So now I feel like I've actually graduated to the point where it's not because I'm a homegrown kid that I was in the major leagues. I think that's what some people thought sometimes. But now, I don't have the Monforts backing me. There's not any excuses. I'm on my own out here, and I sink or swim by myself.

It gets kind of monotonous doing this over and over again. But once you physically feel good, you get anxious for the season to start.

[The righthander was shaken afterward but not before, he insisted.] I probably haven't faced a lineup like theirs. ... To me, I'm not scared of anybody. They're baseball players just like I am. They put their uni on the same way I do. It's about executing. Today I didn't execute. There's no other excuse for it.

I know I'll pitch sometime during the season. I'll just leave it at that. I'll be ready to go whenever that is. I had a pretty solid spring and I don't know how much it matters to anybody else.

Everybody knows that each game is huge, ... Our playoffs start now. They probably started a week ago, so we have to make the best of each day.

Everybody around me was a Yankee fan, ... We grew up watching them win year after year.