AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES VS ASTROS

October 22, 2022

Harrison Bader

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Pregame 3 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Harrison.

Q. It was before you got here, but the first half of the season the story was just the Yankees constantly coming back late and pushing their way through. Do you get the sense in the clubhouse that that's the mentality the guys are having from that experience of still being in things?

HARRISON BADER: Yeah, I can't talk to what the clubhouse was like or what the feeling was like prior to my getting here. I can really not even talk to it while I was rehabbing just because I wasn't with the team only the road.

So I guess my true experience in kind of soaking the clubhouse up started when I started playing. Obviously my rehab stint. So with that said, it was never about prior experiences earlier in the season. Everything was simply about what's our singular focus today and that's putting our best foot forward and playing our brand of baseball.

So, yeah, we have a game today. We know it's in front of us. So the singular focus again is to go out there and play our brand of baseball that we know how to do and see how it shakes out after nine innings.

Q. During games you're often leaning over the railing watching your teammates pretty closely. What are you looking for in those moments? Are you looking for maybe what your teammates are doing or what the pitchers are doing to attack them? What are you thinking of?

HARRISON BADER: You can learn a lot by just watching. There's a lot of information out there as the game's going on, whether it's how they're attacking different hitters in our lineup, you're looking maybe for tells in the game. There's just a lot to observe and I think that my time in between playing defense and hitting is best served being on top of the railing cheering for my teammates and seeing what information I might be able to gather. Because these games really do come down to one pitch at a time and if you can gain a piece of information just simply by watching while you're not playing defense or hitting, it might be useful down the line to help your team win.

So a large part of it is, again, to just support my teammates, but who knows, you might pick up on something that might be the difference in the game.

Q. You're facing a starter in Javier who has not pitched much in the last few weeks. How could that affect the approach you take collectively?

HARRISON BADER: Everybody over there is there for a reason, especially as they pick their roster, so obviously he's talented, he's good, and he's in this position for a reason. I'm going to work very diligently and do my best to game plan. I don't personally have any experience against him, so it will be a challenge for myself, but it's one that I'm looking forward to.

I don't want to speak for anybody in the clubhouse, but I'm sure they're attacking it the same way. Just going out there and getting the opportunity to play baseball today, it's a gorgeous day out, we're back home in New York, regardless of the circumstances.

There are a lot of things in our favor, a lot of positive things. So everything's a challenge, and I'm just looking forward to it, to attacking it that way.

Q. You've been on playoff teams with two different organizations now. I'm wondering, from your experience, is there such a thing possible as building a lineup to be able to succeed at this time of year?

HARRISON BADER: I think Booney does a really good job of building a lineup and changing it up when he feels necessary, and we have complete confidence in it as hitters. Again, I can only speak from experience. Regardless of where I'm hitting in the lineup, maybe with the exception of the very first at-bat of the game only the road where you might want to see some pitches, the approach pretty much remains the same, unless the opposition is doing something crazily different that makes you can change your approach.

The lineup, one through nine, is about passing the baton to the next hitter, whether it's that 10-pitch at-bat, whether it's a walk, whether it's getting hit by a pitch, whether it's getting hit, I mean, everything we all work off of each other. So, again, supreme confidence in what Booney puts out there and once it's out there in, written, it's our job to go out there and execute.

I think you can definitely build a lineup that's going to be conducive to winning a baseball game, which I'm assuming that's what he did today.

Q. Your back's against the wall a little bit coming here, Game 3 down 0-2, Gerrit Cole on the mound. What have you learned about him and his mentality, his approach, on the mound and why do you like him in this game?

HARRISON BADER: I like him because his name is Gerrit Cole. He has a lot of history and experience in being in big games. Within this playoff alone we've had our backs against the wall a couple times. And the game challenges what you bring to the yard every day, and we've answered it so far. Again, we just keep that same mentality.

These games have been really close, these last two games. They could really go either way. And just because they haven't gone in our favor doesn't mean that our attitude or level of confidence is defeated, by any means. You go out there, you play your brand of baseball, you do it confidently with a smile, and see how it shakes out.

With Gerrit on the mound, he's proven what he can do for a long time. I'm just getting into experiencing that. Again, extreme confidence in him. We're just looking forward to just playing out there today.

Q. How was your experience from Game 1 in 2019, that you ever played in the postseason, to now, how was it beneficial this particular postseason? As a follow-up, can you tell me what makes a good leadoff hitter in the postseason?

HARRISON BADER: To answer the first question, I think with anything in life, but especially the game, having experience is are important because sometimes it's very easy to lose your level of focus when things get loud or maybe you feel like you need to get a hit or the pressure rises. So having experience in the game definitely helps future experiences.

So compared to 2019, I think having been here with a different organization, being around guys who have won World Series now adding to that list and guys who have won World Series or been a part of World Series teams or been to the World Series, had their backs against the wall in the LCS, all these things add to the level of experience that give you confidence moving forward knowing that there have guys that have been here before and you are no different.

What was the second part?

Q. What makes a great leadoff hitter, particularly in the postseason?

HARRISON BADER: I think a guy who sets the tone from the very first pitch, if you're away or if you're home. You can set the tone a lot of ways. You can take pitches and show confidence that you're not scared of getting to two strikes. You can foul pitches off 0-2, work back to 3-2, have 10-pitch at-bats.

I think that first leadoff spot is really important because it really does set the tone. If you decide to let it eat 0-0 and hit a home run or get a hit, that also sets a tone. So just carrying the team mentality into your first at-bat I think is very important.

Again, we feed off of each other as any lineup does. So one to two, two to three, and so on. If a guy goes out there and makes the pitcher work for the first at-bat and he has a 10-pitch at-bat, the next guy is not going to go up there and just swing at the first pitch and roll it over.

Everything is just a matter of making the pitcher understand who we are that day and I think a lot of it is on the first hitter. So setting the tone that way, yeah.

Q. How do you tell when a pitcher is reading your swings and you have to adjust to what he's doing and maybe abandon your initial game plan to go with what he's giving you?

HARRISON BADER: I think catchers are better at doing that. They're a little closer to the hitter. They pick up on little things maybe where you stand in the box, the way you exhale when you swing, or you tell yourself when you step out. Catchers are much closer to that, so I think they can use that better in their pitch calling.

Honestly, I think a lot of pitchers are just focused only executing their pitch and they're focused on the glove. I think they rely heavily on catchers to make those decisions. So with that said, everything's a game, it's important not to give up too much. It's definitely a game within a game, especially when you step in the box, especially with Maldonado. My first experience with him, he's a great catcher and he's there for a reason. He's catching these games for reason. I have tremendous respect for the way he calls games.

So you don't want to show your hand. But it's also not to say that you don't go up there and just execute your plan and, if you silence all the noise, regardless of what the catcher might be picking up on, regardless of what the opposition might be picking up on, and you just go up there with the intent of swinging at strikes and being a hard out, it does silence a lot of those other things that might be beneficial for the opposition to maybe pick up on.

Q. Two different questions: Number one, you obviously weren't here for the history of what's gone on recently with the Yankees and the Astros, including even the games that were played in season this year. What's your take on it and what kind of feel do you get in the locker room of how you can overcome and beat these guys?

HARRISON BADER: Yeah, I don't have any take on it. I wasn't here for it. I didn't feel it. I don't want to carry any extra emotion into it. I'm sure that there maybe are some guys in it that feel a different type of way and may be better suited to answer that question.

I have a singular focus today, and that's going out there and playing my game to help my team win. I understand this history, but when I got to the Cardinals, I didn't carry all of the Cardinals-Cubs history with me into every single game. And there was a lot of it. I think it's important to just stay focused and not let certain emotions dictate how you respond, and sometimes you can respond negatively due to those emotions.

So as remaining as emotionless as possible and just taking care of the baseball on all sides is my singular focus and I'm just looking forward to doing it today.

Q. What do you think of John Sterling's "I'm just wild about Harry" home run call for you?

HARRISON BADER: I think it's wonderful and I would love to make him continue to do that as often as possible.

Q. You don't mind being called Harry?

HARRISON BADER: My grandfather is named Harry, so no, not at all.

Q. Obviously in Games 1 and 2 it seemed like early on you guys really had their pitchers working a lot and then they got into a rhythm both times. Is there something you guys can do to disrupt whatever is happening maybe between innings 2 and 3 or 3 and 4? Is there a different approach or anything like that that you guys can bring so that can't happen?

HARRISON BADER: I don't think it's that simple. If it were, I think we would be pouring runs on. That's just simply not the case. Those guys are really good over there. And they're good for a reason. Because they know how to mix up our rhythm and they know how to pitch to their strengths. And it's hard to break that up at times.

But again I'll say this, which I said multiple times, those first two games in my opinion could have gone either way with one swing. Especially on our side. So after nine innings, after four hours, however long the games take, when you sit back and say, This was one pitch, one swing away, we put ourselves in a position to win, that's all you can really do. So that's gotten us a lot of wins in the past. It's helped me think that way moving forward. I think we just continue with that approach.

Listen, every pitch is different. There's no bearing, just because one pitch was executed a certain way there's no bearing on it moving forward.

Each pitch, on defense, on offense is a singular event. And I think at times it's much easier and more helpful to think about it that way as opposed to just the entirety of the game. Because sometimes the weight of that is too heavy.

You just never know when your pitch is going to come. Whether it's your last at-bat and your down 0-2 in the 9th or it's the first pitch of the game, you just have to be ready at all times. So continuing to do that and continuing to work to that, work the opposition is always just the most simple way to attack it.

Q. The way you track the baseball in center field is unique. You always have your body behind it when you catch it and it takes a lot of work I know to do that. Who have been the greatest influences throughout your career in developing that technique?

HARRISON BADER: My father from day one. The fields in New York aren't exactly the nicest and well kept. So admittedly ground balls were not my favorite and I learned very quickly that I was not an infielder. Which was fine because there's plenty of space in the outfield for me to run around in.

I got an outfield glove very early in my Little League and eventual high school career. So just constantly working and understanding why my dad was teaching me that way. YouTube also helped. Guys get behind the baseball.

So, yeah it's just kind of ingrained to work behind the baseball and do all of the work as early as you can to make the latter part of the play much more easy. What I mean by that is just working early to get behind the baseball, get to a spot and then come forward and come through it. I've noticed that my throws obviously are a lot stronger when I do that.

A lot of times the third base coach is the base runner's eyes. So when he sees that ball fired into the cutoff man, I mean he normally shuts him down. Which prevents runs. Which is my only focus on defense. So that's kind of why I do it.

Q. When you gotten to play with Stanton, it hasn't been a lot and you haven't played with him in this left/center combination yet at this ballpark. What does he need to know about you? What do you need to know about him? And what kind of things do you do to prepare before the game?

HARRISON BADER: Just a simple conversation. How do you feel out there? Do you work in better? Do you go back better? He's super athletic. We've all seen that. So he does a really good job out there. He made a couple great catches in Houston when he played out there. He broke the scoreboard. So we know how big and strong he is. He knows what he's doing out there. I'm not worried or concerned at all.

I, as working with anybody, the same conversation I had with Judge when I got here. You just want to understand the guy to your left and to your right. I'm excited he's out there. He's more than prepared for the position. I'm just excited to go to work with him.