AL Wildcard Game: Athletics vs Yankees Tuesday, October 2, 2018 Matt Chapman Athletics Workout Day this year? Q. First of all, what's your outlook with this really MATT CHAPMAN: He's meant a lot, more than he even approaching tomorrow? And after a season like thinks he means. I don't think he realizes what he's your team has had, how are you feeling about done for our young pitchers and our pitching staff and everything? how many different pitchers he's had to manage and MATT CHAPMAN: Feeling really good. From being call games for. He's kept us in so many games, and with the guys, it doesn't seem like too much has he's just been a leader and a presence back there, and changed. We're excited to be here and grateful for the he has a lot of experience, and he's been able to really opportunity and just all the work that you've put in just help the young guys with everything that he can throughout the season, and to be here at this point, it's and uses his experience, and he's really helped guys everything you could ask for. like take it to the next level and even Blake Treinen. We wouldn't be here without him. There's no really telling what's going to happen tomorrow, but I know we're going to show up, and we're Q. When you guys beat the Yankees I think the last going to play hard, and we're just excited to see what time in Oakland, I believe you said, "We're no happens. longer on a good run, we're a good team." When did you guys realize that everything just clicked for Q. What do you think about just the decision to you guys as a team? kind of bullpen your way through tomorrow's MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, I feel like the way we finished game, and how much of a strength have those last season, we felt we had the capability to be a good guys been this year? team, and I know we started off a little slow this year. MATT CHAPMAN: I mean, I understand it. I mean, it's But once we kind of hit that hot streak and we kept probably hard, especially with all the injuries we've had playing, I felt like we always thought we were a good to the pitchers this year, and our bullpen has just been team, even at the beginning of the year, we just able to pick us up and keep us in so many games, so I couldn't finish out some games or weren't getting the understand the decision, and I feel like it's just kind of big hits when we needed it, but then we kind of started like the Yankees, with going with Severino. If you're rolling a little bit and rolling and our confidence kept going to get beat, you want to get beat with your guys, growing, and then we continued to play that way. We or win or lose, you want your guys on the mound. felt like we believed that was who we were, so it was just us coming out and finally playing the kind of I feel like we feel confident with those guys and their we knew we were capable of. ability to throw strikes and keep us in the game. So I like it. Q. When you guys came here early in the year, it was here, Boston and Toronto and you had three Q. Obviously you and Olson and Pinder and a 10-game trips in the first half of the season where couple guys who came up in the minors together, I the team played really well. Did that resonate as know you've won together, and now to be on this far as kind of getting you where you are now? stage, how cool is it for you guys to be sharing the MATT CHAPMAN: For sure. I think a lot of those postseason together? series and those close games prepared us for where MATT CHAPMAN: It's pretty crazy. It's surreal. I don't we're at now and for that stretch during the season. even know if it's, like, hit us yet. It was one of those We learned how to handle those big situations and how things where in the moment you just keep -- our eyes to win close games. Coming here this year earlier in are so focused on what we need to do and what we the year, being my first time and a lot of other guys' first want to accomplish that I feel like we haven't really had time, get used to that environment a little bit. I know a second to take a step back and really think about it, not a lot of us have been in the playoffs, but I feel like but I'm sure at some point this offseason it'll hit us that we've played in a lot of big games, in a lot of big it's pretty crazy what we were able to do. stadiums, so I think we're prepared.

Q. What has Jonathan meant to this team so far Q. I know that the team's defense obviously was

Rev #1 by #166 at 2018-10-02 18:06:00 GMT page 1 of 2 hugely improved this year, and defense is very important to you. How would you describe the season that you had defensively? MATT CHAPMAN: Definitely proud of it, but a lot of room to get better, I think. I made too many errors for my liking. But our defense has gotten just better and better, and I think it goes for the amount of work our coaches help us with positioning and the extra work they do with ground balls or whatever it is, and the guys' on our team work ethic. Jed catches everything that he gets to. I feel like Marcus gets better and better every single day. He works his butt off every single day, and it shows because he has only gotten better, and he has been so solid for us at shortstop. And then has probably saved all of us a handful of errors apiece, maybe more. He's probably the most underrated first baseman, I think. Defensively he's the best I've ever seen. And then our outfield, Laureano was a huge upgrade, has really, really taken it to the next level and taking pressure off the corner guys. He pretty much covers both gaps. Piscotty or Martini in left, whoever it is, we feel confident with our defense, and we've just been getting better and better.

Q. It was Eric Chávez, there was , now you're kind of next in line, rich heritage of Oakland A's third basemen. What is it like for you as a player? What has this season been like for you seeing the injuries and you guys just kept rolling, especially getting hot? What's that been like? MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, to be in that company is awesome. Growing up watching Eric Chávez as a young kid and really looking up to him and some of those guys and watching the way he went about playing defense, and he kind of just played hard, played the game the right way, and Donaldson, as well, he was always fun to watch, and to be able to come in after guys like that has been pretty cool. Obviously got to live up to the standard that they set.

And as far as our team, to be able to go through all those injuries and not really have a set rotation, and we were able to just keep bouncing back and keep fighting, I think that that's something that you want, and I think that all winning teams have the ability to bounce back no matter what's thrown at you, and that's why I feel like we've been able to come back in close games, or when we're trailing, like when we were trailing by 10 against Texas, our team just doesn't quit. We have fight, and we're going to battle until the last out, and we all believe in each other. So I think that that's equally as important as some of those other things, just being able to be confident in each other and root for each other and have each other's backs, and that's taken us a lot further than anybody could have ever imagined.

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