He’s a clubhouse leader, great for young players to be around, knows how to play the game, accepts his role willingly and does it as well as any of the other top flight guys that...

I know him very well. From that standpoint, when you have a sense of awareness about a guy, you have a better understanding of him than a guy you’re seeing for the first time.

He’s made great progress as far as him starting fresh in the big leagues. If it continues, this is a guy who becomes a weapon that I’m not shy about using in significant situations.

About mid-thigh, right down the middle. They’re going to hit pitches like that — Cody or anybody else.

Sounds like the season for him.

He deserved a much better fate.

The number of one-run games since 2001, and the won-lost record in those games is pretty impressive. Mr. [Eric] Gagne obviously has a little something to do with that, too. Because I feel like that...

That’s the plan right now. But until we see how the leg responds in game-type situations, there is nothing that is completely certain. But there has to be a plan. And for the time being,...

He looked a lot like the Zach Duke we saw last year, and that’s a very good sign. You saw a guy who is spearheading himself in the direction he wants to go in.

I know that Jeff Kent is a very private person. He does not have a lot to say in the clubhouse. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.

That was hit in the perfect spot and found it’s way through the middle of the field.

It wasn’t pitched well and it wasn’t defended very well either. When you do that … that’s how you get a six-run inning.

I don’t think it’s any more daunting than some of the challenges we have faced up to this point. We have seen some awfully good pitching.

It’s a good thing to see. You want to be cautious about where they are, not push too hard, let them work at their own pace, but you like to see them out there throwing...

He is having one tremendous spring.

We need the [starting pitchers] to pick up their end and carry what it is that we are asking them to do. Nothing more than that. There are no unexpected expectations at all. Pitch ahead...

He was fine. He was up in the zone early and pitched from behind more than I’d like, but he had good stuff.

I think it will help the whole Middle Tennessee area.

This says so much about the City of Pittsburgh and their support of their sports teams. You have a group of people who absolutely love this team.

I loved those kids. I loved Andrew . . . I loved him. Smartest player I had in that program. He lived for it. Absolutely lived for basketball at St. Martha’s.

All Scott Strickland has done is throw strikes.

You don’t succeed very often when you’re behind in the count.

Obviously, it’s kind of special.

In the case of Brandon, I like what I’ve seen from him this spring compared to what I witnessed recently in the past.

He’s been terrific. He looks to me like a very good baseball player and a very good number two hitter.

Personally, I don’t know how he caught it.

I certainly don’t want have to use Mike Gonzalez in that situation.

Offensively, with the exception of the couple of [home runs], we hit a single here and a single there. Mulder wiped us out with four double plays. That’s been a huge Achilles heel for us....

From the first-base side, when he throws his sinker and misses with it, it becomes more of an unhittable pitch,

We have two more days and we have to look at it as though tomorrow and Sunday are games that we have to win.

You can’t win a ballgame when you have only two base hits from the same guy.

If you look at all the offense we’re getting, five or six runs a game, that’s got to be good enough. But to expect seven or eight a day? Ridiculous. It’s not going to happen....

When Jim `Who?’ was hired, people wondered if I’d even make it to the All-Star Break,

No, I was not fired.

I felt like he had a few more 3-ball counts than I would like to see, which puts him in a vulnerable position because he creates opportunities for the opposition to take some free swings...

The challenge is something I like very much, … I take a lot of pride in people saying this is a situation where you don’t have a chance to succeed. I’m really challenged by that.

It’s important to realize that we have two special major-league players here. I kind of want to find playing time for both. It’s a wonderful trade off.

He was real good early, and then his command wavered some there in the fourth and fifth inning. The next hurdle that he needs to overcome is to maintain the consistency of his delivery throughout...

That ball was sinking. It’s still pretty dog-gone good.

People wondered was he ever going to ‘get it? … He got it.

Exposure is the best teacher, … It doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, but with time and exposure, they grow.

We need to speed him up with his at-bats. He needs to catch up a little bit. But we can get him to 45 or 50 at-bats very easily.

I have never ever confronted a challenge that I backed off from or that I was afraid of.

I think the personnel’s here to get it done, … I wouldn’t have been interested in this position if I didn’t feel very strongly that myself, and the coaching staff, that we can make a...

That’s how people learn. That’s our responsibility to make sure those things are taken care of.

I could sit here and talk about those things until I’m blue in the face, but those are things if you’re going to become a good club you have to pick up on and capitalize....

When your timing is off and you’re pushing the ball instead of throwing the ball, there will be a decrease in velocity. If the timing is off or the arm slot is off, you won’t...

I thought they both did a great job. I thought they both did exactly what you wanted to see. … Both guys passed today.

He’ll do his fair share of damage when it’s all said and done. For him to change his approach and expand his strike zone would be wrong. It would do him no good.

This is not a platoon situation with Jeromy Burnitz. Jeromy Burnitz is our right fielder.