Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly is brought
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everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Gimros in house along with you from Goodyear
Ball Dark and Goodyear Arizona. Our final show from spring training. Our next
show comes to you from the Open Coliseum, and the regular season will have
begun. So things flying along here in spring training and a lot of news
made on Friday in terms of players who had been notified that they had made
the ball club, and also some who have been reassigned to minor league camp
and others whose future is up in the air at this point. We'll get
to some of that shortly with President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and Steven Vote,
who met with the media yesterday to talk about those player moves. Coming
up a little bit later on in the show, we will visit with relief
pitchers Hunter Gaddis and Eli Morgan. We'll also check in with outfielder Ramon Lareano
and utility man Tyler Freeman, who got the good news on Friday that he
had made the ball club and will see significant playing time in center field.
We'll also hear from Josh Naylor, the potential All Star first basement for the
Guardians. But first, the big news out of camp on Friday were several
decisions for players. Not not anything official yet because they don't have to,
but these players were informed that they were making the opening day roster non roster
invites to spring training on the pitching staff and really a popular decision for sure,
and certainly well earned based on his spring But Carlos Carrasco, who signed
that minor league deal with the Guardians to return to the team, now late
in his career and he pitched very well in spring training and he could be
in the starting rotation when it's all said and done, But he definitely will
be on the ball club as part of the pitching staff, as will be
Tyler Beattie, the veteran right hander who's had some good seasons in his career
with the San Francisco Giants and now returns from a stint in Japan. And
again he's another arm who could be an option to start early in the season
as well as help in the bullpen. Also being notified they'd made the ball
club, both contenders for the starting shortstop job. Brian Rochio will be the
primary shortstop. Gabriel Arius will be on the club more in a utility role,
but will also see some time at short and also being informed that he
had made the club. Tyler Freeman in a utility role, but he'll see
a lot of playing time in center field, it looks like, and David
Frye also filling that utility role as well and reassigned a minor league camp.
Left Hander Anthony Goes, despite a good spring man, we'll probably see him
at some point during the season, and infielder Daniel Schneman, who had a
tremendous spring and is also on that radar certainly as the season progresses. And
to talk about those moves and more, President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and
manager Steven Vote, So we'll start maybe with the reassignments Anthony Goes. It's
been awesome to see the progress that he's made and the way he's attacked his
rehab and he's positioned himself to help us this year, and we just made
the determination that it won't be for the opening day roster. But Anthony deserves
a ton of credit for all of the work he's put in to get himself
to this point, and as I said, we continue to believe he's going
to impact our team. And Daniel Sneman was also one of the highlights of
camp. No, Okay, not only did he have a great spring training,
but this is a guy that's attacked every day and every day he's been
in the organization, he's tried to help make himself a better player and be
the best teammate he possibly can be, and that's what earned him an invite
to Major league spring training. And he continued to bolster that reputation in his
time in camp, and not only did he do all of those things,
but he impacted a lot of games. And it's another guy we think will
help us at some point this year, just not Opening Day, I think
on those dudes, I mean, just to echo Chris said, I can't
say enough about Anthony and Daniel and the impact that they made on our camp.
Anthony's obviously somebody I've been familiar with for a number of years, and
just the work ethic, the teammate that he is. I'm really excited for
the future for Anthony and Daniel made a huge, huge impression on this camp
as well, and really excited about the opportunity of those two could have this
year to impact the roster. Are you closer to making a decision I'm the
fifth starter now, Well, we are, but we've informed both Carlos Carrasco
and Tyler Beattie that they will be on the team. We're really excited about
both of them. We have not come to a full conclusion yet as to
what we're going to do with the fifth starter, but we've informed both of
them that they will be on the roster, and it's likely one of those
two will be the fifth starter. Chris, what have you seen out of
Tyler in this camp that that's you know, made you confident that he can
step in and contribute to thee. Yeah, I mean we've seen it from
Tyler all spring. You know, the stuff itself plays, you know,
he isn't you know, four or five pitches that he can used in his
arsenal at any time. We've seen him be very efficient, you know,
five innings the other day in or Kansas City on sixty pitches, so we've
seen him attack the zone. We've seen him finish hitters. So really excited
about the repertoire that Tyler has worked on and he's just shown us a lot,
a lot of good things this spring. Yeah, you guys decided on
a start first staff between areas of Rochio or is that still to be Deterney.
So we informed both Gabby and Brian today that they will both be on
the opening day roster as we start the season. Brian Rokio will get the
bulk of reps at shortstop, with Gabby being kind of our utility player with
getting a lot of playing time in multiple positions, and Brian could move around
as well. You know, I think the beauty of having both of them
on the team is they both bring defensive versatility. But our goal at the
end, at the beginning of the season is that Brian take the bulk of
reps at shortstop. Did areas of his ability to maybe play in the outfield
twelve sort of factor into him making the roster absolutely? I mean, I
think when you talk about Gabby, you're talking about one of the one of
the more talented players young players in the game, and his ability to move
all over the diamond is definitely going to be an asset for us and being
able to use him at all the positions I think is going to be a
huge benefit for the team and for Gabby as well. What did what did
Roko show you that basically you decided to go with with him first? But
short, I think for me, the consistency at which Brian works, the
consistency at with which he approaches each day is kind of what led us there.
But I think equally the ability for Gabby to move around the Diamond,
I think is is what led to it. And you know, to be
able to use both of them, I think is what we're more focused on.
But you know, Brian has really really ramped up, not only this
spring, but in years, in years prior. We've seen just talking with
every here, We've seen the way he's trended, in the way that he
has worked to get himself to this point. And but I think just it's
just a factor of all of those things that we've seen that has led us
to that. Where does that leave Freeman? Because I just started pumping up
in fields there in my head. Yeah, I mean, I mean we've
been getting reps for Freeman as well all over the Diamond. So I think,
you know, having both Free and Gabby to be able to roam around
the outfield, infield and all of that I think is going to be be
a benefit for us, you know, maybe building on that. I think
Tyler's done, you know, our view extraordinary job and transitioning and as a
very capable center fielder and outfielder in general. So that's been one of the
highlights in camp for us as his progress out there. So we view him
as a as a very very good and real option for us in the outfield
as well as the infield. So Tyler made the team as well. Yeah,
yeah, he has. And the last David Frye, we also informed
David Frye that he will be on the roster. How are you going to
find at Batson Innings for fry Is it going to be as a third catcher
or will he move around as well? I think yes to answer your question.
You know, David, you know he so he focused solely on catching
coming into spring training and really put in a lot of work over the last
few months, starting in late December, just putting an emphasis on being a
catcher and the strides that he has made defensively. We feel like he could
start games behind the plate. We feel like he can come into games and
catch, as well as impact the roster at first base, corner, outfield,
and possibly even some third base. So again, versatility seems to be
the theme of what we're talking about with this roster, and and David definitely
adds to that. Well, Gras going to go to Canvas and minor league
invite and made the roster. What does that say about this work ethic,
Well, I think there's a lot with With Carlos. I think, first
and foremost, he was clear from the beginning of the offseason that this is
the place where he wanted to try to continue pitching, and he felt so
strongly about that that he was willing to come into camp on a minor league
contract and try to earn a spot on this team. And I don't think
anyone surprise Carlos came out and did exactly that. He did it with the
work that he puts in every day to make the make himself the best pitcher
he can be, and he's also continues to be an extraordinary teammate and leader
in the clubhouse. And we feel overall we're a better team both on the
field in the clubhouse with Carlos carrasco as part of it. Where there are
you guys in the evaluation process with Davis Dale Santos and what's the next step
there now. We're still working through it. Obviously we shared the news today
on the decisions we've made, but obviously there's still remain some uncertainty with specifically
with actually in both the position the remainder of the position player roster and some
spots in the bullpen, and so we'll take the next couple of days to
work to finalize those decisions. Chris, what have you what have you been
pleasantly? What are the some of the high points of spring training? The
weather has been awesome compared to last year. There's so much there, Paul,
I mean, I'm not sure exactly if there's a particular area you want
me to touch on, or is it player focused, organization focus, can't
focus. I think what continues to be reinforced for me and for us,
I think is both not only the caliber and quality of the young players on
our major league roster, but the number of alternatives that we feel we have
both on the mound and you know, on the diamond and even some guys
that won't make the roster. We feel that we have a group of players
that are in a position to contribute and impact our team at some point this
year, even if it won't be opening Day. And we've had a number
of injuries obviously that we've had to navigate in camp, including some illnesses,
and you know, hopefully we can get past those and you know, get
those reinforcements also as options for us as we transition into the season. That's
President of the Baseball Operations Chris Santinetti, along with manager Steven Vote, explaining
some of the moves made yesterday Friday at camp here in goodyear, stay with
us when we come back. We'll visit with Josh Naylor. That's next the
Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Not to brag, but progressives, Name your
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state law. Not Availino states again the set again the payoff pitch swinging a
flare in the center base hit that time tried to sneak a fastball by Nailor
and he singles it into center for an RBI hit. Another great event for
Josh Naylor, second RBI today. Seven on the Spring Jim rosenhow's back with
you from Goodyear Arizona and Guardian's Weekly. Thanks so much for tuning in as
always and earlier this spring, we had a chance to catch up with first
baseman Josh Naylor coming off a career best ninety seven RBI season a year ago,
and that also included missing a month of the season. So imagine if
he can stay healthy the entire year the damage he can do at the plate.
And he's had a really solid spring. He's healthy, ready to go
for the regular season, and he says the offseason work he put in will
continue to pay off as the season progresses. Oh yeah, I just tried
to prepare my best kind of get all the bad play out of the way.
I guess early it's just it's nice to be out on the field again
and compete and be with the guys again and kind of go through the failures
early in the preseason and figure things out again and just sham moving forward.
And it seemed like you were in a really good place in the off season
preparing for spring training, whether it be with your brothers here or maybe even
going back home. And did it go about it as well as you like
it to go? Oh? Yeah, it was a productive off season with
a lot of hard work involved, but most importantly, we got each other
better, which is what we're looking forward to doing. But we talked earlier
to spring about leadership, and you're in that position where you it sounds like
you'd like to be a little bit more prominent in that regard on this team.
And how do you go about that? What do you do to be
that leader that can help this team be there for everyone, for anyone who
needs someone there at the moment, take care of the guys, and just
I believe in preaching leadership and everyone as an individual. If we all can
lead each other, then we'll be a great team. You don't really have
to look for that one guy in the locker room you can go to and
you can look for someone else, or you can just look at yourself in
the mirror and you're you know, you're a leader in your own way.
And again, I feel like if we all lead individually and we do our
best to just to get better, grow every day, and just be a
good teammate, I think we'll be a very successful team. Is there a
byproduct of thinking about others sometimes that can help your game, just from the
standpoint of maybe taking some of the focus off of you, but thinking about
your teammates and trying to help them get better. Yeah, I mean,
it's all about helping others get better, especially helping your teammates. If you
can be there for your guys and they'll be there for you at the end,
you see someone's success, you want to be able to just appreciate their
success and really make them feel super special when they do something cool, and
then in turn, they'll make you feel super special when you do some cool.
So it's about taking care of each other and figting off each other's success.
You want to see the guy beside you win, and then yeah,
it kind of takes little pssure off yourself and you don't necessarily need to do
so much. I know that there's still some decisions to be made on certain
spots on the ball club, but there's a good core group of players here
that have been through some good times. How do you view it as you
get closer to the season in terms of what this team could do? Now?
Do you been here in camp and see who's here? Yeah, I
think we've got a special club. I think a lot of the players are
performing extremely well. It's going to be some tough decisions that it's going to
be made, but that's I guess it's the part of it. I've been
through a bunch in my career, but I mean, whatever opportunity to get,
just run with it. When you look at how camp's going, it's
under a new manager and you've had a chance to be around him for a
while. Now, how's that going on that transition? Is it difficult or
has it been really easy? It's been good? You know, it's awesome.
He's a gamer, he loves to play, he loves to lead us
here, and then you know he has so much knowledge in this game.
He's been around a ton of locker rooms, a ton of veteran players and
he was a veter player himself at one point in his career and now he
gets a coach us and kind of provide a lot of knowledge and experience to
us. And it's great to see. It's great to be around, and
I think everyone's really appreciating. And when you look at your career, your
age wise, you're not that old, but but you're kind of that established
veteran in this clubhouse. Do you ever think about it in those terms that
it's gone by quickly and and you've reached that point in your career where you
can offer advice and be a real part of the team. From that standpoint,
I try not to think about it like that. I don't really like
to think of myself and that's a high regard. I mean, I'm honored
and blessed to be able to be in the position I'm in and be able
to share the knowledge that I have and experiences I have with some of the
younger guys. But no, I'm just I'm blessed to be here and you
know, look forward to, you know, helping the young players grow here
and become the players that you know they wanted to become, And in turn,
that helps me become a player I want to become. That's first basement.
Josh Naylored stay with us when we come back. We'll hear from Ramone
Loreano and Tyler Freeman as we continue with Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians
Radio Network. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from
Goodyear, Arizona and Guardian spring training. And two players who will be a
part of the outfield picture for the Guardians this season are Ramone Loreano and surprisingly
Tyler Freeman. We'll start with Loriano, a veteran outfielder now no questions about
his d defences. He should be a major key in the Guardian's outfield this
season. But he's worked hard this offseason on the offensive part of his game
and it is taken hold here in spring training, and when we had a
chance to visit with him, he talked about how it's gone to this point
as camp winds down, just kind of open up my front foot just to
have more ability to kind of see the ball really and soften my elbows,
which helped me be more on playing. And I did those two adjustments and
I've been feeling pretty good about it. And pretty conceisous. So let's see
how it goes. And you've been in the game a while and had good
success, maybe with some other stances or other adjustments. How did you arrive
at what you decided to do this offseason and thought that it would be important.
I think, well, hitting Writings, and I did it. At
the end, I hit like like two ninety last like eighty five bats against
Writings or two eighty. Don't quote me on that, but uh yeah,
I feel tremendous when it comes to I was implementing like a drill, like
an angle drill coming out of the short stops kind of view, so it
will be on top of me. So he would throw like kind of sideways
like that, and that helped me in the game a lot. And but
now I put my body to be ready for that, and uh yeah,
right now it feels great, and uh yeah, I just gotta continue it.
You changed the organizations midway through last year, and I'm sure that's never
easy for anybody. How different does it feel coming back here now and starting
this season with Cleveland instead of trying to pick it up midway through. I
think it's it's great, really, I mean, but at the end.
I'm coming from a situation that even when I was if I leave that place
anywhere I was going, I was happy anyways, So I know it's,
uh, that's where I'm mind in this situation here, and this has been
a blessing to me and being a blessing to my career for sure. Yeah,
a unique situation. You're you're playing for a manager that you played with
as as a teammate. What has that been like playing for Steven Vote now
as as he is your manager? Yeah, that's unbelievable. Not shocked by
him being a manager here, and I mean hearing these things at Chuck,
But like, I'm not surprised by him being a manager. I think he
has a he has a long career for for being a manager, like,
and I think he's gonna do a tremendous job. Was it odd though,
to know that this is the guy who puts your name in that lineup after
you were teammates on the field. I haven't thought about it too much,
you know. I think when you're in the clubhouse and kind of playing the
process, you really don't think anything other than, you know what, preparing
for the day and having fun with the guys. But yeah, when you
put it like that in that perspective, it's kind kind of a little wise.
Yeah, he was saying earlier this spring, just after watching it play
for some of the early games, that your enthusiasm and everything going with your
game is really really good. He's been really pleased to see. Is that
just the nature of changing organizations kind of what you alluded to before, that
it's given me a little extra jump in your game one hundred percent. There's
no doubt about I'll be lying if I didn't say that. I also think
I'm taking more ownership of my career when it comes to already. You know,
success doesn't come by, you know, being suc successful, you got
to fail a little bit. And I think that's where I'm at right now
and kind of putting all that knowledge that I have learned throughout the year and
being my own being my own teacher and my own hating coach and all that,
and so, Yeah, You've been a part of some good teams,
some teams that have struggled. When you look around this clubhouse here this spring,
but what are you seeing that that gives you hope that this could a
really good season for this ball club. Well, for me, I hope
is ah. I won't be a home in October, I'll tell you that.
So so yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. And um and you
know, whenever you're in October, anything can happen. So we have the
tools to continue to move forward on that and continue to go to the get
to the goal that we have I used to win the World Series. So
that's outfielder Ramon Loriano. And another player in that outfield picture who figures to
see a lot of time in center field is Tyler Freeman. And if you
had said that a year or two ago, it wouldn't have been on the
radar. He was a middle infielder coming up through the minor league system,
had always been a good offensive player, hitting over three hundred in the minor
leagues. But that work in the outfield this spring has certainly paid off,
as the Guardians view him now as a potential reg in center field, and
maybe not every day, but certainly someone who plays out there a lot in
addition to his work on the infield. And when we visited with Tyler earlier
this spring, he talked about some of the challenges of learning a new position
at this stage of his career. Yeah, it's a work in progress.
I haven't I haven't ever really stepped foot in the outfield. So working out
of the spring was a top of my list, and you know, early
on it was working at it about four times a week and just drilling work
with jt Our outfield coach. And it's been fun so far. And I
guess players could look at it differently in terms of moving off your normal position.
But how do you view this when they ask you, hey, go
play some outfield and increase your versatility. I look at as an honor.
You know, if they want me to keep expanding wherever position, I'll do
whatever I can to help this team win. So I viewed as an honor.
I don't view it as like, hey, we got to move you
away from your normal position. I viewed it as adding another tool in my
backyoor. So spring training game, you play out there and then you've done
that already and you had some action, which isn't always you know, you
can't predict that. But as you're out there, are you hoping for balls
to be hit? Two years so you can show what you can do more
than anything, because you know, the first game out there was nervous.
I was nervous, but once the first one happened in the first inning,
once that was out of the way, it was kind of more comfortable.
I was like, Okay, I can do this. I can handle the
spot, and so now I'm just hoping to get more innings out there more
than anything. Who helps you the most as you're trying to go through this
process. For as a player, it was Ernie Clement. You saw him
here. He was bouncing around everywhere, and that was a guy was setting
messages, Hey, what what can I do to get better? To expand
my game? And he just kept he kept saying, just keep moving positions.
Whenever the team may need you in a spot, they can throw you
out wherever if need be. So as a player was him, and then
I would say as a coach, would definitely be JT. He's our outfield
coach. He's you know, I've talked to him on and off the field
and he's just like, hey, I'll help you get to whoever you want
to be. So and those two guys definitely for sure regular outfielders on this
team. I've talked about the work that j T McGuire does. What has
he done for you. That's helpful everything. He's taken extra time just to
just to help me work out there. You know, he's he's taking his
time to answer answer my calls, my messages and just to kind of improve
my game in any way possible. And he's just he's looking out for me
more than anything. So I definitely value him more more than more than a
lock of guys off season. I know last year you tried to add a
little bit of muscle and and maybe adjust your swing a little bit to hit
the ball harder. Similar path this offseason, Yeah, absolutely, And you
know spring is the time to make mistakes. And I'm like, as our
identity as headers, we're trying to do damage this year and I might not
show up in spring, but during the season it will show up. And
so it's it is the same thing, trying to do more damage to the
ball and just being patient with the results anything in particular last year. The
first real extent is retching the big leagues. That that you learn that's been
helpful, Just keeping keeping your your your mind in one spot. Don't don't
have a good or bad game, like, can't let it affect you.
You gotta stay even keel and I think once I figured that out as earlier
as possible, the results started showing. So I just got to stay even
keel and just try to have fun more than anything. Ant utility man Tyler
Freeman who figures to see a lot of time in center field once the year
begins. Stay with us our final segments coming your way shortly as we continue
with Guardians Weekly, a Cleveland Clinic, Guardians Radio Network, and stay tuned,
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too swing in a fly ball in the medium deep center Loriana will make the
cats. What a job by Gattis as he was able to get out of
it and keep the vases loaded. Here's the one two pitch got him swinging
in another great curveball. Hunter Gaddis six up, six down, four punch
outs, the one two curveball and a knee buckler for straight three. Oh
what an inning for a Hunter Gaddis Stretch time in the desert. Jim Rosenow's
back with you. It's Guardians Weekly from Goodyear, Arizona, and we finish
our show talking pitching. We'll start with Hunter Gaddis, who has had a
tremendous spring, mainly out of the bullpen and the former starting pitcher. It
looks like that bullpen roll will really suit him well. And we caught up
with him recently and he talked about what's led to the good success that he's
had this spring being consistent as of right now, it's just I'm trying to
keep it the same. It's rolling well, so I'm just trying to stay
right there in that mindset. And you're from Atlanta, but you came out
here and you've done it for a while. But how much of the off
season did you spend here and why is it so beneficial to be out here.
I spent almost the whole off season out here, except for the holidays.
I was obviously wanting to be with my family, but I mean it's
just so easy out here. These guys work really well with me, and
I work well with them. So it's been really And is it primarily pitching
things that you're doing or is it more fitness, flexibility, all that kind
of good stuff. I'd say it's fifty to fifty. I mean there's importance
in both of them, you know, definitely, you know, get my
body filling right always in the off season is a big importance. And then
I wouldn't say it was really pitching, you know, bias in the off
season. It's more armstring arm path, you know, just getting the body
moving good. And when you talk about I don't know if fitness is the
right word, but flexibility you mentioned how important has that been And what have
you noticed here this spring after going through an off season really focusing on that.
I mean it's it's really like I said, it's like making your body
feel good, and I mean flexibility is a big part of that. And
I know last spring training it was like kind of tough to touch my toes,
like I could do it, but now it's like much easier and it
just feels better. Are you bending your knees when you touch your toes?
Are you doing it? Legit? It's legit. Nown I can say that
velocity everyone's chasing it and trying to get the most they can. How did
you get to a better spot velocity wise? And how does that impact your
other pitches too? You know, I don't I don't really know the key
to velocity. I think i've you know, I think three years ago it
was like the first time I hit like ninety seven. So it's not like
it's really increased from then. It's maybe been more consistent. My you know,
average has been higher. So I think it's just getting the reps in,
make sure you're moving well and not trying to do too much. And
then always, you know, villa makes every other pitch better. So if
you got the villa, it definitely you know, makes your sighter that much
better. That's that change up that much better. We talk about mechanics a
lot. Obviously you have to focus on those, but you mentioned earlier,
is it okay not to think about mechanics when you're on the mound maybe to
your benefit. Oh yeah, if I'm on the mound, you know,
I don't I don't like to think about mechanics. I just try and you
know, throw the ball pretty much as hard as I can, as long
as I can throw it where I want. So, you know, I've
thought about mechanics on move before and it's never ended well for me, So
I definitely try and go out there with no mechanical thoughts. Role wise,
you've done a little bit of everything in the Major League, starting releading.
How do you see it right now and how are you building up this spring
in terms of your role as of right now. You know, we had
a meeting before spring chartered started, and you know they're building me up for
now and we'll see what happens after a couple appearances. You know what it's
looking like for the seed that is Hunter Gaddis, who has thrown the ball
extremely well in spring training, and with some of the injuries to the relief
cores for the Cleveland Guardians, he figures to play a key role, especially
early in this season. Joining him in that bullpen. Veteran right hander Eli
Morgan, entering his fourth full season with the Guardians, he's still young at
twenty seven. I asked him if he's starting to feel like one of the
veterans on this young Guardians ball club. Yes, and no. I mean
from a comfort standpoint, no, But from a familiarity standpoint, yeah,
I've seen all these guys for you know, my seventh year with the team
now, a lot of familiar flaces, a lot of new ones. Though
maybe from an advice standpoint, yet, we do have so many young pitchers
that have guys coming up asking questions. Certainly not a veteran from like a
comfort standpoint. Just yet. When you say comfort standpoint, what do you
mean by that? I mean, you know you you watch Hosey and Bieber
like that's that's a comfort standpoint. They walk in here, they know exactly
what they're gonna do. They're not fighting to do anything. There's no there's
no make or break in a spring for them. So it's a little different
situation. As a bullpen guy, you've had some good usage the last couple
of years, how do you manage that in the off season to make sure
you're ready to go for the following year. I'd say a lot of that's
actually in season, you know, off season is good time to give the
arm a chance to rest. You can switch up things from a biomechanical standpoint
a lot easier than once you get into competition mode. But I think for
me, my arms started to feel really good once I locked in my routine
last year, and taking that through an off seasons putting me in a good
spot. Now. Has it been different as a relief pitcher compared to when
you were a starter, say in the minor leagues. Definitely for me.
I mean, as a guy in the miners at good control, good stuff,
not a whole lot of v low, So that allowed me the opportunity
to just play catch as much as I wanted. I mean, I'd throw
the ball for an hour a day and not get too much arm soreness.
Now that I'm throwing a little harder, that's something I have to be more
congressant off so I get my work in still, but it's not as much
of a volume more so than a focus on the throws that I do have.
We're talking earlier, that change up is such a bread and butter pitch
for you, and when we see it early in spring training, it's kind
of fun. It brings you back to what makes you such a good pitcher,
And is that something that's always been there for you or has it just
kind of developed where now it's that pitch that really helps you since college it's
been there. Yeah, I mean, but once I was Once I was
there, that was a big, big thing. They told me. It
was like, if you're going to pitch the D one level, you should
have a really good you. So that that's when I switched over from a
split finger to a change up. And then you know, it's been about
ten years throwing that, so it's you know, it's definitely very comfortable.
I know what I'm supposed to do with it now. It's just a matter
of location. You know, when I get it below the zone, it's
in a good spot. When it hangs in the zone, you know,
it gives them a chance to get on it sometimes. So when I put
in a good spot, it usually has good results. And obviously in this
league people know about it now and that type of thing. Is it good
enough where they can know it's coming and if it's in the right spot doesn't
matter. Not quite. No, I do still have to mix it up,
you know that. I think the slider is going to be a good
pitch to get them off that. Certainly, if it's knees and below,
then then I'll be in an okay spot, you know where if they know
it's come and there's still not too much slug to be done down there.
But yeah, it's probably the number one thing on most of their scouting reports,
and I can see it in some of their approaches, like when they
might be looking for it, when they might be you know, trying to
ambush it fastball early and that's something we'll take in a season and you know,
try to find some good pitch seq once it's for it. Eli Morgan
joining US Guardians reliever camp much different this year because of the new staff,
or is spring training spring training? No matter who's running it. I mean,
the day to day stuff's all the same. You know, we play
our catch, we run a little bit, we do pfps, there's a
lot of downtime to you know, hang around with teammates, get to know
new faces. Certainly all the new coaching staff like that. That adds a
little bit different than a wrinkle, But we're still playing the same game.
It's a lot of the same stuff. And what do you see here early
in camp in terms of a team looking to bounce back and have a good
season, really good energy. I mean, it's it doesn't look like a
team that was, you know, ten games below last year. You know,
last year is disappointing, but no one's hanging their heads on it,
like we're all just excited to have another year together and to our best.
How long does it take to get used to there's gonna be some new faces
in the bullpen? Does it take a little while to for everybody to gel
down there? And can that only happen once you get into that regular season
and you guys are out in the pen game after game. Well, so
we have a thing where you know, you got to come for three inings.
So a lot of the bullpen guys are down there. We're starting to
get into those you know, camaraderie routines. Barlow's fitting right in, and
you know, some of the new guys are getting a taste of, you
know, the weirdness that goes down in the bullpen. But will be just
fine. AT's Eli Morgan who figures to play a key role in that Guardian's
bullpen along with Hunter Gaddison and several others, but with some injuries and illness.
That bullpen will take on a different look, especially early in the campaign,
and that season starts in less than a week now Thursday night from the
Open Coliseum. Tom Hamilton will have the first pitch shortly after ten o'clock Eastern
time. Should be a lot of fun as the season begins with a long
road trip of ten games, four in Oakland, three in Seattle, and
three in Minnesota. And we'll be there every step of the way each week
with Guardians Weekly, and next week that means from Oakland Coliseum. So for
Brian Matsee who does great work each week and put our show together, this
is Jim rosen House reminding you that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly on the
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