This is not Blanton's style, however, even though his placid exterior masks a fierce competitive nature.
"I'm the kind of guy, I'm going to do pretty much whatever it is they ask," said the large righthander, who made two appearances out of the bullpen in the NLDS against the Rockies.
"They're not going to ask me if I can pitch out of the bullpen and have me say, 'No.' I'm not going to be that guy who does that. I'm going to do whatever it takes to help us win. If that means being in the bullpen or not throwing at all or whatever it is, I'm going to do as much as I can to help us win. And help us achieve the goal we've been working for all year.
"Either way. I feel like in the postseason, every game is big."
He said that going from being a starter the entire regular season, to a reliever at the onset of the playoffs, back to starting isn't a big deal.
"I mean, you get a couple days notice," he said. "So you've got those days to get mentally prepped and get yourself ready to get back in the mode of going 100 pitches.
"It's part of the postseason. It's part of what sometimes makes it fun, guys getting put in roles they're not really accustomed to. And you take it for what it is, try to help your team win, do whatever it is that you need to do."
Manuel didn't announce until Saturday's workout that Blanton would start instead of Happ.
"I didn't really even think about it," Blanton insisted. "I just tried to keep the same attitude the whole way through the postseason, not speculate on anything . . . I was just kind of being on call, I guess you could say.
