You watch Ortiz the last couple years — there’s not a more clutch player out there. I don’t care who you’re talking about. Of course, the guy behind him ain’t bad either.

He may say he’s ready. I don’t think so. To me that’s not enough [pitches]. One more [start] to stretch him out a little more and then he’ll be ready to go.

Until [Johnson is] ready, we’ll just tell him to baby it. If a guy runs, just flip it in. We already know he can throw. … He’s a sparkplug-type guy. I know he felt good...

He goes through streaks every year, good streaks offensively and defensively. He was very diligent during Spring Training. He’s got a great swing path working right now, and just happens to be swinging the bat...

They’re special. You never know how many you’re going to have.

The key is we’re really swinging the bats well. We have been since Day 1.

I hope it doesn’t (hurt his chances),

Consistency is the key to anybody. And he’s been around long enough. He’s capable of that. It’s been a frustrating year for him. [A] slow start, then [he] kind of kicked it in gear. Since...

The home run he hit, when hits balls to the left side, he’s usually out in front and hooking them into the stands, but he kept that one fair. I can’t remember the last time...

Now maybe we’ll be taken a little more seriously. Now we just have to go out and score a few more runs. I think that’s an area that still needs to be addressed. J.P. is...

I called and left a message with him [on Saturday]. But I heard his daughter is doing better. No problems.

The first start of the year, there’s a lot of focus on him. He wasn’t hitting with his breaking ball. His command was off. That was all. He was in and out. He’d move the...

We know what these guys are doing. They’re a very aggressive team and they’re playing really good baseball right now. That’s the way they play. They’ve got some guys that can run the bases. …...

He was on. Nobody was going to hit that guy tonight.

He can overpower you. He’s got that big, hard breaking ball that’s tough to do anything with when he gets ahead.

You can pencil those guys in, when the season starts, for 130 RBIs apiece, … That’s a given. They don’t miss. That’s why they’re MVP candidates.

It was an inconsistent month. We had that good stretch where we put ourselves in position, … I just look back at that road trip — it was a tough trip and we know that....

He’s up there in appearances in the league and he may have had more tougher type saves than other guys out there, more than one inning saves,

Some guys get by with a lot of hard-hit balls that are outs, they get a ton of runs scored for them. You look further than just results. You see what they guy’s featuring and...

For a team that wasn’t expected to do a whole lot, they’ve done a darn good job, … Some teams lay down there and die. Not that group.

I think the baseball world is not giving them as much credit as they deserve. They’re a good ball club, they proved that last year, just too many outside influences affected them.

I’ve always been a fan of the guy. He played for me in Triple-A. He’s been in the big leagues the last few years. He’s had some success. He’s played in some tough towns —...

He was outstanding. I still don’t know why the Mets got rid of him.

He’s done a pretty darn good job,

It has been a long year but I look back at it more with a sense of satisfaction and optimism. I think we’ve learned a lot and we’re ready to move forward.

If we’re going to do anything this year, we need a big year out of him. So the sooner he can get ready the better. He’s feeling good.

We need him. He’s a big part of this team, if we’re going to be successful he’s got to produce this year.

That hurts. That might have put us back into that thing.

It’s an important part of history and everyone should be able to see it that way.

That’s hurt him. There’s no question about it.

I come back to the last week,

He changed his stance a little bit. He’s a little more spread out, a little more crouched — in a strong hitting position. I see a shorter path to the ball.

It would be a big blow if it’s something serious. We’re hoping not. But I mean, even if it’s nothing serious it’s going to set him back. We don’t know for how long. I mean,...

He won’t be ready before the weekend, if then.

At the end of a long year, we played two of the top teams pretty darn good.

They pitched good. They’re bullpen was outstanding. We battled and we hung in there — gave ourselves some chances. But they came through.

Beckett settled in, and can really overpower you when he throws strikes.

We don’t want to throw him out there just for the sake of throwing him out there.

They know we can score some runs so we’re not out of games. They’re confident that we have some offence. We’re solid top to bottom.

I think they all know the expectations. The last few years that I’ve been here, you came in just hoping you would improve on the previous year. … This year, we made some key additions,...

He’s good. He’s got a good arm, and he’s got that funky fastball.

The good pitchers were ahead of the hitters today.

He went out on a good note today. He has been looking for that 13th win, been stuck on 12. He’ll go home feeling good.

That first week of the season, without having an off-day, you never know how far the starters are going to go. So we may need that extra arm down there.

Games like this take their toll on the bullpen,

He’ll pitch Friday in New York. [A call-up] will pitch Thursday — whoever that might be.

It’s a big month for them.

Obviously, it’s a great thing to honor your country and to get that type of experience on such a big stage, but we’re a little bit selfish in wanting those guys back as soon as...

He’s been swinging the bat good. He started the season with us because he had such a big Spring Training. We like the kid a lot, and we think he’s going to have a good...

Look at the last two years. He had that collapsed lung twice, and then he broke his hand at the beginning of last year,