All I know is that if I continue to pitch well, good things will keep happening.
If you expect greatness, greatness shouldn't surprise you.
I am an emotional pitcher, but I can control it. When I was in high school, I was a little immature and I let my emotions get the best of me.
When an artist wants to paint a painting, they have all those things in their head that they want to portray on a canvas. It's the same thing when I'm pitching. I have all these thoughts going through my head about how I want to pitch: which pitch I want to throw here, and why do I want to throw it?
I'm hoping to learn something new every day. It sounds corny, but I really do come in here every day, listening and talking with the veteran guys and seeing what I can absorb.
I want to show that I can pitch well and get along with the guys in the locker room.'
I am always going to be working on location, even if I have a 20-year career. Talk to me in 15 years and I will still be working on location. It's something I can always do better. Right now, it's not nearly where it could be, so it gives me something to work on every day.
I like to challenge hitters with a 'Here it is, hit it,' mentality. It's definitely a big part of my game, especially when I get in situations where I need it. I usually save a little bit so it's there for me.
I think that a starting pitcher has to do something special to be as valuable or more so than a position player.
I'm a power guy. Good fastball. A knuckle curve, which I can throw for strikes. A changeup which sinks down and away from lefties and I can also throw for strikes.
The only thing I can control is how well I pitch.
To hit 100 miles per hour, that's something. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it, but it's something I can do and think about.
I kind of realized I couldn't blow the ball by everybody. In high school I could do that, but now it's not going to work. I need to pitch.'
I use high velocity to keep hitters off balance.
If you had told me at the beginning of the year that I was going to be a shoo-in for the Cy Young, I would have been absolutely ecstatic and amazed.
