	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS RED SOX

October 25, 2018

Rick Porcello

Los Angeles, California - Workout Day

Q. I'm assuming that you probably know this story that your high school coach loves to tell about you as a senior sliding headfirst into first base. I'm curious if you remember it, and I asked you because that kind of doing anything coming out of the bullpen this season, do you remember sliding into first base in the state championship game and why did you do it?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, high throw and I thought I could get under the tag by sliding, I was out by about three feet. No, it's just why I play the game. It's all about winning, and especially this time of year. You make whatever sacrifice you can to help the ballclub win. It sounds like a clichÃ©, but that's what this is all about, get some W's and win a ring.

Q. Going back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, do you see that as something practical for just teams in the postseason with the extra days off or the way baseball is evolving, can you see that as something more of a common occurrence?
RICK PORCELLO: As far as like during the regular season starting pitchers pitching out of the bullpen and start games?

Q. Yeah.
RICK PORCELLO: I don't see that as something that's physically possible for a lot of guys, to be honest with you. It's a pretty high demand, just to take the ball once every five days as starting pitcher, then you start mixing in relief appearances in between that, even if it's once every seven days with a relief appearance in there, that's a lot of high-leverage pitches. And I think for the regular season that could be really tough.

There's a lot of talented arms where you shouldn't have to do that. Guys should learn how to starting pitch and be quality enough to cover the course of your game and then your bullpen continues to do their job. It's been a pretty good formula for a while.

When it comes to the postseason, all hands on deck. And all that goes out the window. Now whatever your body is feeling or that workload that you've had over the course of the regular season, that kind of all goes out the window. Nobody is really feeling too good these days. You just sacrifice those things and do whatever you can to win. But during the course of a regular season I think that would be something that would be really tough.

Q. How does that affect you?
RICK PORCELLO: Physically stiffness. The normal things that you go through. It's just kind of, at least in my experiences, it's kind of -- you feel it even more, to be honest with you. So the recovery time afterwards. If you're a starting pitcher, you pitch on Monday and come out of the bullpen on Thursday, that recovery time after that appearance out of the bullpen is pretty tough. And if you're going to try to do that over the course of 162 games, it might be a pretty big challenge.

Q. It's been a couple of months since you swung the bat now, do you think you've kept that same offensive groove you had during the season this year?
RICK PORCELLO: I wouldn't necessarily call it an offensive groove. I said the entire year those were some pretty lucky hits. But, I don't know, hopefully we've got one more in there.

But honestly, I hope that I get three or four at-bats and I'm playing down sac bunts, because that means we have a lot of guys on the bases and I'm in the game for a while.

Q. On your team, 11-2 so far in the postseason against some high-quality opponents, is your talent level as a team particularly that high or are you executing better? What do you put that up to, just how many games you've won against so few losses?
RICK PORCELLO: I think that there's a lot of things that go into that. I don't think that it's anything different from what we've been doing all year. I think that's the most important thing is we've continued to do things that made us successful during the regular season, and that's guys getting outs in big situations on the mound, coming up with some timely hits. The defense has been incredible. Our outfield defense -- the plays that these guys have made during the postseason, it's remarkable. That play Beni made the other night was one of the better catches I've seen, and Mookie and Jackie as well.

All those things, and you get 25 guys and each guys is contributing every night to a win, that makes it tough for the other team to come in there and really key their focus on one or two guys. We've got a couple of superstars, but we have a lot of guys that play their roles really well, and have done it in the regular season and postseason. To me that's what's making us a tough team to beat.

Q. The way they used their lineup, they have one for lefties and one for righties, how much were you able to take out of watching the first two games? And what's been your impression of their lineup against righties?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, you see the matchups and definitely those guys that were on the bench with our left-handed starting pitchers, the first two games, I'm expecting to probably see those guys tomorrow. Just been watching them, any opportunity I've had during the postseason, when they've been on TV and we haven't been playing, I've just tried to watch their left-handed bats. They've got a lot of depth. They've got great talent from the left-handed side of the plate and great right-handed hitters, as well. You can't sleep on those, as well.

Come up with my game plan, along with our reports and talking with Dana, and those guys and go from there.

Q. When did you find out you were starting Game 3?
RICK PORCELLO: After Game 2. Nate threw back-to-back days out of the bullpen and that was kind of an understanding. It would be pretty tough for him to come back and start today. So AC told me right after the game, for sure.

Q. You were preparing for either 3 or 4, so it's not --
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, it was either or. And we see how the postseason has been going and what our starting pitchers have been doing coming out of the bullpen. So it's kind of my understanding, this guy throws Game 2, the other guy is going to pitch Game 3 and vice versa.

Q. You flew in with the team today?
RICK PORCELLO: Yes.

Q. How did your suit stay not wrinkled?
RICK PORCELLO: I actually have it buttoned up because I have a stain on my white shirt that I've been walking around Dodger Stadium with this thing snug, so nobody could see that. It's not as good as it looks right now. I'm hiding everything.

Q. What was the demeanor like on the plane? I know it's a serious team and a serious time, but there had to be some fun, right?
RICK PORCELLO: No, I think it was just the same as it has been all year. We're coming out here, this is a business trip. Guys were getting rest, watching movies, kind of the typical thing. And hopefully the flight back will be a little bit more lively.

Q. You guys are 9-0 in scoring first this postseason. You as a pitcher, when you had the lead, did you just feel that much more comfortable on the mound? What do you attribute that statistic to?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, I think that's part of the ebb and flow of baseball. Especially in the postseason, if you can score and get momentum on your side, then it's definitely an advantage. As a pitcher it allows you to attack more. It allows you to be a little bit more aggressive and go after games that you're in a tied game or losing, you might be more careful. Getting on top of the other team first, scoring first, is definitely important. And from the pitching aspect, maintaining momentum and not giving them the opportunity to climb back in the game is equally important.

Q. Just a thought on you guys being so successful in the postseason on the road, 5-0. What have been some of the key things that you have done? Also pitching Game 3 in this venue, being out here in Dodger Stadium and the history that goes with that, as well?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, I'm not sure that you can kind of put your finger on why we've had some success on the road. I think we've played good baseball. If you look back in the New York series, we put up 16 runs and then we threw the ball well in Game 4. And then in Atlanta, David Price threw an unbelievable game, and we were able to score enough runs to close it out there. Sorry, Houston, not Atlanta.

But I'm not sure why that's been going on, it's just, I think, nobody's allowing themselves to be affected by the environment they're in, and maintain that business-like approach and going out and taking care of what you need to take care.

As far as Dodger Stadium, I'm a little biased, but I think Fenway Park is one of the best atmospheres you'll see in sports, and Dodger Stadium is a pretty close second. Something you dream about as a kid. You never forget it.

Q. Because of the difference in the ballparks' dimensions, do you pitch any differently in a place like Dodger Stadium than a place like Fenway?
RICK PORCELLO: No, good pitches get guys out and that's consistent anywhere. You can't eliminate size of the plate because we're in Fenway Park or do anything differently in certain ballparks, especially where we are at this stage of the game. These guys are smart. You face a hitter and I've got Manny Machado in Fenway Park, and I'm only working him away, he's going to make the adjustment and start to cover that. You have to cover all quadrants of the strike zone and keep them off balance no matter where you are.

Q. After you win 108 games, is there anything other than winning the World Series out of the postseason that was going to be satisfying for you?
RICK PORCELLO: I think that's a hard question to answer, because you take 108 wins in the regular season, and you don't want to just throw that to the curb and say that doesn't matter if we don't win a World Series. We had the most wins of any Red Sox team in the history of the organization. I mean, we take a lot of pride in that accomplishment. And that's not something that's easily done.

But I will say that especially with the way the last two postseasons have gone for us, we were chomping at the bit to make a long run here. We definitely would be disappointed if we came up short of the World Series at this point.

Q. When the regular season ended, you had a couple of days before the postseason started. Did you sense among your teammates that one thing is over and another thing is starting, you're back to a new thing now from what you had before?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, I think that's probably the best thing way to put it. It's almost two different seasons. And you hang your hat on what you did during the regular season, those accomplishments and be proud of those things. But everybody had an understanding of now this is a new season that's started and basically fresh slate. We've got to start from scratch and build the foundation in the postseason that we built in the regular season.

Q. You, J.D., Ian, there's a lot of guys from those Detroit teams on this roster, who came close. What would it mean for this group if you guys would get that title?
RICK PORCELLO: Yeah, I think when Ian got traded over here, we kind of looked each other in the eyes, and J.D., when he signed in Spring Training, and even some of the guys that weren't in Detroit, Ian and Mitch had some tough experiences in Texas in a World Series, and everybody kind of nodded their head and said we're blessed to have another opportunity to make a run here with the talent we have in this clubhouse and let's make the most of it. And so far up to this point we are. And two more wins, let's finish it off.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297