AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 12, 2022

Shane Bieber

Yankee Stadium

Cleveland Guardians

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Coming off 2021, and going into this season into the regular season, how long did it take you to get kind of comfortable and know you were at 100 percent following the injury from the past season?

SHANE BIEBER: Yeah, took awhile. Can't say if or when I was able to kind of turn that corner. Mentally, I feel like I entered the season feeling good, feeling healthy. But after taking a little bit of time off, making some mechanical adjustments, it takes awhile to find the right sequencing and arm stroke.

Somewhere between June and July, July and August, started to feel a little bit better. Started to see some stuff tick up. But always trying to work to continue to get better and improve. So we'll continue to do that.

Q. I know you guys have dealt with this all year long with the weather, but is there anything different in preparation, whether it be physical or mental, where you're not sure if tomorrow is going to be the day or the next day or if you're going to be pitching in the rain? Is there anything different for you preparation-wise?

SHANE BIEBER: Potentially but I think that you have to attack it like there's not anything different. I'll go about my day today in preparation for my start tomorrow and I'll prepare tomorrow like I'm starting a 7:37 game and we'll go from there.

Yeah, it's happened quite a bit this year. I wouldn't say I've gotten used to it, but I definitely have a little bit of experience with it.

Q. How much did you soak in the atmosphere last night, and how much does that help you, a big crowd, a raucous crowd? Is that something that you kind of welcome?

SHANE BIEBER: Yeah, definitely. I think that's the only way to do it. I think we do that well as a clubhouse and the end result last night wasn't what we wanted or expected. But in terms of an atmosphere, it's always fun to play in front of a lively won.

Definitely took it in, enjoyed it last night for what it was; albeit like I said, the result wasn't what we wanted. But looking forward to another atmosphere like that tomorrow.

Q. What kind of challenges does the Yankee lineup present to you?

SHANE BIEBER: Damage. I think especially in this ballpark, they are able to hit for a slug and do it with guys on base.

I think as long as you don't change your game plan, your aggressiveness and stick to your strengths, put yourself in a good position to at the end of the day just compete, put the team in a good position to win and hand the ball off to the bullpen, like we've tried to do all year. And like I've said, going into the postseason, I think that's ultimately the goal.

So stay aggressive. Keep guys off base. No free bases. That will be the goal tomorrow.

Q. How have you seen this bullpen grow as a group, guys coming in and guys blooming from maybe where they were not necessarily big contributors before? And how much as a staff do you guys kind of thrive on that?

SHANE BIEBER: Yeah, I can't say enough about the job that they have done all year. It's been special, spectacular to watch.

And like I said, it's real easy to hand the ball off to any single one of those guys down there. As a starter, you try to prolong your start as long as possible, and if you happen to get in trouble going in the seventh or eighth, it's not the hardest thing to give the ball up to Emmanuel Clase or Trevor Stephan. And there's a lot more names that I won't waste time mentioning.

But I think they have grown a lot throughout the year. But that's all relative. I think they were in a great spot to begin the year. They have only continued to get better. So I think just watching them get the ball and throw with confidence has been a treat to watch.

Q. You mentioned Stephan. How have you seen him in particular grow from Rule 5 pick last year to a guy who pitched in some pretty big situations this season?

SHANE BIEBER: I think he's confident in himself, throwing three pitches for strikes -- three-plus pitches for strikes. So whether it's in the zone and a called trying or below the zone with a split finger or a slider or a fastball at the top of the zone, he's getting swings and misses. Just getting ahead of guys, trusting his stuff. Seems like he's continued to be aggressive and continued to trust himself throughout big situations this entire year.

So he's come a long way in a year, and I think he's going to continue to grow.

Q. Did you see him gain confidence in that split by himself or was that something that you guys kind of encouraged him, hey, this is a pretty good pitch, might be worth throwing it more?

SHANE BIEBER: Yeah, I think that might be a better question for the bullpen coach, Brian Sweeney, or somebody else down in the pen.

I know I saw it when we first got him two spring trainings ago in his first live BP and he was throwing a splitter. I was like, oh, that's real. I think he maybe leaned on his slider a little bit more in times last year and really worked on developing it. You can tell that it was kind of at the forefront of his, you know, to-do list over the last off-season.

It's really developed, and I think with a pitch like that, just gaining confidence in it and just process of repetition and getting better at throwing it, and throwing it where you want, is huge, and he's done that.