AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 18, 2024

Stephen Vogt

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Can you talk about what Pedro Avila has meant to you?

STEPHEN VOGT: He's been everything for us this year. We got him from San Diego, and he was our long guy in the pen. He was throwing in down games and giving us bulk when we needed it, and then he turns himself into, hey, he pivoted for us. Got us out of trouble at times. He threw the eighth inning in a leverage situation.

Whatever we ask of Pedro, he's done. Here he was last night in a tie game in the 10th with emotions running high and he throws a clean inning for us and gives us a chance to win it.

Q. Your team does a good job whether it's a tough loss or a huge exciting win like last night of being able to flush it and move on to the next game. Is that something you have to vocalize to them or do they already just know how to do it?

STEPHEN VOGT: It is who they are. We have put such an emphasis and they have put an emphasis with each other. We win today and we worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

And when we show up each day, doesn't matter if we won, lost, doesn't matter. They show up the same every single day. You walk into the clubhouse today, it's just like any other day and that's the beauty of this group of guys.

Q. Obviously it's a big day for Gavin Williams. When you're watching him pitch tonight, what will tell you if he's on his A game?

STEPHEN VOGT: Fastball command. With Gavin, it is always about fastball command, landing the curveball, good movement on the slider, good changeup. But if he's filling up the zone, that's when we're going to know Gavin is at his best.

Q. You've got a game plan for the next day and figure out how the bullpen and all that, but what was the aftermath like last night for you? Do you stay up late or do you go right into next game, how are we going to play it?

STEPHEN VOGT: I didn't even think about today last night. The emotional roller coaster that we all went through those last couple innings, I felt it, as well.

You go all of those places. And you say, oh, man, what's it going to be like being down 3-0, what's it going to be like this, but you still have to stay in the moment and make moves and keep the game where it is.

Fortunately we were able to come out with a win. I enjoyed it. I was with my family. I have a lot of family in town, so a lot of us hung out. It was an exciting game. It was fun. Just feeling those emotions and smiling, laughing, crying, all the above, it all came out.

Q. How can the emotions of a win like last night carry into the rest of the series into a night like tonight?

STEPHEN VOGT: I don't know if it carries. I think what it is is it's just a reminder for our guys that this is who we are. We don't give up. We keep fighting.

Even when we get punched in the teeth, we punch right back. That's who we've been all year. That's how this team has played all year long. It's in our DNA. I think for us, it's just a reminder of we can win that game, we can win any game. For our guys, that's what's going to be helping carry forward.

Q. You said a long night with emotions. Do you recall about when you fell asleep last night or this morning?

STEPHEN VOGT: I don't. It was probably like 2:00, something like that. I got enough sleep.

Q. Being your first year as a manager, just taking this all in, how is that different as a player to now as a manager?

STEPHEN VOGT: I think it's similar. You wear each game the same as I did as a player. It's just there's more stuff to worry about now or more stuff that I have to think through, whereas as a player you think this is what happened in the game, this is what I need to do tomorrow to get myself better so that I can be better for my teammates and then you go to sleep.

For me, it is, we got 26 guys, we've got 19 coaches, we've got -- so you spend more time on more people thinking about through the day, through the game, and you process that and then you go to sleep.

I think it takes a little bit longer, but it's still the same process.

Q. Who will be your Game 5 starting pitcher and what went into that decision?

STEPHEN VOGT: Tanner Bibee is going to start tomorrow. He's been our best pitcher all year. I can't wait to get him back out there. He feels good. He feels ready. He wants to pitch again tomorrow. We're excited to have Tanner back out there.

Q. I know you don't worry about Clase. Why don't you worry about Clase?

STEPHEN VOGT: He's the best closer in the world. He's hung two sliders this postseason. That's what's true. Anything outside of that, you don't worry about it. He's made two bad pitches.

For Emmanuel, the year that he's put together and who he's been his whole career, he's the best closer in the game, and I'm excited to give him the ball with a lead tonight hopefully.

Q. What was your conversation with Bibee after his last start and how did you gauge his demeanor from then to now?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, Tanner was frustrated, obviously. They got to him early. I felt like it was time to move on, and I don't ever expect Tanner to want to come out or be okay with coming out of any game ever.

It took him a day to really get back, but right away when I talked to him about possibly starting Game 5, he wanted it. Tanner is somebody I trust. Tanner is somebody I want with the ball in his hands at all times.

There's times in the postseason where you have to make an unpopular decision as a manager, and I had to make one that night, but that doesn't mean that Tanner is not taking the mound with all of my confidence in him tomorrow, so I can't wait to watch him pitch again.

Q. When was it that you reached that decision that Bibee would be your guy for Game 5?

STEPHEN VOGT: We kind of knew that's where we were headed, but it wasn't until last night after the game that we really made that a solid plan. We try not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it really had to see how Tanner felt getting off the mound yesterday to make sure -- player health to me is number one.

I don't ever want to put any of our guys into a position that's going to jeopardize the rest of their career. I don't care if it's the postseason. I want to make sure that Tanner felt 100 percent comfortable with taking the ball tomorrow.

Q. You're facing Luis Gil tonight. He was one of the Yankees' best pitchers all year, but struggled the last couple starts and hasn't pitched in two weeks. What are you expecting out of him?

STEPHEN VOGT: Really good stuff. I expect him to step up and be really good. We got our work cut out for us. We have to have good at-bats. We have to get him in the zone, and we've got to hit them hard. That's just like anybody else. He's got elite stuff, and he's had a wonderful year. We've got our work cut out for us.

Q. This is pretty granular, but just wondering in the scenarios where you go and take out Naylor for Hedges or vice versa, if you needed an emergency catcher, who would that be for you guys?

STEPHEN VOGT: I'm not sure. I mean, David Fry can catch. We have a number of people -- Schneemann has caught before. We talk about those things, but we don't want to talk about it until we have to (knocking on wood).