In an All-Star game the players are having more fun than usual and showing their personalities more than usual. And there are guys in this game - I'm not one of them - who are historically good. First-ballot Hall of Famers.
When I step onto the mound for the first time in a game, I remove my cap and look under the brim to read a message I write to myself with a Sharpie each season. It's a private reminder to stop and reflect on how lucky I am to play professional baseball.
You can't have an ego in the bullpen. At the end of the day, we're a group. We're only as good as the sum of our parts. Whatever you're called on to do that day, you've got to be willing to do it for the boys.
An A's fan made me a Darth Vader helmet but painted in A's colors.
The pay in the minor leagues, I think it's terrible, it's disgusting, it's exploitative.
I've pitched in a lot of different roles in my career. I've been the middle-inning guy. I've been a lefty matchup guy. I've closed. I've kind of done a little bit of everything.
There are some guys that can roll out of bed and they can throw 96 from the very first outing. I've just never been one of those guys.
As a fan, Kirk Cousins has this very quiet, composed, confident demeanor that seems to be pretty even-keeled. We don't see him show a ton of emotion. I think that's part of what makes him successful, that he's able to not get too high or too low throughout the course of the game and he keeps his head down, keeps plugging away.
