I had a script but didn't need it. There's no chance for this to work unless his head and heart are in the right place, and they are. He's not a 23-year-old kid pushing the older guy out of the rotation, and he realizes that.

I think the jury is still out on his bat. We'll work more with him and maybe see if there's a little more there. We're not talking about hitting home runs. We want him to be more consistent with the barrel. He's shown some improvement.

His humility, his work ethic and he has a unique passion for the game. And he's going to be what, 21 next month? So, he just needs to play, and we'll see how it works out. The beauty of any young player that can play is when they force your hand.

I think we've talked about it all -- his humility, his work ethic. He has a unique passion for the game. He leads by example. In the groups that he's been in, that's been talked about.

That was the result of a lot of work the last three weeks, in which (Francis) analyzed what had been happening.

You have to like what you see. His humility. His work ethic. His passion for the game. . . . The beauty of a young player is when they force your hand.