Says Lyon:
"We're our own little team inside a team. We go out there every game and keep our team in the game whatever the situation is. We're like a special forces unit. Everybody knows their job and no job is more important than the other."
On how he feels:
"I feel good. Obviously, I was behind schedule in Spring Training, but things are starting to come around. I was two weeks behind to start out and you don't get as outings as you're used to. The more and more I get out there, the better and better I feel."
-
Berkman seems to be big on promoting young arms, the way that the Reds did with Mike Leake. And probably even more so now that Leake has shut them down:
"It's very unusual to have a guy that has no Minor League experience whatsoever, but it just shows you that pitching is pitching. Good pitching will beat good hitting, and if he's a good pitcher he's going to be successful. I believe a good arm is a good arm. Not that you don't need seasoning for some guys, but let's face it -- the older guys get, the less effective they become, because they lose their velocity or whatever. I'd rather have a guy that's young and fresh and has electricity in his arm. If you have a guy you really think is going to be special, you don't want to hurt him and you don't want to rush him until he gets used to the workload they're going to be expected to carry. You see guys all the time that have success that have not very much time in the Minor Leagues. Hopefully, we have a couple of guys like that in our Minor League system."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
