Some guys, first pitch of the at-bat gets called a strike - maybe it's a ball off or below their knees, and it gets called a strike - and then the next two pitches, they swing at balls in the dirt, and all of a sudden, they're yelling at the umpire about that first pitch. You just swung at two balls in the dirt, buddy.
I kind of wish I would have been able to see the old Yankee Stadium after seeing the new one.
To a certain extent, I enjoy failure. It's part of the game. There's always room to grow; there's room to improve.
There should always be competition. You should never feel comfortable, no matter where you are at. If you are a 10-year veteran, you should not feel comfortable. For me, that kind of just drives me, that kind of unknown of what is going to happen. The unknown is kind of what drives me.
When you're facing a different guy every at-bat, he's coming at you with his best stuff. There's no warm-up; there's no 'see a pitch.' You've got to be locked in from the very first pitch... The biggest thing is do your homework before the game starts.
You have to have a great fielder at shortstop, and you've got to have a guy that has good range and good hands in center field.
During the season, I usually work out two or three times a week. I'll do a full-body workout after games. I plan it out the day of.
When I was younger, I'd always forget stuff. I think there was probably 4-5 times where we'd drive 30 minutes to a town for the baseball tournament, and all of a sudden, I'd get to the field and look in my bag, and I didn't have my cleats. So my dad had to race all the way home to get my cleats and get back before the game started so I could play.
I just take it one day at a time, try to forget about what I did the day before. Go out there like every day is Opening Day.
When I think about 2017, I feel like it was just another year. It was a whirlwind, but I wouldn't have wanted it to play out any other way. I'm glad I was in New York. There's nowhere else I would rather play, and there's no other group of teammates that I would rather be around.
There are some great pitchers in this league. You're going to get fooled sometimes. They're going to get you.
In baseball, you have to remain calm, cool, and collected. In football, you can let out a little anger sometimes. It was a fun game, and I liked it, but I knew in my heart I was going to play baseball.
Fighting for a job - that's been my mindset every Spring Training.
The mental game is what separates the good players from the great players. So anything I can do to get that mental edge to help me stay my best, I'm gonna try and do it.
I'd rather be in a good position in the playoffs and holding up a World Series trophy than holding up an MVP trophy.
Ever since I got drafted by the Yankees, I've been working on my swing.
For me, all my negative thoughts that I have about, 'How did you miss that pitch? Why did you miss that pitch? You shouldn't have missed that pitch.' I just kind of sit there and kind of crush it up, and once I'm done doing that... I just kind of toss it aside.
If I keep taking my good swings, swing at the right pitches, good things will happen.
I just focus on what the team needs me to do to win.
Being around veteran leaders such as CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner really helped me.
