MLB WORLD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS RANGERS

October 31, 2023

Nathaniel Lowe

Chase Field

Texas Rangers

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Have you seen Adolis today and how is he feeling and how are you prepared to go forward without him in this game?

NATHANIEL LOWE: I've seen him. I think how he's feeling is for comment for somebody who is much higher than me on the totem pole.

Yeah, we're going to adjust. We're going to compete.

Q. On the topic of adjusting, and you guys have had a lot of injuries this season, you've been resilient through a lot of things. Is that the same mindset, if a guy like Adolis goes down for whatever time it may be?

NATHANIEL LOWE: Whoever slots into his spot in the lineup is going to a great job. Whoever plays right field will do a great job. It's nothing new to us.

It stinks that that's the guy who goes down, position-wise, but we've dealt with it on the pitching side a lot. And I feel like we've done a pretty good job when it happens to position players, too.

Q. From a game-planning standpoint, it seems unusual to get a bullpen game in the World Series, but here we are. What specific challenges does that present to you guys? And how do you approach a bullpen game?

NATHANIEL LOWE: Well, you have to go into it prepared to face the two or three guys that you probably don't want to face. But, again, that's why teams do the bullpen matchups because they try and fit guys into pockets in the lineup to where there's the most advantage.

If the pitch to look for today is different for all two or three, maybe four pitchers that you face, you have to adjust and go out there and do your job.

Q. Is there any part of your mind that has any consideration for winning the whole thing at home? Or is that completely irrelevant?

NATHANIEL LOWE: No, we can only go 1-0 or 0-1 today. It would be cool -- it would be cool to win in front of the home crowd. But if we win these next two, nobody's going to say no.

So we can only win one game today. So that's what we're focused on.

Q. Given the potential depth problems you guys have, how big is it now that Evan has stepped forward the way he has? And Leody has come on a little bit. You feel you'll be strong 1 through 9 regardless, right?

NATHANIEL LOWE: You said a word that if I said that word my junior year to my head coach, the P word, you'd probably run because it's a challenge, it's not a problem. So it's something that the team is challenged with. Something that we'll have to adapt to.

But, again, we've got great players behind him. Evan has been fantastic. Travis will do a great job. If they throw Robbie in right, he'll do a great job. We've got a lot of guys -- maybe that haven't been on fire like Adolis has been -- but we've got a lot of guys that we're confident in that are going to take great at-bats, play great defense and run the base as well.

Q. You mentioned Travis, and he's in right field tonight for Adolis, obviously a different skill set than what Adolis brings to it. But he had a pretty big impact in the first half of the season for you guys. Brings speed, being on base. What kind of jolt does he bring to you guys what does he bring for you guys?

NATHANIEL LOWE: He's a great table-setter. He'll probably downplay extra-base hits because he feels like that's not his calling card. But there was a while there when he was rolling and hitting some doubles and running himself into some triples. He hit a homer that he doesn't like to talk about.

And we forget, too, it might have been Los Angeles he got put in there at the end and made almost one of the greatest plays I've ever seen jumping into the crowd and the ball popped out of his glove. He's going to play a premium right field for us. He's going to run hard. He's going to give us what we need in a right fielder.

Q. Can you speak to the defense this team has played? There's been several plays throughout this World Series that you guys have made. Not talked about as much as the offense, but last night the double play that was made.

NATHANIEL LOWE: Yeah, that comes from pitchers getting ahead in the count and getting the ball in play. And I've noted that before, that when you're on your heels and it's 2-0, 3-0, behind in the count the defense can get flat.

But our guys have done such a better job of getting ahead of the count, getting the ball in play that we've had a chance to make those plays. And obviously Corey, being the top tier shortstop he is, makes that play. And Marcus makes the turn. And I go out there and get the ball for a big double play.

It may not be as glorious as two-run homer or a big double in the gap or something of that sort, but I'll tell you what, making outs in the postseason is what's really going to help us win this championship.

Q. You guys have made some tough plays, balls hit to you which a pitcher has had to cover and you've converted those into outs. What's been the biggest difference between, the dynamic between you and the pitcher defensively this year compared to last year?

NATHANIEL LOWE: We brought in a lot of guys who care about converting that out. It felt like there had been a couple times before where I've been embarrassed on a ball that kind of skipped away from me and I have a chance to flip it to first and nobody's there.

But from the beginning of Spring Training, with PFPs and covering first and that whole thing it was a big point of emphasis with the whole staff.

And Nathan Eovaldi actually gives me a little something every time I flip him the ball. I know he obviously wants to get those put-outs.

It may bother Beasley that I flip him the ball when I'm three or four steps from the base because the adage you never want the pitcher to handle the ball off the mound, but we're doing a better job making outs outs, and it seems like they care.

Q. I feel like you're intentionally vague about this. What do you mean he gives you a little something when you flip him the ball?

NATHANIEL LOWE: $100. (Laughter).

A nice crisp blue strip. So those games, yeah, where Evo gets three or four ground outs, it's pretty good for me. (Laughter).

Q. Have you noticed out on the field this year the difference in game times and that you're on your feet in defense somewhat less?

NATHANIEL LOWE: A little bit, yeah. I think the pace of play is really good. I think the pitch clock is good for that.

There's a couple other gripes I have with it personally. I like to slow things down in the batter's box. I don't love the idea you get penalized with a strike for not being ready at 8 seconds when sometimes the pitcher will walk around and get off the mound.

But I think from what I've heard of people that pay attention to our games, it's really more interactive and the pitch clock is good for baseball. It's nice not to have the four-and-a-half-hour Wednesday afternoon game where you're traveling from one city to another and you've been on the field all day and you're exhausted and can't make the most of the flight in the evening. But the pitch clock is good for baseball.

Q. How do you think the ball carried last night? And also is the turf here identical to the turf in Texas in terms of the way the ball plays?

NATHANIEL LOWE: I think this turf is a little more grabby than Texas. Sometimes it feels like you can hit a ground ball and it's like hitting a pool table where it will really skip, not really turn over and top spinning until the second or third hop.

Here, it will start turning over. It's not quite as bouncy as Toronto's is, but the turf that we play on, the turf in Tampa feels like the ball really gets on it really fast.

And then as far as the ball traveling, I felt like it flew pretty normal last night. It didn't feel like there was a big advantage from having the roof open. I personally love the roof open for flyover purposes. And outside of that, it felt like it played like a pretty straight-up game.