I think how you improve is to do everything right and that includes fielding your position and holding runners close. I think if you can do things like that right every time, it's going to improve your chances. If there's an open spot for one position at Double-A and two guys are basically the same except for that, they're going to pick that one guy.

San Jose is a lot better place to be than Augusta, Georgia, where there's 100 percent humidity.

They just wanted to make sure my arm was healthy. They're just being a little cautious after my last start.

The last thing we can afford right now is to make excuses. We're inexperienced at some spots, that's the way it is. We have injuries, so does everyone, that's the way it is.

Our returning players learned so much from our seniors last year and they have been quick to demonstrate the right way to do things to our newcomers. We don't believe in the moniker of defending national champions, because when a team wins a championship it's theirs forever. But this group wants to emerge from the shadow of last year's team and create it's own identity. In a lot of ways the lead-up to the 2006 season is more exciting because there is an element of the unknown.

If I threw him 15 balls, he hit 14 of them solid. He was right on.