I caught the tail end of Jack's interview this morning on WQAM with Hank Goldberg. They covered a variety of topics in a short period of time, but here are some of the highlights:
- Jack said that he's very high on Danny Graves and would definitely be interested in Graves if he becomes available. Jack made it clear that he was expressing just his opinion and that it was not an organizational one, at least not necessarily. Jack went on to say that he thinks Graves will be successful again after some work with a pitching coach and regular work out of the pen.
- As I tuned in, they were talking about Leiter. Hank wanted to know why Al came out after five innings. McKeon talked about his high pitch count (108) and five walks. It sounds like Al will get another start, but I don't think McKeon has been wowed by Al's impressive road splits.
- McKeon said that the skumps (he said slumps actually, but you can't have it all) that Lowell and Pierre are in right now are mostly mental. They're both working very hard - possibly over working, in his opinion - to correct physical issues, and that's not driving the poor batting averages. Jack actually said he wished he could talk Lowell into not picking up a bat for two or three days, so that Mike could just come back fresh.
- They raved about Cabrera. What's not to love?
- Jack sounded pretty frustrated overall. It's hard to blame him. They've lost five of six and have gone 10-11 in their past 21 games.