AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 7, 2023

Dusty Baker

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. Dusty, what's the situation with Graveman? Is there a chance that you might not have him if you advance further into the postseason?

DUSTY BAKER: No, we don't know. It just depends how his shoulder responds to treatment. It's something that's been bothering him on and off probably for a week or ten days.

Like I said, at this time of the season, if something's not wrong with you, you haven't been playing or pitching. We just hope that he responds to treatment.

Q. Ever since Verlander come back, and I know last year you had Dubon in center field a lot, and I know you liked that, but today you have McCormick. Why does that change in the playoffs?

DUSTY BAKER: No, it's not because of the playoffs. It's who we're facing. These guys are prone to, in the past, to strike out, and also they've got a lot of left-handed hitters. So they'll probably hit the ball more to left center than they will probably pull it.

So I thought this was the best lineup, and also the fact that McCormick, I think, is a better matchup against their pitcher Ober, who throws a lot of change-ups and a lot of breaking balls.

Q. Dusty, you have a few players on the roster that have never been in the postseason. Is there any specific advice you give all people in that boat, or is it specific to each player?

DUSTY BAKER: I don't know. Everybody was the first time in the playoffs at some point in time. I just tell them what Hank Aaron told me. It's okay to be nervous, just don't be scared. Nerves are natural.

You try not to give too much advice. I remember listening to John Wooden in an interview years ago about how he said his first couple years in NCAA playoffs he overcoached or gave too much advice, and the longer he went, that he'd give less and less or whatever is pertinent to that player.

Q. Your bullpen pitched really well in last year's postseason run. As you get ready to embark in this year's run, how do you manage your bullpen usage or matchups in a five-game series versus a traditional three-game series you see during the regular season?

DUSTY BAKER: What helps is you're managing for every two days because you play two and then you're off a game, which helps. When you start playing three in a row, then you've got to manage that a little different than you do now.

The traditional three-game series was just like it used to be in the seven, where you play three, four, five all at the same time. So you manage through the off days, which is a big advantage in that National League series over there because they play one, off one, play one, off another. Boy, that's a big advantage right there.

Q. Brantley said yesterday he has no limitations with his shoulder. Do you go into the series thinking he could be available to start back-to-back days?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah. I mean, we'll see. You can't predict what's going to happen today, but I have him in there today and tomorrow because my lineup is usually two or three days ahead.

I try not to get too far ahead because something always happens and you've got to change. He wasn't playing today until they changed to Ober. Yordan was playing initially because I thought that Ryan was going to pitch, and Ryan's been a little tough on left-handed hitters. So I was going to play Yordan in left today and Diaz was going to DH.

Just like Diaz was supposed to DH in Arizona until -- he's supposed to catch in Arizona. He was supposed to catch France, and then they switched -- we had a switch because France's wife got sick. Like I said, you make these plans, but life sometimes makes you make changes.

Q. Dusty, I was going to ask you about Michael Brantley too, but since you answered that, I was just going to say do you guys feel like you all are a different team? Obviously he didn't play a lot because of the health situation. Do you guys feel like you all are a different team with him being in the mix and actually, like you were saying to the earlier question, being able to manage differently because of the time off? Do you feel like you're a different team with Michael?

DUSTY BAKER: Certainly, Michael Brantley is another quality hitter and another quality left-handed hitter. Right now the left-handed hitters I have are Yordan and Tucker, and now with Michael -- I mean, Michael usually puts the pitcher in a stretch. You know he's going to give a tough at-bat. He plays real good defense. He's a great base runner. He still has a strong throwing arm regardless of what his age is.

So Michael Brantley's a ballplayer. Any time you can have a ballplayer in your lineup, that means a ballplayer can beat you in more ways than just hitting.

Q. You've been so honest with us about how badly you wanted to win a World Series as a skipper and how close you had been. Wondering what it felt like waking up this morning walking into the building knowing that this tournament started and you were the last one standing last year?

DUSTY BAKER: The same way I felt when the season started. This is where I wanted to be, and this is where I always believed that we would be, even when we were 5 percent chance going into that weekend. I just believed. That's what I got from Tom Lasorda and from my mom and dad. You've got to believe regardless of what the odds are for or against you.

I've been getting calls all year from Cito Gaston, my former teammate, and I expressed to Cito, and he knew it, and then we talked about it that I wanted to do the Cito Gaston. That means you win back to back. Then I turn on the TV, and nobody's gone back to back since the Yankees in ten years. So the odds weren't really for us to go back to back really, if history repeats itself.

Maybe you can have a ten-year history or whatever it is.

Q. We were just talking to Bruce Bochy earlier this year, and he was it was harder to outmanage the opposing manager with the minimum three-batter rule. Do you still feel like you can outmanage the opposing manager with matchups late in the game with the rules the way they are?

DUSTY BAKER: It makes it tough, but my situation where I don't have a left-handed reliever in the bullpen, that's kind of a moot point. You have to have right-handers that can get left-handers out.

Plus when you're managing against certain teams and certain people, you're managing more against the computer than you are that person. But in the case of like Bruce Bochy, you're managing against the computer and probably more Bochy than anything. It depends on who -- like in the past, you were managing against Tony La Russa. You don't know what he was going to do. Bobby Cox, they threw some -- you think you knew what they were going to do, but you really didn't know. Now you tend to have a better idea of when they're going to pinch-hit or whatever the computer says.

Q. Dusty, tomorrow's game, Framber Valdez, by any chance has he come to you asking if he would like to play with his blue navy uniform? I know that him wearing that blue uniform, his winning percentage is big on the playoffs.

DUSTY BAKER: No, he hasn't come to me. Usually he goes to our equipment manager who's in charge of the uniforms. I really don't care. If that's what he needs and what we need to win, then I'll put the uniform in his locker.

You know how players are. We've been like that since we were kids. We realize Framber's real good in that blue uniform, and like I said, if that's what he needs, then that's what we need.

Q. You talk about those other managers like La Russa that you didn't know what they were going to do. Which kind of manager are you?

DUSTY BAKER: If I told you that, then they'd know it.

(Laughter).

I'm a combination manager. Always have been.