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. Hi, everyone, welcome to
Speaker 1: Guardian's Weekly. Jim Rosen house along with you from Progressive
Speaker 1: Field in downtown Cleveland, where this week the Guardians are
Speaker 1: taking on the Texas Rangers. This is just the start
Speaker 1: of a huge home stand for Cleveland, not only standings
Speaker 1: wise in the American League Central Division and competition wise,
Speaker 1: but it's the longest home stand of the season with
Speaker 1: three against Texas. Then Monday, Kansas City comes in for
Speaker 1: a huge four game series that begins with a day
Speaker 1: night doubleheader on Monday and the homestand concludes next weekend.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh comes to town for the first time in a while,
Speaker 1: as they'll be in town Labor Day weekend before the
Speaker 1: Guardians head out on the road on Labor Day to
Speaker 1: take on those same Kansas City Royals. Coming up on
Speaker 1: our show today, we will hear from Robsorfolio, the director
Speaker 1: of player development for the Guardians, a minor league report.
Speaker 1: We'll also visit with Guardians players Andre Simenez, Lane Time, Honest,
Speaker 1: Daniel Schneman and Connor Gillespie. But first our weekend review,
Speaker 1: and we begin with one of the wildest games of
Speaker 1: the season. After a Monday off day in New York,
Speaker 1: the Guardians and Yankees began their series on Tuesday night
Speaker 1: at Yankee Stadium. Four hours twelve innings, action packed throughout.
Speaker 1: The Bombers showed up in the first inning for sure,
Speaker 1: as both Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit solo home
Speaker 1: runs to put New York on top two nothing, but
Speaker 1: the Guardians got one of those runs back in the
Speaker 1: second inning, two men on and bow Naylor at the plate.
Speaker 1: Now the two zero Naylor Bangs won the first. Pat
Speaker 1: Kenneby Lemayhew comes home with the throw head first, slide
Speaker 1: Noel out of the plate. He said, I got my
Speaker 1: hand in ahead of the tag of Trevino, so we'll
Speaker 1: see what Cleveland elects to do close set the plate.
Speaker 1: He snuck that right hand in. Cleveland's challenging the call
Speaker 1: at home plate. The call's been overturned and safe at
Speaker 1: the plate is John Kenzie, Noel and Cleveland's on the board.
Speaker 1: They trailed two to one. Naylor will be at first
Speaker 1: with his thirty fourth RBI on the fielder's choice. Then
Speaker 1: in the third walks to John Kenzie, Noel and Andre
Speaker 1: Cemenez set the table for Daniel Schneman. Now the O
Speaker 1: two swung and ripped into right field. That's a base
Speaker 1: h Noel around third. He will score the tying run
Speaker 1: in a rundown between first and second is steaming and
Speaker 1: nobody's covering second. Steaman goes to second, nobody tagged about.
Speaker 1: The game is tied at two. Sneaming on a No
Speaker 1: two pitch single to right field. Noel scored easily from second.
Speaker 1: In the fourth, it was Brian Rochio leading things off
Speaker 1: with a blast. Here's the one zero and that swung
Speaker 1: on and lifted high in the air, deep right center.
Speaker 1: This has a chance back at the wall, judge, but
Speaker 1: it's gone into the bullpen. Home run Brian Rochio, and
Speaker 1: just like that, the Guardians have taken a lead for
Speaker 1: the first time tonight, three to two Cleveland. Rochio with
Speaker 1: home run number six, driving that one high in the
Speaker 1: air into the Yankees bullpen beyond the wall and right center.
Speaker 1: But the Yankees came right back with a run in
Speaker 1: the bottom of the fourth, and we were all tied
Speaker 1: up at three. We move ahead to the seventh, New
Speaker 1: York trying to break the tie, but the Guardians defense
Speaker 1: would not cave gant Us into the wine. Gant Us
Speaker 1: with the delivery a swinging a line drive to center,
Speaker 1: angling toward left center, running diving, Steven made the catch
Speaker 1: Daniel Sneeman that might be a game saving catch. A
Speaker 1: line drive the center that was slicing away from Schneam
Speaker 1: as he angled toward the gamp and back and at
Speaker 1: the last moment was parallel to the ground with a
Speaker 1: diving extra base robbin catch. And then in the eighth
Speaker 1: the Yankees threatened again, but once again it was one
Speaker 1: of the top defensive teams in baseball. The Guardians, who
Speaker 1: were up to the challenge. The bitch swung on sock
Speaker 1: to deep center, back of steaming track at the wall,
Speaker 1: leaps us off the top of the wall, ricchetes to
Speaker 1: Kwan hitting third, being waved home and stumbling as Grisham
Speaker 1: throw to the plate wide slide tag got him anyway,
Speaker 1: Oh my, Grisham was stumbling coming around the bases, and
Speaker 1: even though the throw was up the first base line,
Speaker 1: Naylor made the catch and still get the tag on
Speaker 1: the sliding Grisham After a scoreless ninth inning, the game
Speaker 1: went to extras where both teams would fail to score
Speaker 1: in the tenth and the eleventh innings, so it was
Speaker 1: on to the twelfth. Daniel Sneaman was the runner at
Speaker 1: second base beginning the inning, and Lane Thomas was called
Speaker 1: on as a pinch hitter to get it started. Two
Speaker 1: and two. The count on Thomas. Here's the pitch swung on,
Speaker 1: drill deep right field, down the line, fair ball two
Speaker 1: bounces up against the wall. Sneaman will score Thomas with
Speaker 1: a double and his first Darby I as a Guardian,
Speaker 1: and the Guardians take a four to three lead here
Speaker 1: in the twelfth and that sound you heard was a
Speaker 1: thousand pounds coming off the back of Lane Thomas as
Speaker 1: he headed to second base. Still in the twelfth, runners
Speaker 1: on the corners and won out for Jose Ramirez down
Speaker 1: the seen and the pitch swung on grinding up the
Speaker 1: middle base, hit center field. That'll score Thomas Kwan, big turn.
Speaker 1: He will hold it second and the Jose Ramirez comes
Speaker 1: through with RBI number one oh one, and there's the
Speaker 1: multiple run ending for Cleveland. They now leaded five to three.
Speaker 1: Then Tyler Freeman followed with a walk to load the
Speaker 1: bases for David Fry. Tonkin's ready hands just below the
Speaker 1: chin the pit swung out a flare headed toward right
Speaker 1: on the run, diving a Soto can make the Cats
Speaker 1: gets fire him in the roll of the wall that
Speaker 1: is going to clear the bases. Kwon Ramirez framan all,
Speaker 1: scoring Fry and sliding with a triple.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: It is a three run triple to right center by
Speaker 1: David Fry, and the Guardians have blown it open with
Speaker 1: five runs here in inning number twelve and now leaded
Speaker 1: eight to three. And then John Kenzie Noel got in
Speaker 1: on the fun. Noel hits a week chopper to first
Speaker 1: charge by Lemayhew no play anywhere. He feeled it near
Speaker 1: the mound in the scores, Frying Noel with a single,
Speaker 1: and the Guardians have scored six, and the Guardians now
Speaker 1: lead nine to three, and the rest of the fans
Speaker 1: that are here are letting the Yankees hear about it.
Speaker 1: In the bottom of the twelfth, Aaron Judge drove in
Speaker 1: two runs with a double to make it nine to five,
Speaker 1: but that would be enough, as Scott Barlow was on
Speaker 1: to finish things up two down runner at third twelve. Thenning,
Speaker 1: here's the pitch, swung and smashed the first gottled up
Speaker 1: by Noel. He'll go to the bag himself. Bowl game.
Speaker 1: What a bawl game.
Speaker 3: What a win.
Speaker 1: In twelve, Cleveland knocks off the Yankees nine to five,
Speaker 1: again one of the wildest games of the season. Tuesday
Speaker 1: night in New York, a twelve inning, nine to five
Speaker 1: Guardians victory. And that was it though in terms of wins.
Speaker 1: This week is Wednesday. The Yankees wonted eight to one.
Speaker 1: They shut out the Guardians six nothing Thursday afternoon. In
Speaker 1: the return home on Friday night, the Guardians lost to
Speaker 1: the Rangers by a score of five to three. Things
Speaker 1: are tightening up in the American League's Central Division. Stay
Speaker 1: with us when we come back. We will hear from
Speaker 1: Guardians Go Gloves second basement, Andre ci Menez. That's next
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Clinic, Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 3: Now forever.
Speaker 1: Boyd's pitch has swung on, grounded sharply the second knock
Speaker 1: down and shallow right on a dive by Jimenez, recovers
Speaker 1: and throws half Ardugo on another nifty play by the
Speaker 1: best defensive second basement in baseball. The pitch swung on,
Speaker 1: grounded up the middle to his right, sliding back. Had
Speaker 1: it stopped, he Menez up throwing. He got him again.
Speaker 1: Man oh man, He's give him the gold globe and
Speaker 1: get it over with now. No need to wait until
Speaker 1: the end of the year. And another nice play going
Speaker 1: to his right with a knee slide and a stop
Speaker 1: popped up quickly and threw out Bellinger and that is
Speaker 1: out number one. And the amount of bass its that
Speaker 1: Jimenez takes away at second base is hard to comprehend.
Speaker 1: Hearn's ready. Here it comes, swinging a chopper up the
Speaker 1: middle too his right, a sliding back and a grab.
Speaker 1: He menus got up and got up. Oh my well,
Speaker 1: low thought he had an RBI single up the middle.
Speaker 1: But now with the best second baseman that maybe any
Speaker 1: of us have seen, as good as Robbie Alomar was,
Speaker 1: and he was sensational. My goodness. Andre Simenez puts on
Speaker 1: a clinic night in, night out. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly,
Speaker 1: Jim Rosenhause, back with you from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland,
Speaker 1: where the Guardians are taking on the Texas Rangers this weekend,
Speaker 1: including Saturday night at seven to ten, the second night
Speaker 1: of Rock and Blast. Andre Simenez has had such a
Speaker 1: great stretch defensively, back to back gold gloves at second
Speaker 1: base and a platinum glove last season, and lately at
Speaker 1: least heading into the road trip, the last road trip
Speaker 1: for the Guardians, who was really swinging the bat well,
Speaker 1: and he talked about what has led to his recent
Speaker 1: offensive success.
Speaker 5: Yeah, obviously, I've been feeling better last past week, and
Speaker 5: I feel like it's really contagious when the you know,
Speaker 5: everyone is getting hits and everyone is you know, putting
Speaker 5: the numbers. I think it helped me as well. So yeah,
Speaker 5: I've been putting a lot of work on the cages
Speaker 5: and you know, I'm able to show what I'm the feel.
Speaker 1: And for you to get to a good place, what
Speaker 1: has to happen offensively that for you to feel good
Speaker 1: about yourself when you're at the play.
Speaker 5: I feel good with myself when I'm I'm doing the
Speaker 5: work with my approach. I feel like when I'm doing it,
Speaker 5: I'm hitting the ball hard, making good contacts, taking good
Speaker 5: at best. That's where I feel the best with myself.
Speaker 1: Take us inside a Squeeze play the other night, Bryan
Speaker 1: Rokio put a bunt down and you scored your responsibility
Speaker 1: on that play. How difficult is it to make sure
Speaker 1: you do the right thing?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is difficult. Or Or talk to me and
Speaker 5: he told me, you know, he was maybe you know,
Speaker 5: some play on it, but just basically reading the reading
Speaker 5: the play, I didn't expect Rocky Bond, but it was
Speaker 5: a great Bond and a high IQ play.
Speaker 1: And a Platinum glove a year ago, back to back
Speaker 1: gold gloves. It seems like you're getting better defensively. How
Speaker 1: can you get better defensively when when you're already the best?
Speaker 1: But how do you try and raise your game on defense?
Speaker 5: I try to be consistent, you know. The main thing
Speaker 5: for me is help the pitcher on the mound. I
Speaker 5: feel like I take a lot of responsibility on the
Speaker 5: field to have the pitcher and help the infield as well.
Speaker 5: So I feel like he's always got he's always chanced
Speaker 5: to get better. And yeah, I'm trying to work in
Speaker 5: every day. I try to work every day and you know,
Speaker 5: if I get better, it's fine.
Speaker 1: And you've had quite a few different double play partners
Speaker 1: at shortstop. How can you help them as a former
Speaker 1: shortstop with what they're trying to do and maybe they
Speaker 1: help you too.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they helped me a lot. I've been playing with
Speaker 5: three different shorts up. Everyone is different, you know, but
Speaker 5: we work then in spring training, so I had the
Speaker 5: chance to know a little bit the short stops and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, they helped me a lot through the season
Speaker 5: as well. Like couple plays they saved my life and
Speaker 5: cobble couple double plays, I say their live. So you know,
Speaker 5: that's that's a good combination that we have to be
Speaker 5: on the field.
Speaker 1: And I feel like no one has more fun than
Speaker 1: you on defense because you're always smiling out there. Is
Speaker 1: that just a really fun part of the game for you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I have really, I mean I tried to
Speaker 5: to really really have fun on the field, but at
Speaker 5: the same time try to do my job. So that's
Speaker 5: a good part of my on my game that I
Speaker 5: can I can have fun and defense.
Speaker 1: Well, it is enjoyable to watch andres thanks love for coming.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, never thank you. That is second basement.
Speaker 1: Andre Ceman is always fun to catch up with him.
Speaker 1: Our next guest is Lane Thomas, the newest Cleveland Guardian
Speaker 1: in that lineup anyway, and in our weekend review, we
Speaker 1: heard the highlight of Thomas's go ahead pinch hit RBI
Speaker 1: I double in that wild twelve inning win over the Yankees,
Speaker 1: and we caught up with him the next day as
Speaker 1: he talked about that pinch hitting role and how he
Speaker 1: stays prepared, especially in a long game like Tuesday night.
Speaker 6: You know, I think you prepare anytime you know, the
Speaker 6: starter or whoever the next reliever is, and their pitch
Speaker 6: count gets to a certain point. So I kind of
Speaker 6: was they used They used Tim Hill earlier in the game,
Speaker 6: so I was kind of ready to roll if a
Speaker 6: situation came up for him, and then you know, you
Speaker 6: just prep anytime it left he gets up, you know,
Speaker 6: in my situation coming off the bench. So that's what
Speaker 6: I did.
Speaker 1: And in this day and age of the new extra
Speaker 1: inning rules, you don't get to twelve innings very often.
Speaker 1: What was it like in the dugout? As that game
Speaker 1: just kept developing and plays were happening that kept it going.
Speaker 6: It's a close game, so you know, I feel like
Speaker 6: at any point I thought we had a chance to
Speaker 6: kind of break it open, score a run or two,
Speaker 6: and you know, and luckily we were able to later
Speaker 6: in that game.
Speaker 1: When you look at how things are going for you,
Speaker 1: obviously you're working through some things at the plate. What
Speaker 1: allowed it to click for you in that bad bad
Speaker 1: in the twelve thing?
Speaker 6: You know, I don't know if there's a particular thing.
Speaker 6: I just think, you know, baseball's tough. It's a hard game,
Speaker 6: and I think you know, when when you go through
Speaker 6: rough patches like this. You know, you can't really dwell
Speaker 6: on it too much. You just got to keep working
Speaker 6: and you know, and good things start to happen that
Speaker 6: when you're working on things. So I think that that's
Speaker 6: kind of how my mindset's been through for the last
Speaker 6: couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: And Lane and take us inside of a player being
Speaker 1: traded at explain for fans what goes through your mind
Speaker 1: and how difficult it can be sometimes to to get
Speaker 1: it going with that new team.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2: It's tough.
Speaker 6: You you know, you you got to kind of move
Speaker 6: your whole life, you know, family and babies and you know,
Speaker 6: get all your stuff moved. So it's you know, you
Speaker 6: get thrown a lot at you in a short amount
Speaker 6: of time to kind of get get ready to go
Speaker 6: and show up for the next team. But it's been awesome.
Speaker 6: These guys have accepted me well, and it's been I
Speaker 6: think a good fit so far.
Speaker 1: And when you say that, what are some of the
Speaker 1: things that they're able to do to to kind of
Speaker 1: help you fit in and and feel like you're a
Speaker 1: part of it.
Speaker 6: You know, like I said, I don't know if there's
Speaker 6: any any specific things, but you know, just trying to
Speaker 6: meet everybody, get to know kind of the field, the
Speaker 6: clubhouse and stuff. And it's man, they're they're they're awesome.
Speaker 6: They've they've, like I said, accepted me, you know, really
Speaker 6: well for not knowing me that long. And it's been
Speaker 6: it's been fun to be here.
Speaker 1: And games like last night, I feel like they've been
Speaker 1: common this year where uh, somehow someway they pull it
Speaker 1: out in the end. What have you seen from this
Speaker 1: team in your short period of time here that that says, hey,
Speaker 1: this could be a team that could do some special things.
Speaker 6: Yeah, like last night at a lot of teams get
Speaker 6: tired and roll over and you know it's time to
Speaker 6: go home. And I feel like we kind of fought
Speaker 6: our way back on both sides of the ball and
Speaker 6: you know, some relievers through some good innings. I thought
Speaker 6: Boyd pitched really well for you know, getting to the fifth,
Speaker 6: sixth inning whenever he came out, and you know, guys
Speaker 6: came in and shut the door and gave us an
Speaker 6: opportunity even even though it was the thirteenth inning. It's
Speaker 6: you know, that's what it takes sometimes.
Speaker 1: Well, Blaine, thanks love for coming, buy a nice calling
Speaker 1: last night. Thanks awesome, Thanks for having me. That's Lane Thomas,
Speaker 1: Guardian's outfielder who came up big in Tuesday nights Guardian's
Speaker 1: victory in New York. Stay with us, We'll have more
Speaker 1: to come after this time out. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly.
Speaker 1: Jim rosen House along with you from Progressive Field in
Speaker 1: downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are just getting started on
Speaker 1: what will turn out to be a ten game homestand
Speaker 1: the second of three against Texas coming your way on
Speaker 1: Saturday night. Daniel Schneeman, well, he's been putting together some
Speaker 1: much better at bats of late after a slow stre
Speaker 1: at the plate, a couple of nice games in New York,
Speaker 1: especially on the defensive side, and he talked about what
Speaker 1: was like playing at Yankee Stadium for the first time
Speaker 1: in his young career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was exciting.
Speaker 7: I My goal every day is just do something to
Speaker 7: help the team win, you know, and if I'm not
Speaker 7: swinging out, hopefully I can do something in the field
Speaker 7: to impact the team. And I'm glad I was able
Speaker 7: to do that as shit.
Speaker 1: And for you, the experience of playing here explain why
Speaker 1: this might have been a more special place for you
Speaker 1: in terms of ballparks in the major leagues to visit
Speaker 1: and play in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's just a lot of history at this park.
Speaker 7: I grew up a big Jeter fan, so just watching
Speaker 7: a lot of games on TV, watching a lot of
Speaker 7: playoff games.
Speaker 2: It was just cool to be.
Speaker 7: Here in person, experienced the atmosphere and I'm glad it
Speaker 7: came out on top of youahterday.
Speaker 1: And you're about as close to the fans as you
Speaker 1: can get here. With your catch and right field late
Speaker 1: in the game and then the attempt in center and
Speaker 1: then another diving catch in center, what was the reaction
Speaker 1: that you could make out or hear from from them.
Speaker 7: I just heard a big like moan when I caught it,
Speaker 7: so that was a good feeling. But it was it
Speaker 7: was so loud, you know, during the game, I couldn't
Speaker 7: really I know they were chirping me a little bit,
Speaker 7: but I couldn't hear much.
Speaker 2: So it was fine.
Speaker 1: And going back on balls, I think for an outfielder
Speaker 1: who doesn't have as much experience as others, it seems
Speaker 1: like that's a tough one, especially with a wall coming
Speaker 1: up on you and you came in contact with the
Speaker 1: wall a couple of times. How do you make that
Speaker 1: decision to go for it or play it off the wall.
Speaker 2: It's kind of just the read I get.
Speaker 7: If I feel like I'm I'm in a position to
Speaker 7: be able to make that play, I'll go hard into
Speaker 7: the wall. It's usually the height if it's if it's
Speaker 7: really high, but my head, that's when I'll probably make
Speaker 7: the decision to slow down and play.
Speaker 2: It off the wall.
Speaker 7: But all those balls I got yesterday, I felt like
Speaker 7: they were catchable.
Speaker 2: So that's that's kind of why I went into the
Speaker 2: wall hard.
Speaker 1: And Daniel a couple of base hits and Tuesday Night's game,
Speaker 1: and I know it's been the proverbial ups and downs
Speaker 1: that any young player goes through. What have you been
Speaker 1: battling at the plate? And do you feel like you're
Speaker 1: making some progress here as we get deeper into this
Speaker 1: thing down the stretch.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like I'm making progress.
Speaker 7: I just feel like it always comes down to, UH,
Speaker 7: to my approach and my mindset, just being being aggressive
Speaker 7: and with pitches in my in my zone and locations
Speaker 7: that I can handle and not not expanding. Because when
Speaker 7: I start to expand on fastballs and off speed, that's
Speaker 7: when I get into a lot of trouble, So I've
Speaker 7: kind of I know I'm going to get attacked with
Speaker 7: a lot of offspeed early in the accounts, and and
Speaker 7: so I think the goal is to, even though I
Speaker 7: know I'm gonna get those off speeds, still try to
Speaker 7: lay off them if they're not in my zone. And
Speaker 7: then hopefully if if I'm aggressive to to pitches in
Speaker 7: my zone, I'll be able to hit the fastballs and
Speaker 7: hit through the offspeed as well. So that's kind of
Speaker 7: gonna be my approach going on.
Speaker 1: And you put that approach together, the flip side is
Speaker 1: you're facing the best in the world on the mound.
Speaker 1: How much different is it at this level than anything
Speaker 1: you've seen before in your pro career.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's just their ability to stick to their plan.
Speaker 7: You know, they know what they want to do. And
Speaker 7: that's like the biggest difference that I've noticed is it's
Speaker 7: not the stuff, it's it's really just the way they execute,
Speaker 7: and so you just got to be ready. They make
Speaker 7: fewer mistakes, and you got to be ready for those mistakes.
Speaker 7: And so that's that's what I'm trying to do with
Speaker 7: the play, is just to be ready for those.
Speaker 1: The series against the Yankees. I thought it was interesting
Speaker 1: before the game yesterday, you said, Hey, you know there's
Speaker 1: some history here and recent history with players who've been
Speaker 1: here the past couple of seasons. How much are you
Speaker 1: aware of what's gone on between these two teams, be
Speaker 1: it a playoff series in twenty twenty two or or
Speaker 1: some things that happened in the regular season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I remember watching all of it and I got
Speaker 7: a little taste. But when I ran into that Walhart
Speaker 7: and Center, they did not care one bit. They were
Speaker 7: chirped me. They started chirping me even more after that.
Speaker 7: So it's just something that you know, we can come
Speaker 7: to expect when we come here, but you just try
Speaker 7: to block it all out and do everything you can
Speaker 7: to help the team win.
Speaker 1: Heal nice going the other night. Thanks a lot for
Speaker 1: coming by.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: That's Daniel Sneaman, Guardian's utility man. Had a really good
Speaker 1: series against the Yankees in New York, and that was
Speaker 1: a thrill for him growing up as a fan of
Speaker 1: Derek Jeter and other Yankees and then finally getting to
Speaker 1: play in that stadium growing up in the California area. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he never had a chance to go there as a kid,
Speaker 1: so that was a thrill for him. Earlier this week,
Speaker 1: Connor Gillispie got a thrill also. He pitched in Yankee
Speaker 1: Stadium and through three strong innings in relief on Thursday.
Speaker 1: It's been quite a season for Gillespie, who made his
Speaker 1: major league debut earlier this season. He was called upon
Speaker 1: this week to provide some depth in that Guardian's pen,
Speaker 1: and he talked about that roller coaster ride that he's
Speaker 1: been on since joining the Cleveland organization.
Speaker 8: It's been a lot of fun. Man, It's definitely been new,
Speaker 8: but it's been a lot of fun and definitely worth it,
Speaker 8: I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1: And when you look at some of the things that
Speaker 1: are happening for you in this organization, how has Cleveland
Speaker 1: helped you become the best picture you can be?
Speaker 8: Yeah, They've held me a time, especially on the mental side,
Speaker 8: just like learning how I need to pitch, what I
Speaker 8: need to do, and how I need to elevate my
Speaker 8: game to be a big leaguer. And they they've really
Speaker 8: helped me a lot.
Speaker 1: And when you talk about that, what are some of
Speaker 1: the things that have been especially helpful for you?
Speaker 8: Just it's all mental, really just like making the right
Speaker 8: pitches at the right time, putting it in the right locations,
Speaker 8: being smart with who you got up to the plate,
Speaker 8: stuff like that, like stuff you know, but just kind
Speaker 8: of reiterating it. And up here it's the highest level,
Speaker 8: so your mistakes get maximized.
Speaker 1: And so you say that, and it seems like you
Speaker 1: have put that into play because both appearances you've thrown
Speaker 1: the ball extremely well, and certainly Thursday on the huge
Speaker 1: stage at Yankee Stadium. Is it harder to to do
Speaker 1: it when you get up here and still try and
Speaker 1: maintain some of the things that you know you have
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 8: Yeah, when So it's funny you say that when you're
Speaker 8: in the bullpen before the game. For me, at least
Speaker 8: my first two appearances, I was nervous until I started throwing.
Speaker 8: And as soon as I started throwing, I was like,
Speaker 8: it's just baseball, man, Like you got it, Like relax
Speaker 8: And so that helped a lot. Knowing my pre preparation
Speaker 8: breeds confidence, you know, so the more you prepare, the
Speaker 8: more confident you are going into the game.
Speaker 1: So with all that said, you get to pitch here
Speaker 1: in your first outing and then in New York at
Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium in your second outing. What were those experiences
Speaker 1: like in terms of being able to soak that in
Speaker 1: if you could at all.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, I've watched endless Yankee
Speaker 8: games growing up. Just I was a big Jeter fan too,
Speaker 8: so my mom actually took me to that stadium when
Speaker 8: I was ten years old. So it's cool just revisiting
Speaker 8: and seeing how different it was. And it was also
Speaker 8: fun being the clubhouse. It was a very unique clubhouse.
Speaker 8: Was a great experience.
Speaker 1: Connor Gillespie joining us part of that Guardian's bullpen, a
Speaker 1: great bullpen. So you walk right into this pen that
Speaker 1: never gets up runs. It seems the best in baseball
Speaker 1: throughout the season. What's it like down there? What is
Speaker 1: their special sauce that allows them to get it done?
Speaker 8: It's is grit many just a gritty bunch. Seems like
Speaker 8: they just do their stuff and stay after, you know,
Speaker 8: like do their job. That's the main role. And that's
Speaker 8: what I've tried to do to come in, just do
Speaker 8: my job.
Speaker 1: So looking back at your background, if you've been a
Speaker 1: starter most of the time, but your coach in both
Speaker 1: high school and prior to that, one of the great
Speaker 1: relievers in the game really during his era. Tell us
Speaker 1: about who that was and how he helped you.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Billy Wagner soon to be Hall of Famer. I
Speaker 8: hope allys and he deserves it. But he's the best man.
Speaker 8: He helped me so much just preparing me. Really, he
Speaker 8: didn't even care about winning in high school. It was
Speaker 8: about the next level, like what do you need to
Speaker 8: do to be the best? And I can't thank him
Speaker 8: enough for what he's done.
Speaker 1: And kind of a cool situation. You had a chance
Speaker 1: to make your major league debut this season and a
Speaker 1: good buddy of yours is his son and he's playing
Speaker 1: for the Blue Jays now.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Will made his debut about I think it's a
Speaker 8: few days after me, and we were the first two
Speaker 8: in our high school history to do that. So I
Speaker 8: thought it was really cool, really special. We've both worked
Speaker 8: extremely hard and I'm glad he's there.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 8: He deserves every bit of it.
Speaker 1: Another example of why baseball is a great game, right there. Connor,
Speaker 1: thanks for coming by.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, appreciate you, man.
Speaker 1: That's really pitcher Connor Gillespie. Great story from him and
Speaker 1: some neat background things for him and He's going to
Speaker 1: enjoy this as long as it lasts, as he's a
Speaker 1: part of this ball club, at least for now. Heading
Speaker 1: into the weekend series against Texas, stay tuned. We'll have
Speaker 1: more to come our final segment after this time.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhaus back with you
Speaker 1: from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland, and we finish with
Speaker 1: our weekly farm report. Robs Orfolio, the director Player Development,
Speaker 1: joining us and we're talking Columbus this week at the
Speaker 1: Triple A level. Gabriel Arias is a name that has
Speaker 1: really seemed to be standing out at the Triple A level.
Speaker 1: After spending much of his season in the big leagues,
Speaker 1: he was sent down to Triple A and Rob talked
Speaker 1: about what's led to Arius's turnaround at the plate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, these are tough ones, right, A guy
Speaker 3: comes down and they're usually not very excited about that,
Speaker 3: go figure. But on our end, when guys come back,
Speaker 3: like trying to have clarity on what the vision is
Speaker 3: to get this guy to be back up there and
Speaker 3: contributing to, you know, winning baseball at the major league level.
Speaker 3: And you know, I think a lot of credit goes
Speaker 3: to Voter and his his staff, and then our group
Speaker 3: in Triple A and our coordinators that help support these
Speaker 3: transition plans to have clarity on what we want to
Speaker 3: work with with with Gabby on and and to his credit,
Speaker 3: he came in ready to work and the hitting group
Speaker 3: in particular has been just trying to to work with
Speaker 3: him to have his best skill sets show up more frequently,
Speaker 3: which is I think people have seen how how much
Speaker 3: of a charge you can put into a baseball and
Speaker 3: from a mechanical standpoint, hopefully allow him to showcase that
Speaker 3: more consistently. And it's just been a great team effort
Speaker 3: with everyone in the big leagues to our entire group
Speaker 3: and Triple A and like I said, our coordinators around that,
Speaker 3: and then obviously you know, gave himself coming ready to
Speaker 3: work and and UH and be willing to test that
Speaker 3: in gameplay and Triple A to try and get back
Speaker 3: to the big league. So it's been exciting that that's
Speaker 3: shown through as quickly as it has, because sometimes that's
Speaker 3: not always the case, and you know, the player has
Speaker 3: to trust that process for a longer period of time
Speaker 3: and and hopefully we can continue to see great results
Speaker 3: with some of the things behind the results that are
Speaker 3: that are you going to lead to long term.
Speaker 1: Success without getting two technical How significant are those mechanical
Speaker 1: changes and where are those mechanical changes happening for him
Speaker 1: that have seemingly freed him up to go ahead and
Speaker 1: produce some numbers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's not a it's not where of
Speaker 3: the things where it's a complete you know, swing adjustment right,
Speaker 3: And you know, we took a couple of days to
Speaker 3: orient him towards what our best guest was and spent
Speaker 3: some real time working with with Junior Betansis and Mike Mergenthaler,
Speaker 3: our two hitting coaches there, and Grant Finker, our hitting
Speaker 3: coordinator as well. And yeah, so just just some small
Speaker 3: things with his setup in his hands and you know
Speaker 3: how that allows his path to work behind it, and
Speaker 3: not a complete overhaul by any stretch of the imagination,
Speaker 3: but something significant enough where we wanted to put in
Speaker 3: multiple weeks towards it.
Speaker 1: Rob Sir folio joining us. He's the director of player
Speaker 1: development for the Guardians. Chase the latter is at the
Speaker 1: Triple A level. He gets that call what made made
Speaker 1: it the right time for him to get up and
Speaker 1: be challenged at that next higher level for him.
Speaker 3: This is a guy that did some pretty impressive things
Speaker 3: in spring training I think probably is as most fans remember,
Speaker 3: and you know, had had a great stint in the
Speaker 3: Fall League beforehand, so we were really excited about, you know,
Speaker 3: the twenty twenty four season. Unfortunately just ran into some
Speaker 3: some injury bumps along the way, but you know, Chase
Speaker 3: got healthy in Arizona. You know, he busted his tail
Speaker 3: to get back and you know, was starting to do
Speaker 3: a lot of the same things we've seen him do
Speaker 3: previously in Double A, and that's control the strike zone
Speaker 3: and and really put charge into the baseball when he
Speaker 3: was putting the ball in play. And you know, he's
Speaker 3: coming off a couple of really impressive weeks performance wise
Speaker 3: in Double A, and we had an opportunity for him
Speaker 3: to go up to Triple A and and play consistently
Speaker 3: in the outfield, and that's exactly you know what we've
Speaker 3: been able to do so far, and just a couple
Speaker 3: of games under his belt, but you know, we're excited
Speaker 3: for him to continue to get those reps up there
Speaker 3: with with Andy Tracy and crew.
Speaker 1: Kyle Manzarto has had success at Triple A before and
Speaker 1: a spent most of a season now down at Triple
Speaker 1: A Columbus. From a growth standpoint, what have you seen
Speaker 1: from Manzarto as he tries to get back to this level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, in a lot of ways, he's he's
Speaker 3: been the same guy that he was before that call up.
Speaker 3: You know, I think it's you know, think about the
Speaker 3: making that that first transition in the big leagues is hard,
Speaker 3: and then you know, spent a lot of time in
Speaker 3: a dhroll, which was an adjustment for him. And we've
Speaker 3: tried to, you know, get him more of those reps
Speaker 3: in Triple A so that he can be prepared for
Speaker 3: whatever role comes back. And you know, honestly, I think
Speaker 3: it's just one of those things with a young player
Speaker 3: that the first time they go up and face major
Speaker 3: league pitching is I think it gets lost sometimes with
Speaker 3: how difficult that adaptation is. And you know, I think
Speaker 3: he's been continuing to work and the finding skill set
Speaker 3: for that next opportunity.
Speaker 1: And one Brito another name we've heard a lot about.
Speaker 1: We've seen him in spring training, a full season at
Speaker 1: Triple A and and what's some of the progress that
Speaker 1: he's made.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just you know, continuing to get better from both
Speaker 3: sides of the plate. And you know, this is another
Speaker 3: guy similar to Angel Martinez last year, we've challenged with
Speaker 3: some versatility and you never know where that opportunity and
Speaker 3: in the field or in the lineup's going to come from.
Speaker 3: And so we just want to have as many of
Speaker 3: our guys ready to go up there and help our
Speaker 3: major league team win. And I think, you know, really
Speaker 3: worked a lot on his right handed swing in the
Speaker 3: off season. We challenged him with that to try and
Speaker 3: make him a complete hitter from both sides of the plate,
Speaker 3: and he's done just that and just continues to work
Speaker 3: and wait for his opportunity to be called and hopefully,
Speaker 3: you know, hopefully we get to see that at some
Speaker 3: point soon. But you know, Brito's doing everything under his
Speaker 3: lotus of control to be ready for that when it comes.
Speaker 1: Rob Sorfolios joining us. We're talking Triple A Columbus, the
Speaker 1: players and pitchers who are this close to the major
Speaker 1: leagues and hoping to get here. At some point we'll
Speaker 1: transition to the pitching end of things, and in that bullpen,
Speaker 1: Andrew Walters a big spring for him in very limited time,
Speaker 1: but certainly left an impression and has earned that promotion
Speaker 1: from Double A to Triple A. What are you seeing
Speaker 1: from him? And are the steps now just about complete
Speaker 1: where he's just waiting for that opportunity.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think so. And you know, first off,
Speaker 3: for this guy's a first year pro and so for
Speaker 3: him to and I think just use zoom out, and
Speaker 3: you think about how difficult that is coming from college
Speaker 3: baseball or the season so much shorter. You know, all
Speaker 3: your innings in a week come over like a two
Speaker 3: or three day stretch usually for weekend series in college baseball.
Speaker 3: And you know, just talking to Walt about that adjustment,
Speaker 3: both from the mental and the physical side, he deserves
Speaker 3: a lot of credit and so does our pitching group
Speaker 3: with how we've managed his innings and trying to have
Speaker 3: him peek down the stretch here just just in case
Speaker 3: his name is is is called down here in September
Speaker 3: to try and help us in a playoff push. So
Speaker 3: really it's just been trying to be smart about his
Speaker 3: usage and continue to progress his arsenal, especially on the
Speaker 3: secondary side. I mean, we got this guy out of
Speaker 3: Miami and we all knew the strikeout numbers and how
Speaker 3: quality his fastball was, and you know, being able to
Speaker 3: adjust to the Major League baseball and Triple A and
Speaker 3: us challenge him with some of the things that we
Speaker 3: have from a plan of a tap standpoint, while also
Speaker 3: continuing to refine his slider and change up around his fastball,
Speaker 3: which has been really dominant at times. So you know,
Speaker 3: an exciting, uh, you know, another exciting reliever that has
Speaker 3: really been impressive in his first go at pro ball.
Speaker 1: And one final name to talk about, very familiar obviously
Speaker 1: to Cleveland baseball fans. We've seen Logan Allen come up
Speaker 1: make a couple of starts after he had been sent
Speaker 1: to the Triple A level. Tristan McKenzie about the same time,
Speaker 1: was sent down to the minor leagues. And how has
Speaker 1: t max progress been and what are you seeing from him?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean, first off, he's been just a
Speaker 3: tremendous teammate and contributor to that clubhouse. And again, it's
Speaker 3: it's tough when those guys get sent down, especially you know,
Speaker 3: we talked about Arias earlier and TMAC, guys that have
Speaker 3: been up there and spent real time in the big
Speaker 3: leagues and coming back down, reorient reorienting themselves to some
Speaker 3: of the challenges that you know, we task these guys
Speaker 3: with to get back. And with t Mac, it's been
Speaker 3: you know, strikes, it's been slighter consistency, and he's continuing
Speaker 3: to work hard on those things just like he did
Speaker 3: when you know, he was a prospect coming up. And
Speaker 3: so I think, you know, credit goes to his mindset,
Speaker 3: and obviously we brought in some veteran guys around the
Speaker 3: trade deadline. So really it's just again working on all
Speaker 3: those things so that you're ready when when that phone
Speaker 3: call happens to go up there and go up there
Speaker 3: and have success. So we're just trying to use every
Speaker 3: day to our advantage to be specific with the things
Speaker 3: that he's working on, but also like putting in, you know,
Speaker 3: real deliberate effort so that he's ready when you know
Speaker 3: when and if he gets that phone call back up
Speaker 3: the big leagues.
Speaker 1: Well, Rob has always appreciate the insight. We'll catch up
Speaker 1: with you again soon. Thanks, Thanks Rosie. That's Rob Sortfolio,
Speaker 1: the director of player development for the Guardians. A lot
Speaker 1: of good stuff there on some players who might be
Speaker 1: in the picture down the stretch for Cleveland, we'll see
Speaker 1: as they are trying to hang on to their lead
Speaker 1: in the American League's Central Division. That's going to do
Speaker 1: it for our show this week. We will join you
Speaker 1: next week from right here in downtown Cleveland as the
Speaker 1: homestand will continue next weekend with Pittsburgh in town. Until then,
Speaker 1: thanks as always to Brian Motse for all of his
Speaker 1: help and putting together our show. This is Jim rosen
Speaker 1: House reminding you that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly
Speaker 1: on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio netword. Guardians Weekly has
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