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NL DIVISION SERIES: ROCKIES v PHILLIESOctober 6, 2009Cliff LeePHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Workout Day Q. Charlie obviously had a lot of different options with Cole. He could have picked any one of you guys. What does it mean to you to be the guy that he's giving the ball to at the start of the playoffs? CLIFF LEE: It's an honor. I don't think there's any more importance in Game 1 versus Game 2. I knew I was going to pitch one of the games, so for me it really didn't matter. They're equally important. With Game 1 you want to try to get the team off to a good start and try to start off with a lead. So I guess with that, it is a little more important. But still, it's one game versus Game 2 being one game, as well. Yeah, I think we're going to be fine either way. I'm honored to have Game 1. But like I said, if it went the other way, it still would have been the same difference for me. Q. Talk about the excitement and the challenge for you. This is not only your first postseason start, and to make it more so, first game of a playoff. How exciting and how challenging is something like that for you? CLIFF LEE: I'm excited. Like you said, it's going to be my first postseason start. It's a challenge. You know, I like any challenge. That's why we play this game. It's for the competition, and it's going to be a little more amped, a little more exciting due to the fact that it's a postseason game. Yeah, I'm going to try to channel the adrenaline and the energy that comes along with that, throw strikes and making pitches. Yeah, I'm excited. I wish it were today, go out there and pitch and get it over with. But I'll wait until tomorrow. I'm excited and look forward to the challenge. Q. When you came over to the Phillies, we talked to you a little bit about 2007 with Cleveland and the disappointment of not being able to pitch in this postseason. Can you talk now, I guess since the postseason is here, a little bit about how much you've been looking forward to the opportunity to do this, and also how these opportunities don't always come up for you? CLIFF LEE: Yeah, you know, that's the first thing I thought of when I got traded was it's an opportunity to get back to the postseason and contribute. Last time in '07 with the Indians, I had to be a backup and sit there and watch other guys play. It was fun to be a part of it, but it was also kind of bitter sweet in the fact that I didn't get to participate and try to help the team win. You know, this is my next chance to get that opportunity, and I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I want to try to give the team a win. That's really the bottom line. Q. Will you at all pick Cole Hamels' brain, just how to go into the start and the mindset or anything of that nature or do it like any other start, especially after the success he had last year? CLIFF LEE: Maybe a little bit. Obviously it's a different year, it's a different team. There's a whole different set of circumstances, but I will ask him some stuff just as far as his mindset and what he was thinking going into the game and stuff. Yeah, so I will pick his brain. But it is a whole different set of circumstances and a different situation. It's not like he can tell me exactly what to do and it's going to work; it's a different deal here. But yeah, I am going to -- and I always have tried to pick his brain, and Happ and Moyer and Pedro and any of these guys that can help me out, I've always been open to ideas and what those guys think and try to use that in my game to help us all win. Q. I know the Rockies have a lot of left-handers, can you still talk about the challenges of facing a lineup like that? CLIFF LEE: Yeah, they do have a lot of left-handers, but they have left-handers that face left-handers a lot, so it's not like their lefties are just average lefties. They've got some good ones. It's still going to be a challenge. You've still got to make pitches to those guys, and if you miss out over the plate, they're going to make you pay, whether you're a lefty, righty or whatever. They're good players. Every team that's in the playoffs right now, every lineup is full of unbelievable hitters. There's not much room for error with these types of lineups, and you've got to work ahead, and you've got to stay out of the heart of the plate, whether it be lefties or righties, because the guys that we're going to be facing as left-handed starters are left-handed hitters that never come out of the lineup. They're good ones, so it's not like it's a lefty-lefty situation out of the bullpen. I'm facing the guys that are going to be in there the whole game regardless. They're going to be in there for a reason. It should be an advantage to the pitcher, but like I said, to see a lot of lefties, and the key is just to stay out of the heart of the plate and mix speeds and try to make them swing the bat early in counts. Hopefully they hit it to someone. Q. The Rockies, the thing that stands out about them, they are home grown talent, saw you pitched seven innings against them earlier, but largely these guys have barely, if at all, seen you. Give you an advantage at all? Are you comfortable with that? CLIFF LEE: Whatever, it could go both ways. It's a matter of making pitches. They're big league hitters and they're a pretty good team or they wouldn't be in the playoffs. You know, like I just said, it's a matter of mixing speeds and staying out of the heart of the plate and staying away from 2-0 and 3-1 counts and not walking guys. You've got to take advantage of every situation and not let them get into aggressive counts and situations where they can hurt you. And that stuff is going to happen, but you've still got to make pitches. It boils down to making pitches and working ahead and staying out of the heart of the plate. That's really as simple as I try to keep it. Q. When did Charlie tell you that you would be the Game 1 starter, and can you share with us how that exchange went down? CLIFF LEE: He basically called me on the phone yesterday and said, "You're pitching Wednesday." That's basically it. I said, "Thank you," and we hung up the phone. It was kind of a pretty quick, simple conversation, just basically called me Wednesday, told me -- called me yesterday, told me I was starting Wednesday, and that was it. That was that. Q. It's been no secret obviously that you've had some struggles lately, but you pitched very well against this team in your second start for the Phillies back in August. Do you look back at that, and does that give you something to hang on to as you face this team in the playoffs? CLIFF LEE: I mean, that can't be a bad thing, so in a way, yeah, I guess I look at it as a good thing. But that's in the past, too. That was an opportunity for them to see me. Obviously I did have some success there, but they got a chance to see me, too, so obviously they're going to try to make some adjustments there. It's my job to evaluate how I pitched to them last time, try to pick some things out there that I felt worked and use that to my advantage coming up tomorrow. But like I say, they watched the same video of the same game that I'm going to watch, and they're going to make adjustments. It's a matter of getting some ideas on how to get those guys out. But I don't want to try to do the exact same thing, because like I say, they just watched it, too. The bottom line is I can't throw pitches down the middle. I'm going to have to stay out of aggressive hitter counts, and the way to do that is to be aggressive, go right at them, pitch strikes and mix speeds. Q. Since you've gotten here how have you found this park to be a pitcher? Is it a fair park? Have you had to make any adjustments to what you've done normally? CLIFF LEE: I think it's pretty well noted that it's a hitters' ballpark, that's a pretty well known fact. It still doesn't mean you can't throw right-handers in and you can come in on lefties because you're scared they're going to home run. You've still got to pitch like you would at a big ballpark for the most. Obviously you get in certain situations where you might not want to come in on a guy. But for the most part, I'm going to pitch the way I pitch, regardless. Q. You talked about controlling your adrenaline, and obviously this is as big a stage as you've pitched on, but you've gotten a sense of what it's like here when the crowd is loud. How does that affect you typically when preparing for a game, and how do you control that? CLIFF LEE: For me it's usually just a good thing. You know, it's hard to -- there's cases where you can get too amped and too excited, and it can become a bad thing. But I feel like for me usually it's a good thing and it can only help. I'm going to try to treat it as much like a normal start as I can, and obviously you can't ignore the fact that the fans are going to be more excited. You can feel more energy in the ballpark, and that's going to be there. There's no way around it. You've just got to channel that into positives and try to use it to your advantage. That's really kind of how I'm looking at it. Q. Can you talk about when you were in the American League for half the year? You've been in the National League for half the year. Can you talk about the potential of your starting staff and maybe where it ranks with the rest of the playoff teams? CLIFF LEE: I think we're looking pretty good. I mean, I really haven't evaluated the other starting staffs that well. I haven't been in this league long enough to know like really how good a lot of these starting staffs are, but obviously they're pretty good because they're in the playoffs. There's not going to be -- we're not going to be running into any weak teams from here on out. Every team is going to be legit. You know, I like our staff. I think we've got a good rotation, and I think we match up well against any team in baseball. So I think we're going to be all right. The number one thing for us now is to take care of the Rockies. That's the team that our focus is on now. But you know, once we get past them, who knows. But right now our focus is here with Colorado. Q. Like any pitcher, obviously you talked with the importance of command, and that's something that you've been open about, how it's come and gone at certain points over the last month or so. For you when you're trying to get something like that back, is it just a mechanical thing, is it just a feel thing that's kind of hard to put your finger on how to get it back? CLIFF LEE: Where did it go? What are you talking about? I feel like I've still got command. I have made some mistakes over the past few games, but that usually boils down to three or four pitches and 100-some-odd pitches. That's when you hope they hit it to someone usually. But for whatever reason, I've made some mistakes that they've hit out of the ballpark or hit into the gaps. You know, once you release the ball and they hit it in the gap, there's nothing you can do about it then. You've got to keep your composure and come back and try to make the adjustment on the next pitch. I feel like I can do that. That's the name of the game, making adjustments. Q. You've pitched this year a career high. Fatigue any factor at all for you at this point? CLIFF LEE: No, I feel as strong as I've felt the whole year, and going into the off-season that's what you prepare for. You prepare for 162 games, plus some games in the end if you're lucky. That's where I'm at now, and I feel strong and healthy, and that kind of lets me know that what I'm doing in the off-season is the right workout, and I'm doing the right stuff, and I'm going to continue to try to do some similar stuff and even more. That lets me know what I'm doing in the off-season is the right thing. Q. When it comes to the preparation, you talked about watching video and maybe talking to other pitchers, picking their brains and things. How much of -- when you get ready for the actual start is that the work that you needed to do, compared to making the in-game adjustments and seeing how the pitches themselves are working that given day? CLIFF LEE: Yeah, that's a good question. I think a small percentage, a small percentage goes into your video and scouting reports. I mean, you want to use that stuff, but the in-game adjustments and the feel of the game is hard to -- if you get away from that and get into just using scouting reports and video, then you're in a bad spot. The feel of the game and having a feel for what to do and just instinct of adjustments are way more beneficial than relying on scouting reports as far as I'm concerned. They can tell you you've got to throw this guy fastballs in, but the first one in there if he trips down the line, you'd better do something else. The adjustments on the fly are way more important than scouting reports and videos, at least in my opinion. Q. Do you get a sense since you've been here and even now going into the playoffs that this team knows what to expect? They've been through it? Do you see that? I know you know they won the World Series, but do you see that as a player in that clubhouse? CLIFF LEE: Yeah, you can see there's a quiet confidence that comes off this team. They expect to be successful, and rightfully so. They've got an unbelievable core group of guys that are class acts on and off the field, and they go about their business the right way. Yeah, you can see confidence. You can see that they expect to win. We expect to win as a team. It's fun to be a part of. You know, we haven't even started yet. You know, we've got to come into it with the right attitude, and I feel like we're doing that. If we individually do our jobs and take care of business individually, then I think we'll play well as a team. Everybody has got to carry their weight, and if we do that, then there's no doubt in my mind we're going to wind up in a good spot. First thing we've got to do, though, is come out to the field tomorrow ready to play and take care of business and take it one at a time. End of FastScripts |
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