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. Gym rosen House along with you from Progressive
Field in downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are taking on the San Diego Padres
this weekend. Two more sellouts on the docket. Already on Friday night with
the homestand opener, and on Saturday, when the Guardians are back at it
against the Padres with a seven to ten first pitch. That game sold out,
and then Sunday, the series concludes with a one forty start time.
Detroit follows San Diego to town for a four game set starting on Monday night.
Good show lined up for you Today, we'll hear from three of the
Guardians All stars, Josh Naylor, David Frye, and Stephen Kwan. We'll
talk draft with Paul Gillespie, who's the vice president of scouting for the Guardians.
We'll hear from President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti his comments following the selection
of Travis Bozana, the second baseman out of Oregon State who became the top
pick in this year's draft. The Guardians had it, that's who they picked.
And right now we will hear from Travis Bazana, who was in town
on Friday and around some of his future teammates for the first time, and
when we caught up with him, he talked about what it was like spending
the day at Progressive Field for the first time. It's been incredible getting to
talk to the organization about the plans ahead, but then also being on the
field and getting to meet meet the team, meet the staff, and sort
of soak it all in a little bit on Progressive Field. So it's been
an incredible day and I'm happy to have put pen to paper and it's yeah,
it's awesome. You don't know which team is going to draft you for
sure, but it seems like you had a pretty good hunch and you did
your homework on this team and that was a good thing for you. You
found out some great things about the organization. What is it about Cleveland and
the Guardians that really had you excited when they did draft you? Yeah,
I mean to start off, like the big league team, the young that
winning, they have an identity that lead is play with the hair on fire
intensity, and then the front office, it's like just smart, quality people
that want to win and and care about the people around them and treat people
with respect. And then just yeah, I mean I just felt I felt
like I could be me and be It was comfortable conversations and a great cohesive
bunch that plan to have head and have a great vision for the future.
And I just it was exactly what I wanted to be. Yeah, where
I wanted to be headed. You were never teammates with Steven Quand, but
Oregon State has a great baseball family. How much did you talk to him
about what goes on here? Yeah, we had some brief communication. We
talked, but I mean I didn't want to like dig too deep on hit
on his and I know he's busy in the middle of a season, and
also like I don't want him to feel like he had the pressure of like
letting me know anything, Like I don't know, I just wanted to leave
him be. But we talked about a good amount of stuff and he just
lets me know I'm always supported and he's gonna be there if I need anything.
And I just know how much of a quality teammate person and player he
is, So I just was excited to be a part of it. Baseball
for kids here in the States, it's what they do that the game has
been around for more than one hundred years, not so in Australia where you
grew up. How were you able to develop the passion for this game that
you need to get where you are today? Yeah, I don't know how
I developed the passion. It was so innate. It's been there for a
long time, the passion for the game. But yeah, I just tried
to find every resource I could to grow in the game. I mean,
lucky enough, I grew up with a time of internet, so I could
watch MLB highlights and anything I needed to to figure out how I could be
the best player I could be. But uh, yeah, it's It was
a great journey in Australia, and I hope that more more players from Australia
can continue to have big League dreams and have the resources to go out and
pursue that. You had a tremendous college career, You've had a little break.
How quickly can can you get going and start to attack this thing and
get where you want to be? Yeah? Yeah, I had a quick
quick little break, decompressed with my family, but was right back into training
and this last three four weeks has been about prepping to be on a minor
league feel by the start of August. That was kind of my goal,
be out there playing in the start of August, be ready when I get
drafted by whoever called my name, And uh, yeah, I'm feeling pretty
prepped. And I'm gonna get a couple of workouts in the next couple of
days so to yeah, talk and plan for the future with with the organization,
and go to Lake County next week sometime and and get started and befully
hopefully be playing for the rest of the year in the minors and be on
a team that is going to the postseason. You mentioned ad and the path
to the major league is different for everybody. Expectations, Uh what are they
for you? Yeah, I mean I don't really have any. I I
think that I all I want to focus on is that I'm continuing to get
better every day, be a great teammate, and just focus on my preparation
and and being out there, focus on the process and putting myself in the
best position to perform every day. And I believe that if I do those
things and control what I can control. Soon enough, I'm going to be
able to be a valuable player at the major league level and and and I'll
move through the ranks. But uh, first off, just got to start.
It's a process, is a journey and and start and and just move
your way up. But I'm I have no expectations or anything that's gonna like
aggravate me in any way. I'm just excited to like go and prove myself
and move. Prove myself and move and really, yeah, build good relationships
with the organization. Travis, welcome to Cleveland. Thanks for coming back.
Yeah, thank you. That is the first overall pick in this year's draft.
He belongs to the Cleveland Guardians infielder Travis Bizana. Stay with us when
we came back. We'll hear from Chris Antonetti his comments on the new acquisition.
That's next on the Cleveland Clinic, Guardians radio and netboard. With the
first pick of the twenty twenty four MLB Draft, the Cleveland Guardians select Travis
Bazana, a second baseman from Oregon State University. Drivers who switch and save
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dot Com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company in affiliate. It's not available in tho States.
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosen House along with you from Progressive
Field in downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are hosting the San Diego Padres this
weekend. Earlier this week, as a matter of fact, Sunday night,
the Guardians selected Travis Pizana with the first overall pick in this year's amateur draft,
and shortly after that selection, Chris Antonetti, the Guardian's president of Baseball
Operations, addressed the Cleveland media and talked about the thing, well, as
you know, we selected Travis Bizano with the first overall pick in the Major
League Baseball draft, and we are thrilled to welcome Travis into the organization.
It's a player in person that we've got a great opportunity to know, not
only over the course of the last few months, but over the course of
the last few years. And we view him to be a dynamic player.
He's a guy that makes really good swing decisions, controls the strike zone really
well, rarely swings and misses, and can really impact the baseball and we
think he's got a chance to impact the game in a variety of ways.
But as impressive as he is as an athlete and as a player, he's
just as impressive or more impressive as a person. He has been relentless,
I think from the time he was three years old to take advantage of every
resource available to him to become the best baseball player he could possibly be.
And I think it's a testament to his hard work and the sport system that
he's had around him to be able to get to this point. I know
in talking with Travis, he's excited for the opportunity to join an organization and
join our organization, and if you've heard him speak, he's very passionate about
the opportunity he has to help US win games and through that platform, elevate
the profile of baseball in Australia. So with that, I'm happy to answer
any questions that anyone has, Chris, when when you look at Bizano,
is he a second basement surely or can he play somewhere else? We think
he's really athletic, Terry and I believe he can be a very good defensive
second basement in time and has the athleticism to potentially play other positions, but
he'll go out as a second basement. I just wondered, you've be good
at You've had to put a number of your infielders into the outfield, and
I thought, so he's good at least in terms of athletically, that could
be a possibility. He's a really athletic player. Yeah. And then the
other premature decision that we fortunately do not need to make now, but we've
and the versatility of outfielder. And the last thing, Yeah, I saw
the twenty eight homers in that how much is that real power or was it?
Because it seem like there's a lot of inflated on run stats all around
college baseball this year. Yeah, the overall offensive environment in college baseball is
up but when you evaluate him relative to his peers, he comes out at
or near the top of the charts in terms of power and productivity and ability
to impact the ball. And if you look at some of his metrics and
the process and the progress that he's made over the last few years, we
believe that there is impact in there as well. Chris, how did how
did your guys scouting him change once you guys got the top pick? Like,
how well did you know him before? Then? Again, he's a
guy that we have been tracking, and you know, as a college player
we had a little bit longer of a track record to be able to follow
them. And he plays in a big conference in the Pac twelve, So
certainly a name that was familiar to us. But you know, coming prior
to the draft, you know, we weren't thinking that we would be in
a range in the draft where he would be available to us. But once
we got once we learned that we had the opportunity to make the first selection,
he was one of a handful of or actually I shouldn't say a handful,
one of a dozen or so players where we really ramped up our scouting
efforts. Hey, Chris, this is a question I think fans will want
to ask, do you have a projection on when he'll be able to join
the Guardians our major league team, Jeff or just the organization. Yeah,
it's impossible to predict timelines, Jeff. Ultimately, players will impact that through
their how they go about their day to day and then their success that they
have at each level and how they handle adversity. There's so many things that
go into that. It's it's impossible to project a specific specific time. Chris,
when did you settle on Bizano? We you know, we spent We
didn't know exactly who our selection would be until just within a couple of hours
of the draft starting. Was that when you're started to make a call to
guys, Terry. I'm not going to go into the specifics of it,
Terry, but I would say we had a small handful of players that we
considered. The first picked a dozen. I thought you can't go on the
last day with a dozen guys, So no, No, that was on
our scouting. I think asking about how we got to know the players and
our scouting efforts, Chris, what what was the difference between him and the
conduct to you guys? Again, I think we there were. I think,
as I shared with you, there were a number of players that we
felt we're deserving considerations for the first overall pick, and we got an opportunity
to know all of them well and could see them all being very successful players,
and we would have loved the opportunity to welcome them all into the organization,
but that's not how it works, and we had to settle on one
and we're thrilled to welcome Travis to the organization. You know, his plate
discipline is almost off the charts. What meant how attractive was that to you?
With the kind of you know, the profile you have for your hitters,
and why is he able to do that? Yeah, I think there's
a lot in that, Paul. I think ultimately we see him having the
totality of ingredients to be a really successful hitter. As I said, he
recognized his pitch is exceedingly well, he knows the strike zone, makes good
swing decisions. When he does choose a swing, he makes elite level contact.
And I think what's really grown in Travis's game over the past year or
so is the ability to add impact and drive the ball. And we saw
the benefits of that with increased power this year, so we think he has
a chance to be a really dynamic offensive player. Chris, it seems like
there's a lot of talk about him and just how much he dives into analytics
and how he's sort of talked about that with his teammates, And is that
pretty evident with you guys whenever you're just having conversations with him, that he
is way into all of that stuff. And I would actually I would expand
that, Mandy to not just analytics. He paps into every resource available to
him to get the most out of his ability and in fact, to increase
his level of ability, whether that's through analytic information, strength and conditioning resources,
mental resources, every aspect. He's a tenant to sleep, he's atentive
to nutrition, and he can elaborate in great detail about how all of those
things can impact performance. And I think what's extraordinarily impressive is he thinks about
he's able to utilize those resources in a way that translates and helps him on
the field, which is the ultimate goal. And he is. As you
get to spend time with Travis, I think you'll come there appreciate he is
a very impressive, immature and thoughtful young man, Chris, how is he
at second base? Defensively? He's really athletic, Terry. I think we
think he has a chance to grow into a good defensive second baseman. It's
probably the area of his game where he's maybe less He's a little bit less
refined than maybe some other elements. But we think he has a chance or
excited to get him into our system, have him partnered with our instructors to
help him grow and develop in that area. And the other thing, did
he have any like the kiff in West Virginia had that hamstring things? Did
this guy have any injury issues at all? None? Recently? What did
Stephen Kwan tell you about this guy? It's universal for anyone who's come in
contact with him about how universally respected he is as a teammate. That was
one of the things that we really tried to learn about all the players throughout
the process, and that's one thing to continue to come out and Steven reiterated
that just how great a teammate he is, how well respected he is,
and I mean there are literally hundreds of stories of how great a teammate in
person Travis is and the things that he does to support others and help them.
Chris, how much did the bonus pool and negotiations play into this bit?
I think I was pretty candidate in how we were looking at things.
Our goal is to continue to bring in the most talent we possibly can with
the draft, and so we would look at the ability of the player and
then our ability to sign the player. And we're fortunate in this case that
we got a player that we love in Travis, and you believe we have
the financial parameters in place of an agreement. Chris, You've talked about a
couple of times how impressive he is a is a guy and just how you
know, universal, universally respected he is. He's making history too. Guardian's
making history and he's making history being from Australia. So just kind of when
you when you learned about his journey, what did what was something that popped
up that really kind of opened your eyes or caught your attention. There's so
much, Nate, but I will elaborate on that a bit. I mean
to think about a young man who's you know, from the time he was
a teenager, to think about the impact he could have, not just uh
and get benefits to himself, but the impact on others and to elevate all
of Australian baseball based upon what he might be able to achieve. To think
about somebody who's able to look outside themselves and have that type of purpose and
then have the dedication and commitment to work to bring that to reality is exceedingly
impressive for anybody, let alone a teenager. As President of Baseball Operations,
Chris Antonet talking about first round draft pick Travis Stay with us when we come
back. We'll hear about the Guardians draft as a whole. They've made twenty
one selections this year and we'll hear about it from Vice President of Scouting Paul
Gillespie. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Welcome back to
Guardians Weekly. Chim Rosenhaus back with you from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland.
Normally that is the epicenter for the team's draft activities in the amateur draft,
but with the renovations they had to move it to an off site location and
one of those involved heavily VI President of Scouting Paul Gillespie. This the third
draft that he is running, and we talked to him about several of the
new draft picks, including the number one overall selection Travis Bazana, and Paul
says the organization is excited and couldn't be happier with how the overall process went.
We couldn't be more more proud of the organization and our people. So
many people across the organization this year contributed to the draft, maybe more than
ever. I think we're just exceedingly proud of our people. Were exceptionally proud
of our scouts. They did a tremendous job getting to know players and executing
the scouting process. They take so much pride in what they do, and
we're really proud of them and proud of our people. And certainly what makes
the selection of Travis Bazana unique is he hails from Australia by way of Oregon
State, So you have plenty of opportunities to see him very recently state side.
But when you first heard about him and started following him, you used
to be on that international side of the scouting department. How wide ranging is
that and how did that come into play here when when he was just a
high school player in Australia. Yeah, that's a that's a great question.
Our history with Travis is actually is pretty extensive. You know, our international
Scouting department actually identified him as a high school player back back in twenty eighteen,
and so we do have a good bit of history with him, you
know, prior to him landing at Oregon State here here in the US.
So we've spent so much time getting to know him over the years, and
you know, it's been such a pleasure getting to know him. His makeup
is super impressive and just the way he goes about his business is something that's
you know, super inspiring as well. Vice President of Scouting Paul Gillespie joining
us talking draft just completed for the Guardians and as important as anything else,
the fact that the Guardians had a record amount of pool money to use to
sign a lot of picks that maybe they wouldn't be able to and take some
chances, and Paul says that was a big key and they felt mission accomplished
in this year's draft. Yeah, that's a that's a great question, I
think coming into the year, you know, once we found out we had
the number one, number one overall pick, I mean, I think you
can just describe it as just unbelievable excitement for not only our scouting staff.
But for the organization, I mean you said it never have, never have
we had the number one overall pick in the history of our organization. But
with that, we also had the biggest bonus pool in the history in the
history of the sport too, so unbelievable opportunity for the organization to not only
you know, we pick first, so nobody's going to pick before us,
which is super exciting, but also the opportunity to bring in the best complement
of players into the organization. And I think the way we were able to
navigate the draft and the players we were able to bring in, I think
it's something that we're super excited about. I think any team, all thirty
clubs, after you finished Day three of the draft, everybody thinks they did
exceptionally well, right, that's sort of like the natural reaction. Yeah,
we did a great job. I think this year does feel a little bit
different. Of course, we had the first dick and we were able to
take Travis Bizana, but the other players that we were able to bring into
were just as excited about them too. So along those lines, a couple
of high school pitchers in the top ten rounds. Cam Sullivan at number seven,
seventh round and Chase Mobley a tenth round pick. When you look at
at where you got them and knowing that they have college commitments, so that
might drive up their price a little bit. Is that a great example of
what that extra money allowed you to do with two pictures that you really like
that it might have been more difficult to sign if it was a different circumstance.
Yeah, I think it's a I think that's a fair characterization of that
situation. I think you know Cam Sullivan, really talented, arm lean,
projectable high school r handed pitcher. He's from Mount Vernon to high school in
Indiana. His fastballs up to ninety seven, really strong capacity just to spend
the baseball, and really encouraging foundations across his across his mix. He was
the number one overall prospect in Indiana by Perfect Game. You know, an
above average athlete, really coordinated actions, above average, explosive arm speed.
So we're super excited about him. And then you mentioned Chase Mobley, another
really exciting high school pitching prospect. He's big, he's athletic, he's from
the Tampa area. His fastball has been up to the triple digits before he
can create really interesting shapes with the ball. He has unique angles, you
know, two seamers, four seamers, different breaking ball shapes. He was
committed to Forlist State University. But we're really excited about our prospects and potential
to bring Chase into the organization as well. Exceptional young man with a really
high ceiling. And those two are are two of sixteen pitchers taken out of
the twenty one selections in the draft and for for Cleveland. When when you
can add sixteen pitchers to the organization based on what they have done track record
wise, pitching wise, how exciting is that to be able to do that
on a particular draft. Yeah, super exciting. You know, we've we've
already been having some really fun conversations with our player development group and our pitching
group, you know, talking about how how full their hands are going to
be, and they're super excited to bring these young arms into the into the
organization and start partnering with them and start building their plans out for for their
futures. But you know, the the arms and the type of arms we
were able to bring in, I think it's a it's a good group.
It's also a diverse group that you know, No, No two of these
guys is the same, right, They have a lot of a lot of
different strengths, whether it be size, delivery, arm action, pitch profiles,
make up. I mean, there's a lot of really cool things that
I think our pitching group is going to be able to do with these young
arms. And one drafted player that I thought has an interesting background with that
Cleveland connection. Your second round pick, the catcher out of North Carolina State,
Jacob Cozart, his dad Craig, longtime coach at High Point University,
the college coach uh former Cleveland closer Cody Allen, who had just a tremendous
career. And obviously obviously you need the tools to be there for a player
that you select, But can you tell he's a coach's son in terms of
how he handles the game and especially at that position. Absolutely, I think
he definitely has those attributes that you're talking about. I mean, as a
catcher, some of the things we like about him is just that you know,
the ability to manage the staff, the ability the ability to run a
pitching staff and then a catcher. He has a lot of things that you
want to look for right size, strength, durability, just the ability to
catch, the ability to receive, you know, really good exchange and he
just provides a really great top target back there for the for the for the
pitchers. So we really like his ability and his propensity to handle a staff
in the future. At the same time, on the offensive side, he
has shown really good year over year progressions in terms of his ability to manage
the strike zone, control the strike zone, much better swing decisions over the
last couple of years. So, and he's got power. So when you
look at a guy like Jacob and the things that he's able to do on
both sides of the ball, I think there's a ton of excitement around him
and we can't wait to get him in the organization and start to partner with
him as well. So the draft is complete, the last thing you're doing
is kicking your feet up on the desk and relaxing, right, I mean,
it never ends, it seems. So you draft these players and how
busy has this week been as as you try and transition them and do the
detail work that you need to do to kind of complete the process for them.
Yeah, that's a that's a great one. Well, I think you
know, first I would say our scouts are already out working on the twenty
twenty five draft, and now that that work actually started before the twenty twenty
four draft was underway. So to your point, it is a never ending
cycle. So they're definitely no rest for the weary. But in terms of
the players that we we we draft, we just drafted. The first thing
we'll do is get everybody together and start taking each player through the physical and
medical and take process. That will take a handful of days here, and
you know, assuming all goes well, we'll look to sign these players here
over the next you know, call it, call it a week or so,
start to partner with them, start to onboard them. We'll take them
through really everything they need to know on the front end of of what it
means to be a Cleveland Guardian and start to start them on their ascent to
the major leagues and what we hope are long, healthy and prosperous careers here
in Cleveland. Paul, the draft is always exciting, but this year was
more so for obvious reasons. And congratulations on everything. Thank you so much
for coming by for a long Yeah, thank you so much, and I
always enjoy stopping by, and I really appreciate your time. That was a
busy man right there, Paul Gillespie, who had quite a week this week
with three days of the draft and now the signing process happening, and it
will be long before they start all over again, as he kind of animated
there during the course of our conversation, they're already working on twenty twenty five
his department. Stay with us. When we come back, we'll hear from
some of the All Stars who participated in this year's All Star Game. That's
when we returned with our final segment after this on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio
Network. Do you switch and save with Progressive? You could use that money
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Progressive Canshley Insurance affiliate. It's not available in all states. It's universally accepted
that golf is hard. Progressive cannot guarantee improve performance on the course. Welcome
back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from Progressive Field in downtown
Cleveland, and it was quite the week for the five Guardians All Stars who
represented Cleveland in Arlington, Texas, the American League taking down the National League
once again on Tuesday night. They're on quite a role in that regard a
five to three final score. David Fry had the game time base hit in
the third inning. Stephen Kuan walked and scored in that third inning, and
in the fifth Boston's Jaron Duran hit a two run home run that ended up
being the difference in the five to three win. Amanuel Classe was on in
the ninth. He struck out two and picked up the save. And on
Monday night, it was Jose Ramirez putting on a good show in the home
run derby as he advanced past the first round with twenty one home runs before
being eliminated in the semi finals. The Dodgers Taskar Hernandez ended up outslugging Philly's
third baseman Alec Baum in the finals to take the home run crown. Jose's
teammate Josh Naylor had a front row seat for the derby and he talked about
what it was like watching Josey swing for the fences. Yeah, I know,
knowing that he's always going to rise to the occasion as extremely awesome to
see and the player he is, he's meant for those big moments, and
we try to cheer on as best as we could. Me Kwan and Class
and five are so excited for just his opportunity and him to be on the
biggest stage in the world. Talk about how meaningful it is to to have
MLB bring family into this process and have them get to experience this alongside you.
It's it's awesome and we wouldn't be here without them. My parents did
such a great job raising me and my brothers, and you know, always
making us motivated and determines the do we want to do And you know that
the sky's the limit and you can do whatever you want just just keep working
hard, keep their head down and just have fun. And I'm happy they
could share this experience with me. Do you think Bow and Miles are having
a good time. I think they are, and I think they they're looking
forward to being here one day hopefully we can all sit beside each other in
the locker room, and fellow All Star David Fry said it was quite an
experience watching the top power hitters in the game. Pretty incredible. It was
like one of the coolest experiences I think I've been a part of obviously having
like Nails class a Kwan out there with them, and that we were kind
of like, I think about the only team that like, we were like
right there next to Jose Wat. He was hitting, like going crazy after
every homer, and I really thought he was gonna win. But that was
so much fun. Kind of a special experience for you having this take place
in your home state. Describe what it's been like having family around to share
in that experience and seeing people that care a lot about you. Yeah,
I mean, so the amount of techs that I've gotten is just so cool.
Of like people that I talked to a bunch and the people that I
haven't talked to in a long long time who were reaching out like, hey,
I'm going to be at the game. Don't know if you've seen me.
And like last night at the derby, I just look up and I've
seen like five six people that I haven't seen in years and get to talk
with them for a little bit and obviously having family here close by. This
has been really special and Steven Kwan baseball's best hitter for average at the All
Star Break. He sat down with MLB Network to talk about his first half
and also batting lead off for the American League at the Midsummer Classic. All
right, let me just talk to you real quick, because you've been able
to hit and now the pops there, you got nine home. What has
been that change? Because that's been fun to watch average average left center and
left center eyeballs. Next thing, you know, you make a mistake.
Now you're circling the pillows. Yeah, I mean, so far of my
career, I've had Jose Ramirez behind me just doing it. I mean,
same size. I feel like we're just as strong. But I mean he
hits what twenty five thirty a year? Just try to discacle how he does
it. You know, he just tries to get extended on everything. He's
always on the fastball, not afraid to look stupid and swinging and missing on
one of them. He's been a great role model for me for that.
That's a great point. So with him, you know, with that being
said, that's somebody that you look up to as far as like watching because
we used to follow Man and rameras around. I'm sure you had a picture
that you followed around, so that that player right there, to me,
has always been underrated ever since. So I don't know it's because where he
plays, but you look at those numbers he puts up, it's another level
one hundred percent, and that's how you want to He doesn't like all the
fame, the glamour and everything. He took his deal, he knew exactly
what he was doing. He balls. He keeps us accountable with that.
I mean, that's why he's a dog. He's the guy that you follow
in Cleveland. You watch him today, he get to take batting practice in
the same group as Aaron Judge. What was that like watching that first him?
Oh my god, it's surreal. Always been a huge fan with him
obviously, just it speaks to the beauty of baseball. I mean, a
guy like me can play, and then a guy like him can patrol the
outfield the same spot. He's the guy. I mean, it was cool
just kind of seeing how his body sequences. I was. I was hypnotized
by it. Kudos to your fan base in Cleveland and what they were able
to do, because that's really, really, that's the highest honor you can
get. Yeah, no, shout out obviously shout out to Cleveland. It
was really cool, super affirming. I got her in that little May time,
and I think that to me felt like I lost all my chances to
become an All Star. I just didn't think I would be eligible enough for
all of that, and to be able to kind of continue that going into
June. I feel very lucky to be able to make it out. Yeah
high highest seeing hit high. He's the highest hitter in the world right now,
and that's been amazing to watch. And I'm just telling you you nailed
something earlier in this interview. You said, this is what makes our game
of baseball great. You could play it Al Tuvey to Aaron Judge, to
Randy Johnson, that's what makes this game. So when did you become like,
yeah, I'm going to the show, or what moment was that?
Was it? Colin high school? How do way? We have dreams?
But I'm saying when you really locked in, like yeah, I could eat
it. Yeah, that might have been more recent than I'd like to admit.
Probably twenty twenty one two. I kind of felt like I had a
shot at it, kind of again figuring out some of that pop. I
knew what kind of player I was gonna be though. I mean I hit
my grow spit at thirteen and then grow after that, so and everybody kept
going. So I was like, Okay, I gotta really impact the game
another way, getting on base singles, playing good defense. Yeah, it
didn't come until around twenty one when I thought this could be a morality.
You're a baseball player, your chet, you play chess on one of your
things that you like to do too. I love this. We always talk
about physical aspect right to all these physical tools you meditate and the power of
that. Talk about that a little bit, especially for the kids at home,
because between our ears is really the difference maker in this game. Yeah,
that's a really cool question. I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah,
as you guys know, this game is a mental game. It's like
ten percent physical obviously, and then like the rest of it's mental. I
feel like as a hitter, you know, so many thoughts go through your
head and it's like, I'm sure it's the same as pitching, but like
when those thoughts overtake you, I mean, you feel like you're paralyzed.
I feel like with the meditation you can at least you can't get rid of
the thought, because thoughts alway going to be with us. But to be
able to identify them, take them for what they are, and then be
able to move on. I feel like that's powerful, and you can kind
of free yourself from whatever thoughts may enter, and then you can play it
free. You can play free, you play well. So quite a week
in Arlington, Texas for five Cleveland All Stars, and they are hoping to
parlay that into a strong second half and a postseason berth As we get deeper
into it, only sixty six games remaining heading into play on Saturday, and
the Guardians have a five game lead over the second place Minnesota Twins in the
AL Central. Cat's going to do it for this week's edition of Guardians Weekly
is always thanks to Brian Matse for all of his help on our show each
and every week. We will join you next weekend when the team is on
the road, as they will head out on the road and be in Philadelphia
to take on the Red Hot Phillies. Should be some kind of series in
the city of brother lead up. So until then, this is Jim Rosenhause
reminding you that you've been listening The Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio
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