Usually when you get on the sweet spot of the bat, you don't really feel it.
I never want to play timid or scared of anything, especially when my pitcher or my teammates are out there going 100 percent.
That's what it's all about - postseason baseball.
The big thing is, it's about learning which off-speed pitches to swing at. A lot of people say, 'Oh, this guy can't hit a curveball; this guy can't hit an off-speed pitch.' But it's about swinging at the right one. Swing at the hangers. Swing at the ones you can handle.
This is a crazy game we play. You're going to have those times you can't get out, and those times where you can do everything right, and the ball does not fall.
That's why you get three of them. Say you get one that you don't think is a strike, and they call it on you: that's why you get two more.
I needed to go to college. I needed to mature.
My dad told me, 'If you're going to go out there and play baseball, or you're going to play basketball or football, work hard at it no matter what. I want you to have fun with your buddies, but you have to put in the time because this is your craft.' He didn't just want me to be good. He pushed me to that next level.
My dad played junior college basketball, and he always showed me clips of Michael Jordan.
I really don't like splitting my workouts into lower body one day, upper body the next day - that makes me I feel like I'm working out every day, and I feel like I'm more tired during the season than I need to be.
When I'm lifting heavy, doing squats, and doing upper-body workouts, it's mostly about core and stability. But I'll still do deadlifts. I also do tire workouts with these big 600-pound tires, flipping them and stuff like that.
I'm not too worried about stats and stuff like that.
I've just got to go in there and get some quality at-bats and do my job and help the team win any way I can.
You can never come into the spring feeling like you've got a guaranteed spot. Once you do that, you kind of get stagnant, and someone's going to pass you up.
That mindset never changes. It should never change. If you've been in the league for 14 years or been in the league not even a day, you should have that mindset that you're going to go out there and prove yourself and earn a spot.
To put on the pinstripe - it's extraordinary. Just being able to play one game with the Yankees is quite an honor.
That's one thing that's a passion for me: teaching.
44 is a number I really like.
My dad was my role model; he always did the right thing.
My goal every year is to come in and be consistent. It doesn't matter if it's the first game of the year or it's the last game of the year.
