We definitely like to celebrate the wins, that's for sure.
— Gerrit Cole
I tremendously value wins.
If I'm not going to make the pitch, then so be it. I'm not going to try to manipulate the ball or muscle the ball over the plate where I want it to go.
I was sooo skinny.
I've got to keep my pitch count down. If you want to go deep into ballgames, you have to stay under that 100 mark.
I think if we just stay focused on what we focus on, which is ourselves, playing good ballgames, trying to win every day, don't take wins with us, don't take losses with us, if we just stay with that approach the results are going to be what they're going to be.
You never want to be in a bases-loaded, no-outs position, but dammit, when you're there, you better enjoy it. You better not sit there and sulk about it. You better rise up and figure it out.
I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing, because from all the compliments I've received so far, it sounds like I'm on the right track.
You can't find a bad count to throw a curveball.
Every good team is going to have a good culture in the clubhouse.
Every start is an opportunity to get better and to learn how your body is feeling and what you need to do moving forward. It's been an evolution throughout the year.
I mean, our job is - we're baseball players, we have to go to work. But when it all boils down, we're just a bunch of kids out there having fun trying to entertain people.
When you're spinning a two-seam, getting on the side of the ball to get more run or sink can be good, but it can really be detrimental to your four-seam.
Well, I mean, I like to be pretty athletic off the mound in terms of taking care of my job, which is covering first base, fielding bunts in certain situations, fielding slow rollers to the first base and having to communicate and direct traffic.
You don't want to let the other team feed off your outward physical demeanor. But at the same time, you can't go out and play this game and not expect to just be angry and be competitive and be excited and have that fire in your belly.
You're always just so inspired to get in the game and try to contribute any way you can.
I certainly wouldn't pay for a ticket to watch a math equation.
This is a game of failure, for the most part.
You have more of an opportunity than people think to impact a game through the tone that you can set. You can't control everything, setting that tone is important.
There's a lot of pageantry involved in opening day, flyovers, extra long TV breaks and stuff. To say that it's not important, more so than some other ones, it is. It's the first game of the year. but I got 30 starts to make. Each win or loss is equally as important.
I just go out and do my job.
I try to get early contact and keep it on the ground. I like to keep the ball down as much as I can.
You never want to have Yadier Molina up with the bases loaded in the World Series, but, dammit, you wouldn't want a better hitter up. Maybe that's not the way most people think, I don't know. That's how I think.
There's a lot of different aspects of the game that I've fine-tuned.
David Price comes and finds me out in the lobby and says, 'Dude, I really enjoy watching you pitch.' I'm just like, 'What's wrong with you? Watch your own games, bro. I just throw fastballs inside. You're painting all over the place, striking the world out.'
I was hurt in 2016, and it made me look at longevity and sustainability. The stuff that I was doing wasn't working for me long term. So, I had to make a change.
When you start lifting weights in the offseason in like November, you're like, 'Ah, I'm going to get this thing up so I can get to the World Series.'
Any time you can get in a position to start to get some of the quality work in as early as possible, I think it gives you a leg up or at least gives you the opportunity to be really prepared for the first time you take the ball.
In an industry where you don't always get to see your family as much as you would like, getting to hug your mom after the game is nice.
You've got to try to close every inning out, take it one inning at a time, one batter at a time.
It feels good to be able to contribute, eat innings, provide some rest for the bullpen.
I think there's a quiet aggression that you need to have, that presence that you have on the mound, the poise, you know.
It doesn't really matter who you're playing. You just have to keep going at them.
There's a human element here you start to lose when you start rattling off the best mathematical equation to get the out.
The most rewarding thing to me is going deep into games, knowing you stood up, and did your job.
Regardless if your career is short or long, I personally would rather win more often than not.
There's no WAR for being a good teammate, so apparently that means older guys can't get paid.
I had a great time at school. The experience was quite fulfilling, especially going to the World Series.
Strikeouts are something that just happen. You don't go for strikeouts, because your pitch count gets too high. When you do get that opportunity, you have to put them away with whatever is working that day.
I always wanted to play with the older kids because they were better and it was more fun. It was harder, and I failed more, but it was more fun.
Being able to taste failure, it makes you kind of want to throw up. It makes you just hate the game.
My job is to go out there and just, with whatever I got that day, just give my team the best chance to win.
You can have really good statistics, which are really good, and it's a serious advantage, but when push comes to shove, it's about players communicating and players playing together.
When you dream as a little kid, you dream about storybook endings and storybook players and scenarios like that.
You try not to pay too much attention to the hype before the game, because you never know what's going to happen.
Cleaning up that lack of the definition between the two, and then leaning on the four-seam, having it become my primary fastball over my two-seam, it's just benefited me as a whole.
There is nothing better than having your home crowd cheer you on and scream with you in big moments and get the crowd in the pulse of the game.
You know in a playoff atmosphere anything can happen.
When you're more comfortable out there, you start seeing different things, relaxing more, being able to trust your pitches more and not try to overdo things as much.
When they have the lead, you don't want to fall into too predictable counts because they're playing with house money at that point. You want to try to be creative and keep them off-balance as much as you can.
