Dusty Baker
Dusty Baker
Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr.is an American Major League Baseball manager and former player. He is currently the manager for the Washington Nationals. He enjoyed a 19-year career as a hard-hitting outfielder, primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the Dodgers to pennants in 1977 and 1978 and to the championship in 1981. He then enjoyed a 20-year career as a manager with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and now Washington Nationals. He...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 June 1949
CityRiverside, CA
CountryUnited States of America
There are going to be some times when all of them will have to come off the bench. To me, that will keep all of them ready to come in the game at any minute.
I've known guys who go home early and, especially when you don't go to the postseason, it makes for a long, long winter. That extra month at home, you start getting ready to go back in December.
It's good for us because we're counting on them. They're on the team, and we feel they're ready to handle it. The more success they have, the more comfortable they feel, and the more comfortable all of us feel.
We are going to try to take him at a natural progression to have him ready when the season starts. We are going to watch him closely.
They've done a great job of not only him pitching well there but getting ready for us, too, which they promised us they would do.
A lot of it depends on the strength of your starting pitching. If your starting pitching is good, you won't need 12 too much. Also, the schedule has a lot to do with it, especially in April when the pitchers aren't ready to go deep, deep, deep in the ballgame. You don't even know at that time if you'll need five starters. You might only need four. You hate to lose that guy's endurance by not pitching. It'll work itself out by the time we get ready to leave.
You would think over the course of a winter -- actually three winters, two winters -- that guys would come back strong and healthy, which hasn't been the case. Woody had a little setback with his knee, but his arm is doing well. He's throwing the ball great. Hopefully, Woody will be ready soon. How soon we don't know. We have Wade Miller coming on pretty strong. We just have to pull our belts a little tighter and do what we have to do.
You're always ready for games. Practice is something that's very necessary to get you ready for games. They've practiced very good and very hard so far.
An older club tends to get it together later than a young club. Just like spring training. Young guys, two weeks, they're ready to go. Where the older guys, it takes them longer to get their timing.
He looks pretty good. He says he doesn't feel anything but we still have to be cautious. If he doesn't get any headaches or dizziness, he might be ready on Wednesday. Hopefully the new helmet worked and he doesn't have any repercussions and he's OK.
He looks pretty good. He said he doesn't feel anything, but we still have to kind of be cautious today and tomorrow. ... He might be ready on Wednesday.
At this point, we're taking it slow. We're trying to get him on a course and program to be ready for his start Opening Day. We don't know if he'll be second or third on the list, but we're trying to get him ready.
They'll have to get some concentrated at-bats. Every year, I send guys who I don't think are ready down to the Minor Leagues to hit at the top and bottom of the order so they get nine to 18 at-bats at a time. When they get back, I'll find out exactly how much they played. In the case of a catcher, you have to get his legs ready squatting up and down in a game, too. We'll do whatever we can to get them ready.
He's ready to start the season right now.