AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS GUARDIANS

October 10, 2024

Brayan Rocchio

Comerica Park

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. How do you handle the pressure of the postseason? Is it kind of what you had anticipated?

BRAYAN ROCCHIO: Yeah. It's all I expected. I feel it helped me a lot the fact that I was able to play winter ball in Venezuela and being there I felt the pressure was real. I felt playing there allowed me to know what it was like and what to expect in games like this.

Q. Austin had just kind of made it clear to us that he was trying to institute a culture where you guys were treating regular season series like the playoffs. Do you feel like now that you're in the playoffs, that that preparation has led you to feel about this series the way you hoped it would?

BRAYAN ROCCHIO: Definitely. I feel that has been the approach throughout the year, and it's nothing new for us this time. Obviously come our way, and we haven't been getting the results we expect, but this is the same thing we've been doing all season, which is fighting, trying to win series.

Q. What's the experience been like to be in a series like this where the Tigers may throw half a dozen pitchers, you guys are pinch-hitting so aggressively and there are so many moving parts back and forth?

BRAYAN ROCCHIO: I think I've never been in a playoff scenario like in the U.S., like the way that we have this year. But I feel the confidence comes from the manager. Obviously what he's done throughout the whole season has led us to where we are right now, and for me it's as a manager something different, something new, but we rely on him that we're always going to have a chance to win.

Q. You mentioned your experience in winter ball and going as deep and winning a championship on your Venezuelan team. Is there anything you're drawing upon from your experience in your at-bats here that have caused you to have success, and is there anybody from that team that's reached out to you during this run and, if anything, have they said anything to you to offer encouragement or anything like that?

BRAYAN ROCCHIO: Yeah, a couple players have reached out, and they always kind of like share the same message, try to like keep the nerves down and that way just kind of like breathing, being present in the moment and most importantly enjoy the game. That's what they told me, go have fun, enjoy the game and enjoy this experience because it doesn't happen very often.