Toward the end of last season, everyone saw the Rays move away from the walk-focused ways of the Joe Maddon era.

Today, Rays skipper Kevin Cash offered a telling choice of words regarding the reason why.

Cash hopped on the Rick & Tom show on WDAE-AM 620 this morning (audio below) and said it was the “front office” that challenging players.

It’s widely known how much influence the Rays’ super computers and their programmers wield on lineups, personnel moves and overall approach, but it it’s always noteworthy when the manager comes out and says it.

“We made a very conscious adjustment with Derek Shelton, Jamie Nelson, our hitting guys, and then our front office basically challenging our players, ‘We gotta get more aggressive. We’re putting ourselves in some odd counts, some backwards counts. Let’s see if we can change that up a little bit. Get a little more aggressive. We’re not asking anybody to swing out of the zone intentionally, but be ready to hit from the 0-0 pitch,” Cash said.

Cash went on to say what a credit it was to the players for being able to adjust midseason. Of course, why they had to adjust at all is the much bigger question.

Enjoy the full interview below. Good stuff.