AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 15, 2023

Bruce Bochy

Minute Maid Park

Texas Rangers

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. Obviously the stats out there, you've won 13 of your last postseason series as a manager. What's the key to that? And also what have you done in Game 1's in those series that have helped your teams win?

BRUCE BOCHY: Man, that's a tough question to start with. There's no key to it. These players go out there and do their thing, play well, hopefully, get the pitch and timely hits. There's no secret sauce to this, trust me.

Game 1, sure, you go out and do all you can to win it. But it's best out of seven. It's going to be a great series. I wish I could answer it better for you, but that's how I feel.

Q. I asked Will Smith about this, I'll ask you, too. Ian Kennedy, I know he's injured and he's out in the pen with the guys. How has his presence out there helped the relievers?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, I think anytime you have somebody with his experience out there talking to the guys, helping them, you know, whether it's with their pitching or on the mental side, that's an asset.

And that's why we wanted him around with his experience, his pitching in games like this. He's done a great job for us, and that's why we kept him with us the whole way.

Q. Twenty-five years ago you came in here with the Padres. There's a very memorable Game 1 matchup between Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson. What are your memories of that game and that series that stand out?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, great memory. I mean, great matchup, as you said. And Kevin Brown, he struck out 16 in eight innings and gave us all we needed. You're facing the Big Unit, you need your guy to go out there and pitch well, and he did that.

Tight ballgame, but Kevin, he led the way and helped lead us to the World Series that year.

Q. Valdez will be starting for Houston tomorrow. What do you think about facing him?

BRUCE BOCHY: Again, you try to get a good pitch to hit. And some days you do well against certain pitchers, some days you don't. He's a great pitcher. He's done a great job in the postseason. You have your hands full with him. So right now we're focused on today. But we'll work on him tomorrow.

Q. You get back in the game and you wind up in the ALCS in the first year. Was there a point this year you thought, yes, this is a championship contender, or when did you arrive at that?

BRUCE BOCHY: I'll be honest, this spring, looking at the club and the pitching staff, I said this is a team that's going to head to the postseason. And we get to the postseason, you feel like you can be a championship club.

It was a message sent from C.Y. from day one and hopefully to me that we're here to win.

I can't say enough about these guys, how they worked in Spring Training, how they worked during the course of the year. They've been motivated, focused the whole way. And we've had our ups and downs. We've had our injuries, but they've continued to focus forward to get to this point.

Q. What roles will Scherzer and Gray be playing for you in the series?

BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, with Jon Gray, I'll start with him. I think you can say he'll be in the bullpen for the most part. Is he an option? Maybe Game 5 or something -- or 4, I mean. Yeah, he could be an option, but he's not stretched out right now.

But Max, we're looking at him to start. We'll look at how we get through this game. We can be flexible with Game 3 and 4 with him. If needed, tonight we could use him.

Q. Tonight, for like of an inning --

BRUCE BOCHY: Extra innings or something. It's all hands on deck when you get in this situation. Sure, we'd like to stay away from him, but trust me, he'll have his spikes on.

Q. What is it about Eovaldi that makes him the right fit for the Game 2 start for you?

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, we just kept things in order, to be honest. With Jordan, the way he's been throwing the ball, we're fine with him going Game 1.

With Nate, we've worked him pretty hard. Instead of regular rest, he gets an extra day, which we think is a good thing. And you look at what his résumé shows, he does a great job in the postseason. He's a guy that clenched it for us, threw a great game there. And made sense to have him go Game 2.

Q. You had Chris Young as a player, and you know how intense he was every five days when he started for you. Is he more intense now as a GM?

BRUCE BOCHY: He may be. He may be. He was really locked in when he pitched, though, I'll say that, that maniacal focus you love from your pitchers, and he was like that.

He's involved in a lot more things now than just pitching that ballgame. He's got a whole club to worry about and trades and things like that. So, yeah, he's intense. But in a good way. He's got a really good edge to him. It's an edge. But he was from day one determined to get this turned around, get Texas back to playing winning baseball, and he's done that.