Q&A with D-backs pitcher Tommy Henry

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox. This week's newsletter featured a Q&A with pitcher Tommy Henry.

MLB.com: You’ve been on a really nice run of late, what do you feel has kind of been the turning point for you?

Henry: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the offense when I’m out there. I feel like a lot of times gets us off to early leads and that just makes pitching a little bit simpler. And so I've tried to take advantage of that and I've really tried to focus on putting this team in a position to win, whatever that is. That simplified approach has freed me up and just allowed me to be competitive, and so I think that really just focusing on that and forgetting all of the other statistics or goals or whatever it may be, trusting in just trying to win each fifth day has freed me up. I mean, it's just fun to be in that dugout when you're winning, so that's another part of it, too.”

MLB.com: That would seem like it takes a little bit of pressure off you when you put the focus on the team winning.

Henry: That’s why we played this game in the first place, right? We enjoyed winning. Like when you were a kid you enjoyed grabbing ice cream after the game, or for me, it was a pop at the concession stand, the free pop you'd get when you won. We played this game because we wanted to win and so sometimes that gets lost in the development process of trying to focus so much on making yourself better, trying to reach your own personal goals, all that stuff. Having a different focus just feels good and I think that's kind of the root of why we're all here in the first place.”

MLB.com: Is that the reason you were able to handle the questions about Shohei Ohtani’s 493-foot homer the other night? Because you guys were ahead by five runs at the time and won the game?

Henry: Yeah, and I guess the other part of it is no one out here is going to be perfect. You could still argue if you pitch a perfect game you made mistakes and got away with some. So the chase for perfection in this game would be so tiring that I think that part of it is a waste of time. Failure is going to come and I think the easier it is to kind of let it flow right off your back and maybe chuckle about it in a winning situation sets you up for more success in the future.