WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL A - PANAMA VS CHINESE TAIPEI

March 8, 2023

Luis Castillo

Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team Panama

Pregame Press Conference

Q. (No translation.)

LUIS CASTILLO: Well, yeah, there's nothing to it. We're here. We're here to play. So regardless of how many people can't come into the game, we are here to play. We are here to win.

Q. (No translation.)

LUIS CASTILLO: Well, we don't have much on him. We got a couple videos. So we'll go into the game with the same game plan. We have got to hit strikes and hopefully we can make good contact, especially with men on base and score some runs off the kid.

Q. So you guys kind of stormed through the qualifier. You played well there. How are you feeling with your team this week, tonight and the rest of the week with the team you have here in Taiwan?

LUIS CASTILLO: Hopefully we can carry that momentum through the same way we played. That's what I'm hoping for, so it's a different venue. The teams are probably a little better, but if you play good baseball, good things happen.

Q. (No translation.)

LUIS CASTILLO: Well, as you know, Mariano Rivera is a Hall of Famer born in Panama. That is somebody that the kids emulate, and hopefully that feeling, that we belong; and Mariano is in the house will help us get to a victory.

Q. (No translation.)

LUIS CASTILLO: It's a quick turnaround but I have a lot of pro players, professional players. They understand we play tonight but we have to be ready to play tomorrow morning. That's what we got and we're going to be ready to play.