Jose Contreras
Jose Contreras
José Ariel Contreras Camejois a Cuban professional baseball pitcher for the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican Baseball League. He has played in the Cuban National Series, Major League Baseball, and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team...
ball defense throwing
I'm throwing the ball well, my defense is outstanding. I'm throwing the ball the way I want to.
ball rest stay strike zone
The most important thing to me is to stay healthy. If (I) stay healthy, the rest will come. (I) can keep the ball in the zone and strike batters out.
attack ball behind couple falling great wrong
Falling behind on Garret Anderson, such a great hitter. You attack him the wrong way and you are going to get hurt. After that, I wasn't locating the ball the way I was the first couple of batters and they got back-to-back hits. I got myself in trouble.
ball bit chance change double gone hit might plays season slower talking turn turned
If the ball had been hit a bit slower and I didn't think I had a chance to turn a double play, I would have probably gone home. But we've turned double plays all season long and can't change anything you've done this season. If we turned that double play we might be talking about something different.
add ahead balls defensive game hit home kept might plays run
He hit a home run that put us ahead and add in the two defensive plays that kept us in the game and made us win. Because if those balls go through, they go ahead and we might lose.
ball early effective game good kept last mind pitch rain ready slider
I was ready to pitch my game once we started. The rain was the last thing on my mind. I had a good fastball, kept the ball down in the zone, and my slider was effective early in the game.
ball comfort confidence level passing past strikes throwing walking zone
The comfort level comes from throwing strikes like I have in the past and passing the ball around the strike zone and not walking as many people, and that comes from confidence, ... When you have confidence you have success, and that's when you have wins.
best country everybody knows players quality won
Everybody knows the quality of players from Cuba. All of the championships we won -- you have to be one of the best in the whole country to be one of the 25 who are coming.
against attack game key last past plan strikes throw
I'm going to attack them the same way I have in the past and the same way I did last time. I think that's the key against every major-league team, throw strikes and attack them. I don't think my game plan is going to change, anything at all.
bothering mental physical rumors trade worked
I just worked more on my mental and physical health, ... The trade rumors were bothering me.
confidence pressure white
I have no pressure with the White Sox. And my confidence is very good.
against both bring games hopefully needed respect team
I've got a lot of respect for the Yankees, but I think it's just coincidence I pitched well against them. Both games were big games and we needed that. Hopefully I can bring this game against every team I face.
clean cuba difficult followers hard invited leave lives places players relatives revolution stay taken uncle worry
The invited are young players who are followers of the revolution and have a clean background. If you have relatives who live in other places in the world, it will be really difficult to be taken out of Cuba on that team. For example, if you have an uncle who lives in Miami, it's going to be real hard for you to leave the country. They worry that you will stay there.
guys leave lose
They can't leave me out there. I'll lose the game, ... We have guys out there that are fresher.