NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES v DIAMONDBACKS

October 16, 2001

Bobby Cox

BOBBY COX: Yeah. He looked real good today. He didn't have any more pain from what he went through yesterday. He went through a very trecherous workout yesterday and felt good early this morning. He was on the field out here by I guess around 8:30. Looked good. So I don't think he can catch nine innings today or maybe not tomorrow, but certainly by Friday, Saturday, he would be good to go for nine. And he can pinch hit without any pain at all. He's throwing great, and he could squat lower today than he did yesterday. So it's a pretty good tribute to Dave Pursley and Jeff Porter and Doc Chandler, really. They worked on him around the clock ever since he got hurt. So they got him ready.

BOBBY COX: Yeah, I think so. Javy was really hitting the ball well when he went down. It was unfortunate. He really started to get it together. But now he hasn't hit in a while either. But, yeah, I think so. Any time you can get your No. 1 catcher back, I think you're ahead of the game. Although Bako has done a terrific job.

BOBBY COX: We certainly might. We might even start him tomorrow. We'll wait and see. I'm just not sure. If he keeps improving, he's going to be able to go nine.

BOBBY COX: Yeah, right.

BOBBY COX: Well, I think he has made a difference. He's a real good hitter. He hits the ball awfully hard and he hits it to all fields. I've got all the confidence in the world when he walks up there; if the man's on second, I know he's going to get him over, but he might score him, too. I've got a lot of confidence when he walks up there in big situations. He's not an easy out. He's really a tough out. He's from the old school, being a tough out.

BOBBY COX: We didn't really know. I could only go by what Frank Wren, John's assistant told me, that he was playing first really well down in Mexico. Of course he was leading the league in hitting, too. But that was my question, too, "Can he play first?" He said yeah, our stuff's good on him. It's better than good. He can really make that play, the double-play, he's done it three or four times already from first to second, back to first. He does that with a lot of confidence.

BOBBY COX: Well, you sure feel about with John Smoltz out there anchoring the ball game. I think he's brought the entire bullpen together. Everybody's in their proper roles right now. We feel that we can cover just about any inning after the fifth inning with some confidence.