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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS YANKEES

October 6, 2019

Trevor May

Minneapolis, Minnesota - Workout Day

Q. Hey, Trevor. How did the experience in New York differ from maybe what you expected going in?
TREVOR MAY: It was exactly like we thought it would be. Playoff games in New York are kind of the top of the noise level that you're going to get. We knew that going in. Tried to kind of take it all in, and you don't know how many opportunities you're going to get to play a meaningful game like that there.

As a kid that grew up as a baseball fan, that was something that I tried to think of it as cool at first and then get a little bit of that chip on the shoulder and get prepared for a game.

Q. Trevor, the walks that have kind of beset the bullpen in the first two games, it seems to be kind of staff-wide. Is it inexperience in that atmosphere, or is there some other thread that you see there?
TREVOR MAY: It's a combination of -- that's one of the factors for sure. It's a type of atmosphere you're not ready for until you play in it. We have some guys who don't necessarily even have a lot of experience in the major leagues, let alone in something like that, but there's no way to really prepare for it. There's only so much meditation you can do and visualization you can do before you're out there.

Yeah, that played its role. Maybe trying to be too fine with approaching the 6'7" guy who's batting the 2 hole and the 6'5" guy the batting the 5 hole. They're big guys, and they're imposing, and it's Yankee Stadium. But there has to be a point where our aggressiveness in the zone that we've had all year has to be there.

It's one of those things like you got to go out and attack them. If they hit the home runs, if they hit eight home runs in a game, they probably deserve to win that game. So you have to make them earn it and not just create chances for them and give them opportunities to take advantage of those chances. You just keep them out of those chances from the beginning.

So that's something going in, I was personally trying to reiterate as much as possible that we all have our plans. We attack teams in certain ways all year, and it's always been aggressively. It's always been strike one, and that's led to success. We haven't done that well in the first two games.

Coming back here with our fans and things, that takes one of those elements out of it and allows us to get back to the grindstone. But every game matters. At this point, it's win or go home. If you leave a game after you're pitching with anything left in the tank, then you didn't do enough. So that's the way I'm approaching it.

Q. Trevor, all coaching staffs, all front office operations try to improve players. Is there something different about 2019 with the outreach, with the information, with the whole approach? Like, going to the Dominican to see Sano and going to Houston to see Duffey and things like that. Has there been a change?
TREVOR MAY: Absolutely. There's been a ton of tools put in front of us that we haven't had in the past, but it really starts with having the conversations in Spring Training that we have some ideas that can improve you and guys that -- I know Duffey is a great example, that he knew he should be doing a lot more, and he was just trying to find what that was and how to become that player he's trying to become, and Wes came to him and said, I have some ideas. Let's try them. Now, here we are seven months later, and I think we've seen a lot of those improvements from him.

I was another guy he came to with some stuff, and there were some bumps during the year trying to implement those things, but I think long term, they've benefited me as well. Going into whenever the off-season is, I'm going to continue those things so that I see even more improvement going into day one next year.

Q. (No microphone)?
TREVOR MAY: Yeah, kind of determining what my strengths are, what my best off-speed pitches are, getting them as good as they can possibly be, and picking the spots where I throw the most consistently and with the most success and making that my sole focus when I'm on the mound, hitting those spots. Pretty much, it's like a puzzle. You fit those pieces into the puzzle based on the hitter, and you execute the best you can. The more you execute, the better you're going to be.

Q. Trevor, this team's done such a great job keeping things in perspective. You get into series or losing streaks, and you guys always rose up to the challenge. How do you keep this scenario in focus and not get too wrapped up that, like you said, if you don't win, it's over?
TREVOR MAY: Basically, the only consequence is that you lose. There shouldn't be anything left on -- there should be no stone left unturned or no option left not tried. I think that going in kind of like that and saying I can leave it all out there and I can -- there should be no apprehension or no, oh, no, what could happen here? Because the alternative is just simply what's already happened twice.

I think that we have a lot of pride in being Minnesota Twins. I think that we've had an historic season on multiple levels. I look around and see more than a couple handfuls of guys who have had career years all at the same time, and that's something to be immensely proud of. I think that we got punched in the mouth a couple times in New York, but the thing about it is we have pride to punch back. So that's what we're looking to do here in the first game. It's all about taking it one pitch, one-hitter, one inning, and going from there.

Q. Trevor, how would you assess the temperature or the mood in the room as far as the clubhouse is going into tomorrow?
TREVOR MAY: It's the same as it always is. Everyone is just kind of going about their business. It's all about preparation for us. I think that Rocco set the tone early that you guys, we're going to help you know what you need to do, and then as long as you are doubling down on that and doing everything you can to be ready for a baseball game, that's all there is. Then all that's left to go is execute.

So, that's -- everyone's doing the same thing they've always done. I think that treating a game differently is only going to be detrimental, especially in a game of inches that baseball is. So I looked around and everyone is -- same guys are smiling that usually smile. Same guys that are stone-faced are stone-faced. Same guys that haven't said a word still aren't saying anything. So it feels normal.

Q. Trevor, you mentioned the lack of aggressiveness in certain spots by certain guys. The way you're talking, it sounds like this has been pretty much a topic, maybe since last night. How quickly after the game were guys beginning to talk about it? And was it talked about much on the plane this morning? How's that been going?
TREVOR MAY: Try not to dwell too much on the results of what happened because we can fully -- that's the only thing we can fully control is how committed we are to making pitches, and I think that there's a really good kind of understated example to all of this. Zack Littell through day one, he'll tell you first and foremost there's just a lot going on, and it was tough to lock in and focus. I can attest to that. My debut was very similar to that. I knew exactly what that feeling felt like. I said, well, the good news is it's never going to be louder than that for you. You can pitch in the World Series, and it's never going to be louder than that. You already experienced it.

And it was really important for him to get in the next day, and he went in and threw three strikes and got an out. He said, wow, I can do that. He had to have that experience again, kind of like come up in the big league experience. And that was big for him and it was just kind of understated because of how it was going when he was pitching, but if he gets another opportunity tomorrow, you're going to see a much different Zack Littell. And we were just kind of firing back. When I went in the game, I wasn't going to throw ball one. I didn't care who was hitting or what the situation was, bases loaded or whatever. I was just going to be aggressive because I was going to give into that.

And I think that everyone else is starting to feed off that. Duff struggled, and he'll tell you that, but I think that he was aggressive in the zone. I think that he was getting ahead. You just have to make guys earn what they get. And then what happens happens. After that point, at that point you're playing baseball and one team won and one team didn't. But if you don't beat yourself, I think that's something -- we're just like, don't beat yourself. Just go out there and give it whatever you've got so whatever happens at the end of the day, you'll be okay with it.

Q. Trevor, you're right there in the corner by Jake all year. How suited would you say he is for a must-win game, both stuff wise and mentally?
TREVOR MAY: Well, he's fresh, so that's good. And he's ready to go. I think you're going to see the same Jake Odorizzi you've seen all year. We've had him come up in about four or five really big games this year where we just needed a really quality outing, and he's responded every single time. He matched up toe to toe with Verlander in the 1-0 win earlier this year. He's been a rock, and when things weren't going well for a couple of starts, he's turned it around quickly.

He's been that guy all year. I don't think there's anyone else we'd rather have in this situation. I think that guys are chomping the bit to get out on that mound, and he's definitely -- he's excited to have his turn. It's a team he's well acquainted with. He's faced them multiple times in his career, and he's not going to be fazed by that.

Q. Hey, Trevor, in 2004, when the Yankees had the Red Sox on the brink of elimination in the playoffs, Kevin Millar famously sent the message to the Yankees, Don't let us win today. Does your team have that same mindset going into tomorrow?
TREVOR MAY: Absolutely. Nellie said something the other day that kind of got me. He's not necessarily a guy that's longwinded and likes to give, like, catch phrases, but he kind of just said, we're the Minnesota Twins. I mean, they should respect that. We're proud of that. We're about to be in our park, and we're going to hear our fans, and it's going to be in our control. It's time to go. How do you guys respond with your backs against the wall?

I know personally it got me going a little bit. As if I needed more motivation, but it's one of those things like don't give us an inch because we'll take a mile type thing, and I think that's been something -- when doors have been opened for us all year, we've exploded through them. So that's what we're looking to do.

Q. History hasn't been kind to teams that fall down 0-2, but there are examples of coming back to win the series. How do you guys as a group reconcile that history with where you're at right now?
TREVOR MAY: Baseball is a game where there's a game every day. You don't win 100 games without playing one pitch at a time. If you read any sports psychology book ever, it always says play in the moment. Live in the moment. It's much harder to do than it is to say.

That's really how you do it. You win one pitch at a time, and you win one at-bat at a time. You go up in the batter's box, and you battle and battle. Even if you get out, you eat pitches and make them stressful. As a pitcher, you pick your weak points where you want to attack, and you make that pitch over and over and over again until it works out for you. And you do that enough times, you get some luck, and you get some good defensive plays, and you get some maybe mistakes on the other side, you get one win at a time. Then you've just got to take it one win at a time.

It's a long season. You get worn down. Your energy levels don't necessarily ever get back up to 100 percent after some point, but this is something I've never experienced, but one thing that I personally tell myself is, whenever I'm getting on that plane to go home, I want my battery to be at zero, and I think that everybody in that clubhouse is taking that same approach. At that point, there's nothing else you can give. I think the fans here deserve that, and I think that this organization deserves that, and I think your teammates deserve that.

That's what we're ready to go. I'm excited to play. I've been sitting in my hotel room all day just waiting to get here because I want to play a ball game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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