Mark Kotsay ‘impressed' by another strong Jacob Lopez outing in Athletics' win
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay speaks to the media after his team's 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday at Sutter Health Park.
Mark Kotsay 'impressed' by another strong Jacob Lopez outing in Athletics' win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Start with, Jacob Lopez.
Kind of continuation of what he's been doing for you guys as of late.
What'd you think of him today, and especially getting through that sixth inning?
I know you had the bullpen going, but he was able to complete that inning for you.
Yeah, I, I, I mean, really impressed with Jacob, like you said, over the last few starts.
You know, I think the biggest transformation for Jacob is he's got a consistent routine now that he believes in.
I think this off-season, he had some lingering things, you know, throughout the off-season that he was tinkering with and changing and trying to get consistent with, and it kind of led through spring training, where he was bouncing around with, you know, with his process and his routines.
And I think once he's gotten those stabilized, went to triple A, he's come back a different kid and a, and a different pitcher.
So, you know, today was a, a great day, another sign in the right direction, especially for our starters.
This series, I thought our starters did a, a great job, in giving us, you know, six innings of work, keeping the game close, and giving us a chance to win.
I think everybody was waiting for Tommy White's first homer.
How cool was that to see?
And then obviously the dugout reaction after that as well.
Yeah, it was pretty good.
The guys are pretty hard on him.
They waited a long time, to congratulate him.
So, you know, you can tell that there's a, a good bond in there with him.
You know, really happy for the kid.
He's, he's working hard.
You know, again, we talk about young players trying to just fight for their survival.
And, today was nice to see him get rewarded with a good swing and, and driving a ball out to right center.
And obviously you guys, been a while since you guys won a series here.
Just talk about the first series win here in, since April and kind of what that means for you guys.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's big.
You know, obviously we've had our challenges here, and, that's no secret.
It's good to see the young guys on the mound just attacking.
You know, like we talked about, you know, they, they're limiting the free bases, and they're going after hitters, and that was a good sign.
All in all, I think we've, you know, this weekend was a, a good sign of bouncing back from a tough series, against Tampa.
That we, we got outplayed in almost all facets.
And I thought we did a good job against Texas, who's still contending in this division, and, and playing really good baseball.
Yeah.
Could you please talk about the job by the bullpen, Medina, Alvarado, and Rom?
Yeah, big innings.
You know, for Luis, it was a big spot in the game.
You can consider that a save.
Coming in and knowing that you're gonna get Peterson as a pinch hitter at the bottom, you know, giving up a two-out double, on a ball that, you know, Bulti probably could have caught.
And you know, working his way out of that inning, getting a ground ball, walking off the mound with putting up a zero, and then the offense, you know, scoring runs.
So Alvarado and, and Rom, Rom did a nice job coming in and getting Kelenic on the matchup.
And, obviously Hogan finishing the game.
It's nice to see the bullpen work that way.
Yeah, Galvis hit the home run.
It, it proves to be the difference, those two runs there.
Could you talk about his contributions this week since he come, he came back?
Yeah, it's been great to have him back.
Energy, leadership, you know, this is a, a player that, we really missed.
And, you know, for the losses that we've incurred, again, you know, with Tyler going on the IL, to have Zach, you know, and the way he's been playing this season back, that's a big help.
Let's go back to the third inning back-to-back bunts.
Is that something we might be see- I'm not saying you- Yeah are gonna have back-to-back bunts all the time.
Right.
But are we gonna start seeing a little bit more small ball, or just when the situation calls for it?
Well, no, we, we've gotta kind of play the offense that, that we have, and, and that is being more aggressive, on the bases, trying to generate runs that way.
And obviously, you know, if there's situations that, that we're gonna be able to play small ball and advance runners and take advantage of, of sit- certain situations, I think that's obviously the focus going forward for sure.
