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MLB WORLD SERIES: NATIONALS VS ASTROSOctober 22, 2019Juan SotoRyan ZimmermanHouston, Texas - postgame 1 Washington - 5, Houston - 4 Q. Juan, seemed to be seeing the ball pretty well. What's happening at the plate? JUAN SOTO: Last couple of days we've been working on it, tried to keep -- staying that way, hit the ball to the other way, middle of the way, try to hit the ball as deep as I can, and just hit it. Q. Juan, Gerrit Cole hasn't lost a start since May 22nd. What did you see out there tonight that you were able to get to him? JUAN SOTO: For me he's really good. He's been throwing a lot of good pitches today. I'm glad I face him in Spring Training, too. So I know how the ball -- how the ball going to be, how high it going to be, the curveball, the slider, everything, because I face him in Spring Training. And just try to -- I got the report, he throw a lot of fastball, he likes to throw the fastball. I just sit there and waited for the fastball. Q. Juan, 20 years old, on the big stage to do what you've done, how does that feel? JUAN SOTO: (Answer in Spanish.) Q. Ryan, you waited a long time for this, can you just walk us through your emotions and your feelings after the home run, as well? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, it's been a long ride, I think. And this year has been, especially the year to start the way we did and the way we've been playing the last couple of months. First at-bat to hit a home run and run around the bases, you're kind of almost floating around the bases. In order to be able to do that is obviously what you work for. It's what not only you sacrifice for but what your family sacrifices for. That's why you play the game, to play on the biggest stage. And to be able to get some runs off a guy like Gerrit, that guy has been the best pitcher in baseball for the last, whatever, four months. He's a special pitcher and we had a good plan tonight, we executed, and luckily for us he made some mistakes. I have a feeling we're going to see him again. We respect the heck out of them and we know we've got a long way to go. Q. Ryan, you have been playing with Soto for a year and a half, whatever it's been here. Do you still kind of marvel at the things he was able to do tonight or were you expecting that? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: You can always tell the young guys that come up that can slow the game down. I always say that, and everyone kind of says, What does that mean? It means at any moment, at any time you can take a deep breath and you don't try to do too much and you just stay within yourself. And it sounds easy to do, but it's hard to do even in the regular season for a 20-, 21-year-old, whatever, and Robles, all those guys. To be able to do it on this stage, to be able to execute the plan that he had, he's got a chance to be okay. Q. Juan, after that first at-bat against Cole, did you make any adjustments or anything different for you or was there anything different for the rest of the game? JUAN SOTO: For me I was thinking the same thing, be aggressive on the fastball and waiting for the fastball. He likes to throw it. He's shown the fastball everywhere. The first couple of innings, he started throwing it and throwing it and throwing it. I just waiting for that. After the first at-bat I was like, He's throwing really hard. But I just try to sit back and hit the ball all the way. Q. After the year and a half you've had here in the big leagues is there any method to how you deal with pressure situations that allows you to produce so much at times that would seem hard for a young player to do? JUAN SOTO: I've been working on that since my first day in the big leagues. Sometimes I just put gum in my mouth, but most of the time just take a deep breath and focus. It's just the pitcher and me. Everybody around, I forget about everybody around. It's just you and me and you try to make me out and that's how everything comes down and try to enjoy it. Q. When Davey was in here he said when Zimm hit the home run his eyes watered up a little bit because he just felt so good for him. Can you talk about what the reaction was while Zimm was running the bases. Zimm, I know you talked about when you were running the bases. Talk about what it was like when you got back to the dugout? JUAN SOTO: For me everything change. After they made that two runs and then we come back and get another one and they can get the shut out inning, it feels everybody happy again. Everybody was a little bit down. But after that homer everybody think we've got a chance, after we hit the homer against a guy like that, everybody think we've got a chance now. He's been doing really well but he make a mistake, so he going to make it again and we'll get it. Q. Ryan, you hit the homer, but you guys had a pretty good day in the field. You had a nice pick. Can you tell me where you are defensively from a focus standpoint? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I think that's been a big part of our team all year. I think with our pitchers, if we can not give more than 27 outs it's going to be tough to score runs. And I think our left-sided infield is one of the best in the game. And you're playing a team like that you can't afford to give them anything. And I think it's been a point of what we want to do. Yeah, defense has been great. If we can play that way, not give them any extra outs with our pitchers, it's going to be tough to score runs. Q. You're the fourth youngest player to hit a home run in the World Series, Andruw Jones, Mickey Mantle and Miguel Cabrera. What does that mean to you? JUAN SOTO: (Answer in Spanish.) Q. I wanted to ask you the significance, Juan, I don't know if your grandfather was alive the last time Washington won a World Series game. It's been a long time. Can you talk about the significance of just doing this when it hasn't happened so long for the team, for the city? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Obviously we're a pretty young organization. You come down in '05, you're owned by MLB for three years, the Lerner family I think bought the team in '08 I think that was. So really, since '08's when you can really count it, I guess. But. For the city you talk about, like you're saying, Juan's grandfather probably wasn't around. So we missed those generations of fans. And I think I've kind of grown as a player and the fans have grown at the same time, and they've had to learn how to be baseball fans again. We don't have like the guy whose dad brought him to the game and now he takes his son to the game. We kind of missed that. It's been fun to grow with the fans, with the community, with the city, to watch them become baseball fans, to watch the neighborhood around the ballpark grow up. I'm sure they're as excited, probably more excited than we are about the kind of ride we've been on. But it's a special thing to be a part of and we appreciate it and hopefully we can keep it going for them. JUAN SOTO: What he say, everything. I haven't been in the city for a long time. But since I get there I feel really comfortable with the people, everybody, the city, everybody in there make me feel at home again. How they respectful when you're walking in the streets and other stuff. And the crowd, how they try to -- they love you. So I feel really good in this city. And I think it's going to be better and better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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