NL WILD CARD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS BREWERS

October 4, 2023

Craig Counsell

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Milwaukee Brewers 2

Q. Craig, offensively we've asked you on nights like this before just about not scoring enough runs. What do you think about the last two nights? Sort of, if you can, the postseasons past, do these things go together?

CRAIG COUNSELL: It was a combination of -- again, I thought we did a pretty decent job creating some opportunities. A night, again, where we felt like we were a hit away, where we needed something to fall, it didn't. That's how it is.

They got the big outs when they needed to get the big outs. We didn't get the big hits when we needed to get the big hits.

Q. Freddy looked so sharp coming out of the gates. Did you start seeing any signs from the swings that they were putting on him or maybe his pitches in the fifth inning at all there?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I mean, I thought he pitched -- I mean, he was so efficient in innings like two, three, and four. I mean, there was going to be some longer at-bats coming. They're not going to have eight, nine pitch innings just keep going. He had three of those essentially.

He left the changeup a little up on 2-0, and he came back and got the next guy. In the fifth, we were -- sorry, in the sixth, we had our antenna up just to see what happened. You know, the ball Carroll hit, I don't know if he hit it off the end or got jammed. It took a little tricky hop on Carlos and got over his glove, and that was obviously a huge play.

Then Marte had a good at-bat against him. That's kind of a game, a normal game, where you expect you're cautious that third time through the lineup with good hitters up at the top. They made something happen. The walk to Perdomo hurt, for sure, to lead off the inning, and they made something happen that inning.

Q. To follow up with Abner there. He has pitched so well for you this season. Tough situation for him there obviously for a rookie. How would you summarize the way that inning went for him?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I don't think anything really bad -- Abner didn't make bad pitches where they scored something. Again, a walk hurt us, I thought, a walk to Herrera. That's a guy we have to get out, frankly. Just kept the inning going a little bit.

The hit Pham got is something off the end that was hit in the right spot. Again, I thought Abner did a good job. Abner is good at creating weak contact. He scatters the ball a little bit, but he throws really darn hard, and that's who Abner Uribe is. Overall, I thought Abner did in these two games a pretty darn good job.

Q. You had long at-bats in the first inning against Gallen, and then it just seemed like -- where is the balance between trying to run up his pitch count and avoiding having two strikes against one of the best pitchers in the league?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Look, I didn't think that we swung at bad pitches when we swung early in the count. We just didn't do anything with them.

So there's a little bit of that's the game you have to play against a good pitcher. You have been really patient, and now he's trying to get ahead in the count, and you take some shots.

I think that's how -- I mean, I was pleased with our approach against him. I think we did it the right way. He's good. We made him uncomfortable. There's no question he was uncomfortable the first two innings, especially the first inning. Then he settled in and did a darn good job.

Q. What did you say to the guys after the game because I know there's a lot of uncertainty heading into this offseason and the finality of the situation?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Look, we're disappointed. These chances are sacred for players that you get this window to have a great month of October, and so it hurts for it to be over.

I think this was a great bunch. This was a great team, and I think I told the guys -- I said, as you move forward in your careers, you should want to create teams like this. You should use your leadership to create an atmosphere like this.

This was a team you want to be on. They celebrated each other. They posted, and it's just a group that it made baseball a lot of fun, and that's a special group and a group that you should remember being on teams like this and as your career moves on, do your best to promote that atmosphere and promote that leadership amongst yourselves to create teams like this.

Q. On the offense after a lot of nights this year, we talked about how they were able to string together rallies, put together hits with really good at-bats, but was this a series where maybe the difficulty hitting homers loomed a bit large for that side of the ball?

CRAIG COUNSELL: I mean, the homer is the best play in baseball, so yeah, it helps when you hit homers. I wish we would have hit more, for sure.

Q. Craig, when the opportunity in the eighth inning, when they go to the left-hander, bases loaded, one out, were the wheels turning on the opportunity or the thoughts of pinch hitting in that moment?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Look, certainly we had a choice to make there, and ultimately you look at the choices you've got on hand, and you look at Sal and what the guy has had some problems throwing strikes to left-handed hitters. He did his job, unfortunately.

So, yeah, you can second guess that one. That's fair. Definitely was a choice that I had to make and a call I had to make.

Q. Before I ask that, would you share who the primary choice would have been? Might it have been a Joey Wiemer?

CRAIG COUNSELL: It would have been Blake Perkins.

Q. My question was going to be, for the guys, the group that you mentioned when you clinched your postseason berth, who were part of all these playoff appearances, how do you square the success they've had in the regular season with the disappointment of going out in the first round the last four tries?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah, I mean, I don't think that's -- the playoffs are a tough animal to conquer. They are. Unfortunately, we have not.

We made a good run in '18, and then it's been some short series that we haven't been able to get over the hump in. Doesn't take anything away from those guys in my opinion at all. They've accomplished great things, and they should be proud that they've been part of it.

Q. Is there any sort of timeline on your decision for your future? Do you have to --

CRAIG COUNSELL: That ain't for tonight, man.

Q. The double play that Sal lined into and took the guy's glove off, did you just shake your head just like with Longoria last night?

CRAIG COUNSELL: Yeah. I mean, I wish the ball would have bounced somewhere or ricochetted or missed him. It was a big spot. It was a huge spot. It was a spot where we had him on the ropes a little bit.

Any time a pitcher gets out of it with I think you can say a little luck in that situation, you really feel like you lost an opportunity, but that's our game also. That happens in our game. You don't always get rewarded for doing your job right.