Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly is fromt
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Welcome to Guardians Weekly. Chim Rose in house along with you from Progressive Field
in downtown Cleveland where the Guardians are taking on the Texas Ringers this weekend,
and for our show today coming up in just a little bit, we'll get
a complete update on the Akron Ball Club and the Guardians farm system with Rob
ster Folio, the director of player Development. Also Xavian Curry, Guardians pitcher,
will join us, as will Logan Allen, a couple of the rookie
pitchers who have been so successful in this their first season in the major leagues.
But first to look at the week gone by, and it began on
the road in San Francisco with a five to four loss on Monday night,
one of three walkoff defeats for the Guardians on their most recent road trip to
the West Coast. Then on Tuesday, a bounced back for Cleveland as again
they were at San Francisco and they got it started in the very first inning,
scoring a run on a Coole Calhoun ground out to take the early lead,
and on the mound, cal Quantrille continued his impressive stretch since returning from
the injured lists. THEO one swung on groundball to third Premirez to second one
Freeman the first got him on a close play double play for the Guardians and
the side is retired. We are headed to the fifth. It is still
the Guardians won and the Giants nothing. The Giants tied the game at won
with a solo home run in the fifth inning, but in the sixth the
Guardians regain the lead thanks to a clutch two out hit from Tyler Freeman.
Walker delivers and it swung on line drive base hit center field. This will
score two nailers. Across right behind him is Fry He slides in safely.
In the third goes Calhoun and out at second base after a single that drives
into Tyler. Freeman moved up on the throw and the Guardians take a three
to one lead. Then in the late innings it was the Guardians defense stepping
up to keep Cleveland on top. Here's the one zero swung on groundball,
tiving stop by the first baseman. Nailer who tags the runner steps on the
bag double play. How about that the pitch to him swung on and driven
a left center. This one's hit a ton long run Straw and Miles Straw
makes the catch midway through the warning track to retire Wade. Here's the one
one swung on and there's a high fly ball to deep center. Straw is
back at the wall. He leaps head, Straw bangs into the fence.
Did he hang on? Yes, he did. Miles Straw with another circus
catch in center. And in the ninth Emanuel Classe came on to try and
rebound from a loss the previous night, and he got the job done.
As there's a swinging a pop up. This may do it, it's too
right center. Brennan coming on. He makes the catch and the Guardians are
back in the wind column with a hard earned three to one victory tonight here
in San Francisco. So the Guardians squared up the series at one win apiece,
but trying to win the series. On Wednesday again, it was San
Francisco handing the Guardians a walk off defeat, this time in ten innings by
a final score of six to five. Thursday was an off day then the
opener of a homestand for the Guardians, as on Friday night they took on
the Rangers, the highest scoring team in baseball, and it was the Guardians
who were the high scoring team on this night, as they got the scoring
started in the second inning with a runner on and Andrey Semenez at the plate.
Now the pitch and it swung in and ripped into deep right center field.
This ball is gone, a line drive, two run to home run
the right center by Andre Siemenez. It's his thirteenth What a month of September
he is having. This is the guy we saw all of twenty two and
the Guardians have a two nothing lead. On a hanging breaking ball than Andre
Simenez scholton over the wall in right center field for his thirteenth Palmer, giving
him fifty three RBIs two nothing Guardians here in ending number two and on the
Mount Lucas Giolito looks sharp early. Now the two two swang and a miss
gan him with another changeup. Gelito has struck out six, two nothing Cleveland
in the middle of the third. Then the Guardians added to the lead in
the fourth inning with a two out hit from Josh Naylor Ramier as the base
runner at first, and here comes the old one. It's a nailer.
He swings and lines it in the left field. That's a base hit grounding
third heading for home is Arius. He will score and Naylor comes through again
Harbi number eighty nine for Josh Taylor and the Guardians are now in front.
Three nothing, and then Ramone Loriano joined the home run club in the fifth.
Here's the two one delivery swung on and that's lifted high and deep left
field. Home run porch. Ramone Loriano goes deep and the Guardians lead it
for nothing. The line drive off the battle. Loriano at his home run
number nine over all this season for Loriano, and it is his third since
joining Cleveland. The offense kept tacking on in the sixth inning. Boone Naylor
started it off with a double and then Jose Ramirez stepped in. Now the
one Oho two Ramires swung on, hit in the air, keep center on
the runs. Carter looking up in us high off the nineteen foot wall and
center Posey in with an Armi double as nailor score from third. Five nothing
Cleveland, and if that wall is in nineteen feet high there in center field,
Jose Ramirez has a two run double. I beg your pardon the two
run homer as it is. It's an RBI double, thirty fifth double,
seventy sixth arbi and then Josh Naylor kept the run of doubles going. Now
the one oh swung on line shot left field near the line. Duran on
the run, kid make the catch, ball gets by him, it'll go
to the warning track in the scores Hosy in the second with an RBI double
is Josh Naylor six nothing Cleveland. Ezekiel Duran racing toward the line, stretched
out on a dead sprint, couldn't get any glove on it. And Naylor
has his third hit, his second RBI, giving him ninety still in the
sixth, now two met aboard andres Emenez delivered again again the payoff pitch swung
and ripped in the right. That's another bash that'll score Josh Naylor motoring.
The third is Loriano seven nothing, Cleveland one and at bat by Andre Simenez
and he delivers a two out Army I singled the right and then Will Brennan
put an exclamation point on the inning. Now the two two swinging light right
bas hit up the alley and left center it'll go all the way to the
wall. Loriano scores. He met us around third, he'll score. It's
a two out, two run double out the shooting left center by Will Brennan.
It's a five run inning and Cleveland is now annihilating the Texas Rangers nine
nothing. Then back to the mound we went with Lucas Giolito putting on a
show. Now the set hands at the belt. They look at third,
the one two delivery, strike three call, another changeup and Robbie Grossman not
happy with a call. Twelve strikeouts for Giolito. Wow, stretch time at
the corner of Carnagian Ontario. Cleveland nine, Texas nothing. But the offense
wasn't done yet, as in the bottom half of the seventh inning, Josh
Naylor kept his big night, going nine nothing Cleveland. Seventh inning, the
pitch Nailer with a rocket into right field, another base hit quand around third
being waved home throw to the plate not in time. Ten nothing Cleveland and
Nailer with a four hit three Army I game and Josh Naylor now with ninety
one runs banned in and then Cole Calhoun stepped in as the only Guardians hitter
without a hit. At that point, the pitch swung out, pounded Hi
date to right failed. There she goes Cole Calhoun with Cleveland's third whole run
of the game. I'm a jestic two run blast to right and Cleveland keeps
pouring it on, leading twelve to nothing. Calhoun's fifth home run since joining
Cleveland. Twelve to three ended up being the final score as the Guardians took
this series opener with Texas, and after the game, Lucas Giolito talked about
his stellar performance and this his third start with the Guardians. Yeah, I'm
a type of starter. I like to throw every fifth day, and so
being here five man rotation, been able to do that. Had an extra
day coming into this one just because of the off day, but you're used
to that as a pitcher. But yeah, being here, being in this
environment with these guys, it's been very nice after a very hectic, uh
you know month plus. So yeah, today felt good. Started that kind
of Yeah, the slider last starting this start, I was able to like
really get over and finish it to create more depth on it. And so
it's been like a good third pitch for me. Uh, these last two
whereas earlier in the year, when it's more struggle, uh commanding it and
it would get too flat. So it's been it's been a good pitch these
last couple starts, specially today being able to play it off of the fastball,
which I was able to command at the top of the zone much better
than I have previously. And super you'rest Yeah, does that kind of no
matter how big leases, Yeah, I usually want to keep a more neutral
reaction, but like with how the game was going, I want to go
out a nice one, two, three inning and you know, giving up
a hit like that where you know, you get in on the guy's hands
and it just like hit, it literally hit the line. I kind of
like let out a little frustration in the moment there, but you know I
was able to kind of refocus and get back on track to finish the ending
strong. But yeah, I want to I also want to say, like
Bo was fantastic the whole the whole night. You know, my first start
pitching to him did not go well, and that's on me. Uh,
he was really really good. Like pregame when we were talking about the lineup,
we had a very very clear approach of what we were going to do,
and then we executed that. His framing was fantastic. As pitch calling,
we got into a very nice rhythm, and so I want to give
a lot of credit to him, because you don't do it alone as a
starting pitcher. Having an outing like tonight just that's yeah. I really think
it was because I was able to command my fastball well, which is something
I haven't been doing probably the last couple of months, being able to live
at the top of the zone. When I can do that, then I
can let that change up and slider play below. And so we were able
to keep that like north south approach going and uh, you know, limit
contact for the most part. More baseball through the weekend. The Guardians will
take on the Rangers at six ten on Saturday night and then on one forty
first pitch to wrap up the brief home stand on Sunday afternoon. Stay with
us. We'll have more to come after this time out on the Cleveland Clinic,
Guardians Radio Network, and Progressive. We love sports and saving your money.
So we bundled them together. The final horse now in the gate and
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all states or situations. Here's the two two called strike three on the outside
corner number five for Logan Allen Allen from the stretch, the two oh swung
on and at sky to write creeping in on it is Loriano, He's under
it and he takes the catch to retire the side. Another solid inning for
Logan Allen. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from
Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are taking on the Rangers this
weekend. Earlier in the week, Logan Allen turned in another fine performance as
on Wednesday in San Francisco, gol Logan Allen pitched well, and like most
rookie starters in September, he's starting to surpass previous innings pitch totals for the
year that he's ever had in professional baseball, and he says he feels like
his stuff has held up just fine over the long season. Yeah. Absolutely,
I think I feel like I'm in a good place physically. My stuff
feels good and uh over ready to take the ball every fifth day, So
I'll feeling good. Anything surprised you as you get deeper into your first major
league season, Uh no, I think it's just getting getting more comfortable,
getting to all these new stadiums, feeling more comfortable around all these guys,
and just you know, feeling just like I fit in a lot more than
than cut probably in the my you know, earlier times of here. You
mentioned that seeing new stadiums, and you get a chance to pitch in San
Francisco and we were talking earlier. What is it about that place that you
really enjoyed on Wednesday? Oh, just so much history. I think you
kind of alluded to it to the you know, great, great fan base,
but uh no, just all the history, you know, seeing the
splash shots, you know, Naylor getting able to add to it. But
now it just really cool to be out there and just you know, taking
all the history where so many great players have played Logan Allen joining US Guardian
starting pitcher, one of three rookies who has really made an impact. And
how much do you and Tanner Byby and Gavin Williams share information on what you're
going through and how you're trying to get there. Yeah, I think we
all kind of look to each other. We're all on a very similar boat
where we're kind of all just trying to take it and stride and you know,
roll the punches when we do kind of have struggles up here. But
I think that we, you know, got a good kind of core group
that we can kind of stay together for a good little bit and you know,
work off each other and build of each other and hopefully be good for
a long time. And you're fortunate and that you reach the banter leagues pretty
quickly. And when you talk about innings and you mentioned how you're still feeling
good, you hear development people say you know that major league innings are different.
Have you noticed that? And if so, what is the difference in
a major league inning as they compile as opposed to minor league inns. I
would just say you don't have as many innings that are stress free. I
think at any any point, any any batter and any lineup can kind of
put together those good at bats where it can take a ten pitch inning and
turn to a thirty pitch inning and just kind of that high stress every single
every single ending. I think that that's the biggest difference between the big leagues
and being in the minor leagues. I think that you have you experienced some
of that in the minor leagues, but up here, I think it's just
a lot more frequent, and you know, a five inning day can can
be a lot more tolling than a five inning start in the minor leagues for
sure, and team wise, obvious it's been frustrating certainly as you get deeper,
I know it here. What do you seeing? No as as you
get into these last two weeks in terms of what the team wants to accomplish,
all right, I think we can just worry about, you know,
trying to play good baseball every day and go out there and just execute,
you know, make our pitches and you know, put good swings on going
good pitches in the zone. I think that you know, whether we are
in the standings wherever it may be, and you just gotta come out there
and play every day and not look too far ahead, and just you know,
be where you are, be where your feet are, and just try
to win every day. It's worked well for you for sure. Thanks a
lot for coming, b I appreciate it. Thank you so much. That's
Logan Allen, one of three rookies in the starting rotation now for the Guardians,
and all three really pitching well here down the stretch. Stay with us.
We'll visit with another rookie who's been back and forth between the pen and
the rotation. That's Xavian Curry. After this time out on the Cleveland Clinic
Guardians Radio Network, Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you
from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are off to a nice
start on this brief homestand with a twelve to three win over the Texas Rangers
on Friday night. Xavian Curry has put together a real nice season for the
Guardians, as he worked out of the bullpen to begin the year, then
was in the starting rotation for a while and looking back at the beginning of
the season, he was initially sent to the minor leagues at the end of
spring training, but he got a late reprieve due to injuries, made the
club out of camp, and he hasn't looked back because he's put together a
solid rookie season. Oh yeah, you know that. You know that that
couple of days, you know, towards the end of spring training, just
going back over to the minor league side for a couple of days and then
getting a call that you know, I could possibly be departing with the team
once the season starts. You know, just you know, I do think
about that and like I just kind of look back and just say how blessed
I am to even still be here in September. You know, it's been
a whole season now, and you know the kind of the way I say,
as somehow, some way, I've still been a part of this team
the whole time, and that's just that's just a blessing, uh in itself.
So you know, I do look back at that time and just really
well realize, like wow, like you know, if this would have happened,
if that would have happened, like you know, certain things would would
would be different. So just like understanding that it's just a blessing and that
guy has a plan for me and you were in a role that that long
relief role for a long time early in the season that you can get caught
in that if you have a good outing but pitch a lot of innings sometimes
they need a fresh arm. But that never happened for you. And how
appreciative are you of Tito and the coaching staff for saying, hey, he
pitched, well, let's keep them here and we'll figure it out. Yeah,
you know, and uh, you know, I am very appreciative of
just the coaching staff, hand and pitch and staff to even you know,
give me the opportunity to to be in that long relief role and to just
like like you said, just give me a fair chance to like, you
know, say, he did pitch good, and you know we're gonna we're
gonna try to keep giving them opportunity. So just for them to trust me
in too, just like I say, even keep me here this whole time
and just let me be a part of this team. Let me, let
me pitch at the major league level, let me let me travel, and
let me just experience baseball in a different like. I am very appreciative of
them for, like like I said, just giving me the opportunity to play.
We saw you a little bit last year. You made your debut,
most of your season in the minor leagues. But your stuff has been good
up here this season. Are you that lunch better of a picture you think
from from this time a year ago? You know, honestly I would I
would say no. Me personally, I probably feel like, you know,
maybe even last year, I was probably just as far as in the minus
like a little better like I, you know, might have had a little
better stuff. But I would say I feel like here, you know,
just and even through spring training, like obviously just stand in the weight room,
stand stand uh in contact with the pitching staff in the offseason, just
trying to work on things to improve. And then I think a big help
was getting here, and like like you said before, just playing here,
like having an opportunity to just pitch in in that long relief role. You
know, it allowed me to how I say, it allowed me to get
reps and the at the major league level, allowed me to go out there
and to test my stuff, like to be able to say, okay,
I've been working on this, on execute my slider like this in the bulletpins
with the pitching staff, so let's see how that plays when I go into
games and just honestly just even talking to the other guys on the pitch and
staff, picking their brains and just trying to out like okay, like you
know, how how how do you pitch this guy? How what is your
understanding of the zone, like when you're trying to throw a curveball where you're
trying to start it. And just like like I said, I would say,
I think I just learned more about pitching at the major league level and
just you know, and for the most part of the season, just honestly
even being able to just watch you know, our guys go out there and
pitch and just you know, kind of model my my my game plans after
there is and just watching how they had how they had success. So just
being able to just be up here and play here and and watch here and
just just learn and just kind of soak up everything that I felt like I
needed to soak up to make myself better, you know, kind of like
the like the Kobe Bryant effect. You know, he said something video that
I saw, but just basically he used the world to help him become better
at basketball. You know, everything was kind of catered towards you know,
how can this help me in basketball? And that's kind of the approach that
I take, you know, just soaking up everything that I can to to
be able to, you know, use it to make myself a better person
as a better baseball player. Xavion Curry joining us, you get that chance
to start after spending the year in the bullpen and made several starts. What
does that mean to you to get back into rotation As someone who's been a
career starter, you know, it means a lot just to like I said,
just to even have the opportunities to say, okay, you know you've
been a long leaf ro you know, maybe now we need a starter,
so you know, we'll give you a chance to to start end. You
know, just being able to, like I say, just even get the
reps as a startered just you know, test myself to see, okay,
how can end and after end and can I come back and you know,
be able to get these guys out. So just just being able to get
that experience and just to to get this picture experience for it for my first
year, you know, I feel like it it'll really helped me build a
foundation in a in a stepping stool in my in my career to be able
to just build off this and learn from this, you know, take the
good, take the bad, you know, take the bad out, and
take the good out, and take the okay out and just be able to
kind of you know, bottle all that up and just you know, be
able to just take my game to the next level. You're a rookie,
you get to go to all these fun cities and I know at Georgia,
Techet, you had a chance to travel to here in San Francisco, a
great tourist city, and you and some teammates went to Alcatraz, is one
of the great tourist attractions here in San Francisco. What did you think and
what did you see over there? You know, honestly that that that was
that that was great that I was able to get out. You know,
I would say I probably haven't tooken great advantage of, you know, being
able to travel to all these cities and just be able to get out and
explore because you know, I try to uh spend some times just resting,
but to be able to go go to Alcatraz and just you know kind of
see that historical you know, monument just here. It was, it was,
it was. It was honestly cool, you know, to be able
to just take the boat ride over and just kind of like, you know,
just be able to experience something different. You know, you know,
you never really get to to see like landmarks like that, you know,
I guess in a in a normal day when you're when you're kind of working.
So just being able to go over there and just like you know,
experience that, see the see the prison, just kind of hear the stories
of of what took place on that, on that and then just honestly just
being there and just kind of like looking out and understanding that, you know,
like that those people were even like the families that worked there, like
they were just they were all just stuck on Alcatraz, you know. So
it was it was. It was cool. So you go over there with
Will Brennan and the Nailer brothers. It's legend that even if you could escape
from Alcatraz, there's no way you make it swim to shore because of the
sharks. So of the four of you, any of you could could make
it swimming that debate. The whole time we were there, like we were
kind of saying at the time, just looking and we were like, you
know, like your life depends on it, Like you can't swim from here
to here. And we're like, yeah, maybe, but like if you
just ex out the sharks, maybe you can you can swim, but if
you add the nature effected to it, like, nah, you probably can't
make it. But I mean, you know, actually, I think someone
told us that they actually do like annual swim there like where I think,
yes, that's one of the local stores. They like an annual swim where
people can kind of like swim the distance of Alcatraz to the through the shore
and I was like, okay, that that sounds kind of cool, but
I'll pass on. That all part of a rare visit for the Guardians to
San Francisco. Xavian, thanks a lot for coming by. I appreciate it,
no problem, Thank you for having me. That's x Avion Curry talking
about a tremendous season and also some fun times that he has had with his
teammates in recent weeks, and certainly he's been a big key to that pitching
staff board Cleveland. Stay tuned. We'll have our final segment after this time
out on the Cleveland Clinic, Guardians Radio Network, Baseball, basketball, pickleball.
Those are sports and people love sports. If you love sports, you
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teams Progressive Casualty Insurance Company unifiliates. Potential savings will vary. Welcome back to
Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland,
where the Guardians are taking on the Rangers this weekend. Meanwhile, the Double
A Ball Club in Akron is winding down its season. Rops Her Folios the
director of player development, and he says the Double A level always seems to
be where you really start to separate some things in terms of players who can
move on or players who may be hitting the top of their potential. And
he says he's encouraged by the overall progress that many have made at the Double
A level this season. Yeah. I first off, ros you know,
it's almost a sad time of the year. With the A ball season wrapping
up and last couple of weeks been doing some exit meetings with with those players
and making sure that you know, they have a chance to sit down with
our staff and review their season and playing some of the off season. And
we'll do the same with some of our upper level teams that are finishing here
in the next couple of weeks. But the Acron group in particular has been
you know, a really young position player group in particular, and some some
pictures kind of getting their first taste of upper level baseball and and you nailed
it just what a separator level AKRON or the Double A level tends to be.
And you know, we've had a handful of guys that have have had
some you know, great learning opportunities throughout the year, both on field off
field. So the challenges that come with adapting to that level are are unique,
and you know, proud of how the guys have have hung in there
and battled through and just continue to try and focus on how they can get
better and prepare themselves to be impactful major leaguers in the future. Well,
let's start on that position player side, and we've talked about this player a
lot really from from the start of the season and maybe even back to spring
training infielder Jan Brito and you look across the board and his offensive numbers are
really strong and and how did he grow this season as he went through the
year at Double A. Yeah, so, you know, Brita obviously our
first year with him after the trade at the end of the season last year
for Nolan Jones. And you know, this is a young player that really
from the second he showed up, whether it was in our Dominican facility or
Arizona facility, and then eventually this year has just been really impressive from a
maturity standpoint. You know, his focus with how he goes about his work,
and then I think his performance to your points obviously spoke for itself.
And you know, we've asked him to play multiple positions on defense, to
really continue to try and push his athleticism and ultimately give him as many opportunities
to get into a major league line up in the future as we possibly.
He's done a really good job at second and third and you know that's where
he's played primarily, and just exposing him to some new things I think has
been really great. And he's only handled the bat from both sides of the
plate at a high level. So a young, exciting player that just continues
to want to be coached and want to improve all we can really ask out
of our guys. So it's been a pleasure to work with him. We
had a chance to meet Pete helping in spring training. He played a couple
of Major league games, and how did his season go from start to finish?
Their finishing up at the Double A level with a lot of games under
his belt. Yeah, so you know, we talked about the position player
group. I think Pete in fact, was one of the youngest players will
to start the year, and you know, to be challenged in that sense
is it is really fun for us in the player development world because that comes
with on field and off field learning and Pete's had to adjust to all of
that and you know, another young player in our organization. It just has
a high level upside and we're really excited to get our hands dirty with him
in the offseason. Can you look at Milan Tolentino most of the year at
Lake County but called up and has spent the last little while with Akron.
The numbers don't jump out, but but what did you see in as short
time as he moved up a level to get ready for next season. Yeah,
so you know, you look at Milan's year almost into two pass one
of Lake County, where you know he's one of the best offensive performers on
that team. He always plays great defense. You know, that's such a
calling card that he has, Like similar to Burrito. We've asked him to
bounce around a little bit and he's done that with incredible poison maturity and just
continue to get better at all three. But a guy that you know can
really glove it and we think has a chance to play up the middle,
and I know that he struggled a little bit on offense, which again,
you know, these these opportunities are great learning opportunities for us, and we'd
rather than happen in the minors, and we would in the big leagues.
So the fact that we're able to use this and and respond to it in
a productive manner and take it how Milan's thinking about it and how we're looking
to support them. Chased a lot of former number one draft pick of the
Guardians, a top round pick, you move them up for it. For
the last a couple of weeks of the minor league season. Why is that
important to get a look at him at Double A before the end of the
year. Yeah, it's a great call out. And you know, Chase
was with Lake County obviously, had was coming back from the injury at the
start of the year and Lake County was in a playoff push, and you
know, we think playing meaningful baseball at the end of the year is is
really important for our guys. We hope that's something they do when they're in
the big leagues and we want them to have some experience with that under their
belt. So, you know, we had Chase battling it out with Lake
Counting down the stretch and then just thought this last week of the year as
a great opportunity for him to go get a taste in the Double A level
and some of the things that come with the level of just you know,
being in the club house and getting a chance to meet more of our staff,
and you know, we expect Chase to partake in some upper level baseball
next year, and just thought it would be a good way to acclimate him
to some of the challenges he'll have in the future. Rob Sortfolio, the
director of player Development, for the Guardians joining us. We're talking double a
Akron as their season winds down, and when we moved to the mound,
we talk pitching. Who are these guys Bieber and Mackenzie who have slided into
the rotation this week? What is happening down there? Well, first off,
it's great to get those guys healthy. Those are tea names that I
hope to see in our major league starting rotation at some point soon. But
you consider them prospects a little bit, yeah, a little bit. But
on a serious note, one of the cool things of having those guys either
they were interacting with sort of our Lake County group last week and now those
guys getting a chance to do that in Akron this week is it's a really
unique opportunity for young players to be around some major leaguers that have had success.
So, you know, while those guys aren't as excited as we are
to see them back in minor league uniforms, some cool learnings that comes out
of that from just them being around young players and those guys getting a chance
to pick their brains a little bit. And let's go right to the bullpen.
Franco Alaman. You look at his numbers, they're ridiculous. Nobody's getting
on base against this guy. How come what's he doing well? First off?
I mean he throws in the upper nineties and has a pretty impressive slider.
So that's a good starting point for a back end of the relief reliever.
So when you know, he's got a real chance to do some good
things in the bullpen, and as you noted, has not walked anybody.
I've struck out a lot of guys and hasn't given up a lot of hits.
And you know, I think that's a credit to just his growth as
a professional dating back to when he first came to us from the University of
Florida, and just how he's so dedicated to his work on and off the
field is really impressive. And you know, a guy that we're excited to
have and I think that could help us out here in the coming years.
And another member of that bullpen is Tyler Thornton, who also spent some time
at Lake County but finishes at Akron And what have you seen from him?
Yeah? You really really similar narrative to to Frank. A back end of
the reliever in the minor leagues force right now, that has created a ton
of swing and miss. You know, Tyler creates some really unique angles with
with how he goes about it, but can pitch fills up the zone.
Yeah, you know this this is another guy that you might not appear on
prospect lists just yet, but has potential to help us out. And similar
to Will Dion, like, you know, we're not we're not on the
finish line by any stretch of the imagination, but you know, we have
an opportunity with him to continue to get better and hopefully pave the path for
him to help our major league team in the future. And I'm not sure
if it's fair to lump all all three of these guys together, but they've
kind of gone to Akron and compiled smittings and looks like they're in that rotation
every fifth or sixth day, depending Doug Nakazy, Tommy Mason, and Jack
Leftwich. And what have they done just to continue to develop and continue to
be relevant. Well, you know, first off, those all three of
those guys are guys that you know, we're really excited to have in the
organization. They have starter attributes, They really worked their tails off, So
you know, we talked about it from the jump of a what a separator
level double A is. These are guys that are getting really their first full
taste of that level this year, so you know, we expect them just
to continue to get better and better, especially knowing the way that those guys
go about their business and dedication to just the improvement process. So guys,
we're looking forward to working with here as the offseason approaches. Well, Rob,
thanks for the update on Akron, our final one of the year for
the Double A Club and our last visit. We'll talk about Columbus and the
year that they've had, but always appreciate the time and catch up any soon.
Looking forward to thank you for having me. That's robster Folio, the
director of player development for the Guardians, and that's going to do it for
this week's edition of Guardians Weekly. Thanks as always to Brian Motzay for his
help in putting together our show each week until next week when we join you
from right here at Progressive Field. This is Jim Rosenhouse reminding you that you've
been listening to Guardians Weekly, a Cleveland clinic Guardians radio network. Guardians Weekly
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