On a mission

We’re definitely hungry. Not that we weren’t hungry last year, but it took so much to get there… Last year, we were happy to get there. This year, we want to win a World Series.

Making the last out against Colorado sat with me for a little bit, but after, I realized what we’d accomplished in making the playoffs and winning the division. The way last year ended hurt, but it didn’t kill us because we hadn’t gotten there in forever. That was a high in itself. This year, we feel like we belong here, and if we lose in the first round, it will hurt a lot more. This year, we expect to be here and to go further.

Everybody keeps talking about last year. I’m over it. We have to put it behind us. I think the only thing I would say we can take from last year is experience. We’re not thinking about what happened. You only want to think about what’s going on now. I think things will go better.
 
It felt like we were so happy last year, and it was such a big accomplishment to win the division. I’m not saying we should beat everybody this time around, but we should play up to our potential. We have experience. We’ve been there. We know what it’s like.

There’s no question that we’re on a mission. Overall, the dimension of our team is better. The lineup has been shifted around. Our bullpen is deeper. Our starting staff has done better. Experience will play a big part.

I don’t want to get swept again. I expect us to go further. I expect us to go to the World Series.