Steve Clevenger Quotes

I'm probably the only relief pitcher who has more saves than strikeouts.

Baseball is all about pitching, and we know we have to improve our pitching.

During my time, there might have been one pitcher or two that were top pitchers on a team. Teams that won maybe had three, but today they have a lot of depth. They have a lot of long relievers, short relievers, and the strategy is different.

We have to have great pitching performances from our guys, and we have to take it from there.

Six innings, you're doing your job. That's a good target to have, but I'm always looking to improve. There's three more innings of improvement left.

You feel like a stud out there when people swing and miss. As I've gotten older, I've preached to our young guys that strikeouts are sexy, but outs are outs, man, no matter how you get them. It's a lot cooler for me pitching in the seventh or eighth inning than it is going 5 1/3. Your manager likes it a lot more, too.

I'm pretty much the one that goes to the mound.

Pitching is a priority.

Nobody likes to hear it, because it's dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same - pitching.

I just go out there and throw. That's what I've done my whole life.

I am a baseball player and I enjoy getting batters out and that is what I want to continue doing.

'ACE' is one of the acronyms I've used over the years. It stands for 'Acting cures everything.' You weren't promised to come to the ballpark and feel great on your start day. Basically, how can you put something on display to the opponent that gives the appearance of 'OK, this guy is locked in today,' whether you are or not?

Sometimes offense wins. Sometimes pitching wins.

I felt good in the bullpen and even when we came out in the first inning I felt fairly good.

For me, it's just going up on the mound and trying to get outs.

I love being out there on the mound with the ball in my hand. I can control the game. I'm out there. No clock - nothing happens until I throw that thing. Nothing happens. I love that feeling.

But I'm not looking forward to trying to strike out a lot of guys.

It takes 20 victories for people to recognize you as a great pitcher.

We've played with a lot of confidence and that's been the key so far. Hopefully, we can take more confidence into the playoffs.

That's how you win - pitching and defense.

I loved baseball. I was a pitcher. I loved being on the mound because I also loved being at the center of the action, the cat and mouse battle with the batter on every pitch. You had to develop grit.

Pitching keeps you in the games. Home runs win the game.

There are periods when you feel really good. You feel the ball is bigger. The court is larger. You feel like you can't miss. And then there are periods when you feel, 'OK, I'm not feeling great.' But I still need to try to find a way to win.

It feels good to be able to contribute, eat innings, provide some rest for the bullpen.

If the offensive player starts losing confidence, that gets the defender's confidence up - and I think the team can feel it.