Time flies really quickly. It feels like only a few months ago that I was traded over here and started my career as a Cub in 2013.

I'm extremely hairy. It pretty much connects from the top of my head to my toes with a nice upper body sweater/track jacket type of thing.

I try to start every day with some sort of vegetable and fruit juice before I eat any kind of solid food. Because that really jump starts your body and digestive system with the high content of micronutrients that your body needs.

There were so many things in Baltimore not many people know about. I had struggles with my pitching coach. A lot of guys did.

You rarely see any blowout games.

We're tested eight, nine times a year - blood tested, urine tested, so I mean, if people think I'm doing something, tell them to increase the testing.

The contract stuff will work itself out. If we keep winning, those kinds of things all work themselves out in time.

I could be 30 pounds heavier if I played football. But I play baseball, and I do Pilates.

It is good to kind of put your pride aside for the betterment of the ball club. We are all on board for that, even if you want to go another inning.

What I did before in my career you can pretty much throw out the window. Out of sight, out of mind.

I think flexibility in general is something that needs to be reinforced, and not only baseball players but all sports.

I think the beard plays a slight factor to my presence on the mound. It's kind of part of the persona now. Everyone in Chicago embraced it, so I got to keep it. I can't ditch it now.

There's food and supplements that you can take legally that will better your body and help you stay healthy. Shortcuts are something that's always been around all sports, but as a union, we're trying to do the best we can to weed those guys out of the game.

I enjoyed my time in Baltimore. I really did. I learned so much.

On the road, we're hitting in the cages during our normal batting practice for our position players.

As a kid, you put yourself in those positions. Bases loaded, two outs, you're at the plate. That's kind of the way I envision it as a kid playing whiffle ball or whatever the case was.

The preparation is what allows the success to happen naturally.

I want to shoot an elk with a bow. Mind you, I've never hunted in my life. But I feel like if I'm ever going to hunt, it's going to be with a bow. I just feel like a bow requires more skill.

People had lost faith in me in Baltimore, and rightfully so. I knew that was not the guy I was.

I've had some incredible experiences with this organization. I owe a lot to this team and this organization and the ownership. I don't want to see that time come to an end, my time as a Cub.

I've made it clear I like Chicago.

You want to be paid in respect to how your peers are paid.

A lot of guys came together quickly as a group, as more than just teammates, as friends. Your family get to know each other, and you become really close, and that's a big part of the team aspect is caring about your teammates off the field, getting to know their kids, their families, their wives.

I personally don't think guys should get multiple chances when guys fail a steroid test.

What I don't like to see is a lot of chirping and guys just talking crap to each other. If you got something wrong with a guy, go see him.

Once I get completely right mechanically and with command, maybe I only use two or three pitches to get through seven innings.

There's plenty of situations where we'll come up with guys on base, less than two outs, and those are opportunities for us to help ourselves out.

Guys want to be compensated fairly.

I'm not saying I won't make a mistake throughout the game.

I'd like to stay in Chicago, but if they don't want me, somebody will.

That's one the main reasons we live in Austin. The weather is so nice for the majority of the offseason, and it's easy for us to get out and ride bikes and get on some trails, to walk together as a family. Sometimes I'll go out for a trail run. We just like to do things outdoors.

If two guys want to go see each other, let them be in the middle, let them throw some punches, then break it up.

I care about the integrity of the game.

I like to get the body temperature up, the heart rate up. I'll do anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes either on a bike, a rower, a StairMaster, or a combination of the three of those. And then I'll normally run through a 20- to 30-minute session either on the Pilates reformer, the Cadillac, or the Pilates chair.

There's so many things running through your mind. If you can formulate a game plan that works for you and allows you to block outside distractions and get to what matters, that's how the talent is able to come out.

I had great teammates. Adam Jones took great care of me. Mike Gonzalez took good care of me.

I was giving some of my teammates a hard time, saying I've got more pop than they do.

At this point, I'm just grinding through it, trying to establish strikes in the zone with my pitches, using some information the opposition gives me, and kind of moving forward in that regard.

I watch what I eat, and I train properly.

I've never had anything to hide.

I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out.

'ACE' is one of the acronyms I've used over the years. It stands for 'Acting cures everything.' You weren't promised to come to the ballpark and feel great on your start day. Basically, how can you put something on display to the opponent that gives the appearance of 'OK, this guy is locked in today,' whether you are or not?

That's why it's so important to have that gap between your fastball and off-speed pitches: then, when you effectively locate your fastball, it plays at a higher velocity.

If people call into question my work ethic, that's fine, because I know what I'm doing behind the scenes.

Being in the same sentence as Bob Gibson, that's incredible.

I think the average MLB career now is just a few years. The quote that has always resonated with me is 'We're going to be former players a lot longer than we were current players.'

Hamstring flexibility and hip mobility for me are the two most important factors on the field.

I've heard players, and I'm talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I've taken steroids or not. Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.

When it comes up with my age, I'm like, let's just end the conversation there. That's irrelevant to me. I'll pitch until I'm 40.

Pilates has been around a long time but maybe was taboo in this sport. I think it's only a matter of time before you see a reformer in every big league clubhouse.