- “I am just super excited for the opportunity to play. I’m so pumped to see what the Lord has done for me the past year. I’m honored to be chosen by the Mariners as their first pick.”
- “I had heard that the Mariners were interested. But it was a complete surprise. I hadn’t had any calls before or anything. I was just sitting there waiting and as soon as my name was called I kinda looked around at my family and then jumped up out of my seat. It was a complete surprise as I was watching in. It was awesome.”
- “I have no idea what the team is expecting of me, but personally I’d love to be in the majors by next year. I don’t know if that will be possible, I guess it will be tough for me to say now. But next year is when I want to be there if I’m ready.”
- “I need to refine myself more as a pitcher. I need more control of my fastball, keep it down a little more. I want to work both sides of the plate better, and have a little bit more command of my off-speed (pitches).”
- “I don’t expect signing to be an issue at all. I’m ready to go play and I’m excited for the Mariners giving me that chance. Last year, it wasn’t the right time for me. I felt that I wasn’t mentally or physically ready, but the timing is just right on this year.”
- “After my freshman year I was playing for a team up in New Hampshire, and I just asked if it was possible to be the closer for the team, and they thought about it and I threw a bit for them and they got the chance to see me throw, and it worked out. And I’ve never looked back from there.”
- “I tried too hard last year. This year I tried to step back and say, hey, all I need to do is be myself and do what I do, and that helped to take a lot of pressure off of me. I put a lot of pressure on myself last year because it was my draft year and the hype coming off the year I had in ’06. This year, I really didn’t have anything to lose after the season I had last year, so I just tried to put the draft in the back of my mind and just go out there and be myself and have fun.”