AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 13, 2025

Andres Munoz

Rogers Centre

Seattle Mariners

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. Andrés, how did you feel going into the game last night? You'd thrown a lot already in the NLDS. How did you feel going into the game?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: I felt good, good enough. Of course we are a little bit tired, but we have to push a little bit more to do what the team needs to win. This is what we do. We go through a lot of stuff, and we just try to do our best over there.

Q. When you know you don't have as much recovery time as you normally would want or get, what do you have to do in order to get yourself ready to go day after day like you have?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: I think the key for me has been the trainers. They've been helping me so much to get ready for the games, and I think they are the most important thing for us to be ready for the game.

Obviously, a lot of times you have to do a little more stuff, more soft tissue, more -- I don't know how to say it. But yes, they have been the key for us to go out there and perform our best.

Q. Bryce did a heck of a job last night, six innings. What did that mean for the guys down in the bullpen, doing what he did?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: It means a lot, especially we know that he had less days of rest than normal, and the way he went out there and compete was really huge for us to see that.

It's like everybody here is pushing a little bit more every time to get that goal, and I feel we are going in the right direction, and it was good to see Bryce in there.

Q. Your starting staff has gone through a lot this season with guys going out, coming back, Bryce, Logan, George, all those guys, now Bryan Woo. But to see what your starters have done in this postseason game after game after game, what's it been like to see them get back to the point where they were last season and at other times as well?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: I feel like everybody here is really important. Everybody is making something to help the team be in this position. Everybody knows that our pitching staff is really good, and they've been proving it. I'm really happy for them, and hopefully they're going to continue doing that, and that's it.

Q. 2022 was one thing, but for a lot of the guys, this is the first deep run into the playoffs or deep-ish run into the playoffs. How exciting has it been for you guys? And obviously, you see the fan base being excited as well. What's that been like for you guys?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: I feel like everybody is really motivated at this point. We've been dreaming about this during the whole season and during a lot of years, and being here is an awesome opportunity for us. We're just going to -- we don't want to lose the opportunity to do our best every time that we get on the field.

I know everybody is doing the things that they have to do to be 100 percent on the field. It's a dream, and hopefully we're going to get to that goal, and we're going to do our best.

Q. What's the biggest way you've changed as a pitcher in the five years since San Diego traded you to Seattle?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: I probably know a little bit more about my body. That has been the big change for me.

Before, it's not like I didn't worry about it; it was more like I didn't really put attention to what my body was feeling or listen -- I didn't listen to my body.

Now after the Tommy John surgery, I was able to learn a little bit more how to manage the -- know the difference about sore, pain, and all those things, and as soon as I start to feel something, I work on it and I go with the trainers right away without being scared of maybe they're going to think that I am hurt or something like that.

I think attacking the soreness or the pain as soon as possible, that has been the only change that I did. Just putting more attention on my body, eat healthier, and that's it. That has been the only change.

Q. How do you keep your body in control when you're pitching? Just because it seems like you have a lot more moving parts and deception than most pitchers. Is that hard to repeat consistently?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: Not really because that is the way that I've always been throwing. I just try to repeat the same all the time.

Obviously, you can see sometimes I fall off, but that is normal for me. Sometimes I do that, and that is how my body moves.

Obviously, with the reps, you get more used to it, and you start to feel more in control.

Q. Do you think there are more Seattle Mariners fans now in Los Mochis or Sinaloa?

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: Yeah, it's very special. I feel very proud of being one of the few Mexicans being able to be representing here in this league, but you see more and more fans being into it, especially back home. I definitely do feel proud that more and more are starting to kind of get into the game and rooting for us.