AL Championship Series: Astros vs Red Sox Friday, October 12, 2018 A.J. Hinch Astros Workout Day end relievers for us. It's a little bit of just you have to THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for pick the group of guys. And we're going with the guys A.J. that we feel best matchups for different looks for different parts of their batting order and not an easy Q. Any roster changes? exercise. A.J. HINCH: I knew that was going to be the first one. (Laughter). There's a great argument that Will should be on this roster. There's a great argument that Chris Devenski Yes, I've let the players know today, you know, what our and Brad Peacock should be on this roster, but plan is. And it's changed a little bit from our division surprises me to say that I can say those guys are left series roster. off a playoff roster but it's the way it is. We're going to add a pitcher and subtract a position Q. In your 20-plus years in the big lesion player. So Myles Straw will not be on the roster. And regardless of the roles, where would you put Justin we're going to add Héctor Rondón and Joe Smith. And Verlander if you were ranking starting pitchers Will Harris will not be on the roster. you've seen over that time? A.J. HINCH: No. 1, right now, he's my No. 1 starter. I So if you look at our roster from last series, copy/paste think he is a pitcher that transcends a lot of different every other name. generations. He's stood the test of time. He's stood the test of the evolution of the game. He's evolved as a Q. What was the thinking? Straw was the guy you pitcher himself with how he uses his pitches, what he didn't use as much as a DH? believes in. A.J. HINCH: It's hard. You piece together -- I should make my plea for a 26-man roster for the playoffs I think he's a future Hall of Famer. I think he's because he would have been a nice weapon to have. someone that has done everything in the game from Him and Marisnick are similar. Jake has a ton of being a big-time pitcher in the postseason to his history in this ballpark. And certainly on the defensive personal struggles where people were writing him off side I could run Tony Kemp as well. as nearly ending his career to now being a Cy Young contender. So the extra runner versus -- Evan Gattis is a guy on the bench. The extra pitcher, getting through this It's been incredible to watch him grow and mature. I lineup is really hard. And I want to give -- I guess we was with the Tigers as a player when they drafted him. want to give myself as much opportunity to mix and And he was in the minor leagues when I was ending match and create some different looks for these hitters my career, but you heard a lot about him. And I guess that we're about to face. rarely do you get someone who performs above the threshold that we put on these players nowadays that So extra pitcher in a seven-game series. Having a are drafted high or that are first overall or that are in the bench of most likely a McCann, Gattis, Kemp and top five picks. Marisnick is a good look. It's hard to exceed expectations nowadays. And he's Q. What made Will Harris kind of the odd guy out? doing it every step along the way at an age where he's You like Joe against righties, but what made Will -- been written off multiple times and responded with his A.J. HINCH: It's not really Will -- Will is the odd man best season ever. out by numbers not by skill. I think Josh James came in and became a viable weapon. He's got length. He's Q. You guys obviously have a deep bullpen based got a hundred miles in his back pocket. He's got a solely on the names that you mentioned that aren't good breaking ball, a good changeup. on the roster. Given that, why was it important for you guys at the trade deadline to move and Héctor and Joe, both very valuable relievers, very high upgrade in the bullpen, and what were the kind of Rev #1 by #188 at 2018-10-12 20:22:00 GMT page 1 of 3 factors that drove you in that direction? Q. Bregman. A.J. HINCH: You know, I think you always add a A.J. HINCH: Bregman is really everything you want in a reliever. That's what you feel like you need to do and baseball player. His personality is enormous. He's answer any questions that you have. We've had a comfortable in his own skin. He's obviously very good bullpen for a couple of years now. And I know entertaining. I don't know his handle on Twitter or I last postseason I sat at tables like this and had to would give it to you. defend our bullpen quite a bit because we were moving our starters into the relief side. He's just somebody that people gravitate to. He doesn't ever have a bad day. He gets frustrated with And I just think you can never have too many pitchers. himself when he's not perfect. He wants to be the best You can never have too many weapons. You can never baseball player he's ever been around. And I applaud address every single part of dynamic lineups like we're him for his approach in always trying to find ways to get about to face. better. So when the guys became available, our front office did But when you walk into a Major League clubhouse as a a good job of vetting through the options and really like young player, and he's still a young player, and you're the additions of Osuna and Pressly, specifically. We able to, you get positive reactions out of the pitching addressed it in the offseason with Smith and Rondón. side, the Latino side, the American side, the position- We challenged our guys to always find different ways player side, there just aren't that many players in the and find different avenues to get guys out. And we game that kind of transcend an entire Major League wound up with a healthy group of really good clubhouse. He's one of them. performers that we have to choose from when you limit yourself in the postseason. You never know what to expect with him. I didn't know the stairs were coming. I didn't know the Tiger-to-Floyd So it's nice to have that and then you sprinkle in a Mayweather comparison. That was pretty unique. He McCullers in the back end, it makes it even deeper. brings it every day. Q. Justin is one of a series of pitchers who came to Q. How would you describe the connection Houston and seem to show immediate between Verlander and Cole? Do you think that improvement, striking out more guys, walking Cole could have had the season he's had without fewer guys. Where should the credit go for that it? And do you think that he's had an impact on change for him, for Cole, for Morton, for Pressly, all Justin? these guys? A.J. HINCH: I think he could have had this season, A.J. HINCH: I think credit always starts with the because Cole's very gifted and tremendously players. Their talent is their talent. Their work ethic, intellectually curious on how to get better. their opened mindedness, their ability to implement is critical in this. Brent Strom has been a terrific pioneer But I think JV's helped. I think elite pushes elite. They of a lot of different things with the pitching department. have a nice brotherhood between the two of them. You C.B. over here to Doug White in the bullpen now, guys add Keuchel into the mix and the McCullers and that have touched these guys' careers. Charlie Morton and our entire rotation fed off of wanting to kind of get their slice of attention. Our analytics team, our front office does a great job of providing information, providing thoughts, ideas. But it And JV does a great job of setting the tone at the top of circles back to the player. I always credit the player, the rotation. And Gerrit, who is masterful at grabbing because he has to be the guy -- he is the guy with the one little thing from everybody that he comes across -- ball in his hand. JV to Dallas to Lance to Strommy -- he's intellectually curious, he asks a lot of questions -- and that and And that collection of people that I just mentioned that being thrust behind Verlander every single time along provide information, push, pull, tug, applaud and the way, there had to have been a little bit of positive impact players' careers is, it's a true team effort. impact there. Q. How has Alex's personality in the clubhouse and So I see them talking all the time. They're always the way he carries himself changed with all the talking pitching, debating.