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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RANGERS

October 13, 2011

Ron Washington

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Five

THE MODERATOR: We are going to get started in the interview room for questions for Ron Washington.

Q. Wash, you've had to lean on your bullpen heavily here throughout the whole playoffs. What kind of shape are they in and how critical has that been for you?
RON WASHINGTON: It's been very critical. We're in good shape. The night before when we didn't have to go to our -- we call our winning pieces there.
And last night they came in and I didn't think they over exerted themselves too much. They're available. We're ready to go.

Q. Ron, just a follow-up on that, what kind of flexibility does it give you when you have that many different guys throwing the ball well in the playoffs in the bullpen?
RON WASHINGTON: It gives you tremendous flexibility. Each and every one of those guys have a role. We've been able to put them in their role. And when you are able to do that, it's not often in the game of baseball that things fall into place.
They certainly have fell into place for us as far as where we are in the ballgame and whose inning it is and them coming in and doing the job. They've been doing the job.

Q. Ron, can you talk about your first impressions of Nelson Cruz when you took over in 2007 and the journey he's been on having to clear through waivers to get him back and if there's been one or two major influences on him?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think Nelson has progressed the way you would like to see a talent progress. He's always done well in the minor leagues. He's always just had to make the adjustments that I think everybody baseball player have to make when they get to the Big Leagues.
And then you look at his size, and people look at that. Now he's going to have to earn what he gets, because they're not just going to lay baseballs in certain spots.
So it took him a while to figure out what adjustments he had to make, but once he learned to make them up here at the Major League level, with each day that comes and goes, he's getting better.
I think now he's been in the league long enough he know what maybe each and every pitcher is trying to do to him. He knows what he's capable of doing, and he's learning to stay within himself.
When a baseball player learns to stay within himself, you can say he has arrived. We can say that Cruz has arrived. It took a while. It started coming two years ago, and then last year his first year -- full year I think he hit .300.
And then last year he started popping the ball out of the ballpark with a little bit of regularity. Now he's a threat. And I think as long as he can stay healthy, he will be a threat.

Q. Wash, back to the bullpen. How much of this year, the way you've built the bullpen getting Uehara and Adams at mid-season, came off of what the Giants did last year and how they mixed and matched and added people late for the team that won the World Series against you?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, throughout the year, you know, we was able to do it in a starting pitching part of the game. We've always had problems trying to mix and match in the bullpen because we removed Frankie Francisco, we removed Ogando, we removed Harrison, we removed Holland and all those guys went into the starting rotation.
We had to find pieces to put in there. Early on we were relying on too many guys to give us too many innings too many days in a row. We knew we had to try to do something to help the bullpen out.
I think Jon Daniels and Nolan and that group focused on making certain the trading deadline that we got some pieces in the bullpen so we can set up guys in rows.
Once we got those pieces in the bullpen, the rows set up, and then we began to take off out of the bullpen. At that time our starting rotation was accumulating a ton of innings. They were going seven or eight innings every night.
Then we put the bullpen together and it took a load off our starting rotation. The bullpen came together at the right time. It really did.

Q. Wash, as hot as Nelson has been, have you been at all tempted to move him up in the order, and why or why not?
RON WASHINGTON: No, I haven't, simply because when Nelson came back 1 through 6 that I have right now, they was taking us there. Nelson came back. He didn't get a chance to get any rehabilitation -- I mean rehabilitation -- he didn't get a chance to go down on rehab. And the seventh spot is where he fit at that time. Those guys were continuing to do the job. Nelson had to find his swing.
Now he's finding his swing. Those other guys are still doing the job. So it fits right now. I can't sit up here and say that at some point if we continue to move forward that I won't change it.
But I can tell you right now it's not going to change.

Q. Ron, where does Justin Verlander rank for you among the pitchers you've seen through your years in the game?
RON WASHINGTON: One of the very best. His repertoire is loaded. He can throw anything at any time. As he get late in the ballgame, he's like he's in the first inning. He can take it to another level. When I say another level, I'm talking mentally, because we all are at the level that we are supposed to be at this time of the year. It started in February.
He has a focus that's unmatched. He has an ability to do things that you just don't see pitchers do. All you can hope is that you catch him on a day when he don't have it. Other than that, it's always a challenge.

Q. Ron, because of those talents you were talking about, how do you form a game plan against someone like a Verlander for hitters to follow going into the game?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he throws strikes. He throws everything with strikes. He goes out of the strike zone by design. So when he's in the strike zone and he gives you a pitch to hit, this is easy to say, but it's not easy to do, don't miss it. That's all you can do. Try to get him in the strike zone. Try not to chase. You don't have to worry about building up his pitch count, because the pitch count with this guy just goes out the door.
If you are sitting there trying to build up a pitch count, you're going to find yourself behind in the count. And once you get behind in the count with him, that bat is usually over.

Q. Can you take us back to the offseason and some of the discussions you guys had about Mike Napoli when it looked like he may be available? Did you covet him as a guy you targeted in the offseason?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I got a call from Jon Daniels, and he asked me do you like Mike Napoli? I said of course I do. He said we can get him from Toronto. I said get him. He got him. He gave me his phone number. I called Mike and I told Mike I don't know -- I can't sit here right now and tell you that this is the amount of at-bats you're going to get. I said, but through the course of the season things happen. I can tell you that I will use you. I will use you many, many ways.
But I can't sit and tell you that I'm going to be able to get you 4 or 500 at-bats. But you will be a part of our club. We're very happy to have you. And the first thing that came out of Mike Napoli's mouth was whatever you need, Skip. That was it.
You know, I think we've been had our eye on Mike Napoli. It wasn't heavy conversation, but when the opportunity presented itself, Jon Daniels made the move for Frankie Francisco. That was a piece of our bullpen that relied on the previous two or three years.
But we certainly needed to put another professional bat in our lineup, especially losing Guerrero.

Q. As you sit here today, you've got a 3-1 lead in the series, you're going into Verlander. Any one of the games could have gone either way, really. How comfortable are you with the lead? And how do you feel about the Texas situation right now?
RON WASHINGTON: Yes, we got a 3-1 lead. Comfortable? You're never comfortable when you play the game of baseball. And if someone is out there comfortable, I think you need to check him.
We're very -- very -- what do I want to say? Wow. Tough question. It's a tough question because you got to win a ballgame, and our focus is just on today winning a ballgame. And we're not thinking ahead. I don't think we're thinking about us got a 3-1 lead.
I think what we're thinking about is the challenge that we have to go out there today and we have to continue to play exceptional baseball, because we're certainly facing an exceptional pitcher.
Pitchers that are exceptional can stop exceptional hitting. So we just have to be aware of what the game offers us today and hope we can take advantage of it. And after nine innings hope that we got a lead.
But comfortable? No, we're not comfortable, because there's a lot of baseball to be played. It's not just the games we're playing against Detroit. At this point we've played 170 games and there's still a lot to go. Each one of the games, as you said, could have went either way. So that's a lot of tension.
It's been exciting, and we're going to go out there and give it our best shot today and see what happens.

Q. Wash, if you could, talk for a minute about the level of respect you have for Miguel Cabrera?
RON WASHINGTON: It's off the chart. And I think every manager in baseball, especially in the American League, have that same respect. I tried for two days to pitch around this guy. He hits two doubles. He's a threat. He's a big guy that stays in the big part of the field. Never fooled by many pitches. He showed his defensive agility when he dove and stopped the ball that Beltre hit the ball down the right field line. He shows his prowess on the base pads. If you're not paying attention you'll take a bag. He'll go from first to third. He's a complete player. He's a dangerous player.
Wow, would a manager love to have him in the lineup. He's dangerous. He's the best baseball player as far as the threat that I've seen since Barry Bonds. I'm surprised he's not walking 200 times.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Ron.
RON WASHINGTON: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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