Gibson remains confident in ‘talented’ team
Mar 15, 2012, 10:25 PM | Updated: Mar 16, 2012, 12:18 am
Spring Training hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Many teams don’t put stock in the wins or losses, but instead the readiness of their players for the grind of a taxing regular season.
The D-backs didn’t expect to drop nine of their first 13 Cactus League games this spring. Manager Kirk Gibson doesn’t have answers for his team’s early struggles, but he isn’t panicking.
“I went through this last year,” Gibson said. “I am not going to lie we’d like to win more games. I can’t really explain why we don’t play better down here at this point. I do have confidence that we’ll play well when it counts.”
Gibson is encouraged by his team’s work ethic this spring and he believes that will translate into wins when the bell rings in April.
“I know we have a very talented team,” Gibson stated. “We were really focused in putting this team together. I am not going to get frustrated with it. I am not going to allow myself to do that. Quite honestly, I feel bad for the fans, too. [The players] are working. Maybe we’ve consumed their minds with too much, I am not really sure. But we’ll be fine. I know that. I am very, very confident in that.”
While Gibson wishes the early results were different, his primary focus is getting his Opening Day roster back on the winning track.
“I want to win every game,” Gibson said. “At the same time, it is different. I don’t want to become complacent with it and if it’s going to happen, I am very happy it’s happening now. This would be much tougher to take during the season.”
