All the rest of them are playing nine innings, and the coaches in the West wanted to play nine innings (as they did last year), but the athletic directors didn't want to. Whether it was to save money or what, I don't know why.

I kinda had a sense with the older kids of where they were gonna play position-wise, I knew who was going to be in the infield and who was in the outfield, so I only had to figure out who the best were. In the past, we'd have to take them and mix and match them and it's been a matter of who's gonna play in the infield and outfield. This year, we've been able to focus on each individual position.

The kids have been shocked with how things have started. So, this was a good way to turn things around.

Who's at the advantage? Either you haven't had to use as many pitchers, or you've gotten more innings and more at-bats. ... In general, I think the more innings you play the better off you are.

I've got a few bumps and bruises, but I'm confident that with treatment and a little bit of rest, I'll be able to go. It's one of those things where when you get warmed up and get some treatment, you can go. I just hope I don't get hit there again.

If we play like this the rest of the way, we'll be in good shape. We had good intensity and were physical. It wasn't easy. The guys worked their butts off.