Monday, August 31, 2009

2012 is going to be awesome

In a nice profile of the Legends' heralded pitching staff:

Jordan Lyles:
"We're pretty young, but experience wasn't a factor. We came out and threw strikes and got people out."

Astros' minor-league pitching coordinator Britt Burns:
"I've been tickled to death with what (the starters have) accomplished this year. I'm really looking forward to next year, (seeing) them progress and, hopefully, finding their way to the big leagues sooner rather than later."

Lexington pitching coach Travis Driskill:
"They're all 20 and under, and they've all performed in a league where most of the guys are probably either college kids or have at least three or four years of pro experience. They've all done well, and all of them have thrown one game that you can say, 'Wow, that was a really good game!'"

Robert Bono:
"The biggest stride is probably keeping the ball down. And going in and out. Command of my fastball, that's been the biggest jump."

Brad Dydalewicz:
"My changeup has been a great pitch for me this year, so I've pretty well mastered that pitch. I really feel comfortable throwing it in any count. My ball is moving a lot and I've got a lot of sink on my two-seam (fastball)"

Kyle Greenwalt, on what changed from last year:
"My competitiveness on the mound. I just became more willing to allow guys to hit the ball and I just learned a lot. That's what our pitching philosophy has been all year: just pitch to contact. You don't need to strike guys out."

Jordan Lyles, who has already set the Lexington record for Ks in a season:
"Midway through the season I came away with a pretty decent curveball from Travis helping me, and our pitching coordinators. I've really grown to like it and I expect big things from it in the future."

Ross Seaton:
"The game's faster. I know everybody says that, but I didn't understand it until I got here. Everything just moves faster and you have to learn how to slow it down and keep it at your own pace. We can't control whether we score runs or not. And it's not in our control how many runs we give up, either. You can have great suff and get killed, and you can have awful stuff and throw a shutout. It's the way it is, and we're learning from it, and you 'just pitch' no matter what."