Speaker 1: Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians
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Speaker 2: Hi, everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rose in house
Speaker 2: along with you from Progressive Field on Town Cleveland. This
Speaker 2: weekend the Guardians taking on the Houston Astros. Good show
Speaker 2: lined up for you. Today, we'll have a full Minor
Speaker 2: league report with Stephen Ostro, the vice president of player
Speaker 2: development for the Guardians, updating us on the Akron Rubber Ducks,
Speaker 2: and Jayalen Norman was in Akron this weekend. She'll visit
Speaker 2: with Catcher Cooper Ingele and then I'll also hear from
Speaker 2: Nolan Jones, Guardian outfielder, and Gavin Williams, who had a
Speaker 2: tremendous performance on the mound last weekend against the Angels.
Speaker 2: And we'll also visit with Yankees manager and former Cleveland
Speaker 2: Indian Aaron Boone. So a lot to get to on
Speaker 2: this week's show, including the week in review, and it
Speaker 2: hasn't been an easy week for the Guardians as they
Speaker 2: were in New York to play the Yankees in a
Speaker 2: three game series that started Tuesday night. At three to
Speaker 2: two victory for New York, but the Guardians did even
Speaker 2: up that series at one win a piece with a
Speaker 2: stellar performance. On Wednesday. The Guardians offense jumped on Yankee
Speaker 2: starter Clark Schmidt early right from the start, Stephen Kuan
Speaker 2: leading off the game of the walk, and then On
Speaker 2: hell Martinez stepped in. Here's on Hell Martinez switch inter
Speaker 2: manning left handed in center field.
Speaker 1: The pitch swung on driven Hi deep to right. Forget
Speaker 1: about it. On hell Martinez with a towering two run
Speaker 1: home run to right and the Guardians jump on top
Speaker 1: two to nothing two banners into the game. Wow, did
Speaker 1: he put a charge into that one? On hell Martinez
Speaker 1: has now hit four home runs, three of them left handed.
Speaker 2: Jose Ramirez followed that up with a double, and then
Speaker 2: Daniel Schneman delivered a big two out hit.
Speaker 1: Here's the two to one offering, swung and ripped to
Speaker 1: right base, hit near the line, It'll go to the wall,
Speaker 1: It'll score Ramirez schneaming on his way to second base,
Speaker 1: sliding with a two out RBI double and the Guardians
Speaker 1: slugging percentage and ending number one Z one is off
Speaker 1: the charts. Two doubles a home run three nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 1: So it was an early lead for Luis Orties on
Speaker 1: the mound, and he responded with another terrific performance. Runner
Speaker 1: first two down or Tees about to make his twentieth
Speaker 1: pitch of the inning. Here it comes, swung on a
Speaker 1: week chopper to the second baseman. Schneman charges gloves, throws
Speaker 1: to first, ding over and Ortees throws up a donut.
Speaker 1: Now the two to two strike three call out looking
Speaker 1: as lemayhew and as always, if a Yankee hitter is
Speaker 1: called out on strikes, they go back to the dogout
Speaker 1: in total shock and disarray. Ortez comes sent, he lets
Speaker 1: it fly and Aaron Judge takes strike three call a
Speaker 1: slider surprised him on the inside corner. Four strikeouts for Orties.
Speaker 1: That was massive.
Speaker 2: Ortiz worked five and two third shutout innings before turning
Speaker 2: it over to Tim Herron, who had some great defense
Speaker 2: behind him. In the seventh.
Speaker 1: Now the pitch swung on, grounded up the middle the
Speaker 1: second baseman schnemin' the second one, Arius dunsit to first
Speaker 1: double played in the inning. Well done by Schneeman and
Speaker 1: Arius and the Guardians keep the Yankees off the board
Speaker 1: through seven three nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Then in the eighth inning, the Guardians added to the
Speaker 2: lead thanks to Kyle man Zardo.
Speaker 1: The bitch swung on hit high deep to right center
Speaker 1: field and gone. Kyle man Zardo with his eleventh home run,
Speaker 1: and the Guardians get a big insurance run for nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Here in the eighth on a two out solo homer
Speaker 1: to the right center by Kyle man Zardo, and man
Speaker 1: who had five home runs all of last year with Cleveland,
Speaker 1: has more than doubled that. That one went four hundred
Speaker 1: and five feet to the bleachers and right center.
Speaker 2: And in the ninth annual class looked unhittable.
Speaker 1: Not much of this crowd remains on hand, maybe the
Speaker 1: only people left for those taking the subway home. Here's
Speaker 1: the next offering, swinging and a mess got him of
Speaker 1: the slider. Closse strikes out judge. Now the O two delivery,
Speaker 1: strike three call out, looking at another wicked cutter at
Speaker 1: one hundred miles an hour, two down in the Yankee
Speaker 1: ninth Now the one to two swinging an a miss
Speaker 1: Bowl game Class A strikes out the side. Cleveland pitches
Speaker 1: its eighth shutout, and the the Yankees shut out for
Speaker 1: the second time all year, Guardians win it four nothing,
Speaker 1: so the.
Speaker 2: Guardians had even up. The series had won went a piece,
Speaker 2: but the Yankees returned the favorite with a four to
Speaker 2: nothing shut out win on Thursday night, and then then
Speaker 2: the series opener against the Astros right here at Progressive
Speaker 2: Field on Friday night. Houston wins it by a four
Speaker 2: to two score. Stay with us, we want me come back,
Speaker 2: We'll hear from outfielder Nolan Jones. That's next the Guardians
Speaker 2: Radio Network.
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Speaker 2: Jim Rose announced back with You Where at Progressive Field,
Speaker 2: Downtown Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros this weekend, and the
Speaker 2: Reds coming to town starting a series on Monday night.
Speaker 2: Nolan Jones Guardians outfielder started slow offensively this season, but
Speaker 2: he has worked hard to get his season going and
Speaker 2: it has paid off for the real nice stretch the
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks. In fact, at one point on
Speaker 2: Friday night, he was in a stretch where he was
Speaker 2: ten for his last twenty at the plate. We caught
Speaker 2: up with him in New York and he talked about
Speaker 2: the biggest key to getting the better results lately.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think just sticking with my process and you know,
Speaker 6: simplifyings and things a little bit, you know, maybe uh,
Speaker 6: trying a little less hard and just allowing some things
Speaker 6: to happen on the field, you know, just going out
Speaker 6: there playing and doing my part and not trying to
Speaker 6: put so much preussure on myself.
Speaker 2: And I heard you mention that trying less uh the
Speaker 2: other day. How hard is it to do that though,
Speaker 2: To actually back off a little bit and just let
Speaker 2: your talent shine through.
Speaker 6: Yeah, It's really hard, obviously, this is uh, you know,
Speaker 6: our lives and we want to go out there. We
Speaker 6: want to get hits every day and help the team
Speaker 6: win and be a part. And so I think it's
Speaker 6: really hard, but you know, I think just trusting in
Speaker 6: it and trusting in your abilities and knowing that it's
Speaker 6: in there and you don't have to search for it
Speaker 6: as you.
Speaker 2: From that mental standpoint. Difficult when when you believe in
Speaker 2: what you're doing but don't necessarily see the results to
Speaker 2: to kind of get through that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely. I mean, like I just kind of talked about,
Speaker 6: I think it's it's just it's trusting in your work.
Speaker 6: You know, we're here for long days, hitting in the cage,
Speaker 6: hitting on the field, hitting in the cage again before
Speaker 6: the game, and you know, you see the you see
Speaker 6: the results there and you see that you know the
Speaker 6: ball's jumping off your bat and you're hitting at good angles,
Speaker 6: and you know, you get into the game and not
Speaker 6: having those same outcomes, and I think it's just trusting
Speaker 6: that it will come and and sticking with your routines
Speaker 6: and your plans.
Speaker 2: Nolan Jones joining us from Yankee Stadium and No, just
Speaker 2: talking earlier about that process and staying with that, you
Speaker 2: had people who believed in you and believed in some
Speaker 2: of the advanced numbers that would say, hey, it's gonna
Speaker 2: turn quickly. How important is that to have that support
Speaker 2: from coaches, manager, front office?
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's huge.
Speaker 6: Obviously looking up at the scoreboard and seeing some pretty
Speaker 6: disgraceful numbers is not is not easy. But when you're
Speaker 6: obviously getting that support from you know, the manager and
Speaker 6: the hitting coaches and you know, telling you to keep
Speaker 6: going and trusting your process and and not changing anything
Speaker 6: for results, I think it really helps. And you know,
Speaker 6: it's still confidence in you.
Speaker 2: Teammate wise, maybe not all teams are the same, but
Speaker 2: this one seems to be a close knit group. Does
Speaker 2: that help when when you're trying to get to a
Speaker 2: good place and maybe it takes longer than you hope.
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely, I think. I mean, I think having guys
Speaker 6: that are there to pick you up, and obviously, you know,
Speaker 6: being on a winning ball club and trying to rally
Speaker 6: through that and support those guys and doing what I
Speaker 6: can know. Obviously sometimes it's not happening at the plate,
Speaker 6: but you can make a big play on defense that
Speaker 6: definitely helps. And then having having leaders around the clubhouse
Speaker 6: like you know, Jose and Kwan and all these guys
Speaker 6: to talk through these situations and and you know been
Speaker 6: so confidence in his huge Nolan, thanks for the time,
Speaker 6: appreciate it, of course, thanks for having me. Good to
Speaker 6: see some good things happening for it. Nolan Jones at
Speaker 6: the plate as he has worked hard at it and
Speaker 6: finally seeing some of those uh times in the cage
Speaker 6: and some of the hard work payoff as well. Another
Speaker 6: player on this ball club has been working hard to
Speaker 6: get his season really turned in a positive direction, as
Speaker 6: Gavin Williams, and he put together a beauty of a
Speaker 6: start last Sunday right here at Progressive Field against the Angels,
Speaker 6: took a no hitter into the sixth inning, and he
Speaker 6: talked about what's allowed him to be successful.
Speaker 7: In that outing.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think just from the beginning of the game,
Speaker 8: just mixing the whole time. I mean, first picture of
Speaker 8: the game was a curveball and that's never really happened before.
Speaker 8: It kind of kind of got me. But just just mixing.
Speaker 2: When you mentioned kurb Baal to start the game, did
Speaker 2: you not know that when when you took the mound
Speaker 2: or did both surprise yet.
Speaker 8: I mean, I think the coaching staff and Bo they
Speaker 8: talked about it a little bit before, but apparently I
Speaker 8: walked off after getting done with warm ups too quick
Speaker 8: for both to tell, like talk to me about it.
Speaker 8: So it kind of surprised me. But I mean they
Speaker 8: had it in the back of their mind, but it
Speaker 8: definitely surprised me.
Speaker 2: Krey Klueber has been around a little bit and a
Speaker 2: new role for him, and you were mentioning that you've
Speaker 2: talked to him a little bit, just kind of picking
Speaker 2: his brain. And when you talk to someone like that,
Speaker 2: what are some of the things that he's been able
Speaker 2: to help you with in a very short period of time.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, mindset is a thing one of the
Speaker 8: biggest things and routines, Like with him, he had the
Speaker 8: same routine every day. He knew what he was going
Speaker 8: to get doing the same thing every day. I mean,
Speaker 8: it can it can be boring, but it definitely helps
Speaker 8: out the long run. So just talking to him, talking
Speaker 8: to him about that, it's helped out. I've kind of
Speaker 8: added a few things from him just to do in
Speaker 8: my daily routine and it's kind of coming into play.
Speaker 8: So it's it's definitely helping out a lot, trying to
Speaker 8: try to learn some pitch scripts from him, but it's
Speaker 8: kind of a little a little hard for me, especially
Speaker 8: with the two seamer sinker that I got and the
Speaker 8: way he threw is it's gonna be impossible for me
Speaker 8: to throw.
Speaker 2: There was only one Corey Klueber for sure. Hey, and
Speaker 2: then closing an off day yesterday here in New York City.
Speaker 2: You're from North Carolina. What is it like for you
Speaker 2: to spend an off day here in the biggest city
Speaker 2: in the world.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's definitely kind of crazy. Most people I'll ever
Speaker 8: be around my life' it's it's a nice city. It's
Speaker 8: a nice city, but definitely not my favorite one. But
Speaker 8: it's fun. A lot of a lot of stuff to
Speaker 8: do here.
Speaker 2: All right, Kevin, thanks a lot for coming, b I
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
Speaker 8: Yeah, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: That's Gavin Williams now searching for that can consistency, seeing
Speaker 2: he he can back up that great outing last Sunday
Speaker 2: with another good one here this weekend. Aaron Boone is
Speaker 2: the Yankees manager. He's been so for eight seasons now
Speaker 2: and took them to the World Series against the Dodgers
Speaker 2: a year ago. He's a former Cleveland, Indian who played
Speaker 2: here back in the two thousand and five, two and
Speaker 2: six seasons. We've talked to him about his playing days
Speaker 2: in Cleveland, also a little football, and how he became
Speaker 2: a fan of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. But
Speaker 2: he's start with baseball's top slugger, Aaron Judge, who's having
Speaker 2: another monster season for the Bronx Bombers. And here's what
Speaker 2: Aaron Boone had to say about one of the best
Speaker 2: players in all of baseball.
Speaker 9: Man.
Speaker 4: I mean, I've you know, I've got to witness now
Speaker 4: most of his career and seen his just his hunger
Speaker 4: to get a little bit better every single year. He's
Speaker 4: playing so well defensively in right field this year for us,
Speaker 4: the consistency of his bats day in and day out
Speaker 4: has just been and it's remarkable, you know. But I
Speaker 4: got to watch twenty twenty two where he won the
Speaker 4: MVP with sixty two homers, and he was probably better
Speaker 4: last year where he won the MVP again, And I
Speaker 4: don't know if it's better this year yet or not,
Speaker 4: but it's it's awfully impressive what he does. And I've
Speaker 4: kind of run out of superlatives to talk about him.
Speaker 4: The biggest thing is, you know, he matches his greatness
Speaker 4: on the field with who he is as our captain
Speaker 4: in our clubhouse.
Speaker 2: We're joined by Yankees manager Aaron Boone, a former Cleveland, Indian.
Speaker 2: You've done a lot in your career playing wise now
Speaker 2: managing here in New York broadcasting for a little bit
Speaker 2: the two years in Cleveland. What was your takeaway when
Speaker 2: you look back on that in terms of how it
Speaker 2: was and things you remember.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, just a great organization from from top down
Speaker 4: at that time, Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti and then
Speaker 4: obviously Mark Mark moved on. But a lot of life
Speaker 4: time relationships that I that I formed over there, and it's,
Speaker 4: as you know, just a lot of great people that
Speaker 4: work for that organization. And it's no surprise that you
Speaker 4: know they've they've maintained a level of consistency while not
Speaker 4: always doing it with a big payroll obviously, but it's
Speaker 4: just such a close knit, well run progressive organization that
Speaker 4: has a lot of smart, quality people uh involved with
Speaker 4: it and people that I have a lot of respect for.
Speaker 4: And I got to experience that as a player.
Speaker 2: And tonight's the last game of the season series. Who
Speaker 2: knows if they meet again in the in the postseason.
Speaker 2: What are you seeing over there or over the games
Speaker 2: that have been played between these two clubs so far.
Speaker 4: Well, Jose Ramirez is still Jose Ramirez, and the underrated
Speaker 4: is not underrated. I've I got Actually, it's funny you
Speaker 4: say that. Somebody sent me something because they know I'm
Speaker 4: a staunch opposition to this overrated narrative on Jose Ramirez.
Speaker 4: He's just He's a Hall of Fame player that continues
Speaker 4: to just and he's obviously playing at such a high
Speaker 4: level right now and comes in here very hot. But
Speaker 4: you know, you know they're they got platoon options over there,
Speaker 4: so they create matchup challenges for you. Obviously, a bullpen
Speaker 4: that's that's very deep and talented and always a team
Speaker 4: that seems to kind of play the game the right way,
Speaker 4: and you know it's going to be a factor deep
Speaker 4: into the season.
Speaker 2: All Right, we'll finish with this off the field. Born
Speaker 2: and raised Southern California, but you moved around a lot.
Speaker 2: You're a staunch Eagles fan, and I know this. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the playoff run this year is a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: They go to the Super Bowl and all that, and
Speaker 2: you had a chance to be at a lot of
Speaker 2: those games For fans who don't know why the Eagles
Speaker 2: from where you grew up.
Speaker 4: So, born in San Diego, but moved to South Jersey
Speaker 4: when I was a baby for Philly. My dad played
Speaker 4: with the Phillies from seventy two to eighty one. I
Speaker 4: lived in Jersey through through fifth grade. So I was
Speaker 4: a huge Eagles, huge sixer fan, and that's never changed
Speaker 4: even when I went back to southern California and went
Speaker 4: through middle school and high school and went to USC
Speaker 4: and always been an Eagle fan. And coming back to
Speaker 4: the East Coast, it's a lot easier for me to
Speaker 4: be there. I went to all three playoff games this
Speaker 4: year ahead of the super Bowl, a couple in the
Speaker 4: regular season, so and I've kind of passed on that
Speaker 4: passion to my kids and even my wife, So we
Speaker 4: all kind of love going down there in the offseason.
Speaker 2: And do you take anything from what they do and
Speaker 2: think of ways to apply it here? Are you strictly
Speaker 2: just it's fun to be a fan?
Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty much fan. You know, I've although fortunate that
Speaker 4: I've gotten to meet a lot of people down there.
Speaker 4: I know Howie roseman the GM, and I know coach
Speaker 4: and Big Dom who's kind of become famous in himself,
Speaker 4: so they take really good care of me. I've been
Speaker 4: to practice and everything. So but that said, I'm more
Speaker 4: of just a fan and you're always trying to absorb things.
Speaker 4: But it's been a lot of fun watching watching last
Speaker 4: year unfold.
Speaker 2: Aaron, thanks a lot for the time. Appreciate it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: great fun chat with Aaron Boone, the Yankees manager, and
Speaker 2: then we thank him for his time while the team
Speaker 2: was in New York this week. Stay with us when
Speaker 2: we come back, we will talk minor league system. Joining
Speaker 2: us next. Vice President of player development Stephen Oster that's next,
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rose announced back with
Speaker 2: you a progressive field in downtown Cleveland. Stephen ostro Or
Speaker 2: is the vice president of player development for the Guardians.
Speaker 2: We check in with him each week and talk about
Speaker 2: a team in the system. This week that means double
Speaker 2: a accurate and we start on the pitching side of
Speaker 2: things with starting pitcher Austin Peterson, and he says that
Speaker 2: the front office really likes the progress that Peterson has
Speaker 2: made so far this season.
Speaker 10: Yeah, for sure, Austin is someone we we've talked about
Speaker 10: a couple of times up to this one, and he's
Speaker 10: continuing to show some of that improved velo that we
Speaker 10: saw in the early parts of the year as the
Speaker 10: volumes build up and he's he's sustaining it.
Speaker 7: So that's that's been great to watch.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 7: You know, like you said, he's stacking.
Speaker 10: Up the good outings, uh, controlling controlling counts as as
Speaker 10: the primary calling card here and throwing strikes and you know,
Speaker 10: things have.
Speaker 7: Progressed really well for him.
Speaker 10: I think the emphasis moving forward is is just to
Speaker 10: continue refining and kneeling.
Speaker 7: Down his plan of attack.
Speaker 10: You know, some of the things we're working on are
Speaker 10: you know, limiting big, big misses with the fast one
Speaker 10: the cutter, and trying to maybe reel in a little
Speaker 10: bit of the north south execution and part of the
Speaker 10: zone so that I think hopefully he can continue to
Speaker 10: move the needle on converting on his strikeout opportunities. You know,
Speaker 10: he throws a lot of strikes and he has been
Speaker 10: limiting damage quite a bit over the course of his career.
Speaker 10: But you know that jumped to Triple A and the
Speaker 10: major leagues is it's very real from like a hitter's
Speaker 10: preparing for his.
Speaker 7: Standpoint and you know, not chasing.
Speaker 10: And you know, this is kind of the level that
Speaker 10: we have guys like Peterson who controls stuff pretty good
Speaker 10: to really refine his plan of attack.
Speaker 7: And execute the good spots. So you know, he's he's.
Speaker 10: Continuing to sharpen his skills on those fronts. And Austin
Speaker 10: keeps rolling with great start after great start.
Speaker 2: And the just numbers wise for perspective for fans ten
Speaker 2: starts as Era was under a run and a half
Speaker 2: a game, so at least statistically, he's getting it done
Speaker 2: along with all that other good stuff. Zane Morehouse another
Speaker 2: college kid out of Texas not too long ago in
Speaker 2: the draft of twenty three, and what are you saying
Speaker 2: from him as he progresses at double A.
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, he's he's been very good since entering New
Speaker 10: York for us as a reliever, and you know, the
Speaker 10: history for him has been an above average strikethrower.
Speaker 7: But you know, I was working on some delivery.
Speaker 10: Stuff early in the year to maybe access to take
Speaker 10: more of the velocity, and we think that's something that
Speaker 10: we we could unlock with him, so you know, and
Speaker 10: doing that it pulled back a little bit over the
Speaker 10: last you know, first month and a half of the
Speaker 10: season more or less, and in the last little bit
Speaker 10: here he's had a stretch of you know, turning things
Speaker 10: around from from a strike throwing standpoint, and also seeing
Speaker 10: the velocity take up alongside of it, so you know,
Speaker 10: throwing more strikes.
Speaker 7: Of ELO's climbing.
Speaker 10: It was up to ninety eight recently, which is an
Speaker 10: awesome sign for him. And the emphasis now is just
Speaker 10: accessing better zones, you know, with this fastball and his
Speaker 10: slider and you know, working in the new splitter that's
Speaker 10: he's been trial running in in the pen a little
Speaker 10: bit and trying to get that into games, and we
Speaker 10: think that pitch has a real potential to be a
Speaker 10: third weapon for him. So Zan continues to show improvement development,
Speaker 10: and you know, he's starting to settle in into more
Speaker 10: of the Zay Morros that we've seen up until this point.
Speaker 2: And another reliever Jake Miller, who has put up some
Speaker 2: nice numbers from the twenty one draft, a college drafted
Speaker 2: kid out of the University of San Diego. I feel
Speaker 2: like there's a lot of stories like this in the
Speaker 2: system where it seems like he was battling some health
Speaker 2: things to get going in his career, but now it's
Speaker 2: starting to fall into place for him.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's right, Rosie.
Speaker 10: He's battled injuries for you a good chunk of his
Speaker 10: time with us, and you know, he's shown flashes of.
Speaker 7: A high ceiling. But to your point, he never really
Speaker 7: had a.
Speaker 10: Long runway of health to get some of the consistent
Speaker 10: reps in that he needs to get to develop the
Speaker 10: things that he needed to develop. So he's healthy and
Speaker 10: had a really good offseason and he's been very, very
Speaker 10: good so far this year. He's got a four pitch mix,
Speaker 10: you know, a bit of a higher slot and comes
Speaker 10: out from a plus extension, so he YEA, his primary weapon,
Speaker 10: I think we believe is to be his splitter.
Speaker 7: And makes him really tough on lefties.
Speaker 10: You know, he's got just a minute school two fifteen
Speaker 10: ops against right now. His fastball has been in the
Speaker 10: mid nineties and he's throwing two sliders for pretty good commands.
Speaker 7: So he's not walking.
Speaker 10: Anyone at this point and has given up i think,
Speaker 10: just runs in three of his eighteen outings. Still a
Speaker 10: lot to work on and you know, getting more comfort,
Speaker 10: you know, deploying that splitter as his primary weapon.
Speaker 7: But you know, we're going to continue to push the.
Speaker 10: Ceiling on the Velo and continue to do everything we
Speaker 10: can to support the in game reps and development for Jake.
Speaker 10: But he's been a really nice story of a guy
Speaker 10: who's given himself an opportunity to continue to develop and
Speaker 10: is performing his tailoff right now.
Speaker 2: And we'll stay in the bullpen. One more picture. Zach
Speaker 2: Jacobs another college drafted kid from twenty two. What do
Speaker 2: you think from him as he works out of the
Speaker 2: pen with Akron.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, he had a really good year last year
Speaker 7: in Lake County. You know, they relied on him quite
Speaker 7: a bit as they won the Midwest League champ being
Speaker 7: shipped and yeah, he's been one of the better strike
Speaker 7: throwers in our org since entering it.
Speaker 10: You know, his elite zone rates, he can create some
Speaker 10: very interesting shapes on his secondaries. But he's just been
Speaker 10: light on the vello. And you know, he had a
Speaker 10: really good offseason, spent a lot of time with us
Speaker 10: and committed to adding more to his physical motor and
Speaker 10: it came back with a.
Speaker 7: Nice little love ticking vello. And this is kind of
Speaker 7: a common theme.
Speaker 10: You know, with guys who tap in a little bit
Speaker 10: more of the physicality and the off season where you know,
Speaker 10: just like adding horsepower to your car, it takes a
Speaker 10: little bit of time to gain control again and to
Speaker 10: feel good about, you know, how you're delivering the ball
Speaker 10: out of hand. So you know, he came out of
Speaker 10: the gates, maybe not fully himself from a strike throwing perspective,
Speaker 10: but the fastball zone rates are back up to the
Speaker 10: elite levels that we've seen in the past. You have
Speaker 10: to squint to see any ops against him.
Speaker 7: In the last month. The k rates are back up,
Speaker 7: the walk rates are.
Speaker 10: Down, so you still got a long long ways to go,
Speaker 10: and we still think there's you know, a lot more
Speaker 10: sea to gain and work towards on the velocity side.
Speaker 10: But you know, Zach's been tearing up double a the
Speaker 10: last month, and you know, it's nice to see him
Speaker 10: kind of settled back into what we've seen in the
Speaker 10: last couple of years.
Speaker 2: Joined by the Vice president of player Development, Stephen Oster,
Speaker 2: talking double a Akron this week on the Minor League
Speaker 2: Report Behind the Dish, Cooper Ingle is one of the
Speaker 2: good young prospects in the organization and keys for you
Speaker 2: to look at from a catcher's standpoint and what he
Speaker 2: may be doing. What would those be most importantly for
Speaker 2: you guys.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean for first and foremost, he's he's been
Speaker 7: tearing it up the last month.
Speaker 10: I think last time we talked to him, it was
Speaker 10: a bit more of a slow start, but now the
Speaker 10: average has crept up to around three hundred is ops
Speaker 10: is over nine out that he's crushing the.
Speaker 7: Right handers and he's been carrying that Akron offense.
Speaker 10: So yeah, I think some of that is just like
Speaker 10: the adage of hitters are going to hit, but he's
Speaker 10: also put in, you know, a ton of work into
Speaker 10: how he loads into his swing and you know the
Speaker 10: impact that that's had probably on his on his bat
Speaker 10: speed and uh yeah, some of his bat path refinements.
Speaker 10: So I think what's what's exciting and all this and
Speaker 10: the things that he's you know, continuing to work on.
Speaker 7: Is uh, you know, the defensive side that I know
Speaker 7: we talked.
Speaker 10: About before, but he's put a lot of time and
Speaker 10: effort into cultivating good routines around his throwing program and
Speaker 10: you know, maybe tweaking some of his throwing mechanics.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 10: And we've we've seen a lot of that uptick over
Speaker 10: the last month as well, and may not be showing
Speaker 10: as much on the surface numbers per se, but a
Speaker 10: lot of the underlying things that we're seeing, uh, you know,
Speaker 10: behind the dish, both from a receiving standpoint from a
Speaker 10: throwing standpoint, have been very much arrow up. So you know,
Speaker 10: Coop continues to work on and is aware of all.
Speaker 7: Of those things that are required of being a really
Speaker 7: good major league catcher, you know, off the field as.
Speaker 10: Well, in terms of preparing, knowing your pitchers, knowing the
Speaker 10: opponent coming in with a great game plan, and you
Speaker 10: know has made some strides there. He's done a really
Speaker 10: a lot of really good work with our catching coordinator,
Speaker 10: Brian Waltley on that front, the coaches on the ground.
Speaker 10: So we're really excited about where Cooper is. You know,
Speaker 10: has come over the last you know two months defensively
Speaker 10: and then you know, obviously the bat is he's showing
Speaker 10: what the bat has done in the past, but you
Speaker 10: know continues to improve in that fashion too, So really
Speaker 10: really cool to see Cooper you know, take a step
Speaker 10: forward right now in Double.
Speaker 2: A and I know, an exciting weekend down at Akron
Speaker 2: because you get a really good prospect back to health
Speaker 2: and playing on the field. He's put up some tremendous
Speaker 2: numbers in the lower minor leagues. On hell, hanaw, how's
Speaker 2: he doing and and what do you look to see
Speaker 2: from him as he gets back to play.
Speaker 7: Yeah, really exciting.
Speaker 10: He's said to come back officially from the shoulder spreen
Speaker 10: he suffered the end of spring training tonight in Akron,
Speaker 10: So you know, he got through his progression in Arizona,
Speaker 10: looked tremendous on the field like he always had, but
Speaker 10: also I think took advantage of his time and shows
Speaker 10: some real progress in some of the you know, longer
Speaker 10: term development physical goals that we had for him.
Speaker 7: So, you know, we're getting back very talented player who's
Speaker 7: just just turned twenty one.
Speaker 10: You know, switch hitting shortstop and who's really a really
Speaker 10: well rounded hitter. He doesn't strike out very much. He
Speaker 10: continues to show advancing impact and talk in the box,
Speaker 10: which is great. And yeah, I mean it's going to
Speaker 10: be kind of like spring training for him still with
Speaker 10: you know, with getting back into games fully and fully
Speaker 10: up to speed at the right level. But you know,
Speaker 10: the early signs are really exciting. You know, from from
Speaker 10: what we've seen in Arizona as part of the progression
Speaker 10: back into games, and yeah, I think he's going to
Speaker 10: be ready to rock.
Speaker 7: He's super excited to get back out there and so
Speaker 7: are we.
Speaker 2: Exciting stories as always at Double A Acron Austin. Thanks
Speaker 2: so much for coming by. Always good to have you on.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
Speaker 7: Thanks Rosie.
Speaker 2: That is Stephen Aster, the vice president of player development
Speaker 2: for the Guardians and new to the ball club this
Speaker 2: year is Jalen Norman, and she has been visiting the
Speaker 2: different minor league teams throughout the system and providing reports
Speaker 2: both on social media, various media outlets and now on
Speaker 2: Guardian's Weekly, and we're happy to have her. She had
Speaker 2: a chance to sit down with catcher Cooper Ingle of
Speaker 2: the Rubber Ducks and talk about how his season is
Speaker 2: going so far. The young catcher out of Clemson filled
Speaker 2: her in on some good things happening for him this season.
Speaker 5: What were some of the biggest differences for you going
Speaker 5: from college baseball.
Speaker 6: To professional Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing
Speaker 6: is obviously you're playing every day in college, you're playing
Speaker 6: three days a week, and then you know once once
Speaker 6: you get drafted.
Speaker 7: That's where real development starts.
Speaker 6: I think just as a hitter, facing the caliber of
Speaker 6: pitching the you face here in Double A is you know,
Speaker 6: a lot better than what you're going to face in college.
Speaker 6: Not saying that college, you know, isn't good at all,
Speaker 6: It's just there's so much development in minor league baseball
Speaker 6: being able to face you know, velocity night and night out,
Speaker 6: whereas you might see.
Speaker 3: It one day a week in college.
Speaker 5: How did you settle on Clemson as as a school
Speaker 5: for you?
Speaker 6: Yeah, so, I actually grew up a South Carolina fan,
Speaker 6: and I was pretty much taught as a kid to
Speaker 6: hate Clemson and many lee the head coach at Clemson
Speaker 6: at the time was he was a pretty much like
Speaker 6: every one of.
Speaker 7: My summer ball games, and I was like, I don't know.
Speaker 6: There's just something wrong about it because I've been it's
Speaker 6: been ingrained in me to hate Clemson for my whole life.
Speaker 1: But I don't know.
Speaker 6: He was just a very down to earth coach and
Speaker 6: really helped me with my catching and hitting development.
Speaker 7: And he just showed that, you know, he had an
Speaker 7: interest in me that other schools.
Speaker 6: Hitting as much. So I ended up deciding to pursue
Speaker 6: going to Clemson.
Speaker 5: So does your family now do they cheer for Clemson
Speaker 5: or is it still like you went to Clemson but
Speaker 5: everyone else is a South Carolina fans.
Speaker 6: No, they I mean they love Clemson baseball for sure.
Speaker 6: My dad's side of the family is still big South
Speaker 6: Carolina fans. Mom's side of the family all from North Carolina,
Speaker 6: so they're big tarhell fans. I was also, you know,
Speaker 6: taught to hate Duke growing up. But no, my my
Speaker 6: family loves Clemson baseball as a whole, but they choose
Speaker 6: not to wear the orange, so they wear the purple
Speaker 6: and white.
Speaker 5: And you know, speaking of Duke, we've got quite a
Speaker 5: few guys who played acc baseball. Alex Mooney is one
Speaker 5: of them who got cjkthas parkrim as it did You
Speaker 5: do you have memories playing against any of them in college?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I mean Mooney I got the room with him
Speaker 6: all year last year, and they beat us in a
Speaker 6: in a series early on in the season when we
Speaker 6: played them, so I hear about it probably once a week.
Speaker 6: And then the fact that they got to go to
Speaker 6: Super Regional and I didn't, so he's always rubbing in
Speaker 6: my face. But you know it's a good time and
Speaker 6: then yeah, I mean cafus, he's doing here exactly what
Speaker 6: he did in college, Like every time he played them,
Speaker 6: he would have four hits and games he was tough
Speaker 6: to play against. But yeah, just playing all those guys
Speaker 6: in the ACC and then being able to, you know,
Speaker 6: play with those guys.
Speaker 5: In minor league baseball school and now as a professional player.
Speaker 5: What have been some of your biggest learning moments?
Speaker 6: And I was a pro catcher, Yeah, I just think
Speaker 6: the preparation aspect when it comes to like game planning
Speaker 6: and doing meetings and pitchers and building those relationships and
Speaker 6: just being able to have the information given to you
Speaker 6: so that you can prepare for other lineups and ultimately
Speaker 6: have your entire pitching staff Trusty.
Speaker 5: You bat left and throw right. Were you always a
Speaker 5: left handed batter or how how did that come about?
Speaker 6: I think I want to say when I started hitting,
Speaker 6: I started switch hitting, and then my dad would make
Speaker 6: me bunt right handed in McCage and I didn't might it,
Speaker 6: so I'd stopped doing it.
Speaker 5: And you also, we're a non roster invite spring training,
Speaker 5: so what was that experience like for you? What were
Speaker 5: some of your biggest takeaways.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, the ultimate goal of being in big
Speaker 6: leag camp this year was just to soak up as
Speaker 6: much knowledge as I could from Bowen and Austin and
Speaker 6: David and all the catchers that were in there at
Speaker 6: that point, just so that I could further my development
Speaker 6: and see what it's like to prepare and play a
Speaker 6: baseball game at the highest level.
Speaker 5: You've had some pretty unique experiences already. You were Midwest
Speaker 5: League MVP last year. Like I said, you were non
Speaker 5: roster invite spring training, you were on the spring breakout roster.
Speaker 5: Looking back at your minor league career, even though it's
Speaker 5: you know, you're still early on, what do you think
Speaker 5: is your favorite moment?
Speaker 6: For me, it was one hundred percent winning the first
Speaker 6: half in Lake County last year. We had a special
Speaker 6: group of guys, a lot of guys that are that
Speaker 6: are here and coaching staff as well. But it's it's
Speaker 6: a little different because in minor league baseball you don't
Speaker 6: you don't find a lot of closely like tight together groups. So,
Speaker 6: you know, that's just kudos to the Guardians organization of
Speaker 6: picking the right people in the draft process, and we
Speaker 6: had a great group of guys, and ultimately we're able
Speaker 6: to accomplish that goal.
Speaker 5: What's your ideal way to spend it?
Speaker 7: Off to getting some.
Speaker 6: Good sleep, cooking some steak and eggs, probably gaming a
Speaker 6: little bit with the guys, and I don't know, then
Speaker 6: we go see a movie or something.
Speaker 5: Okay, okay, So are you a good cook?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm decent. I'm actually just finished all the seasons
Speaker 6: and Master Show.
Speaker 5: Okay, So you're like a professional man.
Speaker 6: No, No, I wouldn't say professional, but like I can,
Speaker 6: I can get my way around the kitchen doing that.
Speaker 2: Is Jayla Norman Ard, Minor League correspondent and actor this
Speaker 2: week talking with Cooper Engle, and we'll hear from Jayla
Speaker 2: on a regular basis throughout the season. Now on Guardian's
Speaker 2: Weekly Stay with Us. We'll have some final thoughts after
Speaker 2: this time out on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio.
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Speaker 2: Uh too.
Speaker 1: Two swung out a weak tamper to third, charged by Ramirez.
Speaker 1: Clubs on the grass, throw us on the run, got
Speaker 1: it on a bank bank whay hod Melton, make it close,
Speaker 1: L tube wide open stands hints one toward third, BA
Speaker 1: canded and fair territory by Ramirez steps.
Speaker 4: Throws double play.
Speaker 9: Romez with a tremendous back canded play on the short
Speaker 9: hop near the line behind third. Ran stepped on third
Speaker 9: through the first and doubled up L twovey Jose Ramirez
Speaker 9: putting on a defensive clinic here in the third to
Speaker 9: keep the game scoreless. The pit swung on chopper to
Speaker 9: third charts by Ramirez, gloves from the grass, throws just
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Speaker 1: He has been incredible.
Speaker 2: Jim Rose anounced back with you a progressive field in
Speaker 2: downtown Cleveman the Guardian sam the Houston Astros meeting this weekend.
Speaker 2: If I may plans you had four today and you're
Speaker 2: hearing this early in the day, come on down to
Speaker 2: the ball It is a Manuel Classe Jersey giveaway day
Speaker 2: as the Guardians look to square up this series against
Speaker 2: Houston at one win a piece. It's a four to
Speaker 2: ten first pitch, then tomorrow a one forty start on
Speaker 2: a Kid's Funday here at the ballpark. Kids get to
Speaker 2: run the basis courtesy of Cleveland Clinic Children's after the
Speaker 2: game on Sunday. Then the Reds come in with manager
Speaker 2: Terry Francona returning to Cleveland with the Cincinnati Reds. That's
Speaker 2: a three game series Monday and Tuesday nights at six
Speaker 2: forty and then Wednesday a one ten start. And there
Speaker 2: are still fourteen dollars tickets remaining and you can pick
Speaker 2: those up on col Guardians dot com until midnight Saturday night.
Speaker 2: If you're listening to this on Saturday still fourteen dollars
Speaker 2: tickets in select locations for the Red Series, which starts
Speaker 2: on Monday night. That's going to do it for our
Speaker 2: show this week. Always thank Brian Motse for his help
Speaker 2: and putting together the shows each and every week. We
Speaker 2: thank Matzi for all of his help, and we'll join
Speaker 2: you next week when the team is on the road
Speaker 2: in Seattle, the start of a long three city West
Speaker 2: Coast road sway. Until then, this is Jim Rosenhouse reminding
Speaker 2: you you have been listening to Guardians Weekly on the
Speaker 2: Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
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