AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 12, 2022

Jonathan Loaisiga

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Jonathan, you've had a great second half. What turned it around for you compared to the first half?

JONATHAN LOAISIGA: Yeah, to be honest with you, I didn't really change much or anything big other than adjusting a little bit of my mechanics. The idea was to keep executing, throwing the ball the same way, the same way I was doing it when I started the season. But yeah, just minor tweaking in the mechanics, and have the same conviction executing pitches.

I felt like if I did that, eventually I would start getting the results I wanted.

Q. Were there any specific mechanical changes you made to that sinker since it's been so effective this year, and how much of that is the result of your shoulder just being healthy?

JONATHAN LOAISIGA: Yeah, definitely. The adjustment we've made in my mechanics, it had to do with my shoulder, actually. We felt that it was lagging behind a little bit, and I was putting a little too much stress on the shoulder. So together with Harkey and our pitching coach, Blake, we worked on that just to get in a better position that would allow me to be more fluid executing pitches.

Q. How important have the catchers been to you and to your success?

JONATHAN LOAISIGA: It's fundamental, you know, to work together with them, and they have a pretty good idea on how they want to attack hitters. We have our own plan. So when you merge together the information, it's key.

So having those guys back there, very important for us as pitchers, especially when you are trying to execute pitches. And they are calling the game, they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do throughout the game. You use their knowledge, your own knowledge, and you merge that together and usually you get good results.

Q. As one of only two active big leaguers from Nicaragua, curious how your success here in the big leagues has been received back home and if you've seen baseball kind of grow and flourish over the last couple years because of your success and Erasmo Ramirez's success?

JONATHAN LOAISIGA: It's so important to me, and I feel so proud of being here at this level. You know, like you mentioned, not too many players from my country are here playing in the big leagues.

So to have that opportunity, it's great. And at the same time, it feels like a responsibility that I carry because the entire country is watching. You know, some of those that are watching are kids. Very excited that things are working out well, and they can see a fellow countryman perform at this stage.

Q. Just throughout these playoffs, we've seen a few pitchers have issues with pitch count just because of how loud it gets. I wonder what your experiences were like yesterday and if you noticed any issue?

JONATHAN LOAISIGA: I haven't had any issues with pitch count, and at the same time I think it's really important for us. For me specifically, it's kind of one of those things that help you to concentrate on what you're doing, especially if you have runners on second base. You don't want guys looking at our signs or passing our sign.

So in that regard, it helps. And like I said, no issues with it.