AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 16, 2024

Stephen Vogt

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Talk about your team's confidence.

STEPHEN VOGT: We're always confident going into every game. We love playing at home. We love playing in front of our fans. I think for us, knowing we have three games here, we feel really good about it.

Obviously we would have loved to have taken one in New York, but we still feel really good about our chances.

Q. Are you guys ready to name a starting --

STEPHEN VOGT: Matt Boyd is going to start tomorrow.

Q. Obviously strategy aside, after losing two games, do you like having a day to clear your mind, or do you want to just get right back at it?

STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, I think in a perfect world, you want to keep playing. You want to go. But with the schedule, use the off-day, get the guys the day off, some rest, reset, and come in ready to go tomorrow, it's a good thing.

We love playing. We love being out there. The schedule is what it is, and the first round being eight days, five games in eight days is a little different. But for us right now, we just want to get back out there and play.

Q. With Hosey seeing the ball go over the wall last night, probably a good sign, but what has to change to see him come through in situations where in scoring position earlier in the game, in those moments where you need that big hit and he's the guy you've turned to all season?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, I think Hosey just needs to be him. He just needs to be himself. He has been. He had really good at-bats last night. He had an opportunity. We all expect him to get the big hit every single time he gets up there, but he's done that to himself.

We've talked about it all year. He's one of the best players in the league. If there's anybody I'm confident in coming out tomorrow ready to go, it's going to be Hosey, and he's been our best player all year, and he continues to be.

Q. You know him better than we do; does he embrace, not the pressure, but that responsibility of being the guy?

STEPHEN VOGT: Probably too much. I think anytime you're around an elite player like that, they want the moment. They want to be the guy, and they thrive on that. We saw it all year, Hosey has done that. He's stepped up huge for us in big situations, and I expect nothing less.

Q. I'm sure we've asked you this at some point during the year, but what makes Cade's fastball so unhittable?

STEPHEN VOGT: It's the extension. It's the spin. It's the metrics. He gets elite ride and elite extension. It's just coming at you. It's fast. I had a teammate who said he throws hard and fast.

That's what Cade does. The ball just gets on you. It's from a steep angle, and he locates. I think that's really what it is.

Q. (Indiscernible) to be at this point in the season? We were talking to Hedges before the postseason started and he was just saying, yeah, his other stuff is just as incredible and I wish we could show you that, but we need people to prove they can hit the fastball first. Is it impressive to be at this point in the season that it's still this good?

STEPHEN VOGT: It is. It is super impressive, but it's not by accident. We talked all year. Cade is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen. He is detailed, routines. He doesn't take a day off. He's always working.

You look at Cade, his first outing of the year in Oakland really had a fast ball. Every now and then he could land a split and the sweeper was okay.

And now he's got three very, very good pitches. He's developed himself. And BG and Carl and Joe have really helped him just continue to develop his secondary pitches, but the fastball has just continued to be great.

Q. What are the challenges of playing when it's cold out? I don't know if it will be colder in the next couple days versus in New York, but is it harder for a hitter versus a pitcher? What are the challenges?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think the challenge can be just staying loose, staying warm. I think there's feel with the baseball. If your fingers get cold, it's tough to grip.

It does, it presents challenges, but both teams have it, and we have lots of good aids and tools to stay warm, and you just do it. There's no trick to it. You just post and go.

Q. Does your heart rate go up when No. 99 steps in the box for them?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, I like watching him hit. I'm a baseball fan, too. Anytime you're facing this lineup, and especially Soto and Judge come up there, you know you have to make pitches.

Q. You've got to be careful with him, obviously. Hunter makes a pretty good pitch there. How many guys are going to hit that thing 414 feet?

STEPHEN VOGT: Probably one. That was a great swing on a very good pitch. It is good baseball, and unfortunately it went against us.

But I'll take Hunter's fastball against any hitter in the league, and Judge put a good swing on one last night.

Q. You had mentioned before yesterday's game that you really hadn't thought much ahead into 3, 4, 5. Obviously just named a Game 3 starter. Do you have any clarity on how you want to attack Game 4 and maybe 5?

STEPHEN VOGT: We have some ideas, but we still need to see how the games go. I think we have a number of options that we can use, and we're excited about all of them.

But just the cadence of our whole year has been let's worry about today -- let's win today and let's worry about tomorrow tomorrow, and we're going to stick with that.

Q. You get Boyd to start Game 5. What gives you confidence in him? This is a similar sort of pressure, similar sort of situation?

STEPHEN VOGT: Matt has thrown the ball well every time we have given it to him this year. He has worked tremendously hard to get himself back healthy. We've talked about it. And Matt has been great for us. I'm excited to give him the ball and see what he can do.

Q. What kind of a factor is it as you get deeper into a series, how many times the opposing lineup sees a certain reliever?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think there's a factor to it. We keep track of all that. We try to best avoid that, but at the end of the day, our best pitchers are going to face their best hitters.

We just played Detroit five games, and Cade and Gaddy saw the top of the lineup three, four times apiece. It's the way it's going to be. We're going to get creative and do those things. The odds do start to tend towards the hitter, but hitting is hard.

Q. Does Guards' ball work better at home or on the road? Is there something about being here that makes it work better?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think it could be the crowd gets into it. I don't know. I just think that when we get stuff going and we make things happen, that's when we click. We did that last night.

We just weren't able to get that big hit. We had pressure on them all night. Seemed like every inning we had one, two guys on, not three, and just weren't able to get that big base hit double with runners in scoring position.

Our guys have been great in those situations for the majority of the year, and when you have one game where it stands out, it's not going to get us down.

Q. What makes Steven Kwan a unique hitter?

STEPHEN VOGT: His ability to take what the pitcher gives him, and if you make a mistake, he's got the power to hit the ball out of the yard. Kwani doesn't chase much. He makes elite contact, and he's just a complete hitter.

Q. Can you think of other guys that are anything like him?

STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, not style-wise with the big leg kick. It's a very unique swing that works for him. It's definitely not how you would teach somebody how to hit, but it's really impressive to see how he can do it. He's incredibly talented in his ability to do it.

Q. Dole and Austin obviously don't have a hit in the series and I know a lot people are talking about that. Can you speak to the quality of at-bats? Are you happy with the way they're working counts, seeing pitches, what their approach might look like even if the results aren't there?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, I think both of them work the count. Both of them are ready -- they're prepared and ready to go. They just haven't had any success or results yet.

I love the word "yet," because at any moment, I think either one of them could break out and have a big game for us because they're prepared and they're ready to go.

Q. To follow up on that, how much is Dave Fry's not being able to go into the field and getting a catch really since the second half of the season impacted your ability to move things around and get matchups that you like?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, I think the inability for David to play in the field every day has definitely had an impact on us. Whether that be catching, first base, third base, outfield, he's an incredible utility player. It has, it's hindered us to be able to get his bat in the lineup a little bit more often than we'd like to.

But to David's credit, he's doing everything he can to impact us, and we find ways to get him in there, and we get creative. But it definitely has been a little bit of a hindrance for our versatility that we have the first half of the year.