Once again my voice recorder was not working so I have had to rely on my notes for this transcript.
BB: Ricky Romero has pitched better in the second half of the season, was his improvement mental or physical?
DJ: Mental, but one complements the other, when you have more confidence and feel better about your pitching it allows you to perform better physically. Ricky has pitched well in the second half and has also worked on his stuff, he has a better two-seamer now with more movement.
BB: How has the other Romero, Davis, recovered from labrum surgery?
DJ: He has come back strongly, he is just as good as before the injury, his velocity is the same. We are looking at his program for others who had labrum surgery, we had him long toss after pitching and that might work for others too.
BB: Brad Mills has two excellent pitches but his fastball is only average and he tends to pitch up in the zone with it. Are you trying to get him to improve his fastball?
DJ: He is working on it but I think it will work in the major leagues due to his other pitches, even if it is high it comes out like his curveball so it's not obviously a fastball. In general we would like every pitcher to get their fastballs down but in Mills' case he should be OK. With Mills command is the key for him to be successful.
BB: What do you think of Robert Ray's progress this season?
DJ: He has done very well and remember he is coming off an injury in 2007. He has his confidence back, he needs his command to be good to succeed. His change-up is a lot better, he needs to work on his curveball now.
BB: Marc Rzepczynski is doing well but he has stayed at Lansing all year, are you happy with him?
DJ: He is doing perfect, don't read anything into his non-promotion we are very happy with his progress. He has a good two-seamer, a good slider, and his change-up and curveball are improving.
BB: Will you convert Tim Collins into a starter for next season?
DJ: I have it under review, maybe not but we will see.
BB: Similarly will Andrew Liebel and Evan Crawford start next season?
DJ: Yes.
BB: What happened to Gus Chacin, he has been on the DL for a while?
DJ: He blew out his knee, his ACL. He is working on his rehab from that.
BB: What was wrong with Kyle Ginley?
DJ: Kyle had an oblique injury, he is almost back (BB - is back now). We are thinking of sending him to the AFL if his health situation is OK.
BB: Who caught your eye in the GCL this season?
DJ: Well Ryan Page pitched well and we promoted him to Dunedin, he has a good two-seamer, a change-up and a developing cutter.
BB: Who has the best fastball and change-up in the GCL?
DJ: I would say Henderson Alvarez, he gets it up there at 92-93 mph with movement which is good for an 18 year-old. He also has a very good power change-up. His problem is that he doesn't know where it is going most of the time but he does have lots of potential if he can get it together.
Batters Box thanks Dane Johnson for his time.
