Q. We were just talking with Mark about the pitching staff, obviously the excellent outings we saw from Blake Snell and Yoshinobu. You'll be working with Tyler today. What stood out to you about him, whether his outing in Philadelphia or even how he closed out the regular season?
WILL SMITH: His last outing was really good against Philly. Six zeros, that's what we needed. It's been a year of ups and downs with him, with injuries and stuff. But missing last year I know hurt him a lot, missing the playoffs. He's happy to be out there this year helping us win ball games.
Q. Very different challenges for you, I imagine, last year and this. Last year handling all the bullpen games and the multiple players, this year, the starters. How has your challenge changed?
WILL SMITH: Yeah, last year was definitely different than this year, piecing them together, the bullpen guys and stuff. This year we have the luxury of really good starters. We have basically four number ones and some guys in the pen starters coming in, Emmet. So it's just different. Going one pitch at a time, one inning at a time and trying to win a ball game that day.
Q. How have you seen Tyler handle the adversity within the game, and is he better than he was last year?
WILL SMITH: Yeah, he's in a really good spot right now. Looked really good his last outing against Philly. He's at his best when he's attacking the zone, getting ahead of guys, just like great pitchers do. That's what I expect him to do today.
Q. When you're working with a guy whose job is typically a reliever, compared to a guy who is a starter who is being used as a reliever, is there anything you do differently?
WILL SMITH: Not really. It just more kind of depends on the guy, just knowing who they are, trying to get him in the zone as quickly as possible because it is a change, trying to figure out what's working right then and right now.
As a starter, they can kind of ease in a little bit more, where bullpen, they're coming in, seventh, eighth, ninth inning, trying to figure out what's working that day. A little bit, but it's just attack the zone and kind of be themselves.
Q. I know when we spoke during the NLDS, earlier in that series we asked you about your hand. You said it was essentially 100 percent. Is it something you even have to think about at this point or you have to manage in between starts?
WILL SMITH: Yeah, I still do treatment and stuff on it every day. But once the game starts, it's feeling good. Don't have to worry about it at all.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports