Speaker 1: Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians
Speaker 1: fans save hundreds on car insurance.
Speaker 2: Hi, everyone, welcome to Guardian's Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with you.
Speaker 2: We join you from Seattle, Washington. Guardians playing the Mariners
Speaker 2: to open this road swing with three here in Seattle,
Speaker 2: then three in San Francisco, and three more in Sacramento.
Speaker 2: Coming up on our show in a little bit, we'll
Speaker 2: hear from catcher Bone Naylor as well as Luis Ortez
Speaker 2: and Shane Bieber will join us as well. We'll also
Speaker 2: give you a full minor league report with Stephen Oster
Speaker 2: taking in the Lynchburg Ball Club at the Single A
Speaker 2: level in the Carolina League, and Jaylen Norman has another
Speaker 2: player feature as well. So a lot to get to
Speaker 2: on our show this week, including our week in review.
Speaker 2: And it was a tough start to the week, a
Speaker 2: seven to four loss to the Reds on Monday, then
Speaker 2: a one nothing loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday at Progressive Field.
Speaker 2: Guardians looking for some offense heading into Wednesday's day game,
Speaker 2: and the offense got it going in the first inning
Speaker 2: after David Fry through a one out walk, who else
Speaker 2: but Jose Ramirez to drive in the game's first.
Speaker 1: Run, two and one to count on the Jose Ramirez,
Speaker 1: who won the years third in the American League in
Speaker 1: batting third, in ops, fourth and hits fourth and steals.
Speaker 1: The pitch swung on hit pretty well deep left field,
Speaker 1: headed toward the porch. It is off the top of
Speaker 1: the nineteenth football hitting third, coming home David Fry in
Speaker 1: the second Jose Ramirez. It's one nothing Cleveland, and Jose
Speaker 1: Ramirez missed a home run by inches. That nineteen foot
Speaker 1: wall cost Hosei a homer. He'll settle for an RBI
Speaker 1: double and a'll one nothing Cleveland lead, his fifteenth double,
Speaker 1: his thirty third RBI.
Speaker 2: And then it was another milestone on the base pass
Speaker 2: for Jose.
Speaker 1: Here's the two to one runner, goes pitches outside corner strength,
Speaker 1: throw the third not in time, head first slide got
Speaker 1: him in ahead of the tag of Espinol and there's
Speaker 1: Hosey again. He steals when it matters, his twentieth steal.
Speaker 1: There aren't many guys you can say this about, but
Speaker 1: Jose Ramirez himself is worth the price of admission. Jose
Speaker 1: Ramirez with that steal of third, it's his twentieth. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned, he's now tied Kenny Lofton in steals. Only
Speaker 1: Kenny Lofton and Jose Ramirez have ever had eight seasons
Speaker 1: with Cleveland in which they had twenty steals or more. Goodness,
Speaker 1: gracious and on the mound, Logan Allen continued a great
Speaker 1: stretch of starting pitching for the Guardians. Cleveland won Cincinnani
Speaker 1: nothing another dandy pitcher's duel in the third. Now the payoff. God,
Speaker 1: I'm swinging on the breaking ball. So Allen tremendous through three.
Speaker 2: And then what a bottom of the third inning is?
Speaker 2: It was not only for the Guardians, but also a
Speaker 2: couple of lucky local listeners.
Speaker 1: So the bases are loaded for Carlos Santana and we've
Speaker 1: got a chance to give away a brand new Hyundai.
Speaker 1: It's the Hyundai Grand Slam Giveaway inning, and Edward Moss
Speaker 1: of Cleveland, you're going to get a brand new Hyundai
Speaker 1: from your Northern Ohio Hunday dealers if Cleveland can unload.
Speaker 1: Here's Santana badding right handed, popped up his first time,
Speaker 1: he swings and sends it deep right center field.
Speaker 3: This ball is goode.
Speaker 4: Carlos Santana his first home run of the year right handed,
Speaker 4: a grand Slam right center, a five nothing Cleveland Lee,
Speaker 4: a brand new Hyundai for Edward Moss Cleveland, and four
Speaker 4: brand new Bridgestone tires to Mike Marks of Wandsworth from
Speaker 4: Conrads and Santa promising a pony to all of you
Speaker 4: kids in Northeast Ohio. Five nothing Cleveland on Santana's Grand
Speaker 4: slammed al right center.
Speaker 2: The Hyundai Grand Slam giveaway inning and Carlos Santana won
Speaker 2: a brand new Hyundai for our lucky listener. And onto
Speaker 2: the fourth inning, Cincinnati and they got on the board
Speaker 2: with a solo home run from Elie de la Cruz
Speaker 2: Been at the bottom of the inning. The Guardians answered
Speaker 2: with two men on and Cole Manzardo off the bench
Speaker 2: to pinch hit. Here's the three to two pitch, swung
Speaker 2: on drill down the right field line, fair ball into
Speaker 2: the corner. It goes one run is in as Nunya
Speaker 2: scores right behind him. As Martinez in the second base
Speaker 2: with a two run pinch hit and double al man
Speaker 2: Zardo and the Guardians open it up further it is
Speaker 2: now seven to one Cleveland. Another solo home run for
Speaker 2: the Reds and the sixth made it seven to two.
Speaker 2: But again the Guardians responded in the bottom of the inning,
Speaker 2: two men on on Hell Martinez at the plate. Now
Speaker 2: the O two swung on bounced to short charge by
Speaker 2: Dela Cruz, puts it, slaps the ball back toward the pitcher.
Speaker 2: Everybody is safe into score rod regus eight to two Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Dela Cruz charged that slow hopper trying to make the swoop,
Speaker 2: gramb on it and actually slapped it back toward the
Speaker 2: pitcher and on Hell Martinez will get credited with his
Speaker 2: third hit of the day. Then the next batter was
Speaker 2: Lane Thomas. He delivered the knockout blow.
Speaker 1: Here's the one O pitch swung on hit pretty well
Speaker 1: to right deepen toward the corner. Joe on the run,
Speaker 1: Joe in the corner.
Speaker 5: This ball is gone, three run home run. It just
Speaker 5: did clear the thirteen foot wall in that right field corner.
Speaker 5: And the Guardians with a grand slam from Santana. And
Speaker 5: now a three run home run right down the right
Speaker 5: field line by Lane Thomas, and it's a four spot
Speaker 5: in the sixth and Cleveland now with an eleven.
Speaker 2: To two lead, and in the ninth Emanuel classe, just
Speaker 2: needing a little work was on to finish things up.
Speaker 2: Two out two on here's the one two pitch to
Speaker 2: counter Joe swimming, and I'm asked Baugi closs A after
Speaker 2: the first two gets on, then wipes out the next three,
Speaker 2: and the Guardian salvaged the finale eleven to two, And
Speaker 2: then the Guardian started the road swing here in Seattle
Speaker 2: on Friday night, seven to two win for the Mariners.
Speaker 2: Take a time out, come back here from Boat Naylor
Speaker 2: and others. That's next.
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Speaker 2: Welcome back, Guardian's weekly jimmers and als back with you
Speaker 2: from Seattle, Washington. Bou Naylor has been swinging a hot
Speaker 2: bat of late for the Guardians back to back games,
Speaker 2: with a home run last week during the home stand,
Speaker 2: and he talked about the key to this good stretch
Speaker 2: at the plate.
Speaker 8: I think it starts with just having, you know, a
Speaker 8: long term mindset, not letting you know, at back to
Speaker 8: a kind of determine how I'm feeling, and really just
Speaker 8: understanding that it's a long season. You know, there's there's
Speaker 8: a lot of that best to be had, and you know,
Speaker 8: the more I can stay even keeled and keep my
Speaker 8: mind in a good spot, the better off I'm going
Speaker 8: to be throughout that whole time at back to a bat,
Speaker 8: just to be able to go out there and get
Speaker 8: my swing off.
Speaker 2: And as a team, when you hit where you do
Speaker 2: in the lineup, it can be so beneficial if you
Speaker 2: do have some success based on what's going on up top,
Speaker 2: and do you feel that that that when you're in
Speaker 2: that spot, that that you can really help the team
Speaker 2: if you can have some success.
Speaker 7: Yeah for sure.
Speaker 8: I mean, you know, wherever I'm at, I'm really just
Speaker 8: trying to do my best to t on base. You know,
Speaker 8: kind of create some traffic. If you get some slug
Speaker 8: that's obviously amazing too. But ultimately, you know, give the
Speaker 8: guys that are hitting after me, you know, letting the
Speaker 8: lineup roll over, and just to continue to be a
Speaker 8: part of the traffic and the pressure that's being put
Speaker 8: on the other team as much as I can.
Speaker 2: But let's take the fans inside. Kind of a day
Speaker 2: in the life of a great baseball family, the Nailer family.
Speaker 2: You play a game here last night, you'd you hit
Speaker 2: a home run in a close game that goes the
Speaker 2: other way, game's over. You have a second cousin who's
Speaker 2: playing for the Oakland Athletics right now, Denzel Clark, who
Speaker 2: has made some highlight reel catches. He did it again
Speaker 2: last night. Where were you when that happened? And did
Speaker 2: you have a chance to see it?
Speaker 7: I was in the recovery room.
Speaker 8: Yeah it was you know, them them being on the
Speaker 8: West coast, you know, they started right when we finished.
Speaker 8: So me and a couple of other guys were tapped
Speaker 8: into the game just kind of watching it, and at
Speaker 8: first I didn't see it because I wasn't paying attention.
Speaker 8: But you know, I just heard a few screams and
Speaker 8: then I see him, you know, Chest all the way
Speaker 8: over the wall coming down. He's screaming, and so obviously,
Speaker 8: you know, I'm locked in, and you know, being able
Speaker 8: to see that catch it doesn't surprise me, you know,
Speaker 8: because I've seen him make such amazing plays, you know,
Speaker 8: growing up, so I know that that's something that I
Speaker 8: can expect from him. But it is really nice to
Speaker 8: see others be able to recognize that just and just
Speaker 8: see him, you know, flourish in a position that he's
Speaker 8: done so much to get better.
Speaker 2: And then your brother Josh had a walk off Grand
Speaker 2: Slam for the Diamondbacks last night, and in years past,
Speaker 2: you've been right here to to have a bird's eye
Speaker 2: view of that because you've been teammates had to go
Speaker 2: last night. As far as trying to follow.
Speaker 8: That, yeah, I can say I knocked out a little
Speaker 8: bit before the game, you know, kind of having to
Speaker 8: be up a little earlier, but opening my phone, it
Speaker 8: was the first thing I saw in terms of notifications
Speaker 8: from the family, and you know that the notification definitely
Speaker 8: woke me up a lot. You know, I went straight
Speaker 8: to the highlights and you know, replayed the game in
Speaker 8: that moment. Being able to see something like that, it's
Speaker 8: always special, you know, it's always something so happy that
Speaker 8: you want to see for you know, a family member,
Speaker 8: you know, a sibling in this game. You know, especially
Speaker 8: understanding all the struggle and you know ups and downs
Speaker 8: that comes with this game. So being able to see
Speaker 8: him flourish in that way.
Speaker 7: Is it was awesome.
Speaker 2: Quite a night for the Nailers and extended Nailors. Josh, Bo,
Speaker 2: thanks for coming by. Appreciate it, appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 2: That's catcher Bo Naylor, who has had the good fortune
Speaker 2: to catch Luis Ortiz during some of Ortiz's best starts
Speaker 2: of the season, including a solid one for the Guardians
Speaker 2: in New York last week where he threw five and
Speaker 2: two thirds innings of shut out baseball, you know, win
Speaker 2: over the Yankees. We caught up with him after that
Speaker 2: start along with translator Augi Rivero, and he talked about
Speaker 2: facing that dangerous Yankees lineup and having success.
Speaker 9: And the key was a preparation we're really properly prepared
Speaker 9: for this game, both physically mentally and being very aggressive
Speaker 9: from the get go. I felt that he was being
Speaker 9: able to be aggressive throughout the game, and that's what
Speaker 9: a me to to have the game that I had.
Speaker 2: We've had a chance to see you now in spring
Speaker 2: training and now about ten major league starts during the
Speaker 2: course of the regular season. Are you a different picture
Speaker 2: or improved picture from what you were a year ago
Speaker 2: with Pittsburgh and coming up through their system and have
Speaker 2: you made some improvements that you're really happy.
Speaker 10: With the life for the answer, and.
Speaker 9: There's not a significant difference because at the endges about
Speaker 9: the work that you put in. I was able to
Speaker 9: have a rose s last year with Pittsburgh, but it
Speaker 9: came down from the work that I was able to
Speaker 9: put in and the ward the Gonzation dig with me
Speaker 9: for me this year is the same. I've been been
Speaker 9: able to put in the work that he wanted to do.
Speaker 9: And you know, obviously he gets a little confusing with
Speaker 9: a spring break and how even folded, But those are
Speaker 9: things that I cannot control. But what the takeaway is
Speaker 9: the work that we've been able to put in For me,
Speaker 9: that's the type of picture that I am because I
Speaker 9: keep working out in after and out in. That's allowed
Speaker 9: me to be the picture that I know I can be.
Speaker 2: And some of the best pitching coaches in the game,
Speaker 2: and Carl Willis, Joe Torres, Brad Goldberg, anything in particular
Speaker 2: that that's really worked for you, that that they've helped
Speaker 2: you with since your time.
Speaker 7: Here, Oh no, see Glad.
Speaker 9: So there's a great group of guys. Obviously, they're very
Speaker 9: good at what they do, and it's very important for
Speaker 9: us the way how we involved it and work it throughout,
Speaker 9: you know, different things on an ongoing basis, and I
Speaker 9: feel the most important part is the confidence. The confidence
Speaker 9: that they bestow upon you every time you work, every
Speaker 9: time you do do stuff. So's he's a lot easier
Speaker 9: to work towards things when you know they have that
Speaker 9: confidence on you and being a good picture.
Speaker 7: So they are a great group of guys.
Speaker 9: Always really like working with them, And as long as
Speaker 9: we continue having that confidence on each other, that's going
Speaker 9: to be the key to keep pitching the way we've
Speaker 9: been pitching so far.
Speaker 2: We should coming along great. Thanks a lot for com by,
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Thank you man Ats Louis Orties with translation
Speaker 2: help from Augi Rivero. Meanwhile, Shane Bieber continues to make
Speaker 2: his way back from Tommy John surgery and Shane is
Speaker 2: going to resume throwing this weekend. Great news there. He
Speaker 2: had to take a break from throwing because of some
Speaker 2: soreness in that elbow area, but we had a chance
Speaker 2: to talk to him about some other pictures to have
Speaker 2: come back from that same injury and why it was
Speaker 2: important for him to stay the course.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean being able to talk to guys that
Speaker 11: have gone through this before, it's hard to find the
Speaker 11: right words because I almost want to say, like nobody's surprised.
Speaker 11: Obviously you don't welcome a hiccup or set back, but
Speaker 11: they aren't all too uncommon. And so being able to
Speaker 11: talk with those guys, and especially doctor Meistri did my surgery,
Speaker 11: it's almost as if, like, you know, you don't embrace it,
Speaker 11: but this is just part of the process, and so
Speaker 11: you take it and tried and take a couple of
Speaker 11: days off and hopefully feel a little bit better when
Speaker 11: I zoom throwing.
Speaker 2: And because you're more than a year out, did you
Speaker 2: kind of feel like, hey, maybe I'm the picture who
Speaker 2: goes all the way through with no setbacks, and then
Speaker 2: I'll be the guy who takes them out again.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think you always want to have that confidence,
Speaker 11: and I've had that since, you know, shortly.
Speaker 2: After I got surgery.
Speaker 7: I've put in the work.
Speaker 11: I've done everything I possibly can to be at this
Speaker 11: point and be as healthy as possible. But ultimately, you
Speaker 11: just can't replicate what it's like to return to game
Speaker 11: action and the intensity that you kind of put your
Speaker 11: your body through, let alone a reconstructed elbow. So happy
Speaker 11: to I'm happy with how my progress has been up
Speaker 11: to this point. Like I said, I'm a little frustrated,
Speaker 11: but I think that's natural. So I'll continue to put
Speaker 11: one foot in front of the other and be back as
Speaker 11: soon as I can, as healthy as I can.
Speaker 2: You pitched in huge games throughout your career, But what
Speaker 2: was it like getting on the mount in Arizona in
Speaker 2: a competitive game again? Did did you have some similar
Speaker 2: jitters to maybe some of the playoff appearances and things
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 11: Absolutely, maybe not the playoffs, but I definitely felt it.
Speaker 11: And you know, it's at eleven am backfield Arizona game,
Speaker 11: but I still got amped up for it. I just
Speaker 11: love it, and so I was really enjoying competing. I'm
Speaker 11: still enjoying competing, and so can't wait to get back
Speaker 11: out there.
Speaker 2: Your family's here with you, You're back in Cleveland. Why
Speaker 2: is that important at this stage of things.
Speaker 11: Cleveland's home too, and so it's important for us to
Speaker 11: be here. I feel like my time in Arizona has concluded.
Speaker 11: I've done what I've needed to do there, despite this
Speaker 11: little hiccup that I'm going through. It's time to be
Speaker 11: with the team. And when it's time to resume throwing
Speaker 11: and ramp up, I'll do just that and with the team,
Speaker 11: And it's nice to just feel their energy and be
Speaker 11: with the guys.
Speaker 2: I know you follow it close. And what are you
Speaker 2: singing in here that that has you excited about when
Speaker 2: you do return, that there could be some big games
Speaker 2: this fall.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I'm seeing some some bumps and bruises, and that's
Speaker 11: part of a long Major league season. But I see
Speaker 11: a young group that comes ready to play every single day,
Speaker 11: puts the work in, and you know that shows up
Speaker 11: whether you're in this clubhouse or or watching from Arizona. So,
Speaker 11: like I said, just a part of excited to be
Speaker 11: with this group.
Speaker 2: Jane, great to see it, thanks for coming back. Thanks
Speaker 2: resting and Shane Bieber. Always fun to catch up with
Speaker 2: him and it seems like he's back on track continuing
Speaker 2: his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Stay with us. We're
Speaker 2: back with more after this. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly.
Speaker 2: Jim Rosenhause back with you from Seattle and we take
Speaker 2: a look at our minor league report now with Stephen Ostro,
Speaker 2: the vice president of player development for the Guardian single
Speaker 2: a Lynchburgh in the Caroline League. They're off to a
Speaker 2: great start so far, one loss wise. In fact, with
Speaker 2: the season split into halves, they have a chance at
Speaker 2: the first half championship and Austin says there's a lot
Speaker 2: of excitement about what's happening right now for the Hillcats.
Speaker 12: Yeah, they've played really good baseball so far and the
Speaker 12: first half is set to be finished in about a
Speaker 12: week and they're currently in first place playing against the
Speaker 12: second place team with the Carolina Mntcats. So a lot
Speaker 12: of success on a team level this year. Really fun
Speaker 12: to go out and play like very meaningful baseball that
Speaker 12: hopefully they can continue some of the momentum.
Speaker 10: Here and.
Speaker 12: Strike up the first half title, so really cool for
Speaker 12: the Hillcats. Great experience for the young guys to go
Speaker 12: out and compete in close to playoff baseball and try
Speaker 12: to capture this thing.
Speaker 10: So fun to watch.
Speaker 2: And let's start on the position player side this week,
Speaker 2: and we'll begin with someone who's having a tremendous season
Speaker 2: stolen base wise, and Tommy Hawk, young man out of
Speaker 2: wake Forest fifte He stolen bases at last check, which
Speaker 2: seems absurd, but obviously having a great season in that regard.
Speaker 2: And what are you seeing from him that dovetails into
Speaker 2: the obvious speed that he has.
Speaker 12: Yeah, yeah, so I think we talked about him last
Speaker 12: time too. You know, he's still still performing really well
Speaker 12: for Lynchburg overall, hitting in the leadoff spot and getting
Speaker 12: on base and as you mentioned, stealing a ton of bags.
Speaker 10: I think he had three last night, so he might
Speaker 10: be up to fifty six at this point, but leading
Speaker 10: the league and doing those things.
Speaker 12: You know, continues to take walks and isn't striking out
Speaker 12: a ton, so you know, really good from a leadoff perspective,
Speaker 12: and generally, I think the work is just to try
Speaker 12: to build the motor as much as he can and
Speaker 12: you know, over the year and add some fat free masks,
Speaker 12: gets stronger, try to carry over the you know, maybe
Speaker 12: some of the good swing decisions in the contact that
Speaker 12: he's able to do into a little bit more impact
Speaker 12: of the bats. So, yeah, he's got a ton of speed.
Speaker 12: He's taken advantage of his ability to steal at that level,
Speaker 12: and you know, he's been fun to kind of case
Speaker 12: after the total there.
Speaker 2: So he's a little bit older player in the Carolina
Speaker 2: League and shifting to a young kid Welman Francisca, just
Speaker 2: nineteen out of the Dominican Republican and what has he
Speaker 2: excited about it? Yet another good infield prospect.
Speaker 10: Yeah, super talented player.
Speaker 12: I think last time when we talked, he was maybe
Speaker 12: off to a bit of a slower start. And I
Speaker 12: think when you have those really young players like welban Is,
Speaker 12: there's there's a lot of things going on under the hood,
Speaker 12: from from you adjusting to.
Speaker 10: The full season life.
Speaker 12: There routines, the daily work and you know, working on
Speaker 12: English a few times a week, and you know, sometimes
Speaker 12: struggling early with the young players is really good. It's
Speaker 12: just an opportunity to hammer home and build strategies to
Speaker 12: be resilient long term. So you know, he's really performed
Speaker 12: in the last thirty days, starting to heat up and
Speaker 12: collect a bunch of hips hit story and you know.
Speaker 10: That's that's his identity as a hitter. A guy can
Speaker 10: go out and hit.
Speaker 12: So it's beating up on Unrighty's I think he's his
Speaker 12: ops in the last month is like nine point thirty
Speaker 12: against him right now. He's you know, not really swinging
Speaker 12: through anything. And you starting to steal some bags too
Speaker 12: in the mid twenties.
Speaker 10: So yeah, I think we're we're you.
Speaker 12: Know, and need to be patient with the young players,
Speaker 12: but trying to move the needle long term and let
Speaker 12: him kind of settle into to the routines and the
Speaker 12: work and continue to move the needle on you know,
Speaker 12: the physicality, and you know there's some things in the
Speaker 12: swing that he's working on and working hard on the
Speaker 12: defense as well as the shortstop.
Speaker 10: So you know, he's young.
Speaker 12: You know, we're not expecting development to be a linear thing,
Speaker 12: but we're we're seeing him to take off quite a
Speaker 12: bit and carry over some of the exciting things that
Speaker 12: he did with the bat last year. So far in
Speaker 12: the last month and a half here too, So really
Speaker 12: nice progress for Welben and still a lot of work
Speaker 12: left to go.
Speaker 2: And when you look at at acquiring players, a lot
Speaker 2: of the players on this team have been signed as
Speaker 2: international free agents or their draft picks in recent drafts.
Speaker 2: But Nick Mitchell was acquired in a big deal in
Speaker 2: the off season between the Blue Jays and the Guardians,
Speaker 2: with andre Ci Menez one of the center points there.
Speaker 2: But Mitchell comes from the Blue Jays farm system and
Speaker 2: what do you see from him in his first year
Speaker 2: with Cleveland.
Speaker 10: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 12: He was a fourth round pick last year and got
Speaker 12: a taste of the affiliate life with Toronto, and you know,
Speaker 12: like you said, we were fortunate enough to get him
Speaker 12: in the trade with Jimenez and Sandler last year. And
Speaker 12: you know, we saw him as a pretty good outfielder
Speaker 12: with a really nice hit tool and unfortunately had had
Speaker 12: an injury, you know, in preparing for the year in
Speaker 12: spring training and didn't really get out the gates right
Speaker 12: away and back just rehappening. So he's played about fifteen
Speaker 12: games so far for us. He's hitting in the middle
Speaker 12: of the lineup and mostly playing some center field for us. He's,
Speaker 12: like I said, very good bat to ball skills, that
Speaker 12: type profile that we like. And you know, he's made
Speaker 12: some really good swing decisions so far, so he's taking
Speaker 12: his bocks.
Speaker 10: He's not shrinking out.
Speaker 12: You know, we'll be looking to continue to build more
Speaker 12: impact long term, but still really early in getting to
Speaker 12: know him and you know, getting to support him and
Speaker 12: build his routines and you know, build those as we
Speaker 12: to establish the things that he needs to do to
Speaker 12: move the need a long term across the entire board,
Speaker 12: but really exciting to have him. You know, he's a
Speaker 12: good player and you know there's a lot of growth
Speaker 12: left for him to continue moving forward.
Speaker 2: We are joined by Steven oster Or, the vice president
Speaker 2: of player development for the Guardians, talking single ad Lynchberg
Speaker 2: in the Carolina League, and we switched to some good
Speaker 2: young prospects on the mound, including right handed Braylan Doty,
Speaker 2: drafted player a year ago and gosh, still so young, Austin.
Speaker 2: And you look at twelve starts, forty three innings. Is
Speaker 2: that about what you like to see? Is that plenty
Speaker 2: for a young kid with his experience level at this point?
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, so it is.
Speaker 12: And and we tend to try to work these guys
Speaker 12: in when they're really young, and especially the high school kids.
Speaker 10: Into what professional baseball looks like.
Speaker 12: And he's actually done a really nice job of settling
Speaker 12: in so far to start the years. So yeah, I
Speaker 12: think we define a successful first year for for these
Speaker 12: types of players to you know, to build a solid
Speaker 12: foundation of routines and try to stack daily wins so
Speaker 12: that they can support like your ability and you know,
Speaker 12: drive development long term. And you know, there's just so
Speaker 12: much to adjust to for for a high school match
Speaker 12: are out in an affiliate, So uh yeah, he's done
Speaker 12: a really good job from that. To my standpoint, he's
Speaker 12: starting to hit his stride a little bit on the
Speaker 12: mound in terms of being able to push the development
Speaker 12: on some of the fundamental spaces. So you know, he
Speaker 12: throws a ton of strikes. We're starting to push the
Speaker 12: workload a little bit more than what we have up
Speaker 12: into this point because he's recovering really well, and the
Speaker 12: velost he's starting to climb a little bit for us too,
Speaker 12: so you know, there's work to be done here on
Speaker 12: the secondaries. He's working really hard on his change up.
Speaker 12: We're trying to take advantage of strikeout counts and convert
Speaker 12: those into strikeouts because he is such a great strike
Speaker 12: where he's more in zone than at times quality of
Speaker 12: zone and working on those things along with just consistency
Speaker 12: week to week. So there's just so much like here
Speaker 12: from a talent perspective. He's a really good kid. He
Speaker 12: works really hard, he asks great questions, and he's curious.
Speaker 12: So I think we're just going to continue to see
Speaker 12: him get better as the season goes on here and
Speaker 12: expect a really strong second half.
Speaker 10: Is he's now kind of.
Speaker 12: Locked into what professional baseball looks like and can kind
Speaker 12: of build out a little bit more focus towards.
Speaker 10: Some of the fundamental things that he needs to work on.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned those things. For a youngster who's out
Speaker 2: of high school drafted rape Schlessinger might be different. I
Speaker 2: don't know. As someone coming out of the University of Miami,
Speaker 2: do you approach a picture like that at a little
Speaker 2: bit differently as they build up?
Speaker 12: Yeah, and again I think it just depends on the
Speaker 12: picture in the background. So Rafe did come from college,
Speaker 12: but he didn't start a ton in college, so I
Speaker 12: think we kind of hear that there's just a lot
Speaker 12: of meat left on the bone. So to speak in
Speaker 12: terms of, you know, figuring out what professional baseball looks
Speaker 12: like from a weekly cadence, from a daily cadence, and
Speaker 12: the things that he needs to do as a starter
Speaker 12: to be able to go out there and you know,
Speaker 12: not just continue to be healthy, but to build up
Speaker 12: and build up the workload a little bit and continue
Speaker 12: to refine the things that he needs to work on
Speaker 12: long term. So yeah, he's been he's been working really
Speaker 12: hard at being more in his own and that has
Speaker 12: improved quite a bit since the start of the year
Speaker 12: and is now shifting again, like similar to Brail into
Speaker 12: you know, how do we execute our pitches to better
Speaker 12: spots and convert on strikeouts.
Speaker 10: So he's got really good stuff.
Speaker 12: He's you know, he's throwing some ridiculous changeups as he's
Speaker 12: worked on that, which is really cool to see the
Speaker 12: development of that pitch. And I think there's just again
Speaker 12: still a lot, a lot of meat left on the
Speaker 12: bone for Rafe, you know, across the entire board as
Speaker 12: a starter, So we're really excited about what we're seeing.
Speaker 12: The Filo is climbing ever so slightly again as he's
Speaker 12: kind of just getting used to what professional baseball looks like, so,
Speaker 12: Rafe has just done a really good job, and again
Speaker 12: despite him being a college arm Yeah, I think he
Speaker 12: was maybe coming in with less starting experience and maybe
Speaker 12: not as refined routines as some of the more advanced college.
Speaker 10: Guys that we've had in the past.
Speaker 12: So just exciting all around and expecting again a really
Speaker 12: good second half of.
Speaker 2: Rafe and another college drafted pitcher, Sean Mattson, will finish
Speaker 2: up with him out of Harvard twenty four years of age,
Speaker 2: a little bit older for the Carolina League, But what
Speaker 2: do you like about what he's doing at that level
Speaker 2: right now?
Speaker 12: Yeah, So he's come out and it's kind of worked
Speaker 12: his way into taking some starts and more innings as
Speaker 12: the first half kind of kind of went on with
Speaker 12: with Lynchburg. And you're right, he's a little bit older,
Speaker 12: but you know, he's also performed very well, very well
Speaker 12: for the level. He's given up virtually no runs of
Speaker 12: those spar he's he's walking about six and a half
Speaker 12: percent of the batters he's facing, striking out thirty one percent,
Speaker 12: which combined is very high for the league, you know,
Speaker 12: and he's seen his velocity climb as again similar to
Speaker 12: these other guys are settling into their first year of
Speaker 12: professional baseball, so his calling card is controlling counts, throwing strikes,
Speaker 12: and executing his fastball well. And he's got a really
Speaker 12: good change up. So lots of room for growth, I
Speaker 12: think in terms of, you know, pushing the velocity ceiling
Speaker 12: and trying to get you know, the velo up to
Speaker 12: what we would want it to be in a few years.
Speaker 12: But I think we're seeing pathways to do that in
Speaker 12: the delivery at some of the training environments that he's
Speaker 12: been exposed to in the past. So you know, Sean's
Speaker 12: Seawan has been really excited to go out there and
Speaker 12: just dominate the level of this far and again expecting
Speaker 12: continued growth in a lot of the areas we want
Speaker 12: to see improvement in well.
Speaker 2: Some good stuff as always, and hopefully it's a fun
Speaker 2: week for Lynchburg as they try and close in on
Speaker 2: a first half championship for the Carolina League. DASTI always
Speaker 2: fun to have you on and we'll catch up with
Speaker 2: you again soon.
Speaker 10: Thanks, Rosie, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: That is Vice president of player Development, Stephen Osterer, and
Speaker 2: she debuted last week. Jalen Norman, who is a part
Speaker 2: of our Weekly Farm Reports now traveling through the minor
Speaker 2: league system. Was in Lake County recently with the Captains
Speaker 2: and she had a chance to sit down with a bright,
Speaker 2: young outfield prospect by the name of Alfonsin Rosario.
Speaker 13: So you joined the Guardians organization in November as part
Speaker 13: of a trade. What were your first thoughts when you
Speaker 13: found out you'd be part of this organization.
Speaker 7: I mean, I was shocked when I got the news.
Speaker 14: I wasn't expecting myself to get traded so fast, so
Speaker 14: I was like, really, And I remember getting the call
Speaker 14: and the guy told me, Hey, she's been traded to
Speaker 14: the Guardians. I wasn't in shocked for like thirty seconds,
Speaker 14: and I'm like, but like, what Guardians Cleveland Gardens Like
Speaker 14: He's like yeah, I'm like, I didn't even know Cleveland
Speaker 14: Gardens was interested in me.
Speaker 7: So I was like kind of in shock for a
Speaker 7: few seconds, and.
Speaker 14: Then I a couple of tears came out. I had
Speaker 14: a good friendship with my teammates back with the Cups
Speaker 14: and the coaches.
Speaker 7: I feel like we had a really good relationship with everybody.
Speaker 13: And how has the adjustment been for you going from
Speaker 13: the Cups organization and now to the Guardians.
Speaker 7: Uh, you know, it's been fun.
Speaker 14: I think I'm a fun guy and I make friends
Speaker 14: really quick, so I'm always talking to the guys kind
Speaker 14: of getting a feeling of them, like, you know, like,
Speaker 14: hey you good, good job, you know what I mean.
Speaker 14: People like that, people like that you are concerned and
Speaker 14: you like there for them.
Speaker 7: At some point.
Speaker 14: And I think that's been huge getting together with everybody.
Speaker 13: A lot of Guardians fans were first introduced to you
Speaker 13: and Mark when you played in the Spring Breakout game.
Speaker 13: What was that experience.
Speaker 7: Like for you?
Speaker 14: That was fun. It was fun to be there, you
Speaker 14: know what I mean. And it's always fun to be
Speaker 14: in the field. As long as I have my bad
Speaker 14: I think I'll be okay.
Speaker 7: So it's a good experience. How would you describe your game?
Speaker 14: I'll say preparation, getting the approach and executing it. It's
Speaker 14: always the best feeling. It's not even the outcome, But
Speaker 14: what makes the outcome so especial is when you have
Speaker 14: that approach and you can execute it the way you
Speaker 14: thought about it. That's what makes it so special.
Speaker 13: So you come from a baseball family, your brothers in
Speaker 13: the Padres organization, and you've got cousins all across the league.
Speaker 13: How much does that help you being able to have
Speaker 13: members of your family that kind of relate to this journey.
Speaker 7: To me, it motivates me a lot.
Speaker 14: I like to compete, and I'm always like texting those
Speaker 14: guys like, Hey, we're competing.
Speaker 7: We're doing this, and we're doing that. When we go
Speaker 7: back home to we do a lot of games like
Speaker 7: between each other and we compete against each other. So
Speaker 7: that's fun.
Speaker 13: How many family members do you know, off the top
Speaker 13: of your head, how many family members you have either
Speaker 13: in the league who have gone.
Speaker 7: Through the league.
Speaker 14: I have had a few, but the ones that are
Speaker 14: active right now is my brother, and I have two
Speaker 14: cousins playing and me right now that I know. But
Speaker 14: I've had my dad used to play ball, my grandfather
Speaker 14: used to play ball. I have another brother plays ball,
Speaker 14: but he's not even the probably yet. But I have
Speaker 14: had a lot of family that's been through this. So
Speaker 14: it's been amazing.
Speaker 13: As we've progressed deeper into the season, we've seen you
Speaker 13: really settle in offensively. How comfortable have you felt during
Speaker 13: your first couple of months as a Lake County captain?
Speaker 14: What gives me that confidence is the hard work I
Speaker 14: put through in the off season. I think I work
Speaker 14: a lot to improve my contact and my confidence, also
Speaker 14: changing my mentality from last year. The mentality that I
Speaker 14: had last year wasn't the best one I could have.
Speaker 14: But this year I'm really making the adjustment mentally and
Speaker 14: physically also, So that's been what's giving me my confidence.
Speaker 7: My hard work, you know what I mean.
Speaker 13: A lot of young players take time to develop power,
Speaker 13: but you've seem to possess that throughout your career. How
Speaker 13: does that come so easily for you?
Speaker 14: I believe also did my preparation and hard work. When
Speaker 14: I was in high school, I was kind of obsessed
Speaker 14: with lifting. I'll go there twice three times a day
Speaker 14: because I had that. I had the gym open for me,
Speaker 14: so I had it available all the time. So I'll
Speaker 14: go there and I'll pretty much just spending all my
Speaker 14: day and they're lifting, stretching, doing something. And that's kind
Speaker 14: of how I grew.
Speaker 7: And expand my body a little bit.
Speaker 14: And yeah, it's been amazing a lot of explosive exercises
Speaker 14: really helpful.
Speaker 13: You mentioned that you have, you know, family members in
Speaker 13: the league, but is there anyone that you've modeled your
Speaker 13: game after and if.
Speaker 14: So, why my brother He's been He's been one of
Speaker 14: the reasons that I've played this game because I've always
Speaker 14: wanted to play either with him or against him at
Speaker 14: some point.
Speaker 13: And before I let you go, you know, the Captains
Speaker 13: are the defending Midwest League champs, and we've seen Ralph
Speaker 13: Alaska has come into the season and pick up right
Speaker 13: where you left off. We've seen Jose Devers find a
Speaker 13: stride offensively in Christian Napchick also has come in and
Speaker 13: really been an asset. How exciting is it for you
Speaker 13: to come into this organization and play alongside such a
Speaker 13: talented group.
Speaker 7: I love that, you know. I love that my teammates
Speaker 7: are doing well. That also helps me put some numbers.
Speaker 14: As long as I get them on base, I'm there
Speaker 14: to back them up and do the best that we
Speaker 14: can to hopefully come back as a champion this year
Speaker 14: as well.
Speaker 12: You know.
Speaker 2: That is Jaylen Norman talking with Alfonsin Rosario, who is
Speaker 2: acquired in the off season in the trade that sent
Speaker 2: Eli Morgan to the Chicago Cubs for a young outfield prospect.
Speaker 2: In Rosario certainly off to a nice start for Lake
Speaker 2: County stay with us. We'll have our final segment after
Speaker 2: this time out on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 2: Welcome back. It's our final segment of Guardians Weekly. Jim
Speaker 2: rosen House back with you from Seattle, where the Guardians
Speaker 2: are playing the Mariners this weekend. They started the series
Speaker 2: on Friday night, It continues Saturday night with a nine
Speaker 2: to forty first pitch, and then wraps up on Sunday
Speaker 2: afternoon with a four to ten first pitch Cleveland Time,
Speaker 2: and we will be on West Coat Time for the
Speaker 2: next week as the road trip continues in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: After and off day on Monday, the Guardians will take
Speaker 2: on the Giants Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and then Thursday
Speaker 2: afternoon before the road trip wraps up in Sacramento next weekend.
Speaker 2: Our first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the Athletics,
Speaker 2: at least temporary home. We'll see how long it lasts,
Speaker 2: but they are there until the ballpark is ready in
Speaker 2: Las Vegas, and we'll get our first look at the
Speaker 2: Sacramento Athletics. They don't like to be called that, but
Speaker 2: that's where they play. And we'll be there next weekend
Speaker 2: for the three game series against the Athletics. So a
Speaker 2: lot of baseball on this West Coast swing. It got
Speaker 2: off to a rocky start on Friday night with a
Speaker 2: seven to two Seattle victory. Guardians trying to write the
Speaker 2: ship throughout the weekend. This weekend here in Seattle and
Speaker 2: then on to San Francisco and then Sacramento next weekend.
Speaker 2: We'll join you from Sacramento for the next edition of
Speaker 2: Guardians Weekly. Thanks as always to Brian Bonze for his
Speaker 2: help on our broadcasts each and every week until next week.
Speaker 2: Missus Jim rosen House reminding you that you've been listening
Speaker 2: to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
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