Obligatorily, Thursday's pregame press conference was an opportunity to poke at the open wound that is the Detroit Tigers' closer situation, getting a daily update on how Jose Valverde is feeling and doing, and whether or not he might resume his normal role.

And, as we were the last few days, we're still no closer to getting a definitive answer.

Here are some of manager Jim Leyland's thoughts:

Q. Jim, I think it's been four days since you said we're going to start working with Valverde and see if we can get him fixed. What is the state of where you are with him? A: He is in a good frame of mind. I have been checking in with him every day. He is in good spirits. He wants to win, you know, so it's just a situation that we see how it plays out. But he's a terrific teammate. He is in great spirits and a great frame of mind right now.
So, once again, we'll just have to wait and see how everything plays out.

Q. One more about Jose. What happened on Saturday, did that actually affect him psychologically? What happened in Game 1 with Jose Valverde, did that actually affect him emotionally, or he is just a closer and moves on?
A: One thing I liked about him, he always has been able to turn the page pretty good. But to say that it doesn't affect anybody I think would be stretching it. I think that it affects you immediately, no matter who you are, whether you strikeout or you blow a save or you make an error, what it is.
But I think the good guys and the good players are able to turn the page rather quickly, and he is one of those guys that can do that.

Q. Did it linger a little bit more with that? A: I can't answer that. I don't go home and have dinner with him. I just talk to him when they come to the ballpark. And I talked to him in the outfield yesterday, and he seemed absolutely normal to me.