Gerrit Cole

When you're more comfortable out there, you start seeing different things, relaxing more, being able to trust your pitches more and not try to overdo things as much.

In an industry where you don't always get to see your family as much as you would like, getting to hug your mom after the game is nice.

Family is everything.

I was hurt in 2016, and it made me look at longevity and sustainability. The stuff that I was doing wasn't working for me long term. So, I had to make a change.

There's a human element here you start to lose when you start rattling off the best mathematical equation to get the out.

Any time you can get in a position to start to get some of the quality work in as early as possible, I think it gives you a leg up or at least gives you the opportunity to be really prepared for the first time you take the ball.

You've got to try to close every inning out, take it one inning at a time, one batter at a time.

You don't want to let the other team feed off your outward physical demeanor. But at the same time, you can't go out and play this game and not expect to just be angry and be competitive and be excited and have that fire in your belly.

Base runners in postseason games are kind of tough to deal with at times.

Verlander is a guy every right-handed power pitcher looks up to since the beginning of time.

When they have the lead, you don't want to fall into too predictable counts because they're playing with house money at that point. You want to try to be creative and keep them off-balance as much as you can.

A lot of these dips that you go through in the season, it's about persisting through the process and trusting it.