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I study pitchers. I visualize pitches. That gives me a better chance every time I step into the box. That doesn't mean I'm going to get a hit every game, but that's one of the reasons I've come a long way as a hitter.

I try to do my best every game to help the pitchers and help my team win. That's it.

The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. Period. That's what you do to pitch. That's what pitchers have to do to win games.

This day and age, you look at baseball as a whole, and not just the pitchers' side of it. You have the weight programs, you have the technology, and as a pitcher, you need to keep up.

There are three types of pitchers you have to deal with. Some, you just have to tell what town they're in, remind them where they are. Some, you remind them about mechanics, and some, you have to bust their tail. You have to make them your friend and have them trust you.

Usually during the regular season, if you're starting pitcher, you're kind of walking back and forth from the clubhouse to the dugout and not really paying attention to what's going on.

I think that's why I like baseball. There's something great about it - you're young, the pitcher's young and he's got this great arm, and he doesn't really realize anything about strategy.

Pitchers make adjustments, and it's up to the hitters to readjust and sort of tweak what they do.

It doesn't matter what the scoreboard says. I'm always having fun, talking to other guys. They even come to first base and ask me about hitting. I try to help them out as much as I can in the 30 seconds before the pitcher throws the next pitch. That's me. I don't think I will ever change that.