Q. Hey. First off, congratulations. What was it like when A.J. gave you the news, and what are your thoughts going into Game 1 of the ALDS?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. He kind of texted me on the plane and said, You're going Game 1.
I said, Let's go.
That was the extent of it. I didn't put much thought into it. I was getting my body for a start, and that's kind of the only difference.
Q. Troy, at the start of this year, did you ever envision you would be here starting a playoff game?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. Honestly, if I could have drawn it up, that's what I would be doing. But it's kind of cool to look back on it, how fast it has happened.
But yeah. When I started the year in Eerie, I didn't want to finish the year in Eerie. So obviously much better to be here in Seattle starting a playoff game than whatever I would be doing right now.
Q. You've bounced back and forth between being in the bullpen, starting -- obviously, not your normal typical starter workload. You've had to start games and you've had to come out of the pen. How have you maintained -- you're the same person, right, no matter what role you're in. How were you able to do that?
TROY MELTON: I think it's just who I am. I'm pretty even keeled as it is. Once you get out on the mound, the job is exactly the same. You want to get outs as fast as you can, as much as you can. Kind of makes it easy when your mentality kind of -- it doesn't change for me at all.
So it hasn't been too big of an adjustment. Whatever they need from me, I'm ready to go for whatever they want.
Q. What's the process of keeping all your pitches ready or as many as possible when you're preparing for a start compared to when you have to be ready out of the bullpen on a given day?
TROY MELTON: Keeping them ready is similar. Even when I'm warming up for a relief outing, I throw all my pitches, and you don't have as much time to let them all play, especially as you do when you're starting. You have a little bit more -- when you have more pitches, there's just more opportunity to throw different pitches more.
So they're all ready to go. I mean, it doesn't change at all for me other than when I see a guy for a second time, I can give him different looks. Out of the bullpen, you don't really typically see a guy twice.
So does change the approach a little bit from like a game-calling perspective, but they're always all ready to go.
Q. I know we talked to you after you made that start in Cleveland near the end of the regular season, but when you had the chance to kind of soak it in and realize what it meant for these guys getting into the postseason, how much satisfaction was there about the way you handled that?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. I mean, it's always nice to pitch well, obviously, especially if it leads to a win. But I still really haven't taken a look back on all that much. I'm always looking forward to the next day and what I can do to get better and what I can do to help this team to win. So whatever the role is, it doesn't really matter to me.
So it's nice being able to start and being able to contribute in that last one I did. So I'm just happy about it, really.
Q. Obviously just a couple days ago you entered a game in a really big spot, and it didn't quite go your way. Have you had time to kind of process that? Were you able to flush it? Just how you feel about it a couple days later?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. I think flushing, like you said, is kind of what I've done. Looking back on it, I watched the pitches. Really the only three pitches that I made mistakes on, they hit all three of them.
Some of those things with baseball that it's going to happen to you sometimes. It's nothing that was in the strike zone. I had good stuff. Nothing I'm really too concerned with as far as that. And just they put three good swings on three mistakes that I made, and that's the name of the game.
Q. Not just a quick flight from California up here, but is there -- but will you have any extra family here for this being on the West Coast compared to pitching out East?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. I've got my parents coming out, and they haven't been out since we were in Sacramento. So it's a little bit now. So it's definitely a cool opportunity for them on top of opportunity for me.
So I'll love to see that. I'll see them tonight and tomorrow before the game. That will be a nice little reset just mentally, and then I've got some coaches coming up from who I worked with in the off-season.
So pretty cool. A lot of people have gotten me to get to this opportunity to be able to start. So cool to see some of them to be here and support me. It's awesome.
Q. When you were pitching in college, were there any outings that you made in the up in the Pacific Northwest?
TROY MELTON: No, I've never been -- I don't think I've ever been -- I mean, a way, Pacific Northwest; I pitched in Alaska in summer ball once. But I've never been up to Washington or Oregon, so it's my first time up here.
Q. You pitched in Alaska?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. I played summerball in Alaska for a full summer.
Q. What was that experience like?
TROY MELTON: Interesting. It's a different place. Especially growing up in Southern California. It was my first time, like, long term being away from him home, and it's definitely much different than California.
But it was awesome. I really enjoyed it. Beautiful place. Probably saw as much as I need to see of it in two and a half months, but it was cool.
Q. I wanted to ask about your fastball too. That has been a pitch that you've relied on that's been good for you. Mix and match, in the zone. What's been the progression like in how you really trust that pitch, not only in the Minor Leagues, but now at the highest level, on the biggest stages?
TROY MELTON: Yeah. I think I do it a little bit of a different way than a lot of guys do it. I have a different release, and I throw pretty hard. So just when you see results like that and you are getting swings and misses, it's easy to trust it. Obviously fastballs get hit too, so there's a give-and-take with it.
So kind just trusting thing in Raj, whoever they're putting down. I'm not shaking off all that much unless I'm really feeling something. I just try to trust everything, to be honest with you, and just try to execute as well as I can.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports