Q. Is there one particular thing about this Blue Jays lineup that makes them a different challenge than other lineups you see during the course of the year? One thing everyone always mentions is that they just don't strike out much.
CARLOS RODÓN: Yeah, there's not a lot of miss. They're tough to strike out. They force action. They put the ball in play. They make teams play defense. They're pretty athletic. There's also slug within the lineup.
And it makes it tough. There's times where you need a strikeout, and just the miss isn't there. They seem to have a really good understanding of the zone as well. So the chase is low, and there's not much miss. So they have a good idea of what they want to do at the plate.
Q. Does that change your approach at all?
CARLOS RODÓN: Not much. Obviously just trying to rely on some weak contact and force them to hit the ball. Hopefully it's weak contact.
Q. You and Max obviously both have had tremendous success. What do you think you've picked up from him this year, and what do you think he might have picked up from you in watching you?
CARLOS RODÓN: Max has had a pretty tremendous first year as a Yankee. As you know, it can be a challenge. He's been incredible. Max doesn't really rely on the strikeout. So I guess one thing from him -- I guess it's a good segue here.
Facing the Blue Jays, they don't have a lot of miss and they make a lot of contact. I just know that throughout my career, I've always chased the strikeout, and that's how I've pitch. And watching Max rely on weak contact and getting early outs and go deeper in the game, one thing I've taken from him is if we can get a two-pitch out or not make this a seven-pitch at-bat, it's better to force contact and let the defense do the work for you.
Q. I know you and Max had different arsenals, but pitching the game after him, is there anything like today you'll watch and take it in?
CARLOS RODÓN: I'll just watch. I'm going to watch how they're aggressive and how they take at-bats off him. We're not far off, but we're definitely not the same. We feature a couple different things. Just get an idea of how they approach him.
Q. How different is pitching in Yankee Stadium in the playoffs compared to the regular season?
CARLOS RODÓN: A lot. A lot. It's a lot louder. I can't say there's more people because it seems like we're always sold out, but I guess we're at max capacity during the playoffs, so I'm sure we stuff in an extra thousand that we can somewhere. We find places for them.
It's just the energy is a lot more heightened. It's really fun. It's a treat to be able to step on the mound in Yankee Stadium during the playoffs.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports