David Ross

John Lackey is the alpha of the Cubs clubhouse

Who's the alpha on the Cubs right now? [John] Lackey. I would say... This dude's an absolute animal... He's going to be pissed [if he doesn't make the postseason rotation], and rightfully so.

The World Series hangover is a real psychological and physical phenomenon for players

I think what you're seeing in baseball with the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs... is that the World Series hangover is for real, and these guys needed a little bit of an all-star break and now have hit their stride... It's as much mental as physical.

A quality Latin player who can bridge the language barrier is the most important part of a good clubhouse

The biggest part of a good clubhouse is a quality Latin player that's able to communicate both sides... Like a Pedro Strop. Awesome dude... And he can mix and match. Like he can help me understand maybe if a guy doesn't speak English... The personality is hard to break when you have that language barrier.

Successful pitchers need to have a bit of an 'asshole' streak to be effective on the mound

No doubt [pitchers need that streak]... the day [John Lackey] pitched, he's the biggest asshole on the team. You love him for it because he brings... an edge that we didn't have. He brought that F-you to the other team... sometimes putting a chip on your shoulder or having a way to get yourself going when you're older... that's important so you may need to take your mind to a different place.

You only need to pick off or throw out one runner to scare an entire team out of trying to run on you

It takes one, and then everybody thinks they can run on you, and then you throw one guy out, and everybody stops... I just talked to A.J. Hinch, and he's like, you threw out George Springer... we were going to run everywhere, and everybody got scared... throw out one guy or pick one guy off, and it's over with.

Philadelphia Phillies fans are the worst in baseball to play against

[Worst city fan-wise?] Philly. That wasn't even a hesitation. They get on you with a hatred... Literally wanting to like anger in the face. Like they mean it... I really like I want to fight you right now.

Teams should not shift their defense when they have a large lead

If the game's out of hand, do you still let them bunt? You shouldn't shift. You're taking away half the field for me... I'll stop trying to get a hit as soon as you stop trying to defend a whole side of the field... If you're up 9-1 and you're shifting, that's a dick move.