AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 12, 2022

Oswaldo Cabrera

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. How would you describe your first playoff experience here at Yankee Stadium last night?

OSWALDO CABRERA: That was awesome. It was awesome. We won. At the same time we compete so much in the game. The vibes that we had in the dugout, during the game, all the players putting up each other, it was awesome, an awesome night for me.

Q. You talk about competing; can you describe the difficulty of that catch you made in the fourth inning?

OSWALDO CABRERA: I just try to help the team in whatever thing that I'm going to do in that night. You know, defensive, offensive, I just try to do the things that I have to do to help the team win, and that happened yesterday, yeah. Feel so good about it.

Q. What happened after that play? How did the fan end up with your hat and you high-fiving him?

OSWALDO CABRERA: The people think that the fans give me other hat, but no, we have something inside the hat. So when I drop the hat to the outside of the field, and when I check the hat, it's not the thing that I have inside of the hat. And I say, like, what is that? You know, but that was my hat.

Q. You came up as an infielder. Why do you think you have adjusted so quickly to playing either one of the corner outfield positions?

OSWALDO CABRERA: I was training so much from the last year in the off-season, and in Orlando with Borman, and I was just talking with him, like I have to be ready for the time that they need me in the outfield, you know.

And during the season, too, talking with the coaches, different coaches, talking with some veteran guys like Ryan LaMarre, talking with my brother all the time, like giving some tips before I play. And when the moment came in AAA and -- I was in low-A my first time playing, I was just like preparing, I think that I know the things that I have to do to play here, and just making the adjustments and those things. Trying, like I say, trying to help the team.

Q. Your brother is on outfielder?

OSWALDO CABRERA: My brother is completely in the outfield all his life. He is so good.

Q. Have you surprised yourself with how smooth that transition to the outfield has been?

OSWALDO CABRERA: Yeah, honestly I'm surprised by that. But at the same time, it's the work that we was putting on it. I never thought that I going to make plays like that, but we was working for it.

Q. What was your reaction when you first got called up and when did you want to accomplish when you got here?

OSWALDO CABRERA: Accomplish? Yeah, so my first reaction when I got that call is just like a kid in the moment. It's like a dream that I had before. And I get the call-up, I was so happy and so surprised at the same time.

But in my mind, it was, play hard, try to do the things that I was doing in AAA, and just to try to help the team do the things that I know. Don't be, like, super startled or think that I can do more things that I can do. Just be me. Be myself.

Q. You only have a few dozen Major League Baseball games but already you're on a postseason stage and you're contributing. How do you handle the nerves in that situation or do you even feel any?

OSWALDO CABRERA: Yeah, everybody -- I think everybody feels nerves or he's not human.

But too many veteran guys and too many people who play postseason before talk to me all the time. Adam Hicks talk to me so much, and they just give me like a couple advice to control the nerves and those things. I just try to be there, just breathe, breathe. That's all that's in my mind all the time, breathe, that's it. It's the same game. Nothing's changed. Just more people in the stands but it the same game. Nothing changed.

Q. Last night wasn't the first time that you've sort of run into fans while trying to make a play. Where does that, like, sense of fearlessness come for you?

OSWALDO CABRERA: I don't know. I think I was just excited for the game and excited for the postseason. That just happened in that moment. I was not thinking, not thinking in that moment. It just happened in the game.

Q. Gerrit Cole spoke yesterday about how impressed he continues to be by you as you have such, you know, great defensive skills. What does it mean to be so impressed by veterans in this league, and just continuing to be shocked, what does that mean to you?

OSWALDO CABRERA: That means a lot, and from the first time that I've been here, I told this before. All the veteran guys, all the people inside of the clubhouse, they give me, like, confidence, and from the first day that I'm here, they gave me that thing that I am a part of the team. You know, so that made me feel so happy and that made me feel I could play with so much confidence on the field.

Yeah, I feel so happy hearing those things about me. I feel so proud about myself.

Q. So did you get the card back from inside your hat?

OSWALDO CABRERA: No.

Q. You never found it?

OSWALDO CABRERA: No.

Q. Some fan probably took it home?

OSWALDO CABRERA: Yeah, I don't know. Probably. I don't know if that was in the field, too. Probably it was in the corner. I was looking around but I don't know where was it.

Q. What did you do when you got back to the dugout?

OSWALDO CABRERA: I just got a new one.

Q. What do you look forward to about tomorrow playing behind Nestor?

OSWALDO CABRERA: The same. The same. The plans never change. It's just be focused on the game, pitch-by-pitch. Try to help the team with the things that is in my hands, do the things that I have to do that I know to do, and that's it. That's my mindset all the time.

Q. It's the best of a five-game series, so how important is it for the Yankees to keep it going in Game 2?

OSWALDO CABRERA: That's a good question. We as a team, we always think win. We have to compete all the time. We want to go inside of the field and win.

Yeah, it's so much important but at the same time it's like the thing that we've got in the mind always. Like we have to go inside, do the thing that we have to do, and it's win.