Quotations

«That's what we talked about in the dugout. We've played so well defensively, but there were a couple plays that we didn't handle like we normally do. But you know what was nice? We came back and swung the bats. A couple of those innings were just a thing of beauty. Line drive after line drive. Not all was lost, even though we kicked it around a little bit.»

«We didn't stretch him out too far. Every time I stretched him out a little bit further than his comfort zone, you could see there was a little bit of a limp. ... We're still a ways away, just because of the nature of the position where you stop and start so much.»

«Just a great response. [There was] no play at first base and he looked back-door -- and we had [Freire] back-door. Russ is one of the guys that I've been real proud of, because very seldom does he get caught off-guard. He's able to think a play ahead and then another play ahead.»

«Every time that I stretched him out a little further than his comfort zone you could see a little more of a limp. He's a little tentative right now, but so far so good.»

«It ain't even close, and if he doesn't, it goes to show you that other people around the league haven't had enough opportunities to see us play. I think he impacts games defensively for us more than any other player in baseball affects the game at their respective positions.»

«Ankles and hamstrings, for me, are very tough to gauge. I think he's a day-to-day thing. As he can tolerate more stuff, the stronger his ankle will get and the quicker he'll be back.»

«That's another thing, too. I think a lot of it is just being tentative, not wanting to put too much weight on it. You know your body. You know what you can and can't do, and I don't think he wants to have any type of setback.»

«I think he impacts games defensively, for us, more than any other player in baseball affects the game at their respective position.»

«It's the best staff I've been around. Sometimes the X's and O's are overrated, but the people -- that's what counts. We have top-quality people in that coaching room, and it all starts with the manager. I think every one of the coaches wants to go right through a wall for him. He treats you fairly, he treats you great, and it rubs off on all the other coaches that are here.»

«I've spoken to Shea a few times this winter. His attitude is tremendously upbeat. He has spent a lot of time talking about the things we need to do as a team to get better. The things that he can do to help not only (John Gibbons), but me as an infield instructor with the young guys. Every conversation that we've had, I've hung up the phone and gone, 'All right, Shea is one-year comfortable in the organization. Now he's ready to take more of a controlled leadership.' He's not worried about being relegated to a secondary role. He's excited about what he can do to make us better.»