AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS GUARDIANS

October 12, 2024

Steven Kwan

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Cleveland - 7, Detroit - 3

Q. What are you thinking when you see Lane get ahold of that one, and obviously a huge at-bat, but that whole inning, able to put it against Skubal like that?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, kind of that same energy when I saw David's hit in Detroit. Hit it good, had a good angle. That left field wall is always kind of scary because it's taller than all the other ones. So just wanted to get back for a tag-up. But seeing that ball fly over the wall was awesome, pure ecstasy.

Q. You've dealt with injuries this year, persevered, come back. 11 hits in the series. How would you describe how you've been able to accomplish that? And today three hits off Skubal. How were you able to do that?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, kind of hard to say. Like obviously going with the plan, trying to execute the plan. Once you hit the ball you can't really control where it goes. So put some good swings on it. Saw him obviously earlier, so that really helped. But, I mean, it's baseball. It's hard sometimes, and when it's good, it's good.

Q. So Steven, looking ahead to the Yankees, what do you remember about facing them in the regular season and how do you guys -- no challenge is going to shut you guys down, so how do you persevere the way you guys are going right now?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah. I mean, haven't really thought that far. Obviously just trying to celebrate with the guys. I remember they beat us, so that kind of gives us motivation to try and beat them. Past that, not much else.

Q. What is it about the postseason, 10-game inning streak in the postseason. What is it that kind of brings out the best in you?

STEVEN KWAN: I mean, hard to say. I mean, at least for this one, I had kind of, what was it, 10, 12 days off, so body was a little fresher than I think other people's were. Hard to say. Just variance, I guess, putting some good swings on it. Hard to say.

Q. Even given Skubal's quality, seeing him a second time in a pretty short period, what benefits are there, picking up pitch shapes, release points, that sort of thing?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, exactly that. Being able to see those shapes, seeing what their plan is really. He's got really good stuff. He's able to locate. So when he hits the spot, you can't really do anything about it, but just being able to see that over and over is super helpful. Being able to have that dialogue with other guys, too, and kind of formulate a team plan, I think all of those go into it.

Q. Steven, congratulations. Walk me through how are you guys going to be able to process this, enjoy it, celebrate and the quick turnaround? You guys have already had a long stretch of days here, and looking ahead now.

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah. I think just enjoy the day. Some of the guys are still enjoying it right now. So just enjoying that fully.

Just enjoying the day is really what it is. Tomorrow will come. We're going to get on that flight, have a good time. We're going to get to New York, enjoy that, and when tomorrow comes and we get to the field, we'll formulate our game plan from there, but I think today what we're supposed to do is just enjoy it.

Q. Steven, Lane Thomas just talked about after he got traded here he struggled for about a month. Obviously he's really turned it around. How valuable has he been for you guys and what has he shown you working through that and coming out the other end like this?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, I mean, the guy's a pro in and out. I just have to imagine it's so hard when you have your routines and you have an area that you know and people that you know and then just getting plunged into our world.

He's been awesome, and especially with kind of our team being so young, he's really the veteran presence in our locker room that we really need. He's kind of got a calm heartbeat through all of it. It doesn't look like this is his first playoffs. He's been huge for us. Yeah, we've been really leaning on him so far.

Q. And when you say plunged into your world, is it teammates' responsibility to kind of try and help him, just get him comfortable, even though he is a veteran just because everything is new?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, I think we try to do as much as we can. You don't want to be that annoying young guy, just being like, hey, this, this and that. He's been around; he's been traded before. He's had success pretty much everywhere he goes. So just trying to give him the space for that.

But he adapts so quickly, I think that's just like a baseball player thing. You come into a new area and you adapt and you learn so quickly, and I'm sure he would have said he didn't adapt as quickly as he would have liked, but again, he's been huge for us so far.

Q. The relievers, eight guys through today. What did you see out of all those guys coming in? Everybody seemed to deliver for the most part.

STEVEN KWAN: Again, we just gotta rely on them. We rely on them every time. Different shapes, different angles, velo, spot up. I mean, I feel like it's such a weapon to be able to lean on them.

Super grateful to have them go through. I just imagine that we're going to keep going.

Q. Steven, when Clase comes out for the eighth inning, two-inning save, how comforting is that?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, it's always comforting. You just can't help but feel like it's going to be shut down when he comes in.

Q. You mentioned having that time off. How important was that for you to just reset your mind on top of your body, just to help you now where you're at?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah. Definitely helpful. I think I want to say it was more helpful for the other guys, like José, Gimenez, Josh. Those are guys who really played nearly 162. I was kind of on the IL stint, so my body healed up during that time. I got the time to catch up.

I think it was a collective. You can kind of feel everybody take that deep breath. Just enjoy coming to the field, hanging out with everybody. Didn't feel like a job at that point. Just felt like we were all kind of hanging out, watching some baseball on TV. I think that was huge for everybody.