Jon Jay

It just seems fitting to put these two together. They both referenced each other in their interviews, and though it would have been awesome to see them together, at least getting them both to talk to us was worth it.

Let’s start with Jon Jay.

We didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but he seemed just as excited as everyone else to kick off this season.

On the World Series win:

“It’s amazing when you think of all the little things that happened. But now I’m focused on 2012, and it’s time to turn the page to the new season.”

On preparation:

“Once you taste success, you want to keep going and get better and better. … This isn’t the type of team where you have to go check on guys to see if they’re working in the offseason. I’m ready to play all three [outfield] spots. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m going to show up prepared. If my name’s in the lineup, I’m going to play. We’re coming out to win.”

There were a couple comments about Jay’s shoes (Jordans today) and his hair (or lack thereof), but most of the conversation was focused on him going into this coming season, playing along side veterans like Carlos Beltran and such. He’s one of the many who will travel to the White House on Tuesday, and when he was asked if he was excited about it, his face lit up. I can’t say that I blame him.

Moving on to Descalso.

About the World Series:

“I’m slowly letting it all sink in.”

About the team:

“We’re excited, and we’re getting ready to go in 2012.”

On competing for a job:

“All you can ask for is a chance to be in the lineup every day. I’ll show up in spring training ready to win a job. … If you’re not here to compete and battle out there, you should probably just go home.”

On his mentality on the field:

“I see it as what can I do today to help the team win? I just try to keep it simple out there. Just catch the ball and throw it to first.”

Descalso quite clearly is ready to get back into the swing of things. Personal biases aside, I think he’ll have a great chance to be on the field every single day. Granted, it might not be at the same position, but we won’t know that until the season actually starts. He did tell us that Matheny reminded him to “show up and be ready to play second base, but don’t forget about the other two spots.”

His versatility will be invaluable to this team, given that people need to rest. As he moves forward in the season and in his career, I’m looking forward to seeing his consistency at the plate trend upward, which should make that already good OBP trend upward as well.

Consistency and hard work will pay off for both of these guys, and given their attitudes towards the game, the season, and this team, as well as the taste of success from the past year, I think we’re going to see stand-out seasons from both of them.