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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYSOctober 3, 2011Jeremy HellicksonTAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Three THE MODERATOR: Okay, Jeremy Hellickson is here ready to go. Q. Jeremy, obviously you pitched in some big games already the first couple of years in the Big Leagues. What is the thought process going into the first playoff one? JEREMY HELLICKSON: You know, I think I just have to go out there and take it like any other game. I mean, it's easy to say that, but I think that's the approach you really have to take. Q. Jeremy, how much do you think it helps this organization to have guys like you and some others who when you get to the Big Leagues can pitch the full season and not have to worry about -- you have been built up in the Minor Leagues with a lot of innings. How much do you think that helps this team? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I mean, I think it helps a lot. You know, we take our time in the Minors, develop, develop guys like you're supposed to, not rush them. So, you know, once you get here, we're ready for whatever, whatever comes at us. Q. Jeremy, as you reflect on the last start there against the Yankees you're pretty deep into the season, never gone this far. Can you compare how your arm feels now versus, say, the middle of the season all the way back to the Spring, and will that extra day built in maybe put you back in the best position you have been in awhile? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I feel really good. You know, I mean, I think I threw probably 40, 50 more innings than did I last year and I feel better than I did at the end of last year. You know, I've got a lot of extra days between starts throughout the year, and that's what the case is this time. So I think that's all helped, and these few extra days will help this time, too, I think. Q. Jeremy, Joe just said he doesn't think of you as a rookie anymore because of the big games that you pitched the last year. Do you think of yourself as a rookie? JEREMY HELLICKSON: Yeah. (Laughing) I mean, you know, I came up last year, kind of the same situation. You know, the last four or five starts have been pretty much playoff starts, you know. Just watching last year and the few games this year, the games we played at the end of the year were pretty much the exact same. Q. Jeremy, without giving away any game plans here, how is pitching to this lineup different? With the amount of power they have in the lineup, how do you approach it differently than maybe some of the other lineups that you face? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I mean, I really won't. I know they are a very good lineup. They have a lot of power. You know, a lot of speed at the top of the lineup, too. And I really can't worry about that. I have to go over there and do what I do. And, you know, that's execute, and hopefully it works out. Q. Jeremy, where did you come up with your change-up, and how comfortable are you throwing it in fastball counts, that kind of situation? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I think it's probably Low-A when I started throwing it. I mean, when I got drafted I didn't have one, so it was a few years after that. You know, just worked on it every year, in the offseason, to the point it is now where I feel just as comfortable throwing that as I do my fastball in any count. Q. If there's one or two other members of the rotation who you feel have been really influential on you during this season, who are they and how were they influences? JEREMY HELLICKSON: They all have been. You know, I mean, even coming up last year with Garz, you know, they have all, you know, given me pointers here or there. You know, I've worked with Shields on the curveball throughout the year. You know, they've all been there for me and they've all helped me in some way or another. Q. You guys have that triple play against the Yankees, I see the fist pump, off the field. Is that the most emotion you have shown on the baseball field before? Since you are stoic on the mound, how do you internalize those emotions when you don't show them outwardly? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I mean, it's just how I've always been. You know, I don't really know how to explain it. It's just it's the best way I know how to control myself out there. And the play against the Yankees, I tried my hardest to keep my cool, but I just had to let it all out. I don't even know what I did. I was excited, though. Q. Jeremy, not to beat the change-up into the ground, is there one coach or teammate who helped you develop it? And what is your grip on it? JEREMY HELLICKSON: I would have to say Dick Bosman in Hudson Valley introduced me to the grip, circle change. You know, he introduced me to it, and then I just worked on it every year from there on and just got really comfortable with it. Q. Can you talk a little bit how important Joe Maddon's confidence-building has worked on you, what it means to play for somebody who supports you 127%? JEREMY HELLICKSON: Yeah. I mean, Joe's personality kind of rubs off on us. You know, he never got down during the year. You know, we were nine games back with a month to go, and he is still telling us he believes in us, and that's kind of the attitude we took. And he's behind us, it makes everything a lot easier. THE MODERATOR: Okay, thanks, Jeremy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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