AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS ORIOLES

October 10, 2023

Bruce Bochy

Globe Life Field

Texas Rangers

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. I heard you this morning on the radio talking about being back at home, excited for you guys to play in front of these fans. What is it like for somebody like you who's been through so much as a manager? I assume this feeling never gets old. But to experience it with a new team in kind of a first-time situation, what is that like for you? Have you thought about it?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, to be honest, I really haven't thought about it. As I'm thinking -- I've said this -- how grateful I am to be here, to be in this position. Last year, I was at home, doing a little fishing, hitting a few golf balls. Here we are in the postseason.

I'm with a tremendous team here, a bunch of great guys. CY, great front office and, of course, ownership. Ray Davis, who I've said many times provided resources to help us be in this position.

So I'm having the time of my life. It's good to be here. I'm looking forward to the first postseason game here to see the atmosphere. I'm happy for the community. It's been a while for the fans. We could feel it a little bit the last month as we were fighting our way to get to this position. So we got a little bit of taste of it, but it's good to be home. That was a long road trip.

Q. Corey just talked about when he was talking to Chris and John Daniels about coming here and the plan and all of that, what they kind of sketched out for them. I'm wondering, when Chris talked to you, if he gave you a timetable as to when he thought you were going to be competitive, the Rangers were going to be competitive? Have you gotten there faster than Chris said? Where does that stand?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, you know Chris, CY. He's Mr. Optimistic. He's so full of optimism. He keeps pounding the table. He was talking this year that they were going to go out and bolster the starting rotation and improve the pitching, and they were ready to get this turned around right away.

So, no, I'm not surprised at where we're at. That's because of his hard work and his determination to make this a better ball club. He has a lot of pride. Of course, growing up here, he wanted to bring winning baseball back to Texas. What a great job he's done.

Q. I know we've talked a lot about what Corey and Marcus mean at the top of the lineup. You weren't here the first year they played together. Have you seen their relationship develop? What have you seen with them on the field, off the field, in the clubhouse, whatever? Not just what they do in the lineup, but altogether?

BRUCE BOCHY: I saw it in spring training. These guys were playing catch all the time together, spending time. We're all different. Hopefully, you learn to appreciate the differences and help those make you better. What makes him better? What makes him better? And so they're completely wired different. They are. But yet, they both have the same goals, and that's to be good teammates and play winning baseball. And that's what you appreciate about both of them.

Q. Bruce, can you speak to how you manage a closeout game like this with your bench and with your bullpen, that ability to finish them off here?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, all hands on deck. I'll start with that. It's a short series. Best out of five. Yeah, we have a game, big game tonight. So we'll use everybody. I think we've shown that already, and we'll continue to do that. Don't have a starter for tomorrow because of what I'm saying now.

Bench, everybody, pinch running situations, they'll all be used if I think it's the right thing to do tonight. That's my mentality. I think it's the team's mentality. Hey, be ready. Bullpen, all of them. Any situation.

Q. Late home run in the last game notwithstanding, seems like Jose Leclerc has been significantly better in those close, high leverage situations in the last couple of weeks. Have you seen any difference in approach or, like, has there been anything you've been able to tell that's different for him from sort of early in the year? When there were occasionally difficult situations over, you know, the last month, where it seems like he's performed a lot better?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, I think there's been a remarkable difference. You look at where he's at now, where he was at the beginning of the year. And I've gone over this earlier, where when we left Spring Training, I just don't think he was 100 percent. And Jose is the kind of guy that's going to take the ball. You look at the stuff, the velocity, he had his neck thing going on.

I said, you know, we stopped him from pitching in the WBC because we didn't think he was completely healthy. We needed him to be our closer. You could see it with his command, his stuff, gradually get better and better and better. Now you look at the end of the year, he's throwing the ball like he did last year when we was throwing well, the velo, the breaking, the change-up.

It's a tough game. When you're not completely right, it's a tough task. But we're seeing a different guy now.

Q. Off Steven's question, you said Corey and Marcus are wired differently. Could you kind of elaborate on what their differences are and why they kind of complement each other?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, I think you know their personalities. Marcus really, you know, has his routine, which Corey does too, but in different ways. Marcus is out here every day doing his stuff that he thinks he needs to do to get ready, whether it's ground balls, will not miss a routine.

Corey, probably more of a I need a break here or break there. Yet, he still has his routine. He's relentless about how he prepares for a game.

I won't go into personality, but Corey, he's probably a little bit more fun than you guys may think. He's got a great sense of humor, has a lot of fun out there. Marcus does too, but he's very, very business-like and very focused on what he wants to do.

Q. Boch, with the atmosphere and the crowd, do you feel like Nathan Eovaldi is the best candidate on a closeout game and the atmosphere in the crowd?

BRUCE BOCHY: I'm not going to say who's the best candidate. All of them have done a great job. Look at what the starting pitching has done recently. Of course, Nate's got the résumé. He's been in this position so it's great to have him out on the mound today. But I'd be fine with whoever we had available today. That's how I feel.

Q. Hey, I know you don't spend a lot of time in the middle of the clubhouse, but the time that we've spent in there over the course of this year, it's kind of seeing that card game develop over the course of this year. And it seems like there are more guys involved and more guys around in that. Do you think that that has -- has that played any role in team chemistry? Has that been a bonding agent for this team?

BRUCE BOCHY: I think it can be, yeah, sure. When guys are getting together, you know, doing stuff like playing cards. Last road trip, that was a long road trip, but it was a lot of time together. Looked like it brought our team even closer together as we headed into Tampa.

So, yeah, I think any time your guys are getting together, whether it be before the game, after the game, that's a good thing. I think culture does play a major part in a team's success. So something that doesn't just happen. You have to create that and doing things like that helps create it.

Q. Has it been noticeable to you at all?

BRUCE BOCHY: I can't say I've been looking. We're doing this, but I will say, you know, as we've gotten deeper into this, you can see how guys have just come closer and closer together.