You never go into a season thinking you're going to strike out 200 guys or that you would have the most double-digit strikeout games in the big leagues, or anything like that. You just try to win, and the outing becomes what the outing becomes.

There's been this steady metamorphosis from just surviving to being a craftsman and, ultimately, the hope is to be an artist in what you do.?

I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of an organization that's committed to winning.

When you start a game, you don't think to yourself, "well, OK, I'm going throw a one-hitter today." It just becomes an organism, your outing becomes an organism and it grows.

The more I grew as a human being, the better I became at my craft.

I think what motivated me was just hope. Something inside of me, deep down in my guts, always felt like there was something in there.

It's a pitch you can extend your career with because it's less taxing on your body. It's like dog years, but in reverse. I feel like I'm 27 or 26 in knuckleball years!