Dave Duncan Quotes

"He had a good set of eyes to watch guys in the bullpen. His biggest strength was always his consistency. He could throw a ball for a strike pretty much anytime he wanted to."

"He was struggling with his delivery and his control. His pitches weren't sharp. But I told him it's a great sign because you're going to have 10, 12, 15 games during the season when it just isn't working. A lot of guys give in to that. But he didn't. He kept battling."

"He had a good, solid year. I'm happy the organization recognized it. It will be a good experience for him to spend some time here and see what it's all about. This is one of the steps that is part of the process of establishing yourself as a player."

"It's not just winning games. It's the way he's pitched. He's been pretty dominant. I've seen guys win a lot of games before. But with the exception of Vida Blue in 1971, I've never seen a guy that has controlled the game, game after game after game, like he has."

"I'm not forming any hard opinions one way or the other. It's way too early. . . . Gradually things clarify themselves."

"He's trying to throw too hard, trying to make it break too much, to make it better than it is. It doesn't need to be any better than it is. But when you increase your effort, you come out of your delivery and it affects your command."

"He's shown that he has the ability to pitch at the major league level. Opportunities come in different ways. When you get them you have to take advantage of them. If he makes our ball club he'll probably appear in the middle of the game as a situational type left-hander."

"He pitched more like he did when he was pitching more aggressively: taking advantage of his strengths, staying away from getting in trouble with his weaknesses,"

"It could be a good pitch for him if he can gain control of it to the point where he doesn't make mistakes that are hit. If his mistakes are down, OK. If he makes mistakes up ... I don't think he wants to walk off the field after getting beat on a changeup. But he can find places to use it."

"I still think it's excessive, but I appreciate them reconsidering and listening to what I had to say."

"I still think it's excessive, but I appreciate them reconsidering and listening to what I had to say,"

"I think he's still considered a power guy. I think he's just more of a blend of power and pitching."

"Sometimes that's what happens. Used in another role, given a different opportunity - a pitcher finds his strength."

"It was pretty nice to have both my boys on the field at the same time."

"Unfortunately, the toughest competition comes the last two weeks of spring, and I'm not sure where we're going to be (with the starters). It would be nice to be able to see them all in the toughest competition of spring. Will we be able to? I'm not sure yet."

"You get into competition, the juices start flowing."

"His approach was better and his execution was better. I thought his stuff was good. I kept seeing those radar gun readings and I don't think they were accurate."

"There's an aura that surrounds certain guys, whether it's truth or fiction I don't know, but it's the way they're perceived by the opposition,"

"He hasn't needed it. But he's going to need something like that at the major league level. It's hard to pitch at the top of the strike zone."

"I think he's more conscious of trying to pitch to the weakness of the hitter rather than just going after everybody the same way. That's pretty much what he did when he first came over."