By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today
“I just want to do anything to help the team win. That’s all I’m concerned about. I’m not concerned about personal stats. You guys know my stats – I couldn’t tell you. I won’t ever look at it.”
That’s how new Cardinals reliever and former Marlins closer Steve Cishek described his attitude as he heads into the next chapter of his career. Acquired from Miami in exchange for minor-league right-hander Kyle Barraclough on Friday, Cishek spoke to STL Baseball Weekly contributor Bradford Bruns about his struggles earlier this season which resulted in a brief demotion to the minors, as well as his thoughts on joining the Cardinals and his role moving forward.
[Related: Cardinals acquire former Marlins closer Steve Cischek]
A few highlights…
On his struggles earlier this season: “I was just getting underneath my pitches. That took away some velocity, and my sinker flattened out. Especially to lefties, I had a really hard time locating a down-and-away strike; it would just take off. All they would do was sit on my slider, and they were just knocking it around.”
On his role in the Cardinals bullpen: “We have a great bullpen here, and I’m just here to do whatever,” Cishek said. “I’m a relatively quiet guy. I like to just follow along with whatever the skipper says. If he wants me to pitch the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, play right field if we run out of position players, I’ll do it.”
On Cardinal Nation: “I’m beyond thrilled to be here. To be a part of that atmosphere, to feel the energy, it’s going to be special.”
Read Bruns’ full piece from STL Baseball Weekly.
Feature image used under Creative Commons by user Corn Farmer. No changes made. Image license.
