“I love the slider. I'll throw it anytime. It helps the curve. The last five feet, it dives toward the left-handed hitter's box. It's a pitch that looks like a fastball coming in. It's a pitch I throw when I need a ground ball with a man on base.”

“I don't sit around and read papers about myself. If I see myself on TV, if I don't like it, I change the channel.”

“A lot of times, when young guys come up, you think you don't have to work as hard because the talent is going to get you as far as you need to go. But as you get older, it's not that way. An injury is really a wake-up call and a slap in the face that maybe you were slacking a bit, and don't let it happen again.”

“At home, when I'm not pitching, I'll sit and sign autographs for the kids. I've always done that and I'll continue to do it. That's part of the job.”

“She [wife Sarah] has a big impact on my baseball life because she's a drill sergeant at home. She makes me get off the couch and go to work. I occasionally need that push, and she gives it to me.”

“I've had pitching coaches come out to the mound and air me out and the next thing you know, it has turned around and it worked. I think everybody can use a kick in the butt.”

“The National League is baseball to me.”

“I'm just a normal kid who lives to play baseball. I'm living my dream.”

“This is all I ever wanted to do or be.”