Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly is brought
to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi,
everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosen House along with you as we
join you this weekend from Kansas City and Kaufman Stadium, where the Guardians are
taking on the Royals this weekend in a key Al Central matchup. Good show
lined up for you this week as we'll check in with Rob Sorfolio, get
a complete minor league report from the Guardians director of player Development, and we'll
focus in this week on single A Lynchburg. We'll also hear from Tanner Biby,
who is throwing the ball extremely well and he'll pitch on Saturday afternoon INKC.
And we'll visit with long reliever Pedro Avila, who's been just terrific since
joining the Guardians after being acquired from San Diego early in the season. We'll
also visit with John Kenzie Noel, the rookie who hit a home run in
his first Major League at bat on Wednesday over in Baltimore. But first our
weekend review and we begin Monday night in Baltimore, the first game of a
seven game road trip very challenging against the Baltimore Orioles, one of the top
teams in all of baseball. And then of course this series here against the
surprising Kansas City Royals and in Baltimore on Monday night. The Guardians got the
scoring started in the very first as Stephen Kuan singled. Andre se Menez followed
with a walk, and then Jose Ramirez came to the plate. The pitch
swung on shot into the gap of left center base said Kwan will score.
Hemantez big turnial, hold it second, and Jose Ramirez rifles an RBI single
to left center. He now has sixty eight runs panted in that is too
fewer than the Yankees. Errand Judge and the Guardians first three have reached,
and just like that, Cleveland has taken an early one nothing lead. The
Orioles answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first inning,
but the Guardians came right back in the second with back to back doubles,
first from Gabriel Arius and then bow Nailor the oh one pitch swinging a
bouncer toward first fair ball gets Biohearn down the right field line, kicks off
the sidewall on his way to second with an RBI double his bone Nailer and
gabra Y Larius scored easily from second. So back to back doubles from Arius
and Naylor the eight and nine men in the lineup. And that's bow Naylor's
seventh double and sixteenth ARBI. And while we talk about the depth and the
length of the Baltimore lineup, the same can be said about Cleveland's lineup one
through nine. Baltimore tied it again with a run in the third, and
it would stay tied at two until the sixth inning. That's when Ramirez stepped
in as the leadoff hitter. Well, we have played five innings and a
two two ballgame in Jose Ramirez hits the first pitch deep to center field and
gone not tied anymore. Three to two Cleveland as Jose Ramirez has hit his
twentieth home run, and so the Guardians have a pair of twenty homer bombers
Jose Ramirez and the man coming to the plate in Josh nail unbelievable season continuing
for Jose Ramirez and with that one run lead, Tanner Bibby was back out
there in the bottom of the sixth trying to contain the dangerous Orioles lineup.
Now the kick and delivery and the one to one, a swing and a
pomp up, this is playable. Third baseman Jose Ramirez, about halfway to
home plate to the left of the mound, makes the catch. What a
way to finish for Tanner Biby and once again a Cleveland starter is going six
innings? Man? Is that a game changer when you have the best bullpen
in baseball like the Guardians have? And then the Guardians bullpen took over.
Tim Herron worked a scoreless seventh, Hunter Gaddis put up a zero in the
eighth, and with a Monuel Classe getting a day off, it was Scott
Barlow getting the chance to close it out in the ninth. Two down Nobody
on three to two Cleveland. In the ninth, Barlow's ready, here's the
one two delivery, A swing and a mess got him with a wicked slider
down and away ball game. How about Scott Barlow strikes out the side,
gets his second save of the year, and it's sixth straight for the rampaging
Guardians. They beat Baltimore three to two, so good stuff in the series
and road trip opener in Baltimore for the Guardians on Monday night. Tried to
follow it up with a Tuesday night win against the Orioles and this was a
wild one as once again the Guardians got on the board early first inning thanks
to a big two out hit from David fry Here's David fry dhing. He
drives one to deep left down the line that goes it's going to get down,
It'll roll to the wall in the scores. Ramirez on his way to
second with a stand up double is David Frye Manneth acreage in left and left
center for a left fielder. That was a high fly ball hit down the
left field line, but there's just too much room to cover. And for
Austin Hayes, he did everything he could to get there, but he just
couldn't get there. So David Frye with his eleventh double thirty second RBI won
nothing Cleveland on back to back twoile doubles by Ramirez and fry But just like
the previous night, the Orioles responded in the bottom of the first inning with
their young phenom Gunner Henderson hitting a two run home run to put Baltimore on
top. In the second. The Guardians offense was back at it with two
men on and Gabrielarius at the plate. Now the two to one delivery swung
and ripped into deep left field. Hayes going back leap, SIT's over his
head, short hops the wall that'll score Rodriguez and Naylor, and Gabrielarius with
a two run double puts Cleveland on top three to two. In the second.
Another absolute laser, this time from gabriel Arius over the leaping Austin Hayes
in left. But again Baltimore tied it, this time with a run in
the bottom of the second inning, and they took the lead with another in
the third, making it four to three Orioles. The back and forth continued
in the fourth, again two men on for the Guardians, with Brian Rocchio
stepping in. Here's the pitch, swung on, ground ball on through the
left side of base. Hit that'll score Nailer. They're gonna hold Arius at
third as on it quickly as the left fielder Hays, but the Guardians tie
it on the RBI single from Brian Rochio. This game is tied at four.
Next up, it was Stephen Kuan. Here's the two to zero swung
on ripped right side base head right field, that'll put the Guardians in front.
Arius scores. The throw goes to third close play there in safely with
a slide is Rochio and moving up to second is Kwan with an RBI single
advances on the throw in. The Guardians take a five to four lead.
The beat goes on for Steven Kwan with twenty four driven in. Now just
a simple ground ball through the right side, and then with two outs in
a base open, Baltimore decided to take a chance pitching to Jose Ramirez.
The Guardians have been lethal with two out run production this season. Looking for
the big base hit here from Ramirez. Here's the pitch to him. He
swings and skies it to left center, to the left of center, way
back there, and it carries on out of here. Oh my, Jose
Ramirez with another deep drive just to the left of center and it goes into
the Orioles bullpen and there is the big two out hit. It's a three
run shot for Jose Ramirez and it's a five run inning for the Guardians,
who now lead it eight to four, but the high powered Orioles offense wouldn't
give it. A pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth
cut the Guardian's lead to eight to six. Then another run in the seventh
for Baltimore, and it was a one run game, eight to seven.
In the eighth, the Guardians, hoping to add a little insurance, had
Tyler Freeman get it started with a single, and then bow Naylor continued to
swing a hot bat. Here's the set. The pitch swung on, drilled
with the gap in the left center. That'll get down and it'll roll all
the way to the wall end to score. Is Freeman hitting second. Nailor,
he'll try for third. The throw up by the cutoff man and it's
a triple for bow Nailor and an army I and a huge insurance run for
Cleveland. They laid a nine to seven. The next batter was gabriel Arius.
Now the pitch swinging a tamper off the glove of the pitcher. Cano
Ricochet's in the right center. I'll face it, then we'll score. Nailer
and a four to two of this bounce for gabriel Arius and the Guardian and
Cleveland leads at ten to seven. If Canoe lets the ball go, it's
an easy play for the second baseman Westburg. There would have been no chance
for Nailer to score, but it ricocheted off Canoe's club at the mound and
no chance for Westburg to get it as it shot by him in the right
center for an RBI single. A three hit game for Arius, and he
has three RBIs tonight and again the Orioles cut into the lead with a solo
home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, making it ten to eight
Guardians, and then Emmanuel class A came on in the ninth trying to nail
down yet another say Rushman deepened the box open stance. He is hunched over
at the waist, hits out of a crouch. The pitch to him swung
on line drive leftfield, Quon coming on thanks the running basket touch ball game
one Oregon State alone retires the other and it's another series win for the Cleveland
Guardians. They have come to Baltimore and taken the first two ballgames against one
of the best teams in either league, beating Baltimore to night ten to eight.
Well, that proved to be the last win of the week so far
for the Guardians. As Wednesday, the Orioles won at four to two in
the series finale, and the first two games of this series have gone Kansas
City's way. They won two to one on Thursday night and on Friday night
it was a ten to three Royals victory. Stay with us when we come
back. One of the fun stories of the week the major league debut of
John Kenzie Nowell and it couldn't have gone any better. We'll hear about that
next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Home Ownership Progressive, we know
it's part of the American dream. It's sea to shining sea and water damage
as far as the eye can see. It's freshly mode grass and a fence
that was freshly vandalized by a pack of unruly teens. It's also around the
clock protection when you bundle your Homonado with progressive, which can help keep the
American dream of home ownership alive and kicking. Get a quote a progressive dot
com regresson cantal Future in compy affliates other chores and not the build of Middle
States. Now the one to one pitch, a swing and a high drive
and a deep center field bullance track walk don the third major league pitch and
John Kenzie Nowell, what a towering home run to center. How about that
debut? And it's there's one nothing Cleveland here in the second inning and he's
getting a standing ovation in the third base dugout. John Kenzie Noell, he
hit it as high as he hit it far and his feet still haven't touched
the ground. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. And there was the first major
league at bat for John Kenzie no Well on Wednesday night in Baltimore. We
talked to him the following day and he said it was a moment that he
will never ever forget. I mean, you know, it's very especially a
moment for me, like I says, dream come true to me, but
like it's annother day in the business to pa. You know, we went
out just made there was serious, man, you know, and I'm here
for having the team with the I know we're gonna do it. You know
he's gonna be there this year, you know, and he's better. A
special moment for me. And you get back to the dugout and your teammates
are going bananas. What was that like to come back and see their reaction
in the dugout. You know they did it too when they you know,
they dis time they came up and the big lead, let's say, and
uh, I mean they was too healthy for me. You know, it's
a high orld for me. And uh, I mean I got a great
team and you know, no doubt about it. You see it, and
we're gonna keep doing it like that. They don't do that for everybody.
They gave Brian Rokio the silent trip and when he hit his just kidding around.
You make it here at this point in time. You've had the the
ups, the downs in the minor leagues, challenges and then good times.
What's allowed you to get on a good stretch to get here this time?
I mean the day by day, you know, working in my uh,
in my hats, you know and stuff. Just try and pull the one
and play, you know, try and heat homers, you know, and
like the baseball guy give you to you. Let's say, Infie, I
take it, you know, basically the ob everything you know, I take
it, you know, and I just know, try and do too much.
Just pull the one play because I know I got a lot about one
and I thought it was interesting. I read where you said spring training one
of the most important things you learned was how Cleveland plays the game. What
did you mean by that? I mean, you know, everybody's here.
You just we're gonna pull the one place. Run de Be's hard. That
what we're here for. We're gonna keep doing that, and I'm gonna keep
doing my team too, run de bes hard. You know, have the
thing win, you know, and like we take it day by day man,
and you know we we're gonna make it this year. John Kenzie no
Well, joining us home running his first major League at bat last night,
earned his high school diploma and was given that diplomba in a great ceremony.
Two springs to go out in Goodyear, Arizona, and he explains what that
day meant to him. I mean, yeah, we still play baseball,
but we were like we got a ducation too. Like I say, I'm
working hard for English, for talk with you guys, for talk with my
you know, speak with my team and with my staff something like that.
For you know, I do a lot of I still do it because,
uh, I'm here in the United States and I want to you know,
uh talk with my with the mind you with you know, with everybody here,
and you spend your off seasons in the Washington, DC area, what
has that beened like for you in terms of being in such a vibrant part
of the country. To be around that all the time. I mean it's
beautiful. You know. I'll go into d C, you know, going
to the park. It's nice area over there, and yeah, I mean
it's like enjoy the day off with my family, and when I'm started doing
my work, I forgot about everything, you know, for just when they
just come through, you know, and we just play baseball every time at
Columbus. How much of the day to day do they think about what's going
on up here? You've mentioned it? What it The sole goal is to
reach the World Series here and win the World Series? How much is that
on the minds of players at Triple A. I mean, you know,
we got a great manager there, you know, every time, he's just
the same, He's just like, it's just you. You need to ruin
you as hard. It's no matter if you got here granbo Basi, you
know, and uh yeah we do. And then Colombos Natty Shame when you
get here, you gotta do the same because yeah, It's very important because
I don't know who You're gonna have us to win the World Series. Everybody
gotta be prepared for that, you know, you know, yeah, John
Kenzie, great to have you on. Congratulations on last night. Thank you.
I find young man John Kenzie no well and credit to him. The
English coming along nicely for the young man from the Dominican Republic who makes his
off season home in Washington, d C. As he said, great place
to be to enjoy a lot of the culture that this country provides, and
you can't get much more than that in that part of the country. And
that young man very popular with his teammates and it was a heartwarming day to
be sure on Wednesday when he hit a home run in his first Major League
at bat. Stay with us when we come back. We'll talk pitching with
Tanner Bibby and Pedro Abby La. That's next the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio network
Jim Rose announced back with you. We are in Kansas City at Kaufman Stadium
where the Guardians are taking on the Royals this weekend. Welcome back to Guardians
Weekly. Tanner Bibby has had quite the season for the Guardians. He will
head into his start on Saturday with a record of six and two and a
dropping earned run average of three point five zero. Monday, it was another
win, this time over Baltimore, and that was after setting career highs and
strikeouts and both of the two starts prior to that. We talked to him
before the outing hit Baltimore and we asked him if that high strikeout rate is
a good indication for him that his stuff is where it needs to be.
Yeah, I think so. I think I think not giving up the Homer.
I think consecutive hits is a big one because I feel like if I'm
executing my pitches and they got the good profiles on them, that I shouldn't
really be giving up Doctor Bouck hits. And I think lost outing was a
good indicator. And I mean even even the Cincinnati was a pretty good indicator.
I mean before the three on Homer, it was it was two week
hits, and I mean if they go a week hit week hit three on
Homer, I mean, I feel like it's gonna be a pretty rare thing
when I'm on the mound and he's got to kind of take your licks and
take your beatings sometimes and kind of get angry when when you look at pitching
deep into a game, you get through six innings in your last start.
Top of rotation starters. They're expected to do that, especially in key situations
when the bullpen needs a break and you really need a longer start. It
sounds easier said than done, though, what's the key when you know you
have to give innings and you're able to do it? I think, I
mean a couple of people have asked me about this. It's about like for
me, I'm always trying to go deep in the game. I always trying
to keep the pen with a light with a light workload. I think it's
just kind of creating a narrative of whether it's real or not, about why
I need to suc why I need to succeed, and why I want to
or not want to, but why I want to like pitch well and kind
of be holp be efficient and kind of just like it's a it's a mental
trick that I can come of play myself for to compete that day and execute.
So when you have a lot of strikeouts sometimes that tends to drive it
up. But is there a way to still record strikeouts and still get deep
into a game. Oh, I mean yeah, I mean I think it's
it's tough because I mean, I'm trying to throw my my nastiest pitch every
pitch, nasty pitch is executed, and if I'm getting a lot of swings
and misses, that usually means I'm getting pretty deep in not pretty deep,
but I can get deeper into accounts. I mean, I think it's got
to be a good mix of punch out. It's got to be a good
mix of maybe like some first pitch outs, but that's not something that can
really force. It's just kind of something that happens. Like I'm trying to
execute my best pitch every single pitch, whether that's a ground ball, that's
a swing and miss, whether that's a ball. I mean, I think
it just kind of depends on as soon as the ball leaves my hand.
It's kind of all on the hitter to decide what happens. You want to
be your best obviously in every start of the season, but it seems like
you're getting better as the season goes. That's been traditionally Cleveland pitching, where
starting pitchers have gotten better as the season has gone along. What changes for
you this year from say start one, two and three to where you are
now when you're seemingly more effective. I think just kind of figuring out myself.
I think at the beginning of the year trying to do stuff there was
delivery wise, profile wized that just maybe wasn't the right thing for me.
And I think just getting back to kind of what made me successful and kind
of what got me here. Like I think one of our phrases is like,
what got you here is not gonna get you to the next spot,
What's not gonna get you there? But I think sometimes you gotta fall back
down to the basics and you kind of gotta do what got you here because
that was good enough to be the elite of the elite. And I think
lately, I think I've gone back to my basics. I've made some adjustments,
whether it was body or pitches, and I think I think it's going
pretty good so far. I mean, just gotta keep building on it and
has been going really well of late. Thanks a lot for coming, b
I appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely always fun to talk pitching with Tan or
Bibby's got a great perspective on how he goes about it, and he has
gone about it very well for quite some time here this season, another Pittreu
has had a really nice stretch. Patrol avi La finally allowed to run on
Friday in Kansas City, snapping a string of nine consecutive appearances covering more than
twenty innings of scoreless baseball as a long man out of the bullpen, that
is not an easy role. He got the win on Tuesday night in Baltimore,
and when we caught up with him the next day along with translator Augi
Rivera, he talked about what has led to the good stretch of late in
a new role for him and lac On Fianza Epo. Yeah, I feel
like it's all about confidence. I feel like the team gave that boat of
confidence of me when I was kind of like my lowest as a player,
and I feel that like confidence has played huge dividends from me in the way
how I can throw the ball. And you mentioned that, and you start
the season with a different team and then you end up here very early on
and get an opportunity. What are some of the things that have happened here
that have allowed you to have some good success, yo, Oportuni And yeah,
I feel like in this business, there's a lot of very few for
throwers out there, for pitches like that, because there are a lot of
people are ready to contribute to many teams. So for me has been the
opportunity that gave me to you know, to pitch and to compete, and
also watching a lot of videos, videos that I moments when I pitch really
well in the past. So I've been working on those videos and that has
allowed me to pitch the way I'm pitching now. Yeah, I have a
starter's background, but you're in a role that that might be the hardest in
the pen, the long relief role, because he just there's no consistency to
when you appear in games. How have you handled that transition and what's allowed
you to have some success and a really difficult rolesla Mentally, yeah, I
feel it's very difficult, but I think the key is having a positive mentality
right Like always, this is really hard to pitch in a game. It's
like ten oh from your team or a ten zero against you. So my
focus is trying to help all the good pictures that we have in the bullpens.
So try to make sure whenever I get into the game, leave the
game the same way, so I can help them out, like the next
day you hail from Venezuela. There have been some really good hitters from Venezuela,
but pitching wise, uh, maybe underrated a little bit. What's it
like being a pitcher and that that background that that maybe you have in terms
of pitchers who were influential on you when you were growing up and maybe just
getting to pro ball Maulana, I feel like my two main references were Felix
Hernandez and also more closer a little bit, Kookie Carrasco, even though now
being a teammate, but those are the two players that I look after when
I was becoming a player. And you mentioned Carlos and also Brian Rokio Gabrielle
Aarius. What does it mean that they have some fellow countrymen on the same
team just from the day to day of kind of getting through a baseball season.
No, Phillyl don de jo eat feels really good, feel really good
to have those guys around. My previous team, I only had like two
fellow countrymen and one of them was a position player, so they didn't get
to spend them much time. But here, you know, we get to
spend a lot of time and you really feel that sense of teammates and like,
guys, we just want to be around every day. And you're part
of the best bullpen in baseball. What's that been like for you, Felim,
he thinks a previy lations to be part of that something so important,
also so so competitive. I feel it helps you make better features and become
a better preacher on a daily basically because you want to be you know,
always be the best, next to the best. Pedro, thanks so much
for coming back. Thank you so much. That's Pedro Avila, young man
who has resurrected his career with the Cleveland organization after being a career San Diego
padre prior to this April. Well, stay with us while we come back.
We'll hear from Rob Sirfolio get a minor league report for you. That's
next the Cleveland Clinic, Guardians Radio and Netport home Ownership Progressive. We know
it's part of the American dream. It's a land of the free and the
home of student drivers. Ready to beckon to your new fence at any given
time, and it's firing up around the burgers and dogs on your rusty grill.
With a faulty gas line that engulfs your tool shed in flames. It's
also around the clock projection when you bundle your Homonado with Progressive, which can
help keep the American dream of home ownership alive and kicking. Get a quote
a progressive dot com forgreson kensial future in company, offilios and other chories some
unbailpmental stakes. Chif Rosenhouse back with you from Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City,
where the Guardians are taking on the Royals this weekend, and elsewhere their minor
league teams continue with their seasons. Rob Sortfolio as the director of player development
for the Guardians, and this past week he was following the low single a
Lynchburg Hillcats, and we caught up with him to talk about last year's top
draft pick, Ralphie Velasquez, who's put up some tremendous numbers this year.
And Rob says, there's been tremendous growth for Ralphie since he joined the organization
just a year ago. Yeah, it's it's been an impressive summer for Ralphie.
And you know, Rosie, to your point, when you really put
the the age context around these players, you know, a lot of these
guys could be seniors in high school, especially some of the international guys.
So you know, Ralphie was obviously a high school kid we took last year
and for him to, you know, it's a really a really sizable talent
gap from playing against high school competition to twenty year olds in pro ball,
and what he's been able to do is is really impressive. And obviously,
you know that first season. You know, we've talked about this in the
past, just how much learning happens even away from the actual game time when
it comes to building a routine and professionalism, and this is almost like they're
these kids first job, so they're learning how to take care of their their
bodies and you know, kind of live away from their families. And it's
pretty impressive what what he and a couple of these other young hitters have done
at this level really you know, more than holding their own and doing some
impressive things just when it comes to you know, the things we've talked about
a lot of controlling, controlling the strike zone and getting your a swing off
consistently. And Ralphie's obviously a really talented hitter and can impact the baseball you
know, you've seen him put a charge in the balls up to one hundred
and ten multiple times this year, while also you know, taking some really
quality at bats and working counts and putting the bat on the ball and he
needs to, but also taking his walks and getting on base, and you
know, he's played a lot of first base. We've started to challenge him
a little bit with some outfield exposure, which is you know, potentially something
we might see in the second half this year in games. And really just
been an awesome first year so far for him and a couple other of these
young hitterers. Another young hitter at the Lynchburg level, and you mentioned you
with nineteen years old Jason Cherio, what are you seeing from him as his
season progresses? Again, should be a senior in high school. Put back
context around a nineteen year old international signing. Obviously, you know, everyone
knows knows his brother with with Milwaukee and the things that he's been able to
do. But you know, it's pretty fun to be around Jason every day
on our end, and you know, just see how he continues to grow
and develop and how he goes about his work, and you know, his
attention to detail and you know how he's really grown from you know, a
kid in the d R two years ago to now really like managing and planning
tactically for an at bat and you know, switch hitter that that obviously can
do some impressive things, just like Ralphie can put a charge in the ball.
He's productive from both sides of the plate. We've challenged him a lot
in the center field this year, you know, really trying to push his
athleticism, and he's also played some corner outfield, but just a you know,
a really talented young hitter that that has adapted nicely to this level.
He got a taste of it at the end of last year after he finished
up in the ACL, but he's made a pretty sizable gap. And you
know, we're excited about continuing to work with with Jason and hopefully pushing them
as we continue to go. And I thought it was interesting and you mentioned
those two Ralphie Velasquez and Jason Curio that there's something there that that could be
really special. Why do you say that And what stands out that that the
potential could be really really exciting? Yeah, you know, I think just
what the how they manage at bats and their consistency offensively and just how they're
getting to some of their production is really impressive for two young kids at this
level. You know, they're playing against young twenty year olds, a lot
of guys that played at premier college programs last year, and they're doing more
than holding their own. And that's kind of in all phases of some of
the things that we look at of getting on base and you know, putting
the bout on the ball, but putting the bout on the ball in productive
hard angles and they're you know, they're doing they're doing that fairly consistently for
two young players at this level is impressive. And I think the thing that
you know is most impressive, and we continue to challenge both these guys with
this is developing those pregame routines and habits that we want our guys at the
highest level to you know, we want that to be our identity as an
organization, like those winning habits of not being outworked and the value of preparation
and taking care of the little things and preparing for what you're going to see
from a pitcher and just seeing those guys both really lean into some of those
finer elements in the game has been a lot of fun and our I think,
you know, huge credit goes to you know, Jordan Smith, our
manager here and the rest of the Lynchburg staff for you know, working with
these guys each and every day. It's Robs Folio joining us. He's the
director of player development for the Guardians. We're talking single aid Lynchberg. There
are young players all over the place, and when we talk about work on
the mound, a left hand or high round draft pick a year ago for
the Guardians that maybe the youngest on the roster certainly and then maybe in the
league Alex clemy heart throwing lefty. What are you seeing from him as he
develops here at a full season team, Yeah, exactly that you know,
some of the some of the things that we saw in spring training and some
of the things that our scouts loved about Clem coming out of the draft was
projectable lefty, that that can run a ball up to ninety seven ninety eight,
and he's really now like pitching a six month season for the first time
in his life. You know, this is a Northeast high school kid and
those those seasons are really short, and you know, we've tried to be
smart about just protecting his pitch counts and being really mindful of those things so
that he can just pitch all year, like the value of learning from in
game and being challenged to be in the strike center and prepare his body to
you know, make a five day turn a couple times a year. So
it's just been, you know, talking to him the last couple of days,
a great learning experience in his first year. And I think what's been
awesome is he's continued to go out up there and miss bats and and really
learn who he is as a pitcher and the things he needs to work on.
And I give a lot of credit to him, you know, these
high profile guys that come in into high school. For him to be as
coachable as he has been has you know, that's been that's been a real
feather in his cap and just you know, really exciting for the future of
what this might look like in a couple of years. I know, sometimes
you look at at lines, whether it be for a hitter their stat line
or for pictures, and at the lower levels you don't necessarily throw them away.
But in the case of Jackson Humphries, you look at his line and
nothing really jumps out yet. But what is it that that you're seeing about
him that has you excited about Jackson Humphries. Yeah, you know, I
think it's I'm glad, you know, he's he's a name that's getting called
out and he pitched in this league last year, started in the a cl
similar to Clembian, another young lefty, but really has some high upside with
his stuff. You know, when Jackson's at his best, he's sitting load
a mid nineties from the left side, and he can really spend a couple
of breaking balls and you know, hasn't maybe had the scoreboard stat line production
that we saw from last year, but he's been again highly coachable and learning
some and us pushing him towards some things that we think is going to be
really important for him long term. So, you know, a guy that
still has really exciting stuff as an ultra competitive individual. And I think,
you know, when we zoom out a couple of years from now, we'll
look back on some of the things we were able to learn from him really
struggling for the first time in his life as a positive and you know,
I give a lot of credit to him and Tony Arnold are pitching coach of
just keeping you know, locked in on the things that we want to get
out of this year, and regardless of the performance, I keep him motivated
and keep him working towards the things that hopefully help the long term. And
one other name that we'll we'll touch on this week. At Single A Lynchberg,
you've had some movement and this guy actually moved along on up to Lake
County at a little bit higher level at single A roy. Let me get
it right, Rourke Maltrude, You got it? And what did you see
from him during his time in Lynchburg that that allowed him to be called up?
Yes, you know a little bit of a different profile on the than
the last two guys and the two young hitters we talked about, older guy
college, you know, pitching the SEC and we signed Rourke as a minor
league free agent. Was actually a name we talked about on draft day,
you know, last year. So we're able to get him in the off
season. And you know, he was a really nice stabilizing factor for for
some young arms in this level, and he took care of his his business
and you know, just as a guy that can really throw strikes and showed
the ability to miss bats, so you know, to bring in some some
undrafted free agents that are hungry for an opportunity. It was fun to launch
Roorke pitch and you know, really do a nice job here in the Carolina
League. And you know, was was excited we were able to challenge him
Now County down down the back half of the season. So you know,
a guy that you know, maybe the you know, the average fan wasn't
tracking, but I think his performance in Lynchburg and you threw had his first
outing last night in Lake County and did a pretty good job as well.
So hopefully we continue to get some some real quality, length and consistent outings
at him. Well. Rob is always a pleasure. Enjoy your time in
the Carolinas and we will catch up with you again real soon. Thank you,
Thanks, Rosie, appreciate it. That is Rob, Sir Polio,
the director of player development for the Guardians talking single a lynch Burgos. Kids
are ways away at just eighteen and nineteen years old, but he'll be here
before you know it if they continue to put up the good numbers and always
fun to find out who's hot and potentially on their way to the big leagues
at some point. In time when we catch up with Rob each and every
week, that's going to do it for this week's edition of Guardians Weekly.
As always, thanks to Brian Matse for all the help in putting together our
show each week until next weekend when we join you from downtown Cleveland at Progressive
Field as the Guardians will take on the San Francisco Giants. This is Jim
rosen House reminding you that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Planet
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