John Gibbons Quotes (249 Quotes)

It could happen. We'll just have to wait and see. We'll make sure Burnett is good and ready, but we could do that. Never say never.

Ryan's up-and-coming, pretty new to the job himself, but already he's one of the top closers in the game. Anytime you've got a shot at a guy like that, you've got to make that move.

He's got one of the best arms in baseball. On any given night, he can shut out. I just think he'll fit in perfect.

He has been taking some good swings. That's what we got him for. He's intimidating when he steps in there.

He changed his stance a little bit. He's a little more spread out, a little more crouched -- in a strong hitting position. I see a shorter path to the ball.

We had no choice, we had to go to them early. That would have been the perfect night for (Downs). We asked a lot out of our 'pen, but they sucked it up.

If he's going to be in a role where he's not going to pitch much for us, it does him no good at this stage of his career. In saying that, it doesn't mean he's not going to make this team. But we're not going to send him out there and let him rot. We're going to do what's best for him.

I just think it's his timing. He's off-balance a little bit more -- and he's getting caught out front a little bit more. But he's always hit. He's going to hit. It's just one of those things.

I've always been a fan of the guy. He played for me in Triple-A. He's been in the big leagues the last few years. He's had some success. He's played in some tough towns -- in New York and L.A. -- So that doesn't phase him. He's not a Minor League player. He's a big league player.

When he's on, he keeps you off-balance. He picked the plate apart.

We kind of had him, coming out of Spring Training, ahead of the group that's starting at Triple-A now. Experience-wise, they're all pretty similar. We know he's going to come up and throw strikes. You expect him to because he's always done that. It's his opportunity.

We're in good shape because our offence has been very good at this point.

We know what these guys are doing. They're a very aggressive team and they're playing really good baseball right now. That's the way they play. They've got some guys that can run the bases. ... Let's just keep the guys off the bases. Then they can't steal.

The whole thing with Alex is he's able to get to that pitch now, where in the past he wasn't able to. It's tougher with his size anyway. He's got long arms. It all has to do with his balance. He's not falling backwards. He's out to prove something.

He went to get an MRI and check it out. It could be his forearm, and it could be his elbow. We don't know. He has had that elbow reconstructed in the past, so he knows his body.

It's the beginning of the year, but your perennial top teams in baseball, if you ever want to get where they're at, you have to beat them. We've got to play good against them.

Aaron's hit a lot of atom balls. He's hit a ton of balls hard. But he's scuffling, and he and Mickey are just trying to see if they can 'load him up' a bit.

He went to see team doctors in Toronto (on Wednesday). He wasn't obligated to go out there (at camp) the last few days.

I saw enough of him out there last year. The big thing is he's got to get his footwork down. He's got to get his hands down. Toronto infield instructor Brian Butterfield is working with him on getting his hands together on the turn and that's going to come with time.

The last couple years, the injuries were costly for him, and they set him back and cost him valuable playing time at that stage of his development. It's a good opportunity. He needed a fresh start.

Until Johnson is ready, we'll just tell him to baby it. If a guy runs, just flip it in. We already know he can throw. ... He's a sparkplug-type guy. I know he felt good because it's been a while since he's played in a game. You always worry when you get injuries.

He's still young enough. He can finish this year and go down to play some winter ball,

We're going to watch it. The other day he went seven strong innings and then hit a wall. So we'll be cautious with him.

He can do some things, but the big thing he got drafted for was his bat. Everybody says he can hit. When you draft college players, it's easier to move them faster. Usually you start them in low Minors and they're ahead of that.

They were raving about him two months ago. I think he's done a nice job for us. It's magnified at the end because he's struggled a little bit of late.

Look at the last two years. He had that collapsed lung twice, and then he broke his hand at the beginning of last year,

He's getting better. He may do a couple little things here today. I think, by the end of the weekend, we'll get him out there, let him take some ground balls. He's still a few days away, anyway.

For a team that wasn't expected to do a whole lot, they've done a darn good job, ... Some teams lay down there and die. Not that group.

We're hoping he can give us a little spark with his bat when Gregg Zaun doesn't play. He's part of the future.

We'll bounce back (today). It's the second game of the year.

It'll help his hitting, too. Sometimes when you spend too much time on the bench, too much goes on in your mind. But he's a good fielder, too.

He ran (yesterday) and felt good. Hopefully, he can make progress and we'll see what he has. It's hard to say.

He's healthy. That's beyond his control. We expect him to always be consistent and pitch pretty good. And he did that today.

I would hope not. He's a confident kid to begin with, you can tell by the way he goes about his business, the way he acts. There has never been a great one that played this game that didn't get knocked on their butt. It's just a matter of if you get back up or not.

We'll look at it and see who is pitching the best when that time comes. The thing that he does is give us flexibility. If he's in the bullpen, he makes us that much stronger down there. But if he keeps doing what he's doing ...

He went out on a good note today. He has been looking for that 13th win, been stuck on 12. He'll go home feeling good.

They the Devil Rays keep hearing how they don't have this and don't have that, but when they get pitching, they're going to win a lot of games.

We gave them out best shot. We had the lead late. Aside from maybe Yankee fans and our own fans, nobody else in the world wanted to see us win that game for the weekend's sake.

The home run he hit, when hits balls to the left side, he's usually out in front and hooking them into the stands, but he kept that one fair. I can't remember the last time I saw him hit a ball like that down the line.

We expected to have a better team than we've had here in a while. The key is to play to good against the teams you're going to compete with all year because there's been optimism built up, expectations and you want to keep that going. You don't want to come out of the gate slow and let the teams you're trying to overtake in your division beat your brains in cause then everybody's like where's the progress

I would've done it again. It didn't cost us the pennant or the World Series, ... It wasn't quite the Pedro Martinez versus the Yankees in the postseason decision, but I thought Towers earned it. Ortiz took Ted Lilly, Scott Downs and a couple lefties deep a couple days before that, so it's not a guarantee.

A couple homers for him now. Even the outs he's making, he's hitting the ball on the nose. It's got to help having extra playing time. He's getting plenty of work out there in the outfield. He's doing good.

He did his running and felt good, felt better. If he keeps progressing, we'll see where he's at. I know we have to make a decision on that tournament. We'll have to see.

He was pretty placid during the whole exam. He didn't even react to the injection. You can see in the exam picture, he's not even looking back to see what's going on.

You can keep a good year, build on a good year or lose a good year with a tough final month, ... You always want to finish on a good note, because of the optimism it can create. ... A lot of people like what's happened this year. It's the nature of the business, you know If you start going down, you get chewed up a little bit.

We had some good at-bats and some clutch hitting there in the ninth. That's the first time we ever did anything with Baez this year.

We had no choice (yesterday), we had to get some innings out of him. But we weren't going to abuse him by any means.

This is an opportunity for him. He wasn't expecting one but shoot, he's done a great job.

He can overpower you. He's got that big, hard breaking ball that's tough to do anything with when he gets ahead.