Q. Hi, Jason. How have you noticed this team over the last two weeks take pressure from varying situations and kind of internalize and process it?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. I think it's -- you know, you practice all year like every game in the regular season, obviously there's pressure in and of itself. And I think in a way like there's a little less pressure on us in the sense that like, you know, two months ago we weren't probably supposed to be in this spot. No one thought we'd be here.
So I think it's been a little easier to play and freer in that regard. Yeah, every game obviously is a little more pressure now, it's the playoffs, every game is do or die. But we play the same way every year. You come to the field, you get your work in, you play the game hard. So it's not too much different.
Q. Jason, you've been able to observe Skubal up close for a few years now. What impresses you most just about him, especially behind the scenes, his preparation and routine, things like that?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. I mean, he definitely prepares as good as anyone and works as hard as anyone out there. He goes out and competes, and, yeah, he just really competes out there and gives us a chance to win every time.
He never backs down. He never shies away from a tough situation, and he's got tremendous stuff, obviously. But the way he competes out there is fantastic, and that's going to be exciting to see him go out today against Boyd in a game that we really need to win.
Q. You talked a lot about the last few months, but for you as someone who's been in this organization for a long time, what has it been like bigger picture to see kind of the rise of the Tigers from where you were when you first debuted to now being in the postseason?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. I've been in the organization since 2016, and obviously hasn't been smooth sailing really since then. It's been a couple of attempts at a rebuild and kind of up and down and up and down, and finally we're starting to put some pieces together and playing some good baseball.
So it's been really fun to see this team throughout this season kind of never give up and never back down, and obviously we made a really fantastic run towards the end. So it's been pretty fun to watch, and we're excited for the next few weeks of playoff baseball and hopefully years to come.
Q. Going back to the Spring Training, the offseason, was any of this with Skubal sort of predictable? I know he had a decent year last year, but could you have seen it coming? And what about his personality maybe lends itself to this kind of a year?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. I think we saw it coming. He was obviously -- you know, he was really good in the Minor Leagues, and obviously maybe he wasn't as good as the first couple of years in the Big Leagues, but he still had all the stuff and whatnot and just acclimated himself to the Big Leagues.
But when he came back last year, he was noticeably a different pitcher, and I would say he was more than decent last year. I think he had like a 2-5.
But, yeah, he was fantastic, and again, he works his butt off. He works as hard as anyone. So we expected that same mindset from him coming into this year, and we certainly all had confidence in him to be able to do what he's done this summer.
Q. The bullpen underwent a lot of change around the trade deadline and after that with some of the call-ups and everything. What do you think allowed this group to mesh as well as it did down the stretch with so many new faces and become a close-knit group?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. It's been tough. We lost Chafe, who was kind of -- and Chafe and Shelby, Lange earlier on, were all big pieces of this bullpen, threw really good innings for us.
But the guys that we called up, like Guenther and Hanifee, they've done a heck of a job for us as well. We're a pretty tight-knit group down there. Everyone gets along real well, and we're all pulling for each other.
It's fun. They've stepped up tremendously, and especially in all of the out-of-the-ordinary roles that A.J. has used us in. And it's just been fun watching everyone compete out there and get the job done and pass the baton.
Q. I know they're all different individuals, but what impresses you the most with all these young kids?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. They've come up in -- when I made my debut, it was on a team that didn't have really too much of a chance to make the playoffs. We were kind of down and out. And a lot of these kids came up on a team where we were in a mix of a playoff run, and you're asking guys to throw really important innings and get really important at-bats or pinch hits or defensive replacements or whatever they may need to do in a spot where they never really got to acclimate themselves to the Big Leagues. Their first taste of it was in a playoff race.
So it's been pretty impressive to watch all of them kind of not let the moment get to them and not let the game speed up on them too much and go out there and just compete and really get the job done for us.
Q. When Alex was here, Lange was here, he was kind of like the leader. He was the kangaroo court guy, right, and all that. Who's kind of taken over now as far as who's collecting the fines and who's taking charge of that down there?
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. No, Lange was a big loss. He was part of this team. I think 2019 we might have gotten him. I hope that's correct, but I'm not sure. But, no, he's been a good friend of ours and a teammate, and we miss him.
But, yeah, Chafin was the guy that was collecting the homer fines as veteran of the bullpen. I don't actually know where it went (laughs). I hope it's probably in Texas somewhere. But, you know, he was kind of collecting the fines.
But, yeah, it was a tough loss. But, yeah, we all kind of mesh. We're a bunch of young guys in a pretty similar spot.
Q. Are we officially calling this a playoff beard? Have you tried to rally more cause for that in the room? I know they're young, not all of them can grow beards.
JASON FOLEY: Yeah. I suppose. I haven't groomed it since like early August when we started to win a bunch of games. So I remember Scott telling me, I think it was in Oakland, he was like, Oh, you're growing a playoff beard. I was like, Yeah, I guess I might as well keep it now because we were playing really good.
Yeah, it's been tough to -- I guess tough to shave because we've been playing so well since. But, yeah, I wouldn't hate getting rid of it at some point, hopefully later than sooner.
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