AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS GUARDIANS

October 7, 2024

Stephen Vogt

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. Stephen, what do you feel like Skubal has done to get from where he was maybe prior to this year to where he is now?

STEPHEN VOGT: I haven't seen much of him not being in the central, but what I see is somebody who's got elite stuff that can pitch. It's not just chuck it at the zone. He's pitching. He's got four pitches to get you out with, and he knows where he's putting them, and it's elite stuff. So it's a tough combination to try and create offense against. And so we got our work cut out for us.

Q. How did Freeman hurt his oblique?

STEPHEN VOGT: So he said he felt a little bit of something during the machine batting practice yesterday, and then he took a live at-bat off Ben Lively and on one swing just felt the oblique go.

It happens. We just feel so much for Free. It's been a rough couple weeks for him, and he's been through a lot. He's been a big part of our team's success, been a big part of what we've created all year long. He'll stay with us, but we had to make the roster move. And just really, really feel for Tyler.

Q. Stephen, earlier this season we saw some lineups against lefties where Lane Thomas was batting second and Fry was batting fourth. What's gone into the decision to swap those more recently?

STEPHEN VOGT: Just kind of how the season has progressed. We like the way our lineup has been constructed with David hitting second, Manzo hitting second, that kind of thing, and just trying to create as much offense as we can at the top of the order.

And Lane's been swinging the bat really well. So put him in the four hole behind Josey and Naylor right behind him.

So just continuing to learn about your team. When you get set in your ways of what you think is right, it can go against maybe what's best today, and this is the best way we could line up our team to try and beat Skubal.

Q. Was Angel still here or in Akron or was he still available?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah. Angel has been with us the whole time. So he's been working hard, in every meeting he's prepared, and we've all seen what Angel can bring to our team. So while we feel very, very deeply for free, we're really excited that Angel is going to be active.

Q. Can you tell us who's starting Game 3?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah. Alex Cobb.

Q. What went into that decision?

STEPHEN VOGT: The way Alex has thrown the ball every time he's been healthy, he's been great. He's been feeling good. Just the blister. And he's been able to keep his arm going. He's looked great in the couple of simulated games he's thrown. So we feel good about Alex taking the ball on Wednesday.

Q. Stephen, we just talked with Gavin when he was in here talking about coming out of the bullpen. How do you think he'll handle that? Why do you think he's suited well for it?

STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, Gavin's going to be able to do whatever we ask him to do. That's who he is. He's confident. He believes in himself. He's got elite stuff. So we know he might play up a little bit out of the bullpen. Gives us a length option. Gavin just provides a variety of options for us out of the bullpen.