Mark Shapiro
Mark Shapiro
impact level mental standard starting toughness
From a level of mental toughness and competitiveness, he has kind of reframed the standard for all of us in this organization. He made a big impact on our young starting pitchers.
addition approach fits mental physical teammate trade
When you trade for a guy, you don't know his mental approach and the kind of teammate he is. That was probably the most encouraging thing, in addition to his physical tools. He fits in well with our team and our clubhouse.
confidence drove full guy handled hole mentally moved offer season slot talking
You're talking about a guy that got moved from the 9 hole very shortly to the 6 hole and then, in his first full season in the big leagues, being put in the 3 slot in the lineup. And he didn't blink. . . How he handled that mentally and emotionally, as much as what he did statistically, really drove the confidence that we had in making an offer like this.
addition good hoped mental physical trade whether
He was everything we had hoped to see. The things you don't know when you make a trade ? the mental approach, whether he will be a good teammate, were the most encouraging things, in addition to his physical tools.
blink confidence drove handled mentally move
He didn't blink and how he handled that move mentally drove our confidence in making this offer.
clean consistent game played turned
We just played consistent in between the tackles and turned out the first downs. It was a pretty clean game for us.
club spring training
We're very comfortable going into spring training with the club we've got right now.
classic context defines espn historical history news proper sports thirsty
ESPN Classic is going through a transition. They're thirsty to put today's news in its proper historical sports context ... History defines sports. Without that context, today's news wouldn't be as grand.
anybody august coming contending last late looking spring team time year
Every time we go through something, it's a young team and we're going through it for the first time, ... Last year, it was contending late in the season, in August and September. This year ... coming out of spring training, it was the first time anybody was looking at us.
finished good improve left product swing
There's some things left in his swing that he could still improve upon, but nothing dramatic. He's not a finished product right now. But he's going to be a good player.
backward boston depth extremely farm good impressive period pitching players point productive run short small step system
Boston is positioned extremely well for the future. They have a good farm system with upper-level players and a depth of pitching talent. They've rebuilt the farm system from a dilapidated system to a productive one. If they take a small step backward this year, at some point they will go on a run that will be an impressive run. They're a short period away.
good question
Brandon Phillips is going to be a good major-leaguer. The question is when and where.
bob next pitch wants
Bob is an option. We know he wants to pitch next year.
obviously talent time
The talent is obviously there, but we want him to get comfortable so that he doesn't think that he has to have a day like that all the time to impress.