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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 1ST ROUND POOL DMarch 10, 2017Francisco LindorCarlos CorreaZapopan, Jalisco, México Q. You are Puerto Rico, but also Mexicans and Venezuelans come here just to see you. What do you think of that? FRANCISCO LINDOR: It's an honor and a pride. We play ball for our organization, our country, family, and we're grateful that people come see us, and we're here to play the right way and hopefully win. CARLOS CORREA: We're blessed to represent Puerto Rico here, and the love and affection of the fans of México, there's a lot of passionate people, and we're here to obviously play the best so that they can enjoy the game of baseball. Q. How are you experiencing this first experience in the Classic, and talk about the contribution of Beltran; you saw him play when you were really kids. CARLOS CORREA: To me, ever since I started as a professional, I am very proud to be able to be with so much talented players, people that are talked about, and they're identified. Beltran and the other veterans have helped us in ways, and they have helped us with the knowledge and experience they have. FRANCISCO LINDOR: It's something beautiful, special. I thank God to play with Beltran, Molina. There's a reason why I am playing with Puerto Rico; I always dreamed about that, to share with players like that and people that -- it's our inspiration to play for Puerto Rico, thanks to them and to God, and I am learning a lot from them, from Molina, and I hear him speak and the other players that are sharing the field here. We are learning and playing, and then we will be in good shape. Q. Let's say that opening day you were 100 percent physically; how much along are you at this point, and do you think it's the same or similar percentage as the rest of the players? FRANCISCO LINDOR: I think that this is more difficult for pitchers. Position players, we get ready a lot faster. We feel 100 percent while we're here. I feel okay. I think everybody feels okay. But I have seen enough pitchers -- there is no excuse, and you're going to play to play correctly and with a lot of pride. CARLOS CORREA: Playing in a tournament like this, it's like the playoffs. The adrenaline, you start -- you forget everything, and even if you are not 100 percent, it depends on where you are every game, but evidently if you are playing for your country and for the people that are watching you on TV, you have to do your best. Q. Carlos, last year you had a home run in Mexico City. You already saw the benefit of this park for hitters. Talk about your thoughts on that. CARLOS CORREA: Well, the whole team, there are advantages. Everybody has a chance to hit a home run, especially in this park, but we're focused on what we're doing against good pitching, and it's going to be work because we're going to try to do the max to get the win tonight. Q. It has been said that the Puerto Rico team, the fact that they have veterans like Molina and you and Baez, there's good chemistry in Puerto Rico. Do you think you have been able to get it as a team, how important it is in order to win a championship? FRANCISCO LINDOR: Chemistry for us is beautiful here. Everybody is getting along. We are happy, and we're here to learn -- we learn from each other, we feed off each other, from Beltran and from Yadier, which they are more experienced and have been in this experience more, and Pagan and the coaches, they have been here many more times than we have. The beauty about this thing is the youth. You listen to them, you look at them and you ask them questions, what do you do in order to get to that point. They have the correct form in order to be able to. Obviously you have to work, but besides -- whatever you have to do different in order to -- you get to the stadium every day and you want to learn from everybody, and we're all talking and we're sitting and looking and listening from most of the players on this team, especially Yadier. They are telling us what they have done, and they give us the recipe for what they have achieved. CARLOS CORREA: I mean, to you it's easy to see the chemistry. I am going to play third base so he can play shortstop. There is no ego. The competition is beautiful. We try to do the best for the team for Puerto Rico and for the fans, and we are going to try to see. Q. You have tremendous players, a lot of Major League talent. Do you think you are the favorites in this round? FRANCISCO LINDOR: Obligation, no, pressure, no. I think the pressure is playing the game the right way. We want to win the last game. That's what we want to do, but we cannot get to the last game if we don't do the things correctly from here, and that's -- the pressure is playing the game the correct way to feed off each other, to support each other. CARLOS CORREA: There is no pressure. There is nothing. Obviously we didn't come here on vacation, we came to work, and if we're here and we're able to get to the final, everybody wants to get there in this Classic, which is what everybody wants. Everybody is on the same page. Q. Did you see the game last night? CARLOS CORREA: We didn't see the game because we were traveling at night. Italy has a good team, too, but the main focus is Venezuela right now. Tomorrow is México. FRANCISCO LINDOR: As Carlos said, we couldn't see the game. We saw the highlights of the game at the hotel. We saw that México has a good team. Italy has a good team. It doesn't go away. It doesn't matter. Tomorrow is México, Italy is on Sunday, and we have to focus. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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