It's the same with pitching. You talk to Greg Maddux and I'm sure he has a game plan, but he also sometimes can feel when a guy is looking inside or if a guy is looking for something else or it depends on which pitch he takes and how he takes it. Some guys get it early, some guys get it late, some guys never get it.

I've got a game plan. Some of it depends on how healthy Todd feels, how his legs feel. He's still recuperating from last year at the end of the year. With the hard ground down here, it puts pressure on your legs.

He started out not very sharp and he had 37 pitches in the first inning. That's almost three innings worth and we were debating whether or not to send him out in the seventh or not but he wanted to pitch and he ended the game strong.

Certain kids stick out, ... And when I saw Adam in spring training, I liked his attitude, his work ethic. He busts his butt.

He's got some skills, definitely. He's got great range, quickness. His bat has really improved over the last year and a half. Fundamental stuff? There's still a few things he needs to work on. He'll probably get a pretty good shot of that here.

He's been working with Tony Gwynn in the winter and you can't find a better guy than that to work with. He works hard, he appears to be an outstanding teammate. I think he'll be an excellent catch for us.

My thing is I've got work to do. I do my job. If we win, everything will take care of itself. That's how I live. If I'm approached, then we'll deal with that. But right now, I can't be worried about that.

You learn the hard way then. We had a long discussion last night. The thing about temperament, which you guys don't believe, but I was very similar. You have to constantly work on it as a person.

To me, and he may not like it, but I point to him all the time as the way to be. It's not his personality to accept that, but I single him out, which I don't do that often. I say, 'Hey, this is how you want to go about your business. This is how you want to perform. This is how you want to work on fielding, hitting, bunting, everything.

The things I want to see out of him is baseball experience and work on fundamental instinctive stuff -- running the bases, hitting the cutoff man, knowing when to run. I've heard that when he gets thrown out, he stops running. When you get thrown out, you need to be more daring.

You've got to throw strikes. That's with most young guys. Throw strikes, throw quality strikes. Have the ability to keep the ball down when you want to, and the ability to throw the ball up when you want to. When you throw the ball outside, you don't want it to creep back inside. The main thing is just relax. Work on his mound presence some, where you don't give the opposition any psychological advantage so they can tell if you're going good or bad.

A lot of it depends on the strength of your starting pitching. If your starting pitching is good, you won't need 12 too much. Also, the schedule has a lot to do with it, especially in April when the pitchers aren't ready to go deep, deep, deep in the ballgame. You don't even know at that time if you'll need five starters. You might only need four. You hate to lose that guy's endurance by not pitching. It'll work itself out by the time we get ready to leave.

You don't want to do all this hard work all through Spring Training and during the season and then come out here with nothing to be proud of.

It's still a work in progress a little bit.

I'm sure something will work out for him. I certainly don't think he's through. Injuries have hurt him the last couple of years. I'm hoping he gets a job.

I know exactly where he's coming from. I continue to work on it myself.

He's the guy who's doing it the most correctly. That's why he has Gold Gloves. To me, and he may not like it, but I point to him all the time as the way to be. It's not his personality to accept that, but I single him out, which I don't do that often. I say, 'Hey, this is how you want to go about your business. This is how you want to perform. This is how you want to work on fielding, hitting, bunting, everything.

He's poised. If he's going to play short, he has to work on getting his throw truer. Right now, it runs into the runner.

You've got to admire him for not quitting. When you're hungry, you can find a way to do things. He was going to have to go to work or play ball.

You've got guys studying video and there's some things that you see, some things that you have to put into play, ... Of all the things that I see, they're beating him with the fastball, which is a no-no. And sometimes he doesn't track the ball. Those are some of the things he has to work on.

And he has to work on his base stealing. We were told that when he gets thrown out, he shuts it down. He'll be fine. He left with a good attitude and thanked us for the amount of playing time that he got.

My hope doesn't need reinvigorating. I had hope regardless.

I'd like to see him get anything he can get, because he deserves it. I'd like to see him get 100 RBIs. He's been knocking on 99 for a while. I just hope he gets that.

I don't think it'll be that long. Hope not. He could come rather quickly. He's five, six weeks behind.

He got beat up pretty good today. They hit some balls hard. He was around the plate, throwing strikes. I just hope he's all right.

Usually you come right in and face 'live,' but you get into bad habits because you're trying to protect your hands and protect your bats. Basically, this is more for the pitchers the first couple days than the hitters. The main thing is, you hope they can throw strikes.

You'd hope so and think so. Usually when it comes down to the last couple roster spots, you go on what you have seen here as well as the past.

We've been doing whatever we can to shore ourselves up. Matt's had some pretty good years and we hope he can come over here and rejuvenate our offense.

We've been doing whatever we can to shore ourselves up, ... Matt's had some pretty good years and we hope he can come over here and rejuvenate our offense.

There have been times in my career when they couldn't find anything and it still hurt, and there were times when there wasn't anything and it was something. We hope it ends up nothing, like it's been.

You hope it's just a minor setback. We have to stay positive and keep our fingers crossed.

I've seen some greats leave the game. You never want to see them leave and you'd rather see them leave on their terms and leave on top. It's not over with yet. You don't know if somebody is going to offer Sammy a job here soon or what is going to happen. But Sammy has been one of the great players of the game for a long time and a guy who meant a lot to Chicago and a lot to the game. ... I just hope he gets a job somewhere.

Once you get it, keep it, and hope it stays for awhile.

It was frightening at first because you heard that loud sound. They've got a new-style helmet now. I hope it works. It has a little less padding and more holes, I guess to absorb the shock. We got its first test today.

It is what it is. Hope it comes out well and hope it's not anything serious.

It's not over with yet. You don't know if somebody is going to offer Sammy a job here soon or what is going to happen. But Sammy has been one of the great players of the game for a long time and a guy who meant a lot to Chicago and a lot to the game. . . . I just hope he gets a job somewhere.

I hope not. I love having him here. He's part of all this.

I hope it comes out well. I hope it's not anything serious. I hope and pray it's something minor and he recovers well.

There are some guys who have the nod because of experience. There are some guys who have demonstrated better control and better stuff than others. We'll see how they do the last couple weeks of spring and how they do when they go to Triple-A or Double-A.

We were trying everything to get him his victory. It was a great run by Greg. The guys wanted to win for him, and we left him in in the ninth to have that opportunity.

We needed an extra bat. We were a little short, especially with some of the guys being hurt. 'Big Ben' has done an outstanding job, especially coming off the bench. With the rosters expanded, we thought he could help us.

We needed an extra bat, ... We were a little short, especially with some of the guys being hurt. 'Big Ben' has done an outstanding job, especially coming off the bench. With the rosters expanded, we thought he could help us.

Scott Eyre is a fun-loving guy, but the rest of the guys, especially the new guys we've got, they are all business.

One of the hardest things in this game is a fallen star. When a guy accepts the position that he's in in his career, it makes it easier on a manager and coaches and very beneficial to the guys on the team.

I was spoiled by some of the guys I had in the past, like Robby Thompson and Jeff Kent. I know the importance of that infield defense. There's more balls on the ground than in the air. Consequently, you have to play 'D' on the field.

I didn't have any choice because I had a short bullpen. If we tied the game up, and I'm out of pitchers, where I have to hit for them -- I only have five guys. That's why I double-switched, to get the most innings out of the guys pitching without running out of pitchers and running out of position players.

If a young man throws strikes, they can win. There have been a number of young guys who came up and have done quite well, especially if they have the maturity and demeanor to handle it and do it. This is an opportunity for somebody to win a job.

He loves to compete, he loves the game. He studies. I don't know anybody who studies that much in baseball. This guy is one of the best guys I can remember having on my team.

Guys get a chance to get more rest, ... Guys get a chance to do life stuff: Go do laundry, go to the car wash, go to the bank, shopping. Regular stuff you don't get a chance to do, stuff that's closed when you get to the park, stuff that's closed when you leave the park.

Guys are throwing the ball well. We've just got to cut down on the walks. It seems like we walk somebody and they score.