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. This
weekend. We're in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where the Guardians are taking on
the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. They dropped the opener of the series
on Friday night to nothing, and they will play again on Saturday afternoon at
four ten Sunday at one forty to wrap things up pre All Star Break,
and then it is the All Star Break until Friday. Coming up a little
bit later on. On this week's show, we will get a full farm
report from Robs Orfolio, the director of player development for the Guardians. He'll
talk double A Akron some of the top prospects there. We'll also visit with
hitting coach Chris Baleka, young star on Hell Martinez who's made quite an impression
in a very short period of time in the Major League. Say, and
we'll have an All Stars segment right now with some of the All Stars that
are going to the game in Arlington on Tuesday. Night, David Frye,
Josh Naylor, and Emmanuel Classe, and we'll start with David Frye. Quite
a first half for him, and he'll be one of five guardians on the
American League squad Tuesday night in Texas. Named much much earlier to the starting
lineup for that ball game was Jose Ramirez and also Steven Kwant and then fry,
Naylor, and Classe announced last Sunday, and we caught up with fry
shortly after he received the news they had made the team and asked him if
he thought it was a possibility or if it came as a surprise to him.
I didn't know how it all kind of worked. So whenever Kwan and
Jose found out that they were starting, I kind of thought that was the
team. So I was like, okay, there's there's no other All Stars
going. And then when we had the meeting, I was like, oh,
I guess other guys are getting voted in And then they told me I
made it so pretty cool. The game is in your backyard from where you
grew up, not far. How close is it and how exciting is that
for you? Yeah, it's about fifteen twenty minutes from where I grew up
and where me and my wife lived now, and yeah, pretty cool.
Have a bunch of family and friends there would be really fun. I'm sure
your reaction was great. What was their reaction? They were, Well,
it was like they told me, like an hour before a game, so
I was like trying to get ready for a game and text them, and
they were all fired up. They were trying to get all the stuff figured
out to get to the game and all the getting all the merchandise and stuff.
But yeah, they're they're super excited. David Fries joining us, And
David, you mentioned yesterday the fact that so many of your teammates are going.
Why does it make it that much more special for you to be able
to join them? Yeah, obviously. I mean everybody's been telling me how
special of a moment that it is to take it all in, and the
fact that you get to do that with your teammates and a bunch of guys
who are doing it for the first time like me, it is pretty cool.
And I wish, like heck that we had more guys going. I
think we could have had and I said the other day, I think we
could have had pretty much our entire bullpen on the All Star team. But
the fact that we have five just shows the group that we have and how
well we're playing this year and hopefully keep it rolling. And it's not done
yet. They're they yet be more going at some point in time. And
you mentioned how the team has played this year. For you, this time
a year ago, you're just trying to establish yourself at this level. Have
you ever thought about it in those terms, how far you've come in this
game? Yeah, you know, you tried kind of not to just try
to take everything day by day. But yeah, me and my wife sit
at the house like just talking about like, holy Cally, you said this
time last year, we're just hoping and praying that we stay in the big
leagues because we're not playing at all, and just hope that we can stick.
And then this spring training just hoping that we make the team and maybe
get to play every now and then. Now, this it's pretty crazy.
Is there one aspect of your game you think that's allowed you to get over
that hump and become an All Star? I don't know that it's one.
I think probably a little bit of everything. Just I'd obviously vote and his
staff helping me get on the field more is a huge part of it.
And just how much each of our coaching staff from infield, outfield, catching,
hitting, like all of it, how much they've helped me progresses the
last couple of seasons have gone on. And what can something like this do
for a team that already seems to play with so much confidence and fun when
this type of things happened individually for some what can it do for this team
collectively as they head into the break. Yeah, I think kind of perfect
time. You know, like everybody starts looking towards the break to like,
oh, all right, we're gonna get a few days off and try to
guys start to let off the gas but a little bit. And then we
have you know, meetings where they're announcing All Star guys and stuff, and
it kind of gives you a little jolt of energy for the last week or
so to kind of push through hopefully when these next seven games and going to
the break strong. David, congratulations, man, it's great news. Thanks
a lot for coming by. Appreciate it. That's David Frye going to his
first All Star Game in his backyard. He was heading home to Irving,
Texas anyway, in the Arlington suburbs and now he'll get to play a ballgame
on Tuesday night for the American League at the All Star Game. Josh Naylor
another first time All Star. What a first half of the season it has
been for him, as he's sitting at twenty two home runs, already reaching
the seventy RBI. Mark met with the media shortly after finding out he had
made the team, and, as usual, not one to talk much about
himself, he gave a lot of credit to his teammates for putting him in
the position to succeed. No, it's awesome, and give a lot of
credit to my teammates. I think as a group, we make each other
better every single day, and I think a lot of other players are more
deserving Hunter Gaddis, Kate Smith to do what he's doing as a rookie,
Tim Herron, He's been incredibly great this year for us. I think a
lot of us should be All Stars, and you know, I'm just I'm
grateful to be one and looking forward to representing this team and my teammates and
coaches and this organization during the game. For your first time to be able
to be with four teammates and they got other guys were to be part of
a big How how sweet is that? I have an That's awesome. You
get a chance to celebrate each other's success and be with each other there and
just soaking all the opportunities and all the moments as a group, and each
of our families will be there, which is great, and it's uh yeah,
it's just it's a cool opportunity looking forward to it. Injury, yeah,
I mean, I mean, it wasn't it wasn't that bad. We
all get hurt. You's got to keep going in life. I guess that's
just what Like my parents appreciate me with that. Injuries, like you can
either like shut down and give up or spight through it and the continue on.
And you know, this is this is my dream as a kid to
be in this situation being the big leagues and dream for my brothers too.
And you know, my parents kind of lived through us because we worked so
hard for them to get here. And I just whatever happens in life,
it kind of happen. You just got to keep rolling with the punches and
keep your head up and just keep moving forward one step at a time,
month forward to time, and things will be all right, typically, uh,
the first Canadian we all stars here something like that period. That's awesome.
I love representing Canada anyway. You know, it was difficult as a
kid to make it to where I am today. Not many kids do,
and you know, it's a blessing. We don't get scouted like you know
American kids do or kids from other other countries do. It's it's kind of
difficult coming from Canada. So I just try to be as great as I
can on the field for the for the next wave and you know, be
a positive influence for that next group coming up and you know for my younger
brothers and stuff like that. As difficult as it was, it was,
I wouldn't change anything. I think being an underdog is like a blessing.
Just keeps you working hard and you know, people count you out. It's
it's fun to kind of you know, well and keep your head down and
just keep doing well. Who does everything and everything it's he's played so well,
that's you know Steven basically, Yeah, tries to find a way to
get him in the lineup, just you know, touch on his journey and
how cool is it someone like him and work that he's put in and everything
he does for his team. He's a he's absolutely incredible. You you can
ask David to do anything and he'll do it. He'll play centerfield, he'll
catch and play shortself if you want him to. He's he's a true gamer
in my opinion. We value him so much, and he's come such a
long way in his career and been willing to just be such a versatile player
where he'll do whatever you ask him to do. He just wants to be
in that lineup and help the team win. And he's such a great teammate.
He's such a positive person. He's extremely outgoing, and we are We're
so blessed to have him. I'm so proud of him that he's an All
Star. And you know I told him after the whole selection stuff was done
and he wasn't picked, I said, bro here and all Star. Like,
whether you are a reserve or not, you're an All Star of my
book, and I I appreciate everything you've done for this team and me and
this organization because you're you're a true gamer. And I love the way he
plays. He just hustles day in day out. Whatever position you throw him
at, you'll dominate. It. Wherever you put him in the lineup,
he's ready to just whack and he's he's so great. That's Josh Naylor heading
to the All Star Game for the first time and very much deservedly so,
going for a third consecutive time. Guardians closer Emanuel Classe a stellar first half
this season. E leads the American League and saves and the other numbers across
the board just terrific. He talked to the media along with translator Augi Rivero
earlier this week about how he's been able to get the job done so consistently
for such a long stretch. No, but vol has been the focus from
the day one is just to execute every single pitch and miss a lot of
fewer pitches. So I think that's the result of what we're trying to do
from day one. You can't be surprised about being on the All Stuck team.
But but what is your reaction. I mean, it's still important because
it's part of the goals when I start the season, and fortunately, like
I mentioned before, it's been partly focused to get things done and most important
that I've been healthy to to be able to accomplish that. It's being an
All Star in Texas where you got your start, meaning anything more to you
as I'll go and Blaena probably the Yeah, there's a little motivation, even
though obviously it's not the same ballpark what I pitched when I make my debut.
But still there's something special for being going back to Texas as an All
Star picture this game last year, missed the red carpet, seriously looking forward
his brand carpet and anything playing for I'm not going to have you card to
show anything different at Silver and I just try to be myself and bring my
flow to the carpet. That's a annual class one of five Cleveland Guardians.
We'll be at the All Star Game in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday night.
Stay with us when we come back. Who knows, maybe a future All
Star on hell Martinez, he's off to a great start in his major league
career. We'll talk to him about it next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio
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Welcome back to Guardian's weekly Jim rosenhouse along with you from Tropicicana Field in
Saint Petersburg, Florida, where the Guardians are taking on the race this weekend.
On Hell. Martinez has had quite a start to his major league career.
He's been an on base machine since joining the ball club. With ten
games in, he has been getting on base in that number two hole in
the batting order, seemingly a perfect fit there, and we talked to him
about the keys to fitting in so well from day one. I think it
is on the semi game on the same that I came to this team to
help them win and trying to take away like all the teams that don't matter,
you know, like understand the game, my strand the abbos, his
strength, and I think that's what helped me to how this is said that
I have and we've talked about it before. Growing up in the game,
having your dad having played in the major leagues, how much has he been
a help to you? Allah allah i man, I can tell you how
much, like he's been helping me. You know, he always watching every
single game, every single bad and most important, and they'll see someone He's
always there like nesting me and working with me, and I just want to
thank him. When you look at at some of your success that the play
you've been very patient. You're drawing your walks. How hard is that to
do sometimes when you come up here to be patient and not swing at pictures
pitches. Yeah, I think, like I said, like understand, you
know, understand who's hitting behind me, who's hearing from me, Understand like
where the picture or the opposite team trying to do with me? What is
my strength? I think all that I'm putting it together and I think that's
been helping me to be a little more patient and help Martinez joining us tremendous
at the plate and playing a lot of outfield so far. You're a career
infielder. How's the outfield going for you as you play it here at the
major league level. It's going It's going good. You know, we got
an excellent coaches staff. They've been helping me a lot to like be uncomfortable
out there in the outfield, so flink good. What is the biggest challenge
to being successful out there for you? That's a good question. For the
hardest part. Yeah, that's a good question. I think just like understanding
it's a process, you know, don't trying to be somebody that I'm not.
You know, like just come outside every single day, put the work
control that I can control and just learn from you know, just trying to
bring a good energy and like trying to help the team however I can to
put the wing a day on the day. I think that's what been helping
me. And it was about a year ago at this time. Rob Sorfolio,
the director of player development, met with you while you're with Columbus in
Toledo, and that was the first time they mentioned outfield. When they said
that to you, what did you think and did you think that that could
open up a door to get here? Yeah. Honestly, at the beginning,
I didn't. I didn't want to go to the outfield. I think
I was having like some issues, like with what's going on in the season.
But talking to my dad, talking to my family and like let them
know what was going on and what the team, the organization bring to me
to the table. I think that's why my dad's been a big part of
my career because he's always there, like to get me a badge, to
give me a hug, and to help me understand like the game and like
all the teams. Then that all the all the door that that can open
for me. So at the beginning, I didn't, I didn't want to
go to the off field, but then like talking to him, he made
me understand what was going on, and yeah, here we are. And
I'm gonna guess he might have talked to you a little bit about playing for
a winning team and you've joined one of the best teams in baseball. How
have they helped you your teammates fit in and feel comfortable. I'm not gonna
lie, it's it's awesome because they made me feel like part of the family,
you know, like that I'm always like being here and belong here.
You know, they always like trying to reach out to me and being with
the arm open to me if I got concern, if I if I need
summer bags for anything. They always like there for me and I really appreciate
I love it. It's been a great stretch here for you. I'm sure
thanks a lot for coming. I appreciate it. Thank you. That is
on hell Martinez off to a great start in his major league career. Stay
with us when we come back. We'll talk hitting with Guardians hitting coach Chris
Baleka. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Welcome back to
Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhaus back with you in Saint Petersburg, Florida this weekend
where the Guardians are taking on the Tampa Bay Rays and weekend series here heading
into the All Star Break. And one of the big keys for the Guardians
that has had them atop the American League Central Division most of the year has
been in improved offense, as they have been at or near the top in
the American League in several offensive categories after a year ago struggling mightily. Chris
Paleka is the hitting coach, and we had a chance to check in with
him about some of the things that he talked to his players about along with
his staff during spring training to improve some of those offensive numbers from a season
ago, and The Guardian's hitting coach says, so far, it's gone about
as well as anyone could have envision. Yeah, you know, I think
it's it's probably exceeded what we thought going into it. You know, seeing
these guys what they've done in the off season and then taken some of the
messaging, you know, into spring training and then into the regular season,
it's been a kudos to them, you know, to that point. Also,
don't want us to get hung up on, you know, trying to
be a one trick pony now either and you know, only only selling out
for slug or looking to do damage. You know, we still need to
continue to prioritize the little things hit with runners in scoring position, you know,
capitalize on opportunities when we do, you know, the heavy lifting.
The season's full of ebbs and flows, and you're past the halfway point.
Now, where are some of the things that you keep an eye on as
you get deeper into it, and the dog days of August and all those
things that are going to come at you as your team tries to stay in
a in a real good place playoff line. You know, I think the
biggest thing is just going to be like volume control with these guys. You
know, it's it's going to be hot through the summer, so you know,
just being smart with how much we're working. You know, we're not
going to stop working. It's a young team. You know that we're we're
still building routines for these guys, but just being aware of you know,
how much we're hitting on the field, what we're doing in the cage.
You know, knowing that these guys are you know, playing every day.
You know, bulk of our guys are playing every day. So that's probably
one of the biggest things. But then you know, continuing the message,
like I said, you know, with our decision making, continuing to message,
you know, doing the little things right, the way we've run the
bases, the way we've created opportunities, but you know, continuing to put
pressure on teams when we do get opportunities, cashing in those runs. Chris
Palaka joining US Guardians, hitting coach and Chris, let's start at the top.
Yet you have too all stars in the starting lineup for the American League,
and we'll start with Stephen Kwan already had a great base to work with
heading into this season. What have you seen him in him that's allowed him
to elevate his game this year. I mean, he did a great job
this offseason, you know, taking it very serious, but working on the
things that we isolated you know at the end of last season, just the
need to get to elevate the ball a little bit. You know, he's
hitting the ball considerably harder than he has done in the past. He's always
had the elite contact, the elite decision making, so it was really just
leaning into those things. And you know, I think experience also helps too.
You know, him going into his third year now, he's settling in,
he's knowing what pitchers are trying to do to him. He's learning to
take those chances. You see a lot of those, you know, some
first pitch home runs, some of those things where he's you know, maybe
not ambushing a pitch, but he's taken a shot on a pitch and then
he can always dial it back you know later through the at bat. Like
we've seen the Stephen Kum that we've had over the last couple of years,
Jose Ramirez, it so consistent from year to year. Have you seen anything
knew this year that's been impressive for him? I mean, he's he's probably
the poster of consistency, you know, seeing what he's doing with the RBIs
and driving those runs in. It seems like, you know, when he's
getting those opportunities, he's finding ways to cash him in. It might not
be you know, a personal result and getting a hit, but he's finding
a way to ground out to second or fly out somewhere and take a sackfly.
So, you know, I think he's such a professional when it comes
to that, you know, biggest thing. You know, you're seeing his
power numbers tick up. You know, I think he's what at what he
had last year, close to what he had last year already going into the
break here. So you know, he's just he takes care of his body,
he knows what he's trying to do. He has, you know,
such great retention to pitchers. He's face what they're trying to do to him.
So you know, I couldn't be more pleased with what he's doing.
A couple of their players and we'll keep him in the same family, the
Naylor brothers, different challenges. I'm sure with Josh, what do you have
to keep an eye on with him to keep him going in the right direction.
And a lot of stuff with Josh just revolves around, you know,
his own control and his decision making, you know, much like Hosey when
there when there's opportunities to drive runs in to be the guy to shoulder that
and you know, get those guys in so you know, when when other
teams are game planning, just like we game plan, there's guys that get
circled in the lineup to not let them beat them. So you know,
when it's Hozy or it's Josh, you know, just the more they can
control the zone, force them back into the zone to do the damage that
they do. When they start expanding and trying to, you know, do
too much, you know, they might get away from their plan. And
you know, at Bat's end, because those guys have such great contact.
And how about bo Here's a young man who struggled for a while at the
start of the season. But it sounded from your perspective like you were pleased
with the work and his willingness to stay with some things. What did you
mean by that and what have you seen lately? You know, just he's
done a great job. You know, he's worked through some swing changes over
the last couple of years. I think just him settling into something that works
for him right now. You know, he's controlling the top of the zone.
That's been that's been something that has been attacked over the last couple of
years with him being in the big league, so, you know, him
learning to manage that. His swing decisions have always been good. You know,
I think that the biggest thing is just getting consistent at bats. You
know, we're sticking to the same plan in the cage. We're trying to
help him game plan. You know, he has such you know, he
only has so much bandwidth with you know, all the responsibilities of catching and
running a pitching staff that you know, what we can take off his shoulders
is you know, getting him a plan, you know, and then he
takes that plan up there and tries to execute. So, you know,
seeing him buy into that and trust us with what we're trying to give him,
you know, it's been really really nice to see the changes he's made.
As always, you've had some young players come up and make major league
debuts. Let's start with Daniel Schneeman, who guy seems to have a great
idea every time he comes to the plate. He's he's been great. A
lot of these guys that have come up have been great. You know,
he's not scared. You know, he plays with that chip on his shoulder.
You know, I love the way he goes about his business. And
you know, the biggest thing for him right now, he's on the fastball.
You know, guys coming up to the big leagues, teams don't know
him. You know, everybody's got computers, so they might have an idea,
but they're still going to go out there and shoot their tracers, try
to figure out what they can can and can't hit. And for him to
come here early and get on the fastball and show what he can do and
show some of that impact potential that we know he's had in Triple A or
different levels, you know, for that to translate the big league so quickly
has really been really been nice to see. And very small sample size for
anhell Martinez, but you've got a pretty good look in spring training. What
is it about this kid? As you excited? I mean I think he's
just you know, coming into spring training. He just physically matured. He
looks stronger, he's he's growing into his body. I think he's more confident.
You know, he comes from a pedigree. You know, his dad
played in the Big League, so he knows what to expect. So,
you know, just like Schneemann, he's not scared when he's up here taking
as at bats. He knows what to expect. And you know, I
like the confidence that he's shown, especially from from both sides of the plate
that you know, I don't want to say he's not taking himself too serious,
but he's enjoying the moment and he's going out there and he's giving us
a chance to win. It's been fun watching the offense developed this season for
sure. Chris, thanks Soft for coming back. Thanks Ros, you appreciate
it. It's Chris Fialaika. It's done great work so far with Guardians this
season from an offensive standpoint, and he'll be I'm sure, trying to figure
out a way to get this offense cranking again coming out of the All Star
Break. Stay with us. We'll have a final segment of Guardians Weekly after
this time out on the Cleveland Clinic. Guardians Radio Network home ownership progressive.
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Jim Rows announced back with you. We are at Tropicana Field and downtown
Saint Petersburg for this week's edition of Guardians Weekly, and we wrap it up
with our weekly farm report. Rob Sarfolio is the director of player development for
the Guardians. We'll talk to him in just a moment about some of the
top prospects at Double a Akron, but we began our conversation with Rob talking
about the draft, which is coming up on Sunday. The Guardians with that
top pick overall first time in their history that they have had that opportunity,
and with one day away from the draft as an organization, we talked to
Rob about how his department is involved in draft preparations and what some of the
first steps for the new editions are. Yeah, so it's a fun exciting
time to hear, especially this year, you know, if you don't get
to pick first overall too often. So you know, I think this year
in particular, it's it's been a in all the years too. It's always
a collaborative effort in our scouting group does a great job involving some of some
of our group, whether it's you know, kind of help digging into players
during the assessment phase of the process, or you know, contacts around the
game and you know, trying to learn a little bit a bit about the
players from from the environments they're coming from. And you know, I think
the cool thing that our organization does a great job of is just you know,
having people speak the same language and and really trying to target things that
that you know, we've had success with in the past. And it's it's
always a really fun time of year to to be able to welcome twenty new
guys. And you know, I think some of the people know of the
new rules across minor league baseball and now there's a cap on how many players
you can actually have in the minor league system. And so you know,
this in some ways a difficult time of year for new players coming in and
players that have been here, you know, potentially leaving. But you know,
when these guys do join us, it's a it's a fun experience to
kind of on board them to our organization in professional baseball. It's almost like
you know, your your first day on a new job in some sense,
and you know, trying to get these guys comfortable and acclimated and learn who
they are, and they learn who we are, and it creates for a
fun couple of days after the draft once they sign, and certainly at some
point a lot of them hoping to move through double A acron or at least
get there and let's start on that offensive side. He's been there a month
after just carving up in the Midwest League at Lake County CJ CAFUS. It
doesn't seem like he's slowed down moving up a level, and what are you
seeing from him? Yeah, it's been It's a hard thing to do to
make that jump from high end double A and really have little to no pullback
on some of your offensive productions. So this is a you know, I
think what we hope is an advanced hitter. And again just building on the
draft note right there, our scouting group did a tremendous job kind of highlighting
some of that life last year in the acquisition phase and be able to see
that. And CJ just with his work and preparation and some of the things
he does offensively, has really allowed him to put together an impressive first year
in pro ball. And he's he's jumped up to that level. We've continued
to play him at first and then left field, and offensively he's he's really
just been a model of consistency by impacting the baseball and getting on base and
limiting you know, the times where pitchers are beating him with swinging myths.
So it's it's been an impressive first season and hopefully something we can continue to
build on. You know, I think a challenge for these first year guys
always is the length of the season and and just the wear and tear and
on physically and mentally. And he's done a great job in that department and
hopefully we can keep him fresh to finish strong. Rob how different is the
pitching that he sees on a daily basis at Double A as opposed to High
A. Yeah, you know, that's a great question. It's something we've
we've tried to look into just from an objective standpoint, and I think where
you see some of the biggest gains is stuff quality and strike throwing. You
see a little bit of that jump from low A to High A, but
you definitely see it from higat double A. And that's what's really impressive about
what CJ has been able to do is is handle that improved just overall v
low but just you know how competitive guys are with multiple pitches in the strike
zone. That's one of the big things you see at double A. But
so far it hasn't faced them too much. And he's obviously someone who's been
on the field. He's getting it done. Another player at Double A that
I know fans are we're excited about after spring training has chased the louder.
But he's really had a hard time getting on the field. And where does
he stand right now in terms of being able to get back in games and
start to show what he can do. Yeah, you know, that's that's
the priority right now with Chase. And he had a little bit of a
foot injury early in the year after about the first month, and then got
ready to go, was played in a game I was actually there for.
It was trying to catch a fly ball that was in foul territory down the
right field line, and you know, kind of collided with the wall in
foul territory and tweaked his big toe on his other foot, which he's been
rehaving. So a little bit of unlucky in that sense for Chase, but
you know, he's been going through his ramp up and returned to play in
Arizona with our rehab group, and you know, those guys are doing a
fine job getting him ready to go, and it's actually been a good time
for him to work on some things that you know, we wanted to tackle
in the off season. We had a little bit of a window to start
that workout in Arizona, and so he's hopefully not far off from being back
in a Rubber Ducks uniform and fan seeing him back out in the field all
right. Back on two players who have been contributing at double A. Khalil
Watson not too much past a year almost of being acquired by the organization,
and he's battling through this Double A season. What are you seeing from him
as he continues to develop. Yeah, just a young hitter that's doing a
pretty impressive job adjusting to that level. And I think he's certainly on the
younger side of position players and hitting for for quite a bit of power.
And hopefully we can continue to expose Khalil and keep challenging him so that you
know down the line he's an option for us at the major league level,
but a guy that can really impact the baseball. He's hitting the middle the
top of the lineup all year, is again one of the younger guys in
that level, and it's been impressive to see him just continue to grow as
the season's gone on. Rob Sorfolios joining us. He's the director of player
development for the Guardians, And this week we are talking Double A Akron and
we switched to the pitching side of things. A pitcher who's no longer there.
He's been moved up to Triple A Columbus after impressing at Akron. Doug
Nacasey, what do you see from him in terms of growth here that has
allowed him to move and now really just be that one step away from the
major leagues. Yeah, well, I mean, first off, a lot
of credit goes to Doug with the type of worker and competitor he is.
You know, the guy that busted his tail in the off season. You
know, he wasn't satisfied or happy with this season he had last year,
especially with some of the inconsistent strike throwing, and you know, we really
wanted to work on some velocity development and you know, he and you know,
our former pitching coordinator Joel Langram put a ton of work into that in
the off season and we saw a lot of that show through and they had
that three or four week stretch where he missed some time do a little bit
of a shoulder flare up, but has been great since coming back. And
just to see some of the jumps he's made in strike throwing while maintaining his
bat missing ability and continuing to improve his arsenal has been awesome. And you
know, we were excited to give him a challenge in Triple A. And
how about Parker Messik, I know, a college drafted player not too long
ago, and it seems like he's moving up nicely. Yeah, you know
Messic and Austin Peterson, you know two guys we bounced up from from Lake
County and and both guys did a really good job just kind of taking care
of of all those things that we always talk about on here, Rosie,
of guys being aggressive in the strike zone and throwing their best stuff and you
know, the ability to miss bats, and those guys did that at Lake
County and it's been great to you know, kind of similar to Cafus.
You know, those guys went up to a higher level against more advanced hitters
and and they've continued to you know, really kind of showcase that same signal
that that they did and at the level below. And so you know,
both those guys that have done a great job competing and have have really made
that transition to Double A nicely. So you answered that question about Capus and
what he sees from pitchers at that next level. What's the difference pitching wise,
What what they'll see from hitters moving up from High A to Double A.
Yeah, you know, it's it's just a more advanced hitter. It's
I think you'll see a lot of older players. You know, you have
prospects all throughout the levels, but you'll see a little bit of an older
prospect at this level with just a more advanced feel for the strike zone,
what their strengths are. Guys that you know, maybe even sometimes have had
Triple A or even major league experience. So those are some of the big
the big elements that guys are challenged with. And it's fun when you when
you have guys that go up there that stay aggressive. They aren't shell shocked
by facing better players, but they really know their strengths on the mound and
are aggressive in the strike zone with it. And one last picture will go
with Ryan Webb. Sixteen starts, so it sounds like he's taking the ball
every fifth day and yeah, and seemingly making good progress. What are you
seeing from web he is you know this, this is a good name.
I'm glad you're bringing them up. I mean he's even behind his line,
he's with some of his velocity and just continued secondary usage. You know,
we've seen some nice strides in season from Webby. You know, a talented
player that came to us from Georgia pishing the SEC had Tommy John when he
when he got here. So he's a little bit older for the level,
but maybe right at the proper age in terms of the number of games he's
thrown as a professional. So it's been fun to see Webby, who had
a you know, a really really impressive Arizona Fall League last year, kind
of maintain a lot of that bat missing upside while continuing to take some strides
with this velocity and things. We've challenged him and seasoned us. So this
kid's a great competitor and has done a really nice job for us from the
left side. Rob, great stuff. As always, we will catch up
with you after the All Star break, looking forward to a Rosio if you
get a couple of days off. That's Rob Sorfolio, the Guardians director of
player Development, and that's going to do it. For this week's edition of
Guardians Weekly. As always, thanks to Brian Matzi for all of his help
and together our show each and every week until next week when we join you
from back home. The second half begins with a series that Progressive Field against
the Padres. This is Jim rosen House reminding you that you've been listening to
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