May 17, 2025 • 39 mins
A recap of the Guardians back to back shutouts against the Milwaukee Brewers. Plus, we'll hear from General Manager Mike Chernoff who talks about the state of the team at the forty game mark. Also, the weekly Farm Report talking Akron Rubber Ducks with V.P. of Player Development Stephen Osterer. That's all on this edition of Guardians Weekly with Jim Rosenhaus on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians
fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi, everyone, welcome to
(00:58):
Guardians Weekly. Jimrosen House along with you from Great American
Ballpark in Cincinnati. This week, Guardians just getting started on
a long three city road trip that will feature ten games,
and they got it started on Friday, late afternoon here
in Cincinnati. Coming up on our show this week, we'll
hear from general manager Mike Chernoff, pitcher Matt Festa, hitting
(01:21):
coach Grant Fink, and we'll also have a minor league
report featuring double a ackron with the Vice president of
player Development, Stephen Osterer.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But first our.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Week in review, and we begin with the Milwaukee series
back home on Monday, a scoreless game until the fourth inning,
when once again Jose Ramirez jump started the Guardians offense.
Here's the three to two swung on ground ball near
the middle and on through a face head and a
right center. Ramirez makes the big turn as he always does,
(01:51):
but he'll stay at first. With a one out single.
Eleven straight games now on base four, Ramirez away for
Santana infield to pull slightly. There goes Ramirez with the pitch.
It's up high, the throw down is.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Not in time.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Stolen base Jose Ramirez, his tenth ran won the count.
Here's the pitch there knows Ramirez to third. The pitch
is a strike, the throw not in time. Another stolen
base for Ramirez.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And again, yes, there's risk involved, but Ramirez knows right
now the Guardians are facing one of the best pitchers
in the National League, so base hits.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Might be really hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
By the way, that stolen base for Jose Ramirez the
second one career stolen base number two hundred and fifty four,
moving him into a third place tie in franchise history
with Terry Turner again two hundred and fifty four in
his wonderful career. Up next, Homarvis scaled two nine. After that, Well,
(03:04):
Kenny Lofton, He's in the top spot at four hundred
and fifty two stolen bases. And as a Cleveland Indian,
a pair of walks to Carlos Santana and Bo Naylor
loaded up the bases for Gabriel Arius. Here's the pitch
swung on and here's a high fly ball to center.
It's carrying back on the track. I'ntable to make the catch.
(03:26):
Is the centerfielder Churio. That's gonna score three. As the
bases are cleared on a double off the bat of Gabriel, Arius, Ramirez,
Santana and Naylor all came around and it is three
nothing Cleveland. Boy, it looked like Churio did not take
(03:50):
the right route and got burned as that ball was
up there for a while and he cut across before
going back and not get back on a ball that
bounced not even on the warning track. It was still
a three to nothing lead for Cleveland in the sixth inning,
and after a leadoff walk to Ramirez, he continued to
(04:12):
terrorize the Brewers. Now the two ozer delivery runner goes
pitched down and in throw the third Hi throw great
leaping grabbed by Durbin and Ramirez steals third again and again.
Jose Ramirez never tries to steal unless there's a reason
(04:33):
in which.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
It can help the club.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And that's a big steal of third because it came
after the strikeout. Now it forces the infield in with
a runner at third, one out, third time in Jose
Ramirez's future Hall of Fame ending of a career that
he is swiped three in a game. Then Kyle Manzardo
(04:56):
delivered to bring Ramirez home. So the Brewers bring the
in feeling into the cut of the grass. Three nothing Cleveland,
one out, payoff pitch swung on a little bloop job
shallow center base. It Cleveland's up four nothing, Well credit
that to Jose Ramirez went to second on a pitch
in the dirt, stole third, scores on the bloop single
(05:19):
to center. Four nothing Cleveland, and give Kyle Manzardo a
team high twenty three rbies and Pat Murphy. We'll make
that slow walk to the mound out of that first
base dugout. Freddy Peroulta's night will end at ninety five pitches.
A basis loaded walk to Carlos Santana in the seventh
(05:40):
inning made it five to nothing Cleveland, and as usual,
the bullpen was lights out, keeping the Brewers off the scoreboard,
with Hunter Gatison to finish the job.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
In the ninth.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
The kicking delivery swung on Chopper up the middle to
his left. Arius Gloves throws ball game terrific play by
our rre. He is standed and for the second time
in four games, the Guardians pitches shutout, beating Milwaukee five nothing,
So a nice win for the Guardians to start the
(06:12):
series on Monday. Then on Tuesday, the Guardians jumped on
top in the first inning, this time one big swing
from Jose Ramirez. Jose Ramirez now adding two eighty nine
six ommers eighteen rbies the pitch and he sends one
to deep right field. This ball's got a chance and
go Jose Ramirez makes it one nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
They hits number seven.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Six of the seven have come left handed and just
did clear the nine foot wall and Cleveland's gotta one
nothing lead. Man, he is something else and he is
starting to put together another memorable season for the Guardians.
Now on the more great pitching, this time Logan Allen
(07:03):
shut down the Milwaukee offense. Now the payoff pitch Swing
NMS elevated the fastball at ninety miles an hour and
Logan Allen strengths out Christian Yelich.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now the one two.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Swing NMS fastball away got him sixth in the game
for Logan Allen and Cleveland maintains a one nothing lead
here in the sixth still just a one nothing Guardians
lead in the eighth inning. That's when Jose Ramirez singled,
bringing Cole man Zardo to the plate. The right handers
sents a the belt fires and the pits swung online
(07:42):
to center coming hard diving in the ball.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Skips by Cherio. It'll go to the warning track. Ramirez
will score on his.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Way to third, man startle in sliding feet first, two
nothing Cleveland. A sinking liner then is going to be
an RBI triple. We told you how deep Cherio plays everybody.
And on that sinking liner he charged that center dove,
(08:13):
didn't catch it, didn't stop it, ball skip by him
and rolled toward the warning track. And the Guardians now
later two to nothing. And it's been a tough series
defensively for Jurio and Center and time is called, will
get a pinch runner for Kyle Manzardo. He gets his
(08:34):
second triple and his team high twenty fourth RBI. And
then it was a Manuel Class A on in the
ninth and after days off to rest a sore shoulder,
he looked as good as we've seen him this season.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Class as ready the set the pitch swinging in the miss.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Ball game, all three outs coming on the wicket Sliders.
Back to back shutouts for Cleveland, three shutouts in the
last five games, and the Guardians have won the series.
They'll look for the sweep tomorrow. Beating Milwaukee tonight two
(09:16):
and a nothing. Guardians were looking for a sweep on
Wednesday afternoon, but the Brewers won it by a nine
to five final score. Off day Thursday, and then the
opener of the series here in Cincinnati. That was supposed
to be Friday night, but because of pending bad weather,
the Reds, major League Baseball, and the Guardians all agreed
(09:37):
to move the game time up to five ten, so
it was a late afternoon game and Cincinnati raced out
to a five to nothing lead. Guardians closed made it
a one run ball game, but eventually lost the.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Game five to four.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Stay with us when we come back, we'll have more
as general manager Mike Chernoff joins us along with Reeleief
pitcher Manfesta. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
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Speaker 1 (10:42):
Guardians Weekly continuing from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Chim
Rosen House along with you as we bring you our
show from the road. The next two weekends will be
in Detroit next weekend. General manager Mike Churnoff joined us
over the weekend when the team was at home, and
the Guardian general manager talked about the team passing the
(11:03):
forty game mark and how the front office evaluates that
first month and a half or so of the regular season.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, it's still early, but I think we are feeling
like we're sort of getting into the groove of the season.
We've had some moments that have certainly been a grind,
but at least from a win loss perspective, we feel
we have a really competitive team in a really competitive division.
And I think probably as we think about where we
are in the season and where we have to go,
(11:30):
we're really optimistic. We've held our own and done pretty well,
and we feel like we have a lot of reinforcements
that hopefully in the near future, you know, months, a
couple of months, a month, maybe in some cases we
may be getting some guys back from the il that
we feel can really impact the team. So I think
we feel really optimistic about where we are.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
And every year is different, and you're doing a little
bit differently this year, and that at times the bullpen
has relinquished some leads late in the game, more so
than a year ago. We're talking earlier around baseball. It
seems like there's more dramatic endings and lead changes late
than maybe there were last year. And maybe maybe that's
just not true or not, But are you noticing anything
(12:12):
here that that might indicate relievers having a tougher time
shutting it down late in games and being dominant.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
It's a good question. I know what you mean. Anecdotally,
it does feel like every night you see these highlights
of kind of a blown save. I think we might
have just been so spoiled last year. I mean, we
had an historically good bullpen that basically the lead never
changed once we had it in a game, which is
unheard of, and you know, bullpens can be super volatile,
and unfortunately, we've had a few guys that were like
(12:39):
just rock solid last year have a few outings that
didn't go in their favor. At the same time, I
do feel like we've seen Emmanuel Classe after he was
sort of down for a short period of time, his
stuff has been so much better, His confidence looks so
much better. So I think we'll feel better about the
very back end and that we still have the best
closer in baseball, and we feel like there's there are
continued things that we're seeing with some of our other
(13:00):
back end guys where nothing has changed in the stuff
profiles or the way they get guys out. We've just
maybe hit a little bit of bad luck with some
of the outings that they've had recently. General manager Mike
Tchernoff joining us and I like to take a look
at it kind of a deep dive on a player
or two. Daniel Schneman has had a great stretch here
(13:21):
both at the played end defensively as well. A late
round draft choice.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
So what did you identify in him and how unusual
it is? Is it based on his draft status for
him to make the progress that he has.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, it's certainly unusual. I mean, you don't expect that
when you get someone as late as we did with him.
But that's baseball, and that's what I love about baseball,
you know, I try to tell my own kids the
same thing, like you, Talent in baseball emerges at different
periods of time. And so what we saw on him
as an incredibly hard worker who could play up the
middle positions and really had the versatility to play a
lot of different positions, and he grinded it out.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
He was always the guy that managers were fighting to
keep in the organization and that got him to a
place where he stayed in it long enough that he
could make some swing changes that you're seeing what he
can do offensively now, and it's been really impressive. He's
actually been one of the key contributors offensively to our team,
and he's doing it while still moving around at premium
positions you worried at all.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
With less less rounds of the draft and a smaller
inventory of minor league players that kids like him won't
have that chance to develop.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
I do I think you're gonna have fewer of these stories.
I mean, look, I understand the benefits of going to
the shorter draft and sort of consolidation of minor league affiliates.
It allows us to pour more resources into each guy
that we get, But I do think in baseball there's
a lot of unknowns. It can be a long development
curve for some guys, and so it does reduce the
chance of that happening.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
One other guy before we go. Carlos Santana has gotten hot,
as he usually does after the first month of the season.
How different a player and a person is he now
than when he first came over here.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
From the Dodgers and was catching and trying to learn that.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Oh man, it's I love Carlos. He is one of
my favorite people. He has matured a tremendous amount. Obviously,
we got him when he was a kid and he
was he was trying so hard to be a good catcher,
and obviously he's such a he's he's in such a
better spot now playing first base. He's really progressed defensively
at first base from when we saw him there. I
(15:20):
think in a lot of ways, he's a very similar
hitter to what we saw when we first got him.
Just unbelievable play discipline, great pitch selection. This guy always
took his walks and knew the importance of that. And
he can turn around bitches, you know, whenever he needs to.
It's been super impressive to see him do that through
this long of a career and into age whatever he is,
thirty eight, thirty nine years old. Super impressive, Like, thanks
(15:43):
a lot for the visit as always, of course, thanks
for having me Roos.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And his general manager, Mike Chernop. And one of the
acquisitions that the front office has made since the season
began has been the acquisition of Matt Festa, a relief pitcher,
especially helpful since the entry to Paul Seawald has laid
him up for a significant amount of time, and Fest
has been a real nice addition. In fact, he threw
(16:08):
two scoreless innings to keep it close on Friday night,
and when we caught up with him recently, he talked
about how he's been able to get off to a
good start.
Speaker 6 (16:17):
It's just been easy to get comfortable with the scoop
of guys here. They make you feel welcome and just
getting the opportunity to pitch sometimes give some people in
the bullpens some rest, like the four horsemen that you
guys got there. So if I can go in and
take some of the load off those guys, it's good
for the team.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
You can go to spring training with another ball club
and then within a month you're on the move. How
difficult is that and how much of an adjustment is
that for you?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
It's not that hard after last year. Last year is
my first time doing it. Kind of just hitting opt
outs until something sticks. So I'm basically a temp contract worker.
You know, if I do my job, then I'm going
to find a home somewhere.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Knowing the talent and his bullpen fun to kind of
be a part of that and see if that raises
your level of your game in any way.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
Absolutely, being around some dogs like helps you be a dog.
So it's been really fun working around these guys. They
keep it light, but they know how to work hard.
Relationship has always been important in this game. How well
do you know manager Steven Vote.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I know him pretty well.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
He was my bullpen coach in twenty twenty three, So
it's always good to have someone like that with a
little familiarity of who you are and the confidence in
you to you know, kind of just throw you into
the fire. So I enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Did you see this coming for him just based on
that one season that he was coaching there, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
I know he was, you know, trying to learn as
much as he could in Seattle during his time. I
don't think anybody thought it was going to be as quick,
even himself. So it's awesome to see him succeed. Matt,
thanks a lot for a time. Appreciate it. Great, thank
you answer.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Relief picture Matt Festa talking about his early weeks as
a Cleveland Guardian. Stay with us when we come back.
We'll turn to the offense and visit with hitting coach
Grant Fink. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
(18:43):
Here's the one too swung on and here's a high
fly ball deep right center field. This one's way back
there and that ball is gone home run. Bohe Naylor
and the Guardians creep closer on Naylor's sixth home.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Run of the season. Now the one to one pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Swung on hit high, deep to right on its way
to the Ohio River, and it's all one run game.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
How deep into the seats and right.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Jose Ramirez hits his ninth and at Jose Ramirez get
into that one and the Guardians, down at one point
five to nothing, have now climbed back to within a
run on a towering blast halfway up the bleachers and right.
(19:36):
For Jose Ramirez, it gives him a ten game hitting streak.
Jim Rosenhoun's back with you from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati,
where the Guardians are taking on the Reds this weekend,
Saturday night of six forty. First pitch, one forty on
Sunday afternoon. Grant Fink is in his first year as
(19:58):
the Guardian's hitting coach. He's been in the organization for
quite some time, working with the minor league prospects, both
as a full season hitting coach and also as the
coordinator of minor league hitting instruction, and he says after
spring training, in the first forty plus games of the season,
he started to get a pretty good feel now for
what this offense needs to do to be successful.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean we're starting to see trends
at this point. We're starting to see that bat numbers
pick up and some areas that guys are really having
a lot of success on. Some areas that we're having
to push a little bit at for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
So rattling through a bunch of different guys, we'll kind
of rapid fired a little bit. Gabrielarius, you saw him
in the minor leagues and you're seeing him now. How
different a hitter is he at this point where he's
having great success compared to what you saw even when
he was having success in the minor leagues.
Speaker 7 (20:47):
Oh, we we couldn't be happier with where he is.
The confidence he comes to the plate every day, the
confidence he comes into his training, the way he's preparing
and being ready for the game. His preparation is what's
separating him from where he's been in the past. Is
ready to go, and you can see it in the
way he moves, the pitches he's swinging at and just
the confidence in the swings.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
How did that change for him?
Speaker 7 (21:07):
I think he made the decision that he was going
to work his tail off and he told me at
the beginning of the year, this is the hardest I've
ever worked going into a year, and we couldn't be
happier to see that payoff.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
We'll stay on some young guys. Kyle Mansardo hitting for
great power, not quite the average yet, and it seems
like that'll come because it's where it's always been. And
what are you working with on him to maintain the
good power numbers and maybe bring some other things along too.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
So I heard vote he say this last night that
he's a good hitter with power, and we fully believe that,
and his whole career he's shown that he has the
ability to drive the ball to all fields and it's
not just a home run or nothing. So we've been
spending a decent amount of time on you know, staying
in his back hip driving the ball the opposite way,
but also taking his chances on the pitches that you know,
come over the middle of plate that.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
He can drive.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Daniel Schneeman was saying that he's kind of adjusted his
focus to try and hit it where the shortstop is.
If he thinks that way, everything else would all into place.
Why can that be an effective way to do it?
Because it certainly has worked for him.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
I think it's a big difference between a feel versus
what actually happened. So when he thinks that is, his
path gets a little crisper, he gets behind the base
fallow faster. And I think the third day he was
thinking that he hit those two home runs in Toronto
and it was like, Okay, I'm thinking hit to the ball,
the short stuff, but I just hit two pull side homers.
And then the next day he drove some opposite line drives.
So whatever that thought does, it cleans his path up
(22:27):
and gets him behind fastballs really well.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
A couple of guys who are struggling numbers wise, maybe
for different reasons. First, Nolan Jones, is it not fair
to look at certain numbers right now? And what are
you seeing that indicates that he could be just fine
here in a short period of time.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
We're seeing a large discrepancy between what actually happens and
what we would have expected to happen. Like he's been
a little unlucky at the being end of the year,
but we've also pushed him to, you know, be on
at a little more fastballs and be ready to drive
the ball a little bit more. And he's bought into that.
He's been working really hard and we expect to see
him progress here shortly.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And John Kenzi, you know, well trying to make it
happen within frequent at bats. How hard is that? And
is there anything he get new to help him at
least have some sort of success when he's in that spot.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
It's an incredibly hard job.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
Man.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
You know, you have to own that role. And the
guys who get out of that role are the guys
who did really well at it. So we've just been
pushing him to, you know, own the role you're in,
prepare it an incredibly high level, and make the most
out of every day in that bat you get and
that's how you continue to move forward and get different roles.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I had a couple of fun guys. Steven Kwan off
to his usual start. What do you see from him?
And how much maintenance is there from your standpoint and
the other coaches to keep him in a positive direction.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
I mean, Kwan is a true pro. He comes in
every day, he has full details on the pitchure, he
knows how to go about his business. The biggest thing
for us is just making sure that we're giving him
the right scouting reports that we're giving him the information
he needs to go out and do this thing.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And Jose Ramirez, I think I talked to you in
the winter and you kind of said you can stay
out of the way because he knows what he's doing obviously,
But how about him any tweaks there with him or
do you really do stay out of the way with him?
Speaker 7 (24:07):
He's been great. You know, he comes and ask questions
like what do you think about my swing right now?
Like how am I trending? He's been awesome, and you know,
we let him go be hosty because he's one of
the best players in the world, but he wants to
get better to and there's been multiple times this year
where he's come to the coaching staff and we've given
him a tidbit and he's gone out there and tried
to execute. So that just shows how much of a
pro he actually is.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And personally, for you, you've had years where you're responsible
for a whole minor league system and other years where
you're with the club. What has this experience been like
and what are some of the unique challenges to this
job that maybe he didn't have in the past.
Speaker 7 (24:39):
I've been loving every single day you know, getting the
opportunity to just be out here and watch the best
in the world play. It's fun for me personally. But
I think some of the unique challenges would just be
the day to day. You know, I spent three years
as a coordinator of the last three years and just
you watch from a distance and you're looking at more
like projections of players and now being in the moment
with guys again and at bat too. A bad game
(25:00):
to game, it's a different mindset, and you know, it's
a learning lesson for me to continue to get better
at managing that and managing my own emotions within the
day to day in one hundred and sixty two, but
that's been a fun part to learn that.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Grant, thanks for the time, appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (25:14):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
That is new hitting coach Grant Fink, in his first
season on the job, but a longtime member of the organization,
both as a player and a coach in the minor
league system and now overseeing the big clubs hitting program.
Stay with us while we come back. We'll talk minor
league specifically double a Acron with the vice president of
player development for the Guardians, Stephen Ostro. That's next on
(25:38):
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 9 (25:47):
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Speaker 1 (26:54):
Chef Rosenow's back with you from Cincinnati Great American Ball Park,
where we greet you with Guardians Weekly. Man our final segment,
we will take a look at Double A Akron. They
are filled with a ton of intriguing prospects. Stephen Ostro
is the vice president of player Development, and recently he
was focusing on that Double A Acron ball club and
(27:15):
we will start on the position players side with last
year's number one overall pick in the draft, Travis, Bizana
and Ousty talks about what they've seen from him so
far and has the organization excited about his future.
Speaker 8 (27:29):
Yeah, thanks, Rosie.
Speaker 10 (27:31):
Travis has really started to settle in into Akron in
the last couple of weeks. So, I know, we talked
about before how diligent, professional, hardworking he is. So he
had a bit of a slow start at the plate,
and we're not really surprised at all. The teams start
turning a corner here with the bats. So there are
some small movements in the early parts of his load
(27:53):
of his swinging that we're maybe leading into some deeper
contact points to the plate. When he's going really well,
he's catching the ball more out in front and pulling
it hard, pulling it hard in the air, and hitting
some home runs from.
Speaker 8 (28:07):
Time to time, but more more of the line drive gap.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
Type, you know, hits that we've seen over the last
couple of weeks.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
You know, he's got a tremendous high at the plate,
He's drawing a ton of walks.
Speaker 10 (28:18):
He's going to be a very well rounded hitter for us.
So it's been fun to watch him kind of put
the foot on the gas there, and yeah, I think
highlighting to just the defense is continuing to be an
arrow up on the ear. You know, he keeps getting
better at choosing the right arm angles, you know, for efficiency,
and you know, the range continues to grow. So I mean,
(28:39):
Travis is an elead talent and he's got all the
human ingredients to keep getting better. So you know, it's
been fun watching the development thus far, and it will
continue to be fun moving forward seeing how much he progresses.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You mentioned at the slower start, and now coming on
from your perspective, is it okay when when a player struggles,
so you can see how they do making adjustments and
trying to get back to where they want to be
and maybe taking another step forward to yeah.
Speaker 8 (29:07):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 10 (29:08):
And you know, struggles is part of this game, regardless
of how talented and how.
Speaker 8 (29:13):
Good you are.
Speaker 10 (29:14):
And you know, I think sometimes it's you know, pulling
your head back a little bit and you know, assessing
how long has the struggle been going on and realizing
that maybe that's just baseball. But you know, all of
these guys have so many things that they're working on,
you know, in the minor league level, they're you're not
quite major leaguers yet despite them wanting to be.
Speaker 8 (29:34):
And there's lots of things under the hood.
Speaker 10 (29:35):
That they're trying to tackle and not.
Speaker 8 (29:38):
Necessarily just the one thing.
Speaker 10 (29:40):
So you know, sometimes it takes a bit of time
to kind of work through the adjustments that need to
be made that you know may show up in a
different part of the game.
Speaker 8 (29:48):
So you know what you do leading up to.
Speaker 10 (29:50):
The game, and you know, sometimes even travel can affect
how you're performing in a short period of times. So
it gives us insight and the players insight into the
things that they need to continue to work on, not
just at that specific skill, but maybe as a more
well rounded professional baseball player. So struggling is not necessarily
always the bad thing. Sometimes it can be a really
(30:10):
good good thing for them.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
And you have a good catcher at double A acron
as well in Cooper angle and at that level, what
are you looking for in your catchers that allow them
to stand out?
Speaker 10 (30:22):
Yeah, I mean, and we talked about this before with
Cooper too, just he's got a really good bat, and
you know, he did similarly had a bit of a
slow start defensively or sorry, offensively.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
You know, he's really starting to heat up now.
Speaker 10 (30:36):
He's he's crushing right Andrews, you know, showing the plus
discipline and walk rates we saw last year. And you
know he's now collecting the extra base extra base hits
more regularly. So Cooper's really turning on with the bat. Defensively,
our staff and him have done a really nice job
attacking some of the throwing mechanics and you know, adjustments
(30:57):
we were trying to hope make over the over the
course of the years. So we're seeing that show up
in an improved accuracy. You know, his arm strength has
gone up as well, and you know he continues to
dig in on, you know, building his prep and his
plan of attack for his pitchers and game calling.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
So you know a lot of the things.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
We touched upon earlier that that Cooper is setting out
to do. You know, he he's starting he's starting to
show signs of of you know, the back coming back again.
But yeah, the defensive side that you know is an
area of focus for him is starting to really pick
up here for him.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Another young player who we saw a little bit in
Major League camp is Khalil Watson and you'll get his
numbers as Ops stands out for sure. What have you
seen from him that that shows some good development. They're
both offensively and defensively as he tries to settle in
it at different positions.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
Yeah, Khalil, you know, a very very cooled out athlete.
We got the Josh Bade or Josh Beltrade story a
couple of years ago. He was the sixteenth overall pick
at a high school in twenty one. So he's very talented.
I got some time in acron last year. You know,
he came back and serted it out really hot.
Speaker 8 (32:08):
Like you said, he can do a lot of things
of the bat.
Speaker 10 (32:11):
You know, he can hit for power, he takes his
walks very well, he doesn't strike out at all.
Speaker 8 (32:17):
I can steel some.
Speaker 10 (32:18):
Bags and you know he's putting those things kind of
together right now and adjusted a little bit to the
level and how to attack his day to be able
to be more consistent.
Speaker 8 (32:28):
So really excited about that.
Speaker 10 (32:30):
And defensively, he's transitioned mainly to the outfield this year.
You know, I think we think that that he can
develop there and has all the athleticism to hopefully stick.
Speaker 8 (32:39):
In center field long term.
Speaker 10 (32:41):
But again, just a very talented player and he's playing
a well rounded game right now.
Speaker 8 (32:47):
It's it's fun to see him go off at the play.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Steven Oster is joining us. He's the vice president of
player development for the Guardians. We're talking Double A acron
this week and we switched to the mound and let's
start with Austin Peterson who in the past a very
short minor league windows so far, but some good innings
under his belt and now here he is at the
Double A level once again and it looks like he's
(33:09):
taking the ball every fifth day just about and getting
his work in. And what are you seeing as he
does that in terms of development.
Speaker 10 (33:16):
Yeah, Austin is a really big right hander for us
to let our minor leagues last year with one hundred
and sixty innings pitched, which is pretty high for the
minor leagues. You know, he's a plus plus strikethrower and
we drafted him in twenty twenty two at a Yukon and.
Speaker 8 (33:34):
Yah, knowing that that was his carrying trade.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
But we need to spend a lot of time and
he's done a really good job of this, just working
on the physical side to get stronger to get more powerful, yeah,
so that he could hopefully throw a little bit harder.
And you know, we've seen that trend continue from last
year where you know, he gained about a mile and
a half on average to his fastball.
Speaker 8 (33:54):
He continues to add to that, so he's coming to
the gates with just an overall improved arsenal.
Speaker 10 (34:01):
He also added a cutter this offseason and is now
throwing that maybe a bit of a more complete mix
and able to attack hitters with a different look, you know,
across across the whole arsenal form.
Speaker 8 (34:14):
So he's been liked out to start the year. You know,
we're hoping he can continue to move.
Speaker 10 (34:18):
The needle on his quality of the arsenal because the
strikes are you know, quite honestly elite. And you know,
as he continues to do that, he's he's going to
be a really complete pitcher and very interesting for us,
you know, at the upper levels and hopefully at the
major league level.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Another college drafted pitcher is Aaron Davenport who looks to
be off to a really good start once again as well.
And I know he had kind of a breakthrough last
year and has he been able to continue that this season.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
So far.
Speaker 8 (34:46):
Yeah, that's right, Rosie. You know, twenty one draft pick
out of U Hawaii.
Speaker 10 (34:50):
That twenty one draft class is pretty special from a
pitching standpoint. And and he did have a breakout year
last year. You know, he's a he's a very strong worker,
uh you know, and and is committed and willing to
do whatever it takes to be good.
Speaker 8 (35:06):
So he's made you know, huge.
Speaker 10 (35:08):
Strides over the last couple of years actually in controlling
counts and simplifying his plan of attack and preventing runs
and uh, you know, he's got a gift to to
create these different pitch types and different pitch shapes, and
its kind of now figured out, uh you know, what works,
what doesn't work, what he can control and when and
then how to deploy those appropriately in games. So he's
(35:32):
been very impressive the last few weddings. You know, is
continuing to find ways to push his velocity up and
maximize how he prepares and how he leverages his strengthening game.
And Dave's dav has done a really nice job again
coming in ready to go, and you know.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
Leading the staff a little bit.
Speaker 10 (35:49):
Here and and uh, you know, throwing a ton of
innings and and doing very well.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Steven Ostro joining us. He's the vice president of player
development for the Guardians and Austin we catch up with you.
You out in Arizona for a spell and and checking
in on some of the really young players in the
organization there. But you were saying, it's kind of exciting
there's some big leaguers out there making some good progress,
aren't there.
Speaker 8 (36:12):
Yeah, there are.
Speaker 10 (36:12):
There are definitely some big leaguers making great progress out here,
varying stages of their return to play.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
We know some live.
Speaker 10 (36:20):
Vps that we're seeing go off some in game at
bats from others. You know, it's been a lot of
fun seeing them, and the progress has been, uh, you know,
very very positive on that front. And like you said,
we've got a lot of young players, a ton of
energy who've come over from you know, our Dominican academy
to play at our Arizona based academy, and you know,
(36:43):
it's been watching them go out there and mix in
that energy with some of the uh, you know, more
established and service time players.
Speaker 8 (36:51):
So a really good mix of you know, positive.
Speaker 10 (36:55):
Trends from a return to play standpoint, but also really
exciting to see some of the younger players go out
and compete well.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
It is amazing. Goodyear Arizona. A lot of fans know
it as the spring training home of the Guardians, and
it surely is. But that is a year round facility
with great things getting done all the time. AUSSI, thanks
so much for coming bye. We'll catch up with you
again soon.
Speaker 8 (37:15):
All right, thank you, Rosie.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
That is Stephen Osturer, the Guardian's vice president of player Development.
We appreciate his thoughts on some of the progress made
by many down at Double a acron. That's going to
do it for our show this week is always thanks
to Brian Motse for helping to put together the show
each and every week. We will join you next weekend
from Detroit. The big series against the Tigers, four games
(37:39):
will be in full swing when we talk to you next.
Until then, this is Jim Rosenhause reminding you that you've
been listening to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians
Radio Network. This has got a chance to be another
(38:03):
fun summer off the shores of Lake Erie. Guardians Weekly
has been brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans
(38:27):
save hundreds of car insurance
Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians
fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi, everyone, welcome to
(00:58):
Guardians Weekly. Jimrosen House along with you from Great American
Ballpark in Cincinnati. This week, Guardians just getting started on
a long three city road trip that will feature ten games,
and they got it started on Friday, late afternoon here
in Cincinnati. Coming up on our show this week, we'll
hear from general manager Mike Chernoff, pitcher Matt Festa, hitting
(01:21):
coach Grant Fink, and we'll also have a minor league
report featuring double a ackron with the Vice president of
player Development, Stephen Osterer.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But first our.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Week in review, and we begin with the Milwaukee series
back home on Monday, a scoreless game until the fourth inning,
when once again Jose Ramirez jump started the Guardians offense.
Here's the three to two swung on ground ball near
the middle and on through a face head and a
right center. Ramirez makes the big turn as he always does,
(01:51):
but he'll stay at first. With a one out single.
Eleven straight games now on base four, Ramirez away for
Santana infield to pull slightly. There goes Ramirez with the pitch.
It's up high, the throw down is.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Not in time.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Stolen base Jose Ramirez, his tenth ran won the count.
Here's the pitch there knows Ramirez to third. The pitch
is a strike, the throw not in time. Another stolen
base for Ramirez.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And again, yes, there's risk involved, but Ramirez knows right
now the Guardians are facing one of the best pitchers
in the National League, so base hits.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Might be really hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
By the way, that stolen base for Jose Ramirez the
second one career stolen base number two hundred and fifty four,
moving him into a third place tie in franchise history
with Terry Turner again two hundred and fifty four in
his wonderful career. Up next, Homarvis scaled two nine. After that, Well,
(03:04):
Kenny Lofton, He's in the top spot at four hundred
and fifty two stolen bases. And as a Cleveland Indian,
a pair of walks to Carlos Santana and Bo Naylor
loaded up the bases for Gabriel Arius. Here's the pitch
swung on and here's a high fly ball to center.
It's carrying back on the track. I'ntable to make the catch.
(03:26):
Is the centerfielder Churio. That's gonna score three. As the
bases are cleared on a double off the bat of Gabriel, Arius, Ramirez,
Santana and Naylor all came around and it is three
nothing Cleveland. Boy, it looked like Churio did not take
(03:50):
the right route and got burned as that ball was
up there for a while and he cut across before
going back and not get back on a ball that
bounced not even on the warning track. It was still
a three to nothing lead for Cleveland in the sixth inning,
and after a leadoff walk to Ramirez, he continued to
(04:12):
terrorize the Brewers. Now the two ozer delivery runner goes
pitched down and in throw the third Hi throw great
leaping grabbed by Durbin and Ramirez steals third again and again.
Jose Ramirez never tries to steal unless there's a reason
(04:33):
in which.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
It can help the club.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And that's a big steal of third because it came
after the strikeout. Now it forces the infield in with
a runner at third, one out, third time in Jose
Ramirez's future Hall of Fame ending of a career that
he is swiped three in a game. Then Kyle Manzardo
(04:56):
delivered to bring Ramirez home. So the Brewers bring the
in feeling into the cut of the grass. Three nothing Cleveland,
one out, payoff pitch swung on a little bloop job
shallow center base. It Cleveland's up four nothing, Well credit
that to Jose Ramirez went to second on a pitch
in the dirt, stole third, scores on the bloop single
(05:19):
to center. Four nothing Cleveland, and give Kyle Manzardo a
team high twenty three rbies and Pat Murphy. We'll make
that slow walk to the mound out of that first
base dugout. Freddy Peroulta's night will end at ninety five pitches.
A basis loaded walk to Carlos Santana in the seventh
(05:40):
inning made it five to nothing Cleveland, and as usual,
the bullpen was lights out, keeping the Brewers off the scoreboard,
with Hunter Gatison to finish the job.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
In the ninth.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
The kicking delivery swung on Chopper up the middle to
his left. Arius Gloves throws ball game terrific play by
our rre. He is standed and for the second time
in four games, the Guardians pitches shutout, beating Milwaukee five nothing,
So a nice win for the Guardians to start the
(06:12):
series on Monday. Then on Tuesday, the Guardians jumped on
top in the first inning, this time one big swing
from Jose Ramirez. Jose Ramirez now adding two eighty nine
six ommers eighteen rbies the pitch and he sends one
to deep right field. This ball's got a chance and
go Jose Ramirez makes it one nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
They hits number seven.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Six of the seven have come left handed and just
did clear the nine foot wall and Cleveland's gotta one
nothing lead. Man, he is something else and he is
starting to put together another memorable season for the Guardians.
Now on the more great pitching, this time Logan Allen
(07:03):
shut down the Milwaukee offense. Now the payoff pitch Swing
NMS elevated the fastball at ninety miles an hour and
Logan Allen strengths out Christian Yelich.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now the one two.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Swing NMS fastball away got him sixth in the game
for Logan Allen and Cleveland maintains a one nothing lead
here in the sixth still just a one nothing Guardians
lead in the eighth inning. That's when Jose Ramirez singled,
bringing Cole man Zardo to the plate. The right handers
sents a the belt fires and the pits swung online
(07:42):
to center coming hard diving in the ball.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Skips by Cherio. It'll go to the warning track. Ramirez
will score on his.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Way to third, man startle in sliding feet first, two
nothing Cleveland. A sinking liner then is going to be
an RBI triple. We told you how deep Cherio plays everybody.
And on that sinking liner he charged that center dove,
(08:13):
didn't catch it, didn't stop it, ball skip by him
and rolled toward the warning track. And the Guardians now
later two to nothing. And it's been a tough series
defensively for Jurio and Center and time is called, will
get a pinch runner for Kyle Manzardo. He gets his
(08:34):
second triple and his team high twenty fourth RBI. And
then it was a Manuel Class A on in the
ninth and after days off to rest a sore shoulder,
he looked as good as we've seen him this season.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Class as ready the set the pitch swinging in the miss.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Ball game, all three outs coming on the wicket Sliders.
Back to back shutouts for Cleveland, three shutouts in the
last five games, and the Guardians have won the series.
They'll look for the sweep tomorrow. Beating Milwaukee tonight two
(09:16):
and a nothing. Guardians were looking for a sweep on
Wednesday afternoon, but the Brewers won it by a nine
to five final score. Off day Thursday, and then the
opener of the series here in Cincinnati. That was supposed
to be Friday night, but because of pending bad weather,
the Reds, major League Baseball, and the Guardians all agreed
(09:37):
to move the game time up to five ten, so
it was a late afternoon game and Cincinnati raced out
to a five to nothing lead. Guardians closed made it
a one run ball game, but eventually lost the.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Game five to four.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Stay with us when we come back, we'll have more
as general manager Mike Chernoff joins us along with Reeleief
pitcher Manfesta. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
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Speaker 1 (10:42):
Guardians Weekly continuing from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Chim
Rosen House along with you as we bring you our
show from the road. The next two weekends will be
in Detroit next weekend. General manager Mike Churnoff joined us
over the weekend when the team was at home, and
the Guardian general manager talked about the team passing the
(11:03):
forty game mark and how the front office evaluates that
first month and a half or so of the regular season.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, it's still early, but I think we are feeling
like we're sort of getting into the groove of the season.
We've had some moments that have certainly been a grind,
but at least from a win loss perspective, we feel
we have a really competitive team in a really competitive division.
And I think probably as we think about where we
are in the season and where we have to go,
(11:30):
we're really optimistic. We've held our own and done pretty well,
and we feel like we have a lot of reinforcements
that hopefully in the near future, you know, months, a
couple of months, a month, maybe in some cases we
may be getting some guys back from the il that
we feel can really impact the team. So I think
we feel really optimistic about where we are.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
And every year is different, and you're doing a little
bit differently this year, and that at times the bullpen
has relinquished some leads late in the game, more so
than a year ago. We're talking earlier around baseball. It
seems like there's more dramatic endings and lead changes late
than maybe there were last year. And maybe maybe that's
just not true or not, But are you noticing anything
(12:12):
here that that might indicate relievers having a tougher time
shutting it down late in games and being dominant.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
It's a good question. I know what you mean. Anecdotally,
it does feel like every night you see these highlights
of kind of a blown save. I think we might
have just been so spoiled last year. I mean, we
had an historically good bullpen that basically the lead never
changed once we had it in a game, which is
unheard of, and you know, bullpens can be super volatile,
and unfortunately, we've had a few guys that were like
(12:39):
just rock solid last year have a few outings that
didn't go in their favor. At the same time, I
do feel like we've seen Emmanuel Classe after he was
sort of down for a short period of time, his
stuff has been so much better, His confidence looks so
much better. So I think we'll feel better about the
very back end and that we still have the best
closer in baseball, and we feel like there's there are
continued things that we're seeing with some of our other
(13:00):
back end guys where nothing has changed in the stuff
profiles or the way they get guys out. We've just
maybe hit a little bit of bad luck with some
of the outings that they've had recently. General manager Mike
Tchernoff joining us and I like to take a look
at it kind of a deep dive on a player
or two. Daniel Schneman has had a great stretch here
(13:21):
both at the played end defensively as well. A late
round draft choice.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
So what did you identify in him and how unusual
it is? Is it based on his draft status for
him to make the progress that he has.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, it's certainly unusual. I mean, you don't expect that
when you get someone as late as we did with him.
But that's baseball, and that's what I love about baseball,
you know, I try to tell my own kids the
same thing, like you, Talent in baseball emerges at different
periods of time. And so what we saw on him
as an incredibly hard worker who could play up the
middle positions and really had the versatility to play a
lot of different positions, and he grinded it out.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
He was always the guy that managers were fighting to
keep in the organization and that got him to a
place where he stayed in it long enough that he
could make some swing changes that you're seeing what he
can do offensively now, and it's been really impressive. He's
actually been one of the key contributors offensively to our team,
and he's doing it while still moving around at premium
positions you worried at all.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
With less less rounds of the draft and a smaller
inventory of minor league players that kids like him won't
have that chance to develop.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
I do I think you're gonna have fewer of these stories.
I mean, look, I understand the benefits of going to
the shorter draft and sort of consolidation of minor league affiliates.
It allows us to pour more resources into each guy
that we get, But I do think in baseball there's
a lot of unknowns. It can be a long development
curve for some guys, and so it does reduce the
chance of that happening.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
One other guy before we go. Carlos Santana has gotten hot,
as he usually does after the first month of the season.
How different a player and a person is he now
than when he first came over here.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
From the Dodgers and was catching and trying to learn that.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Oh man, it's I love Carlos. He is one of
my favorite people. He has matured a tremendous amount. Obviously,
we got him when he was a kid and he
was he was trying so hard to be a good catcher,
and obviously he's such a he's he's in such a
better spot now playing first base. He's really progressed defensively
at first base from when we saw him there. I
(15:20):
think in a lot of ways, he's a very similar
hitter to what we saw when we first got him.
Just unbelievable play discipline, great pitch selection. This guy always
took his walks and knew the importance of that. And
he can turn around bitches, you know, whenever he needs to.
It's been super impressive to see him do that through
this long of a career and into age whatever he is,
thirty eight, thirty nine years old. Super impressive, Like, thanks
(15:43):
a lot for the visit as always, of course, thanks
for having me Roos.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And his general manager, Mike Chernop. And one of the
acquisitions that the front office has made since the season
began has been the acquisition of Matt Festa, a relief pitcher,
especially helpful since the entry to Paul Seawald has laid
him up for a significant amount of time, and Fest
has been a real nice addition. In fact, he threw
(16:08):
two scoreless innings to keep it close on Friday night,
and when we caught up with him recently, he talked
about how he's been able to get off to a
good start.
Speaker 6 (16:17):
It's just been easy to get comfortable with the scoop
of guys here. They make you feel welcome and just
getting the opportunity to pitch sometimes give some people in
the bullpens some rest, like the four horsemen that you
guys got there. So if I can go in and
take some of the load off those guys, it's good
for the team.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
You can go to spring training with another ball club
and then within a month you're on the move. How
difficult is that and how much of an adjustment is
that for you?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
It's not that hard after last year. Last year is
my first time doing it. Kind of just hitting opt
outs until something sticks. So I'm basically a temp contract worker.
You know, if I do my job, then I'm going
to find a home somewhere.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Knowing the talent and his bullpen fun to kind of
be a part of that and see if that raises
your level of your game in any way.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
Absolutely, being around some dogs like helps you be a dog.
So it's been really fun working around these guys. They
keep it light, but they know how to work hard.
Relationship has always been important in this game. How well
do you know manager Steven Vote.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I know him pretty well.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
He was my bullpen coach in twenty twenty three, So
it's always good to have someone like that with a
little familiarity of who you are and the confidence in
you to you know, kind of just throw you into
the fire. So I enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Did you see this coming for him just based on
that one season that he was coaching there, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
I know he was, you know, trying to learn as
much as he could in Seattle during his time. I
don't think anybody thought it was going to be as quick,
even himself. So it's awesome to see him succeed. Matt,
thanks a lot for a time. Appreciate it. Great, thank
you answer.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Relief picture Matt Festa talking about his early weeks as
a Cleveland Guardian. Stay with us when we come back.
We'll turn to the offense and visit with hitting coach
Grant Fink. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
(18:43):
Here's the one too swung on and here's a high
fly ball deep right center field. This one's way back
there and that ball is gone home run. Bohe Naylor
and the Guardians creep closer on Naylor's sixth home.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Run of the season. Now the one to one pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Swung on hit high, deep to right on its way
to the Ohio River, and it's all one run game.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
How deep into the seats and right.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Jose Ramirez hits his ninth and at Jose Ramirez get
into that one and the Guardians, down at one point
five to nothing, have now climbed back to within a
run on a towering blast halfway up the bleachers and right.
(19:36):
For Jose Ramirez, it gives him a ten game hitting streak.
Jim Rosenhoun's back with you from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati,
where the Guardians are taking on the Reds this weekend,
Saturday night of six forty. First pitch, one forty on
Sunday afternoon. Grant Fink is in his first year as
(19:58):
the Guardian's hitting coach. He's been in the organization for
quite some time, working with the minor league prospects, both
as a full season hitting coach and also as the
coordinator of minor league hitting instruction, and he says after
spring training, in the first forty plus games of the season,
he started to get a pretty good feel now for
what this offense needs to do to be successful.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean we're starting to see trends
at this point. We're starting to see that bat numbers
pick up and some areas that guys are really having
a lot of success on. Some areas that we're having
to push a little bit at for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
So rattling through a bunch of different guys, we'll kind
of rapid fired a little bit. Gabrielarius, you saw him
in the minor leagues and you're seeing him now. How
different a hitter is he at this point where he's
having great success compared to what you saw even when
he was having success in the minor leagues.
Speaker 7 (20:47):
Oh, we we couldn't be happier with where he is.
The confidence he comes to the plate every day, the
confidence he comes into his training, the way he's preparing
and being ready for the game. His preparation is what's
separating him from where he's been in the past. Is
ready to go, and you can see it in the
way he moves, the pitches he's swinging at and just
the confidence in the swings.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
How did that change for him?
Speaker 7 (21:07):
I think he made the decision that he was going
to work his tail off and he told me at
the beginning of the year, this is the hardest I've
ever worked going into a year, and we couldn't be
happier to see that payoff.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
We'll stay on some young guys. Kyle Mansardo hitting for
great power, not quite the average yet, and it seems
like that'll come because it's where it's always been. And
what are you working with on him to maintain the
good power numbers and maybe bring some other things along too.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
So I heard vote he say this last night that
he's a good hitter with power, and we fully believe that,
and his whole career he's shown that he has the
ability to drive the ball to all fields and it's
not just a home run or nothing. So we've been
spending a decent amount of time on you know, staying
in his back hip driving the ball the opposite way,
but also taking his chances on the pitches that you know,
come over the middle of plate that.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
He can drive.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Daniel Schneeman was saying that he's kind of adjusted his
focus to try and hit it where the shortstop is.
If he thinks that way, everything else would all into place.
Why can that be an effective way to do it?
Because it certainly has worked for him.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
I think it's a big difference between a feel versus
what actually happened. So when he thinks that is, his
path gets a little crisper, he gets behind the base
fallow faster. And I think the third day he was
thinking that he hit those two home runs in Toronto
and it was like, Okay, I'm thinking hit to the ball,
the short stuff, but I just hit two pull side homers.
And then the next day he drove some opposite line drives.
So whatever that thought does, it cleans his path up
(22:27):
and gets him behind fastballs really well.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
A couple of guys who are struggling numbers wise, maybe
for different reasons. First, Nolan Jones, is it not fair
to look at certain numbers right now? And what are
you seeing that indicates that he could be just fine
here in a short period of time.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
We're seeing a large discrepancy between what actually happens and
what we would have expected to happen. Like he's been
a little unlucky at the being end of the year,
but we've also pushed him to, you know, be on
at a little more fastballs and be ready to drive
the ball a little bit more. And he's bought into that.
He's been working really hard and we expect to see
him progress here shortly.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And John Kenzi, you know, well trying to make it
happen within frequent at bats. How hard is that? And
is there anything he get new to help him at
least have some sort of success when he's in that spot.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
It's an incredibly hard job.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
Man.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
You know, you have to own that role. And the
guys who get out of that role are the guys
who did really well at it. So we've just been
pushing him to, you know, own the role you're in,
prepare it an incredibly high level, and make the most
out of every day in that bat you get and
that's how you continue to move forward and get different roles.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I had a couple of fun guys. Steven Kwan off
to his usual start. What do you see from him?
And how much maintenance is there from your standpoint and
the other coaches to keep him in a positive direction.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
I mean, Kwan is a true pro. He comes in
every day, he has full details on the pitchure, he
knows how to go about his business. The biggest thing
for us is just making sure that we're giving him
the right scouting reports that we're giving him the information
he needs to go out and do this thing.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And Jose Ramirez, I think I talked to you in
the winter and you kind of said you can stay
out of the way because he knows what he's doing obviously,
But how about him any tweaks there with him or
do you really do stay out of the way with him?
Speaker 7 (24:07):
He's been great. You know, he comes and ask questions
like what do you think about my swing right now?
Like how am I trending? He's been awesome, and you know,
we let him go be hosty because he's one of
the best players in the world, but he wants to
get better to and there's been multiple times this year
where he's come to the coaching staff and we've given
him a tidbit and he's gone out there and tried
to execute. So that just shows how much of a
pro he actually is.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And personally, for you, you've had years where you're responsible
for a whole minor league system and other years where
you're with the club. What has this experience been like
and what are some of the unique challenges to this
job that maybe he didn't have in the past.
Speaker 7 (24:39):
I've been loving every single day you know, getting the
opportunity to just be out here and watch the best
in the world play. It's fun for me personally. But
I think some of the unique challenges would just be
the day to day. You know, I spent three years
as a coordinator of the last three years and just
you watch from a distance and you're looking at more
like projections of players and now being in the moment
with guys again and at bat too. A bad game
(25:00):
to game, it's a different mindset, and you know, it's
a learning lesson for me to continue to get better
at managing that and managing my own emotions within the
day to day in one hundred and sixty two, but
that's been a fun part to learn that.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Grant, thanks for the time, appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (25:14):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
That is new hitting coach Grant Fink, in his first
season on the job, but a longtime member of the organization,
both as a player and a coach in the minor
league system and now overseeing the big clubs hitting program.
Stay with us while we come back. We'll talk minor
league specifically double a Acron with the vice president of
player development for the Guardians, Stephen Ostro. That's next on
(25:38):
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 1 (26:54):
Chef Rosenow's back with you from Cincinnati Great American Ball Park,
where we greet you with Guardians Weekly. Man our final segment,
we will take a look at Double A Akron. They
are filled with a ton of intriguing prospects. Stephen Ostro
is the vice president of player Development, and recently he
was focusing on that Double A Acron ball club and
(27:15):
we will start on the position players side with last
year's number one overall pick in the draft, Travis, Bizana
and Ousty talks about what they've seen from him so
far and has the organization excited about his future.
Speaker 8 (27:29):
Yeah, thanks, Rosie.
Speaker 10 (27:31):
Travis has really started to settle in into Akron in
the last couple of weeks. So, I know, we talked
about before how diligent, professional, hardworking he is. So he
had a bit of a slow start at the plate,
and we're not really surprised at all. The teams start
turning a corner here with the bats. So there are
some small movements in the early parts of his load
(27:53):
of his swinging that we're maybe leading into some deeper
contact points to the plate. When he's going really well,
he's catching the ball more out in front and pulling
it hard, pulling it hard in the air, and hitting
some home runs from.
Speaker 8 (28:07):
Time to time, but more more of the line drive gap.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
Type, you know, hits that we've seen over the last
couple of weeks.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
You know, he's got a tremendous high at the plate,
He's drawing a ton of walks.
Speaker 10 (28:18):
He's going to be a very well rounded hitter for us.
So it's been fun to watch him kind of put
the foot on the gas there, and yeah, I think
highlighting to just the defense is continuing to be an
arrow up on the ear. You know, he keeps getting
better at choosing the right arm angles, you know, for efficiency,
and you know, the range continues to grow. So I mean,
(28:39):
Travis is an elead talent and he's got all the
human ingredients to keep getting better. So you know, it's
been fun watching the development thus far, and it will
continue to be fun moving forward seeing how much he progresses.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You mentioned at the slower start, and now coming on
from your perspective, is it okay when when a player struggles,
so you can see how they do making adjustments and
trying to get back to where they want to be
and maybe taking another step forward to yeah.
Speaker 8 (29:07):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 10 (29:08):
And you know, struggles is part of this game, regardless
of how talented and how.
Speaker 8 (29:13):
Good you are.
Speaker 10 (29:14):
And you know, I think sometimes it's you know, pulling
your head back a little bit and you know, assessing
how long has the struggle been going on and realizing
that maybe that's just baseball. But you know, all of
these guys have so many things that they're working on,
you know, in the minor league level, they're you're not
quite major leaguers yet despite them wanting to be.
Speaker 8 (29:34):
And there's lots of things under the hood.
Speaker 10 (29:35):
That they're trying to tackle and not.
Speaker 8 (29:38):
Necessarily just the one thing.
Speaker 10 (29:40):
So you know, sometimes it takes a bit of time
to kind of work through the adjustments that need to
be made that you know may show up in a
different part of the game.
Speaker 8 (29:48):
So you know what you do leading up to.
Speaker 10 (29:50):
The game, and you know, sometimes even travel can affect
how you're performing in a short period of times. So
it gives us insight and the players insight into the
things that they need to continue to work on, not
just at that specific skill, but maybe as a more
well rounded professional baseball player. So struggling is not necessarily
always the bad thing. Sometimes it can be a really
(30:10):
good good thing for them.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
And you have a good catcher at double A acron
as well in Cooper angle and at that level, what
are you looking for in your catchers that allow them
to stand out?
Speaker 10 (30:22):
Yeah, I mean, and we talked about this before with
Cooper too, just he's got a really good bat, and
you know, he did similarly had a bit of a
slow start defensively or sorry, offensively.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
You know, he's really starting to heat up now.
Speaker 10 (30:36):
He's he's crushing right Andrews, you know, showing the plus
discipline and walk rates we saw last year. And you
know he's now collecting the extra base extra base hits
more regularly. So Cooper's really turning on with the bat. Defensively,
our staff and him have done a really nice job
attacking some of the throwing mechanics and you know, adjustments
(30:57):
we were trying to hope make over the over the
course of the years. So we're seeing that show up
in an improved accuracy. You know, his arm strength has
gone up as well, and you know he continues to
dig in on, you know, building his prep and his
plan of attack for his pitchers and game calling.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
So you know a lot of the things.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
We touched upon earlier that that Cooper is setting out
to do. You know, he he's starting he's starting to
show signs of of you know, the back coming back again.
But yeah, the defensive side that you know is an
area of focus for him is starting to really pick
up here for him.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Another young player who we saw a little bit in
Major League camp is Khalil Watson and you'll get his
numbers as Ops stands out for sure. What have you
seen from him that that shows some good development. They're
both offensively and defensively as he tries to settle in
it at different positions.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
Yeah, Khalil, you know, a very very cooled out athlete.
We got the Josh Bade or Josh Beltrade story a
couple of years ago. He was the sixteenth overall pick
at a high school in twenty one. So he's very talented.
I got some time in acron last year. You know,
he came back and serted it out really hot.
Speaker 8 (32:08):
Like you said, he can do a lot of things
of the bat.
Speaker 10 (32:11):
You know, he can hit for power, he takes his
walks very well, he doesn't strike out at all.
Speaker 8 (32:17):
I can steel some.
Speaker 10 (32:18):
Bags and you know he's putting those things kind of
together right now and adjusted a little bit to the
level and how to attack his day to be able
to be more consistent.
Speaker 8 (32:28):
So really excited about that.
Speaker 10 (32:30):
And defensively, he's transitioned mainly to the outfield this year.
You know, I think we think that that he can
develop there and has all the athleticism to hopefully stick.
Speaker 8 (32:39):
In center field long term.
Speaker 10 (32:41):
But again, just a very talented player and he's playing
a well rounded game right now.
Speaker 8 (32:47):
It's it's fun to see him go off at the play.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Steven Oster is joining us. He's the vice president of
player development for the Guardians. We're talking Double A acron
this week and we switched to the mound and let's
start with Austin Peterson who in the past a very
short minor league windows so far, but some good innings
under his belt and now here he is at the
Double A level once again and it looks like he's
(33:09):
taking the ball every fifth day just about and getting
his work in. And what are you seeing as he
does that in terms of development.
Speaker 10 (33:16):
Yeah, Austin is a really big right hander for us
to let our minor leagues last year with one hundred
and sixty innings pitched, which is pretty high for the
minor leagues. You know, he's a plus plus strikethrower and
we drafted him in twenty twenty two at a Yukon and.
Speaker 8 (33:34):
Yah, knowing that that was his carrying trade.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
But we need to spend a lot of time and
he's done a really good job of this, just working
on the physical side to get stronger to get more powerful, yeah,
so that he could hopefully throw a little bit harder.
And you know, we've seen that trend continue from last
year where you know, he gained about a mile and
a half on average to his fastball.
Speaker 8 (33:54):
He continues to add to that, so he's coming to
the gates with just an overall improved arsenal.
Speaker 10 (34:01):
He also added a cutter this offseason and is now
throwing that maybe a bit of a more complete mix
and able to attack hitters with a different look, you know,
across across the whole arsenal form.
Speaker 8 (34:14):
So he's been liked out to start the year. You know,
we're hoping he can continue to move.
Speaker 10 (34:18):
The needle on his quality of the arsenal because the
strikes are you know, quite honestly elite. And you know,
as he continues to do that, he's he's going to
be a really complete pitcher and very interesting for us,
you know, at the upper levels and hopefully at the
major league level.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Another college drafted pitcher is Aaron Davenport who looks to
be off to a really good start once again as well.
And I know he had kind of a breakthrough last
year and has he been able to continue that this season.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
So far.
Speaker 8 (34:46):
Yeah, that's right, Rosie. You know, twenty one draft pick
out of U Hawaii.
Speaker 10 (34:50):
That twenty one draft class is pretty special from a
pitching standpoint. And and he did have a breakout year
last year. You know, he's a he's a very strong worker,
uh you know, and and is committed and willing to
do whatever it takes to be good.
Speaker 8 (35:06):
So he's made you know, huge.
Speaker 10 (35:08):
Strides over the last couple of years actually in controlling
counts and simplifying his plan of attack and preventing runs
and uh, you know, he's got a gift to to
create these different pitch types and different pitch shapes, and
its kind of now figured out, uh you know, what works,
what doesn't work, what he can control and when and
then how to deploy those appropriately in games. So he's
(35:32):
been very impressive the last few weddings. You know, is
continuing to find ways to push his velocity up and
maximize how he prepares and how he leverages his strengthening game.
And Dave's dav has done a really nice job again
coming in ready to go, and you know.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
Leading the staff a little bit.
Speaker 10 (35:49):
Here and and uh, you know, throwing a ton of
innings and and doing very well.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Steven Ostro joining us. He's the vice president of player
development for the Guardians and Austin we catch up with you.
You out in Arizona for a spell and and checking
in on some of the really young players in the
organization there. But you were saying, it's kind of exciting
there's some big leaguers out there making some good progress,
aren't there.
Speaker 8 (36:12):
Yeah, there are.
Speaker 10 (36:12):
There are definitely some big leaguers making great progress out here,
varying stages of their return to play.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
We know some live.
Speaker 10 (36:20):
Vps that we're seeing go off some in game at
bats from others. You know, it's been a lot of
fun seeing them, and the progress has been, uh, you know,
very very positive on that front. And like you said,
we've got a lot of young players, a ton of
energy who've come over from you know, our Dominican academy
to play at our Arizona based academy, and you know,
(36:43):
it's been watching them go out there and mix in
that energy with some of the uh, you know, more
established and service time players.
Speaker 8 (36:51):
So a really good mix of you know, positive.
Speaker 10 (36:55):
Trends from a return to play standpoint, but also really
exciting to see some of the younger players go out
and compete well.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
It is amazing. Goodyear Arizona. A lot of fans know
it as the spring training home of the Guardians, and
it surely is. But that is a year round facility
with great things getting done all the time. AUSSI, thanks
so much for coming bye. We'll catch up with you
again soon.
Speaker 8 (37:15):
All right, thank you, Rosie.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
That is Stephen Osturer, the Guardian's vice president of player Development.
We appreciate his thoughts on some of the progress made
by many down at Double a acron. That's going to
do it for our show this week is always thanks
to Brian Motse for helping to put together the show
each and every week. We will join you next weekend
from Detroit. The big series against the Tigers, four games
(37:39):
will be in full swing when we talk to you next.
Until then, this is Jim Rosenhause reminding you that you've
been listening to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians
Radio Network. This has got a chance to be another
(38:03):
fun summer off the shores of Lake Erie. Guardians Weekly
has been brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans
(38:27):
save hundreds of car insurance
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