It's always, 'No matter what the outing is, you can always find a way to be a better pitcher.' No matter what you do.
Max Scherzer
Pitching is both an art and a science.
You're just trying to go out there and give seven innings. Seven innings, 105 pitches, that's a good outing.
I pitch to win.
Every single pitcher is making changes every single start. You can talk to any pitcher about this.
Sometimes you have to look at a start and say, 'Nothing is wrong.' Even when you get lit up, you still have to say 'Nothing is wrong.'
Any type of discomfort is going to alter the way I throw the ball. If I alter the way I throw the ball, I run the risk of major injury to my arm.
I beat the odds, and I beat the odds so many times.
You either get better or you get worse. Those are the only two options.
I know when I get to 0-2, 1-2, when I'm ahead in the count, that I hold a distinct advantage over every single hitter. I have so many options because I don't have to work within the strike zone anymore.
I just continue to keep getting better.
When I was 18, graduating high school, I was going to the University of Missouri.
If you look at it long-term, I think eventually there will be a DH in the National League.
I don't know what my record's going to be. I can't dictate it. I mean, obviously I have to pitch well, but it also takes the guys at the plate to show up as well.
Strikeouts are important. Anytime you can generate an out without the ball being put in play, there's nothing that can be done in those situations.
I'm not throwing a no-hitter Opening Day. It's just not going to happen.
I'm not worried about good numbers or bad numbers. You worry about the process.
Having a pitch clock, if you have ball-strike implications, that's messing with the fabric of the game. There's no clock in baseball, and there's no clock in baseball for a reason.
I've said it, I'll keep saying it, I want to be in Detroit. I've really enjoyed my time here. I really enjoy the clubhouse and everyone that's involved.
For me, I really enjoy helping out the Youth Baseball Academy. That's something that any time you're helping out the game of baseball with at risk children, that puts a smile on my face.
The advanced stats are great to look at for my long-term goals and what I'm trying to accomplish. It shows me there is an inherent failure in pitching. The luck involved, the factors you can't control. You just have to let go of those and focus on the next batter, the next game.
Perfectionist is sometimes the wrong word... It means like you're never satisfied, or you're upset by every single failure - any type of failure. And so for me, I don't look at failure as necessarily a bad thing as long as I'm able to learn from it and take something from it, so that next time I'm in that situation I know how to succeed.
Sometimes I have to try to remind myself that I don't try to strike out hitters.
I'm not trying to strike them out, but there are certain situations, when it's an 0-2 count or a 1-2 count, when I want to have a pitch where I want to strike you out.
You can't get too caught up in trying to pitch a complete game, because that's hard to do.
I understand why there is a push for an automated strike zone. However, I do think there would be some unintended consequences of having it that I think need to be addressed first before we would go down that road.
I'm not trying to throw six or seven pitches just to be able to strike you out. I'm trying to do it in three or four. It's the homework and the process between starts that I really focus on to help me do that.
Everyone wants to criticize my mechanics, but maybe I've got good mechanics that make the ball go up.
I don't get caught up in the hoopla, worry about where I'm pitching or if I'm pitching Game 1 or Game 5.
That's sometimes the hardest thing to do as a professional athlete, because when you get lit up, you wear it, especially as a starting pitcher.
That's when I'm at my best. When I can throw a fastball over in the count, just throw strikes both in and away, it just sets up all my stuff.
Any time I've put extra work in, I see results.
You have to be able to analyze yourself and critique yourself from every which way.
Sometimes in this game, you get punched in the face. And you've got to be able to take it and learn from it.
When you give your team five innings, you don't really feel good about five innings.
When Jim Leyland calls - and I have so much respect for Jim Leyland - when he asked me to play, you don't say no.
When you can celebrate with your teammates on just a major accomplishment, there's nothing better.
In previous experiences of being in the All-Star Games, you know, seeing the hometown players and how the fans get behind the hometown players, it's always been a special moment just watching that from afar and being on the other side.
A lot of times, I've always looked at pitching in the All-Star Game as a prelude to how you pitch in the postseason, sometimes how you might have to pitch on two days' rest out of the pen, only throw one inning and then you have to go face the best hitters. That's what you do in the All-Star Game.
Celebrating with your team after wins, that's the best.
You never stay the same - as a pitcher, as an athlete. It doesn't matter what you do, you never stay the same.
I'm a fly-ball pitcher, guys.
Your pitches have to be sharp every time out.
I love competing against the best.
For me, I'm always willing to help young guys, because veterans have helped me out.
Yeah, I've always been very straightforward when you start dealing with injuries. You always have to communicate with the trainers and the manager and the pitching coach exactly where you're at.
I think every facet of running has its benefits towards a starting pitcher. I mean, you're explosive off the mound and yet you've got to have endurance.
There's really no secret to this; that everybody's - they are going to have a game plan against me and I'm going to have a game plan against them. It just comes down to execution.
If I can execute pitches and keep the ball out of the middle of the plate, I know I can have success.
You always have to get better.
