This will be a very exciting day for him. He's put in as much hard work into becoming a starting opening-day player as anybody that we've ever had. He's had 11 years in the minor leagues and to get this nod at this time in his career has to be very gratifying.

You have to like what you see. His humility. His work ethic. His passion for the game. . . . The beauty of a young player is when they force your hand.

They got their work in and built up their pitch count, which is all we wanted.

It's been a little rock in our shoe. We'll work it out. We ran the bases outstanding all spring. For whatever reason we've made some mistakes on the bases. We'll get it tightened up. We've got the athletes to do it.

I want him to do some more work on some of the things we talked about coming up from Triple-A. He worked this afternoon with Davey on reads and breaks in the outfield. There were some things we wanted to check on and try, and tighten up for him before we went ahead and got him involved. He'll get in over the weekend.

Nothing provides an opportunity for growth more than adversity. They can handle it one of two ways: they can deal with it, become better from it, work through it. They can feel sorry for themselves and make a bad situation worse. So, it's all part of growing up and I expect them to handle it very professionally.

I'm going to give him some time to work out of it.

I'm happy for him. We've all put a lot of work into this project. He's put a lot of work in. The organization has put a lot of work in. Coach Collins has put a lot of work in. If a guy's going to pop, you sure would like for him to pop on your watch, in your organization.

His humility, his work ethic and he has a unique passion for the game. And he's going to be what, 21 next month? So, he just needs to play, and we'll see how it works out. The beauty of any young player that can play is when they force your hand.

But to get out of there with three runs, he did OK. He got some things accomplished but he's got work in front of him.

We need cleaner innings from the bullpen. He has had a lot of people on base when he has been out there.

Leaving a game in the fifth inning I wouldn't think would make any pitcher happy, ... Sometimes different things will motivate people different ways.

He has said the same thing for three outings. I'd like to see him make an adjustment. . . . We have people in Colorado who have seen it, but it's been awhile. If he knows what's wrong, God bless him. Fix it. It's been a long time since Zach Day has pitched well.

He has that strikeout pitch. When you can strike people out you can paint yourself into a corner because you have that way to get out of it.

We probably didn't get the number of runs we should have been able to get. We left a lot of people on base.

When you have a reliever that's a power guy that can strike people out (80 in 67 innings pitched), he's never out of the inning. As wild as some of these innings have gotten with him, he's been able to put them away.

Every year at this time of the season you tip your hat to them. If you ever get people saying that about your organization you are in good shape.

Very rarely do I like to soapbox for one of my players, but if this guy is not in serious consideration, all the people involved in the process are missing the boat. This guy had his side cut open. The way he's pitched, it needs to be recognized.

We created depth all winter long to be prepared if something like this arises. Three years ago this happened and we were in a shambles. You never want to see people injured, but it is part of the game. You have to live with it. If you have depth, living with it can be a easier.

The thing was, people we had talked to over the winter didn't want to come our way. We were able to get three of them halfway through the season. So it wasn't by design.

It's a situation we can live with because we worked to create the depth we have. We have people in place to step up. We have the depth to be able to deal with things like this now.

It's played out well so far. We've got options. You're never going to replace a Todd Helton, but you've got capable people that can come in and you can move some people around. It's not as big a drop off as maybe we've had in the past.

I've had a number of people come up to me this spring, unsolicited, and tell me that he's the best defensive catcher in the National League.

After the line of games he put together going into this start, I had my mind made up when I got to the ballpark that if he gave us good effort through six innings, that's going to be plenty. Leave his confidence at a high and turn it over to the people who have gotten us in position to build some of the momentum we've been building.

I really believe there are reasons you see so many people that have limited celebrity, or a lot of celebrity, have these special-needs children come into their lives, ... I do believe that it's part of God's perfect plan to get the message out.

These guys want to take some momentum into '06. They are looking forward to letting people know that we're going to show up and play.

The confidence that comes from getting on any type of run gives you that confidence once you initiate that run again. We've got to pitch well, we've got to play solid defense and we've got to get timely hitting and execute, which is what we did for the last three months last season - with a lot of guys people didn't know against a lot of teams with some pretty big names.

He understands the mentality of why we use him in the ninth in close ballgames because he's the best pitcher we have available out there,

We've got to play and win games. That's the best answer to all the baggage that any group will carry here that plays in Colorado from the previous records. This group has an opportunity to define itself and separate themselves from some of that baggage.

He didn't crack. It was a good outing for him, not having his best stuff and the conditions as they were with the wind, and to keep making pitches through the four innings and put zeros on the board, it was a good outing.

He didn't have his best stuff tonight. His command wasn't nearly what it has been in the past. He had a four-run cushion, wasn't really able to capitalize on it. But he still left the game with a lead, so it wasn't a lost effort by any means. He battled.

We weren't at our best offensively. Batista didn't make it any easier on us.

With respect to the privacy of himself and his family, I'm not going to make any comment on his condition, other than the fact we believe it's in his best interest to put him on the disabled list. The doctors acquired all the information they needed.

It's not something we drew up in the dirt. Our best chance was to put him on.

I've had a number of people come up to me this spring, unsolicited, and tell me that he's the best defensive catcher in the National League.

If you watch the game, you know why. He's the best defensive catcher we have had here. Defensively, he is a playmaker . . .

His demeanor, his rhythm, the pace of game -- all of that is what you expect and what you need from your No. 1 starter. That's something he can bring every night, whether his best stuff's with him or not.

His counts got cleaner. He started with an inconsistent command, behind in counts. He got better as the game went on. There's better there, but that's winning without your best stuff early and then tightening up as you go along.

He's the best hitter in the league that nobody knows about, from my perspective. He's starting to get talked about more, but he's a real good hitter.

He's the best hitter in the league that nobody knows about.

He's strung together probably two of the best games in the big leagues.

He's not making his best pitches in traffic in his three starts so far. That's the next step for him.

The game's at home and you're tied. It's not a save situation. I thought (Fuentes) gave us the best shot to get to the ninth and score a run.