NL WILD CARD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS BREWERS

October 3, 2023

Craig Counsell

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Craig, can you tell us about the roster for this series? Maybe some of the weaker minds in here are a little surprised that a guy who hasn't -- some guys who haven't had at-bats in several weeks and several months in the case of Winker are involved in this.

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, first, they've had at-bats. They haven't had at-bats since Sunday. They've all played up until Sunday, so they were all playing in games in triple-A until Sunday.

Look, we positioned the roster just how situations that we think will come up where players will be most usable. Simple as that.

Q. I was wondering, do you feel like the Diamondbacks starting a rookie pitcher can work to your advantage at all, and is it important to try to get on him early in this game?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah. I mean, I think I would say that no matter who is pitching. That's always a good formula to make the starting pitcher uncomfortable, and that is going to apply to tomorrow as well.

Less experience always is -- is there a place to use that to our advantage? We'll have to kind of read that in the game, but I think -- I've talked about this many times. In any game, the starting pitcher that hasn't been out there for five days, that is a vulnerable time when they're taking the mound for the first time in five days in competition, and they may be just a little off until they kind of get into the heart of the game.

It's always a priority inning for sure that you have a chance to just get a pitcher before he is quite settled in, and I think that applies to every game.

Q. What was the thinking with going with Wiemer and not Mitchell in one of those outfield spots, and did the shoulder have an impact on the Mitchell decision?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah. I mean, I would say there was other considerations there, not just Mitchell. It was kind of the combination of the group.

Essentially the roles that we were thinking about either of them doing, I think we thought Joey could do it a little bit better.

Q. With Winker specifically, I know his numbers in Nashville were very good. What did you all see? What were the reports getting out of what he was doing in triple-A and maybe he had turned a corner since July?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I think Jesse has had a rough season here for sure. He has had injuries, hasn't performed the way he wanted. Ultimately that decision was we have to pick a bat, and we have to feel -- we have to pick the guy in a pinch-hit situation, who do we want up there? We just had to make that choice.

Q. On that Mitchell question, again, was it feedback that you got in these games that didn't go 100% the way you wanted it to and that you felt like picking Joey Wiemer was the better fit there?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Look, Sal and Tyrone are going to play in the outfield here. That's who is going to play.

Like I said, it's how are we going to use the players and then what can the players do when they get out there? Those are all factors we considered.

Q. Are you set for Game 2?

CRAIG COUNSELL: We have not announced a starter for Game 2.