AL WILD CARD SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS TWINS

October 4, 2023

Matt Chapman

Target Field

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Going into this game coming off of yesterday, what is the feeling with the team right now, and how can you guys draw on the experience you have in the clubhouse that you talked about before to go into this game?

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, I mean, I think the feeling is we're happy to still have a chance. I think anything can happen. I think we still have things we can take away from yesterday's game that are positive. I think we ran good at-bats, and unfortunately the ball didn't bounce our way in a few situations, but we were in that game the whole time. We had opportunities.

I think today we have that same mindset. Just keep getting opportunities and trying to take advantage of them. You're never out until you are. So I think the fact that we have life today, we're happy and we're just excited to get out there and try to win a ball game.

Q. For you personally, yesterday, making the hard contact you did, does your experience make it easier to look at that and think that you're still doing the right thing and avoid the frustration maybe of some of those balls getting caught?

MATT CHAPMAN: For sure. Yesterday was the fifth time, I guess, I've been in the postseason. So I think I wasn't as nervous as I had been in the past. I was just excited. I think I was able to stay in the moment.

And I think that the more you can do that, the more likely you are to have success and try to not get out of control and just take the moment for what it is.

I think that's when you're in your best state to play baseball and win. And I think our team has been in some big games. And hopefully we can continue to keep that kind of mindset today.

Q. What have you thought of Jose Berrios' turnaround from last year? And how confident is this team having him on the mound today?

MATT CHAPMAN: Super confident. I think even when he struggled last year, we still had confidence in him because we know how hard he works. We know what kind of guy he is and how he competes.

I would say I don't think anybody's surprised with the season he's had this year based off of how good he has been, his work ethic. And I think we're excited to have him take the mound today, and I expect great things from him. He fills the zone, attacks guys, has really good stuff. We feel really confident with him on the mound today.

Q. You alluded to it a little bit before about you guys having some good at-bats and not getting the results. I'm curious about the process of not chasing results and trusting that a good process that doesn't produce a good result the first day, you repeat that, you get a better result the next day. The tendency would be maybe to try to push and do more to try and get a couple more feet on the ball or whatever. How do you kind of reflect on that and just making sure that that doesn't happen?

MATT CHAPMAN: I mean, it's hard. It's hard to do that. But when you're in the moment you have to just kind of stay in the moment and try to control what you can control, because baseball is not a game that when you try harder and do more, it doesn't always work to your benefit.

And I think that sometimes you have to just remember that you're just trying to get a good pitch, put a good swing on it and you can't control the result.

I'd love to be able to hit that ball a little bit harder yesterday. But in baseball you just don't know what's going to happen. You just put a good swing on a ball and some of those things are out of your control.

So I think as long as we just stay with that approach and try to just continue to string good at-bats together, good things will happen. I think when our team tries to do too much, like most teams, that's not when we play our best. And I think we don't control the zone as well when we do things like that.

And one guy might be up there trying to hit a homer or win the game for us. I think sometimes you don't really hit homers. Pitchers throw them.

Q. You mentioned the relying on your experience. Can you describe the experience of going into a sort of a do-or-die day, trying to play for tomorrow? You've had it in the past. How do you describe some of the emotions you manage going into a game like that?

MATT CHAPMAN: Unfortunately, I've played in a lot of elimination games in the playoffs and haven't had the most success, but I think that means we're do.

I think last year we can learn from how the second game ended and just that you have to get all 27 outs. You can't just get a lead and expect that you're going to win the game. It's really tough to get wins in the playoffs and close games out.

That was impressive for them to be able to hold onto that two-run lead yesterday. And for us I think it's about getting a lead and not getting comfortable and trying to continue to seal the game. None of these games are over until they're over and anything can happen in the playoffs.

I think from my experience, that's probably the thing that I'm most aware about is no matter what the score is or what's going on, we can't give in, even if we're losing, because things can change in the snap of the finger in playoffs and momentum is huge.

Q. Wondering how big the performance was from the bullpen yesterday and kind of how much confidence you guys have in them going forward in this postseason?

MATT CHAPMAN: We have a ton of confidence in them. Obviously what they did yesterday is kind of what they've been doing all year. We've relied heavily on those guys, and they've always seemed to keep us in games or win us a lot of games.

The bullpen has been huge for us. We trust them a ton, and I think that we're going to rely heavy on them. If you want to make a run in the playoffs, you've got to have a good bullpen. We're super confident in those guys. Hopefully we don't have to put too much stress on them today.

Q. So many guys, when they go up to the Blue Jays for the first time they fall in love with the city, the organization. What do you know about the city and organization now that you didn't know before? And are you open to coming back?

MATT CHAPMAN: Of course. I think that it was always fun as a road player coming in. It was always fun to go to a new country and experience a new -- kind of a new way of baseball.

But I think the thing that I enjoy the most besides my teammates and being here in the city is just how well the organization takes care of their players. They really care about your players, and there's nothing that they wouldn't do for you. So I have a lot of respect for everybody in this organization and definitely open to coming back.

Q. What's the scouting report on Sonny Gray?

MATT CHAPMAN: Wow, I mean, I've played with Sonny too. I've got a lot of respect for Sonny. I think the biggest thing is he's smart. I don't think that there's one way he can get somebody out. There's not one pitch that he relies on. He has a bunch of pitches that are really good. He relies on keeping guys off balance, throwing strikes, missing bats.

But I think that one thing he does well is he pays attention to what guys are doing. He sees what kind of swings you're taking, if you're going out over the plate. He's not afraid to pitch on both sides of the plate. He keeps guys off balance and can put a pitch where he wants to when he needs to.

I think for us, it's really make sure we lock in on what pitch you want to get and keep him in the middle of the plate.

Q. You mentioned you've been in a lot of these do-or-die games. What's it like being in the dugout for these? How big are the emotional swings and big hits?

MATT CHAPMAN: I think they can be big. I think our team did a good job yesterday of not letting one home run or them getting up really get to us. I felt the dugout was pretty calm. Maybe that was because we experienced it last year and some of the guys we brought in last year do have playoff experience.

The stadium got really loud yesterday. It was a lot of fun. And I think that if you just kind of embrace those moments and have fun with it, good things can happen.

Hopefully today we give them a reason to not be as loud. But I think the dugout's been good. We're all supporting each other. We're in every pitch and I think we all realize that we were right there.

Q. You have been playing one-game wild-card game and three-game Wild Card. Which one do you prefer? Could you share your impression about the one-game Wild Card game?

MATT CHAPMAN: I think that I prefer the three-game Wild Card over the one-game Wild Card, especially because yesterday our season would have been over.

And unfortunately I've played in two one-game Wild Cards before this and our season ended in one game and you go home after that and you really wish you had another opportunity.

So I think the fact that today we get another opportunity is awesome and we get to play another playoff game and having a chance to extend our season.

So I think that I prefer two-out-of-three-game series because sometimes the first game of the series things might not go your way, you might not be able to get the job done, but we have an opportunity today.

We're not looking past today. But if you do take care of business you still have another chance to keep your season going. If there's one thing I learned, you don't look past today.