I watch every day when we hit and take ground balls and the way we go about our business. If I saw any lackadaisical approach, that would concern me.
I hit balls hard on the ground, and sometimes they are double plays. Other times, you hit it hard, and it's right through a hole.
If I'm making consistent contact, even if they're outs or right at somebody, if I'm just making consistent contact, I'm happy.
Then there's Johnny Pesky, hit me countless number of ground balls and improved my fielding so much.
My approach every game is to try to keep the ball down and get ground ball outs.
I came up under the wing of Larry Bowa, and one thing I did not do was ever take a day off from taking pregame groundballs or batting practice. Then the games were just having fun.
Any time you play shortstop or center field, the majority of the baseballs are hit in the middle of the field.
I've matured a lot as a pitcher. I understand what my strengths are. I've learned that I've got a great sinker, I get a lot of ground balls, and it's easy to get a ground-ball double play.
