I'm not trying to be cocky, but I set such a high standard for myself. I'm not happy when I pitch seven innings and give up two runs and get a win.

I refuse to be molded into some stereotypical ballplayer that has no interests, really, no life, no depth, no intelligence.

I hadn't focused on mechanics since I signed professionally.

When I'm doing well, it's like I'm in a nice little ballet. Everything is going slow all around me. It's very peaceful.

There's a part of me that wants to go streak and run outside and jump around and go swim in the ocean and do everything. The other part of me wants to bear down and repeat this kind of performance next year and in the years to come.

Regardless of what you want to call it, guys need some type of spirituality they can grab onto. If it's Christianity, which is a very structured approach, or if it's something that's a little more open-ended... like, Zen's something you can make yourself a part of. You can interpret it for yourself, like Taoism and stuff like that.

I just write mechanical things.