“I don’t consider myself a great pitcher yet. I consider myself a pitcher who’s learning to become a great pitcher."

"Taking the GED and moving on to my dream of playing baseball was what I wanted to do, and my mom and dad supported me."

"I would have been a little disappointed if I had slid out of the first round."

"A good changeup is what I need to get to the next level."

"I prided myself on working as hard as I could, trying to overcome a learning diability."

"I like to hunt. After baseball, I’ll go back and buy some land and do some farming."

"I feel badly for my teammates because we’re all better than what’s happened, and I know we’re going to play much better."

"I’m not a big city guy...there’s too many people, there’s too much traffic."

"To my parents and all the people who reassured me that leaving high school and going into the draft was the right thing to do, I am forever thankful."

"I let my arm do the work…I let the ball sink."

"I almost forget that I’ve been traded because I feel like I’ve been here so long."

"I don't ever want to be an average fourth starter. I want to be the big guy."

"Everybody’s dream is to be in the big leagues, but only one in a million gets here."

"You’ve got 35 starts in a season. You’ve got to make them count."

"I can’t try to throw 110 miles per hour. I’ve got to pitch under control."

"Now I know that I don’t have to go after every batter with the hardest pitch I’ve got.”