I don't think any of this stuff bothers him. He's a good player who just comes and plays hard and whatever happens, happens. He can do a lot of different things for us.

He has got such good stuff, I don't think you really want to get in a hole on him. One of the first two pitches, he's probably going to throw for a strike, so the main thing with him is to make sure you get out ahead and look to hit early.

We know about the tradition here and all that good stuff. We've just got to make plays. That's what it comes down to. We know there's a lot of good defenses here in the past, and we feel like we're one of those teams.

He can beat teams in so many ways, whether it be a stolen base, bunt or a homer, or with his glove. I think he'll play professional baseball.

He played hard, played fast, really came off the ball. I think he's going to be a good player in this league.

There's a lot of unknowns going in, but I think every player, until he plays, has a degree of unknown about him. I think he's earned this opportunity. If indeed Jerome can't go, I'm not concerned. I'm rather excited.