin in the inning in that way?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, definitely the clean inning. It's really important, anytime you got a guy started, he needs maybe a little extra time to warm up and make sure he understands what's ahead of him, who the three or four hitters he may face coming up ahead.

But, yeah, kind of day-to-day with George, see how he feels. If we need him, we're going to go to him, in any role. In the bullpen, you saw it the other night, thought he was the best guy in that spot and it worked out great. But it could be earlier in the game, it could be late in the game, we'll just have to wait and see.

Q. You mentioned Perry Hill a moment ago. Curious to ask had about his impact on this team and what you admire most about him as a teacher and an instructor?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I got asked this question a couple days ago in Toronto. For me, the thing that Perry Hill has brought to us, there's two things really: One, consistency. He has a structured program.

Number two is accountability. He holds all players accountable. It's not like it's a special sauce or a magic potion he throws on infielders. It's good old roll your sleeves up, get after it, get down to the basics of understanding what's going to allow you to be consistent in making the plays in the box, is what he likes to say, make the routine play.

I'm not looking for the fantastic, you know, working on the Jeter jump play in the hole, things like that, that the great athletes can do in the infield, but it's making the routine play. That's why it's 27 outs, no more.

The little things, the finite details, making sure you're feeds at second base get to the right spot so our second baseman can complete and turn the double play, making sure we're in the right spot on the base where our first baseman can get the longest reach for a stretch because that replay at this time of year, and through out the course of the season, is so important.

So the important are the finite details, the structure in his program. But the most important thing that he's brought to us is accountability with our players. And it's an old school guy, that young players, old players, players in the middle, they all will gravitate towards. Because, at the end of the day, he will make them better.

Players just want to get better. If you've got real meat on the bone that can make them better, they will buy in, they will adhere to the discipline that is set out there and the accountability he holds 'em to. He doesn't back off. He'll be yelling at them the same today pregame that he did way back the first day in spring training.

Q. We talked to Logan yesterday about his fastball. And if you look at each month of his career, the month he's coming off of his fastball never averaged better velocity, a lot of the numbers against it have never been better. Obviously that's an intriguing part of the matchup against the Astros. When we asked him what he thought made that be the case, he referenced adrenaline. Is there anything from your perspective that you saw, whether it be in between starts, routine, whatever, that you might add to that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: No. (Smiling.)

I think it's an adrenaline. I think he's right.

Q. Carlos Santana, his addition to this roster was maybe one of the more underrated moves you guys had all year. What's the best thing that he's done, what's the best thing he's brought for this team in the second half?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Certainly a burning desire to get to the playoffs again. He's been to the playoffs a bunch. He's been on top of it, a long career, a very successful career. There's a couple things, and the number one thing is driven to get back to the playoffs.

The second thing is how he goes about his game, his preparation, his ability to relay information and messaging to the rest of the players on an individual basis. He's not the kind of guy that's going to get up in the middle of a team meeting and start yelling and screaming and pounding the table. That's not Carlos.

What he has done with Geno Suárez, Julio Rodríguez, J.P. Crawford, Mitch Haniger, go down the list of everybody. Players are going to listen to players more than they're ever going to listen to coaches or the manager. That's just the way the game is. And I played it a long time, I respect that.

And Carlos and I have a really good relationship. He likes being a Mariner. He's enjoyed it. He was excited about the fact he got to join our team. And then he made immediate impact. He started hitting home runs in late innings and all of a sudden you have a lot of friends when you start doing that.

So our guys quickly bought into Carlos and what he's about. But he's been huge for us. He really has. He's just been through so much in his career, and he understands how precious these moments are when you get a chance to play on the biggest stage, and you ain't getting him out of a game. I don't care if he rips his hamstring today or whatever is going to happen there. But he's good to go. He wants to play. He wants to be a part of this.

He filled in a critical spot in our season when Ty France was out. He walks right into first base, very comfortable playing. Did a great job defensively. And we didn't miss a beat nor that period of time. We certainly missed Ty's bat. But what he was able to do to kind of help plug the hole, so to speak, in the boat was critical for us.

Q. You guys have faced Verlander a lot. You had that one really good game where you had four home runs. And then, other than that, he had pretty good success. Is there anything you can take from that one game and what are the keys to a great pitcher like Verlander?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I mentioned a little bit yesterday, one thing that Verlander has done throughout his career, he continues to make adjustments. I think that's what all the great players, pitchers, they do. No matter where they're at in their career they're striving to get better. We certainly see that with him.

So if -- we had the one outing against him, he made some mistakes in the middle of the plate. We were on it, we took advantage of it. He quickly switched how he was going to pitch us going forward.

Now it's a game of adjustments. We have to understand that. Knowing that he's one of the better pitchers of our era. But I say all that and all pitchers will give you a chance. They will make mistakes. As good as they are, as good as their stuff is, they will make mistakes. You got to be ready to take advantage of it when it's there.

The ability to grind through at-bats. Don't get down. Hey, we got to keep going, we got to keep going. No matter how this game starts or where it's at at any point. Don't try to do too much in the moment.

But with Justin Verlander, great competitor, got great stuff. You know what you're walking into. But at the end of the day all pitchers, they don't throw all hundred pitches right where they want to. Even on the no hitters and things, crazy things that have happened in our game, the great outings, there will be a few mistakes there to hit. You got to take advantage of 'em.

Q. You mentioned Carlos Santana having an impact, filling in. Another player, Jarred Kelenic, he's a guy that's had to step up. Can you talk about the impact he is having and he could have on this team?

SCOTT SERVAIS: He's learning. We say that a lot about JK. It hasn't been easy for him.

We see some young players jump into the league and they take and they run with it and they never look back.

There's others that there's a little bit of a rocky road. And that's what JK's gone through. The timing for him coming back to us with the injuries we've had and it created an opportunity for him. I think his at-bats have been very competitive. They have been very good.

You look at the overall numbers and what he's done here it's not going to wow you by any means, but you're kind of looking at the process and how he's going about it. How he's reacting to maybe when things don't go his way. Which is much different now than how he reacted early on when he showed up in the big leagues. And those are all positive signs for me in the right direction.

So really happy for him that he's put himself in this opportunity to make impact for us. Because there's nobody wants to win more than Jarred Kelenic. He really is driven by winning. And understanding that these moments -- again, you look up at the board these days and it's not what you hit during the regular season, the batting average next to your name, it's what you're doing in the postseason. And I think that's very helpful for a lot ever guys and I think he's one of them.

Q. I counted you played on three teams I believe who made the postseason. You played in one postseason game. Just talk about what you remember about your postseason experiences and if you can relate any of that to with this team as a manager?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, I can. I was on the '98 Cubs team. We played game 163 to get into the playoffs. That was the year Sammy Sosa hit all the home runs. Did not have great year, overall year. But at the end season I started to play much better.

I shared a story with our team about that. My experience going through that. It was more geared towards the guys who maybe have struggled this year, but still had an opportunity to make a big impact on our season.

I just believe that the mind is such a powerful thing. And self talk in this game and what you tell yourself on a daily basis is so critical on what allows you to go out and perform on the stage, on the biggest stages. I learned a lot and I've carried those lessons on and shared it with multiple players through the years.

But being in this situation with our team, a lot of guys who going into the playoffs here for the first time. It's been easier for me to relate as I've shared some of the feelings and thoughts that I had that first time I played in the playoffs down in Atlanta against the Braves. It was Tom Glavine who I knew very well, played against him a ton. And I had a good game that night.

Unfortunately it was a heart-wrenching loss. We gave up a 9th inning home run to lose the game by a run or tie the game and then we end up losing in extra innings.

I was on a Giants team in the playoffs.

I was with the Astros here in 2001. I thought we had an outstanding team. Maybe the best team I ever played on. We couldn't get by the Braves either here in Houston.

So you share those experiences with players and it's more of like the things behind the scenes and how to deal with -- I've talked with our team a lot about expect the expected. There are going to be momentum swings. It's like a heavy-weight fight. You are going to get punched in the face once in a while. It's how you respond to that that will dictate how deep you go in the playoffs.

Our team has a lot of resolve. We really believe in ourselves. And we should, we belong here. We'll see what happens in this series.

Q. What has allowed Cal Raleigh to go from a kid who was sent down to the minor leagues in the early part of the season to your cleanup hitter here in a postseason game?

SCOTT SERVAIS: His nickname. (Smiling.) No, I wish it was as easy as that.

But Cal's had a phenomenal season. You could see it coming about mid season. The quality of the at-bat, the approach at the plate, that has changed dramatically.

The one thing that has been a constant for him the entire season has been his ability to deal with and kind of manage our pitching staff.

With all the different arms we have in the rotation, the guys coming out of the bullpen, Cal has a very, I guess, calm demeanor about him. I think part of it is he grew up in a family, his dad was a long-time college coach, baseball is taught quite a bit at the dinner table in Cal Raleigh's house growing up as a kid. You can see that. You see how he reacts. You see how he responds when you throw things at him pregame or mid game. And his ability to take that information and then put it in play right away, it's pretty good for a guy who is only 25 years old.

He's been huge for our team. He's hitting in the middle of the lineup now because he has good at-bats. The power has been there. He's hitting fastballs, he's hitting break balls, he's hitting changeups. And as he works his way through those at-bats he's making adjustments along the way.

So we're going to need him for the remainder of the playoffs. There's no doubt about it. You need everybody to step up and he's been huge for us.