0:00

Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly is brought

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to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi,

0:53

everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Gimros in house along with you from Goodyear

0:59

Ball Dark and Goodyear Arizona. Our final show from spring training. Our next

1:03

show comes to you from the Open Coliseum, and the regular season will have

1:07

begun. So things flying along here in spring training and a lot of news

1:12

made on Friday in terms of players who had been notified that they had made

1:18

the ball club, and also some who have been reassigned to minor league camp

1:23

and others whose future is up in the air at this point. We'll get

1:26

to some of that shortly with President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and Steven Vote,

1:32

who met with the media yesterday to talk about those player moves. Coming

1:37

up a little bit later on in the show, we will visit with relief

1:40

pitchers Hunter Gaddis and Eli Morgan. We'll also check in with outfielder Ramon Lareano

1:46

and utility man Tyler Freeman, who got the good news on Friday that he

1:49

had made the ball club and will see significant playing time in center field.

1:55

We'll also hear from Josh Naylor, the potential All Star first basement for the

2:00

Guardians. But first, the big news out of camp on Friday were several

2:06

decisions for players. Not not anything official yet because they don't have to,

2:12

but these players were informed that they were making the opening day roster non roster

2:16

invites to spring training on the pitching staff and really a popular decision for sure,

2:23

and certainly well earned based on his spring But Carlos Carrasco, who signed

2:28

that minor league deal with the Guardians to return to the team, now late

2:32

in his career and he pitched very well in spring training and he could be

2:37

in the starting rotation when it's all said and done, But he definitely will

2:39

be on the ball club as part of the pitching staff, as will be

2:44

Tyler Beattie, the veteran right hander who's had some good seasons in his career

2:51

with the San Francisco Giants and now returns from a stint in Japan. And

2:55

again he's another arm who could be an option to start early in the season

3:00

as well as help in the bullpen. Also being notified they'd made the ball

3:04

club, both contenders for the starting shortstop job. Brian Rochio will be the

3:10

primary shortstop. Gabriel Arius will be on the club more in a utility role,

3:15

but will also see some time at short and also being informed that he

3:20

had made the club. Tyler Freeman in a utility role, but he'll see

3:23

a lot of playing time in center field, it looks like, and David

3:25

Frye also filling that utility role as well and reassigned a minor league camp.

3:31

Left Hander Anthony Goes, despite a good spring man, we'll probably see him

3:36

at some point during the season, and infielder Daniel Schneman, who had a

3:40

tremendous spring and is also on that radar certainly as the season progresses. And

3:46

to talk about those moves and more, President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and

3:52

manager Steven Vote, So we'll start maybe with the reassignments Anthony Goes. It's

4:00

been awesome to see the progress that he's made and the way he's attacked his

4:02

rehab and he's positioned himself to help us this year, and we just made

4:06

the determination that it won't be for the opening day roster. But Anthony deserves

4:11

a ton of credit for all of the work he's put in to get himself

4:14

to this point, and as I said, we continue to believe he's going to impact our team. And Daniel Sneman was also one of the highlights of

4:20

camp. No, Okay, not only did he have a great spring training,

4:26

but this is a guy that's attacked every day and every day he's been

4:30

in the organization, he's tried to help make himself a better player and be

4:33

the best teammate he possibly can be, and that's what earned him an invite

4:36

to Major league spring training. And he continued to bolster that reputation in his

4:41

time in camp, and not only did he do all of those things,

4:44

but he impacted a lot of games. And it's another guy we think will help us at some point this year, just not Opening Day, I think

4:50

on those dudes, I mean, just to echo Chris said, I can't

4:54

say enough about Anthony and Daniel and the impact that they made on our camp.

4:59

Anthony's obviously somebody I've been familiar with for a number of years, and

5:02

just the work ethic, the teammate that he is. I'm really excited for

5:06

the future for Anthony and Daniel made a huge, huge impression on this camp

5:11

as well, and really excited about the opportunity of those two could have this

5:14

year to impact the roster. Are you closer to making a decision I'm the

5:18

fifth starter now, Well, we are, but we've informed both Carlos Carrasco

5:25

and Tyler Beattie that they will be on the team. We're really excited about

5:29

both of them. We have not come to a full conclusion yet as to

5:33

what we're going to do with the fifth starter, but we've informed both of

5:36

them that they will be on the roster, and it's likely one of those

5:41

two will be the fifth starter. Chris, what have you seen out of

5:44

Tyler in this camp that that's you know, made you confident that he can

5:47

step in and contribute to thee. Yeah, I mean we've seen it from

5:53

Tyler all spring. You know, the stuff itself plays, you know,

5:56

he isn't you know, four or five pitches that he can used in his

6:00

arsenal at any time. We've seen him be very efficient, you know,

6:03

five innings the other day in or Kansas City on sixty pitches, so we've

6:10

seen him attack the zone. We've seen him finish hitters. So really excited

6:13

about the repertoire that Tyler has worked on and he's just shown us a lot,

6:17

a lot of good things this spring. Yeah, you guys decided on

6:21

a start first staff between areas of Rochio or is that still to be Deterney.

6:27

So we informed both Gabby and Brian today that they will both be on

6:31

the opening day roster as we start the season. Brian Rokio will get the

6:36

bulk of reps at shortstop, with Gabby being kind of our utility player with

6:41

getting a lot of playing time in multiple positions, and Brian could move around

6:45

as well. You know, I think the beauty of having both of them on the team is they both bring defensive versatility. But our goal at the

6:51

end, at the beginning of the season is that Brian take the bulk of

6:55

reps at shortstop. Did areas of his ability to maybe play in the outfield

7:00

twelve sort of factor into him making the roster absolutely? I mean, I

7:02

think when you talk about Gabby, you're talking about one of the one of

7:05

the more talented players young players in the game, and his ability to move

7:10

all over the diamond is definitely going to be an asset for us and being

7:14

able to use him at all the positions I think is going to be a

7:16

huge benefit for the team and for Gabby as well. What did what did

7:23

Roko show you that basically you decided to go with with him first? But

7:28

short, I think for me, the consistency at which Brian works, the

7:32

consistency at with which he approaches each day is kind of what led us there.

7:39

But I think equally the ability for Gabby to move around the Diamond,

7:43

I think is is what led to it. And you know, to be

7:46

able to use both of them, I think is what we're more focused on.

7:49

But you know, Brian has really really ramped up, not only this

7:55

spring, but in years, in years prior. We've seen just talking with

7:59

every here, We've seen the way he's trended, in the way that he

8:03

has worked to get himself to this point. And but I think just it's

8:09

just a factor of all of those things that we've seen that has led us to that. Where does that leave Freeman? Because I just started pumping up

8:15

in fields there in my head. Yeah, I mean, I mean we've

8:18

been getting reps for Freeman as well all over the Diamond. So I think,

8:22

you know, having both Free and Gabby to be able to roam around

8:26

the outfield, infield and all of that I think is going to be be

8:30

a benefit for us, you know, maybe building on that. I think

8:33

Tyler's done, you know, our view extraordinary job and transitioning and as a

8:37

very capable center fielder and outfielder in general. So that's been one of the

8:41

highlights in camp for us as his progress out there. So we view him

8:46

as a as a very very good and real option for us in the outfield

8:50

as well as the infield. So Tyler made the team as well. Yeah,

8:56

yeah, he has. And the last David Frye, we also informed

8:58

David Frye that he will be on the roster. How are you going to

9:01

find at Batson Innings for fry Is it going to be as a third catcher

9:07

or will he move around as well? I think yes to answer your question.

9:11

You know, David, you know he so he focused solely on catching

9:16

coming into spring training and really put in a lot of work over the last

9:20

few months, starting in late December, just putting an emphasis on being a

9:24

catcher and the strides that he has made defensively. We feel like he could

9:28

start games behind the plate. We feel like he can come into games and

9:31

catch, as well as impact the roster at first base, corner, outfield, and possibly even some third base. So again, versatility seems to be

9:37

the theme of what we're talking about with this roster, and and David definitely

9:43

adds to that. Well, Gras going to go to Canvas and minor league

9:48

invite and made the roster. What does that say about this work ethic,

9:52

Well, I think there's a lot with With Carlos. I think, first

9:54

and foremost, he was clear from the beginning of the offseason that this is

9:58

the place where he wanted to try to continue pitching, and he felt so

10:01

strongly about that that he was willing to come into camp on a minor league

10:05

contract and try to earn a spot on this team. And I don't think

10:09

anyone surprise Carlos came out and did exactly that. He did it with the

10:13

work that he puts in every day to make the make himself the best pitcher

10:16

he can be, and he's also continues to be an extraordinary teammate and leader

10:20

in the clubhouse. And we feel overall we're a better team both on the

10:22

field in the clubhouse with Carlos carrasco as part of it. Where there are

10:28

you guys in the evaluation process with Davis Dale Santos and what's the next step

10:31

there now. We're still working through it. Obviously we shared the news today

10:35

on the decisions we've made, but obviously there's still remain some uncertainty with specifically

10:41

with actually in both the position the remainder of the position player roster and some

10:45

spots in the bullpen, and so we'll take the next couple of days to

10:48

work to finalize those decisions. Chris, what have you what have you been

10:54

pleasantly? What are the some of the high points of spring training? The

11:01

weather has been awesome compared to last year. There's so much there, Paul,

11:05

I mean, I'm not sure exactly if there's a particular area you want

11:09

me to touch on, or is it player focused, organization focus, can't

11:13

focus. I think what continues to be reinforced for me and for us,

11:20

I think is both not only the caliber and quality of the young players on

11:24

our major league roster, but the number of alternatives that we feel we have

11:26

both on the mound and you know, on the diamond and even some guys

11:31

that won't make the roster. We feel that we have a group of players

11:35

that are in a position to contribute and impact our team at some point this

11:39

year, even if it won't be opening Day. And we've had a number

11:41

of injuries obviously that we've had to navigate in camp, including some illnesses,

11:46

and you know, hopefully we can get past those and you know, get

11:48

those reinforcements also as options for us as we transition into the season. That's

11:54

President of the Baseball Operations Chris Santinetti, along with manager Steven Vote, explaining

12:00

some of the moves made yesterday Friday at camp here in goodyear, stay with

12:05

us when we come back. We'll visit with Josh Naylor. That's next the

12:09

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state law. Not Availino states again the set again the payoff pitch swinging a

13:00

flare in the center base hit that time tried to sneak a fastball by Nailor

13:05

and he singles it into center for an RBI hit. Another great event for

13:11

Josh Naylor, second RBI today. Seven on the Spring Jim rosenhow's back with

13:18

you from Goodyear Arizona and Guardian's Weekly. Thanks so much for tuning in as

13:22

always and earlier this spring, we had a chance to catch up with first

13:26

baseman Josh Naylor coming off a career best ninety seven RBI season a year ago,

13:33

and that also included missing a month of the season. So imagine if

13:37

he can stay healthy the entire year the damage he can do at the plate.

13:43

And he's had a really solid spring. He's healthy, ready to go

13:46

for the regular season, and he says the offseason work he put in will

13:50

continue to pay off as the season progresses. Oh yeah, I just tried

13:54

to prepare my best kind of get all the bad play out of the way.

14:01

I guess early it's just it's nice to be out on the field again

14:05

and compete and be with the guys again and kind of go through the failures

14:09

early in the preseason and figure things out again and just sham moving forward.

14:15

And it seemed like you were in a really good place in the off season

14:18

preparing for spring training, whether it be with your brothers here or maybe even

14:22

going back home. And did it go about it as well as you like

14:24

it to go? Oh? Yeah, it was a productive off season with

14:28

a lot of hard work involved, but most importantly, we got each other

14:33

better, which is what we're looking forward to doing. But we talked earlier

14:37

to spring about leadership, and you're in that position where you it sounds like

14:41

you'd like to be a little bit more prominent in that regard on this team.

14:43

And how do you go about that? What do you do to be

14:48

that leader that can help this team be there for everyone, for anyone who

14:52

needs someone there at the moment, take care of the guys, and just

14:58

I believe in preaching leadership and everyone as an individual. If we all can

15:01

lead each other, then we'll be a great team. You don't really have

15:05

to look for that one guy in the locker room you can go to and

15:07

you can look for someone else, or you can just look at yourself in

15:11

the mirror and you're you know, you're a leader in your own way.

15:13

And again, I feel like if we all lead individually and we do our

15:18

best to just to get better, grow every day, and just be a

15:22

good teammate, I think we'll be a very successful team. Is there a

15:26

byproduct of thinking about others sometimes that can help your game, just from the

15:31

standpoint of maybe taking some of the focus off of you, but thinking about

15:35

your teammates and trying to help them get better. Yeah, I mean, it's all about helping others get better, especially helping your teammates. If you

15:41

can be there for your guys and they'll be there for you at the end,

15:46

you see someone's success, you want to be able to just appreciate their

15:50

success and really make them feel super special when they do something cool, and

15:54

then in turn, they'll make you feel super special when you do some cool.

15:58

So it's about taking care of each other and figting off each other's success.

16:00

You want to see the guy beside you win, and then yeah,

16:04

it kind of takes little pssure off yourself and you don't necessarily need to do

16:08

so much. I know that there's still some decisions to be made on certain

16:12

spots on the ball club, but there's a good core group of players here

16:15

that have been through some good times. How do you view it as you

16:18

get closer to the season in terms of what this team could do? Now?

16:22

Do you been here in camp and see who's here? Yeah, I

16:25

think we've got a special club. I think a lot of the players are performing extremely well. It's going to be some tough decisions that it's going to

16:30

be made, but that's I guess it's the part of it. I've been

16:33

through a bunch in my career, but I mean, whatever opportunity to get,

16:37

just run with it. When you look at how camp's going, it's

16:41

under a new manager and you've had a chance to be around him for a

16:44

while. Now, how's that going on that transition? Is it difficult or

16:48

has it been really easy? It's been good? You know, it's awesome.

16:52

He's a gamer, he loves to play, he loves to lead us

16:56

here, and then you know he has so much knowledge in this game.

17:00

He's been around a ton of locker rooms, a ton of veteran players and

17:03

he was a veter player himself at one point in his career and now he

17:06

gets a coach us and kind of provide a lot of knowledge and experience to

17:10

us. And it's great to see. It's great to be around, and

17:12

I think everyone's really appreciating. And when you look at your career, your

17:17

age wise, you're not that old, but but you're kind of that established

17:21

veteran in this clubhouse. Do you ever think about it in those terms that

17:25

it's gone by quickly and and you've reached that point in your career where you

17:29

can offer advice and be a real part of the team. From that standpoint,

17:33

I try not to think about it like that. I don't really like

17:37

to think of myself and that's a high regard. I mean, I'm honored

17:41

and blessed to be able to be in the position I'm in and be able

17:44

to share the knowledge that I have and experiences I have with some of the younger guys. But no, I'm just I'm blessed to be here and you

17:49

know, look forward to, you know, helping the young players grow here

17:53

and become the players that you know they wanted to become, And in turn,

17:56

that helps me become a player I want to become. That's first basement.

18:00

Josh Naylored stay with us when we come back. We'll hear from Ramone

18:03

Loreano and Tyler Freeman as we continue with Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians

18:08

Radio Network. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from

18:42

Goodyear, Arizona and Guardian spring training. And two players who will be a

18:48

part of the outfield picture for the Guardians this season are Ramone Loreano and surprisingly

18:53

Tyler Freeman. We'll start with Loriano, a veteran outfielder now no questions about

18:59

his d defences. He should be a major key in the Guardian's outfield this

19:03

season. But he's worked hard this offseason on the offensive part of his game

19:08

and it is taken hold here in spring training, and when we had a

19:12

chance to visit with him, he talked about how it's gone to this point

19:15

as camp winds down, just kind of open up my front foot just to

19:22

have more ability to kind of see the ball really and soften my elbows,

19:29

which helped me be more on playing. And I did those two adjustments and

19:34

I've been feeling pretty good about it. And pretty conceisous. So let's see

19:37

how it goes. And you've been in the game a while and had good

19:41

success, maybe with some other stances or other adjustments. How did you arrive

19:45

at what you decided to do this offseason and thought that it would be important.

19:51

I think, well, hitting Writings, and I did it. At

19:55

the end, I hit like like two ninety last like eighty five bats against

19:59

Writings or two eighty. Don't quote me on that, but uh yeah,

20:03

I feel tremendous when it comes to I was implementing like a drill, like

20:08

an angle drill coming out of the short stops kind of view, so it

20:14

will be on top of me. So he would throw like kind of sideways

20:17

like that, and that helped me in the game a lot. And but

20:21

now I put my body to be ready for that, and uh yeah,

20:26

right now it feels great, and uh yeah, I just gotta continue it.

20:33

You changed the organizations midway through last year, and I'm sure that's never

20:36

easy for anybody. How different does it feel coming back here now and starting

20:40

this season with Cleveland instead of trying to pick it up midway through. I

20:45

think it's it's great, really, I mean, but at the end.

20:48

I'm coming from a situation that even when I was if I leave that place

20:55

anywhere I was going, I was happy anyways, So I know it's,

20:59

uh, that's where I'm mind in this situation here, and this has been

21:03

a blessing to me and being a blessing to my career for sure. Yeah,

21:07

a unique situation. You're you're playing for a manager that you played with

21:11

as as a teammate. What has that been like playing for Steven Vote now

21:15

as as he is your manager? Yeah, that's unbelievable. Not shocked by

21:21

him being a manager here, and I mean hearing these things at Chuck,

21:25

But like, I'm not surprised by him being a manager. I think he

21:29

has a he has a long career for for being a manager, like,

21:33

and I think he's gonna do a tremendous job. Was it odd though,

21:37

to know that this is the guy who puts your name in that lineup after

21:41

you were teammates on the field. I haven't thought about it too much,

21:45

you know. I think when you're in the clubhouse and kind of playing the

21:48

process, you really don't think anything other than, you know what, preparing

21:52

for the day and having fun with the guys. But yeah, when you

21:56

put it like that in that perspective, it's kind kind of a little wise.

22:00

Yeah, he was saying earlier this spring, just after watching it play

22:03

for some of the early games, that your enthusiasm and everything going with your

22:08

game is really really good. He's been really pleased to see. Is that

22:14

just the nature of changing organizations kind of what you alluded to before, that

22:18

it's given me a little extra jump in your game one hundred percent. There's

22:22

no doubt about I'll be lying if I didn't say that. I also think

22:26

I'm taking more ownership of my career when it comes to already. You know,

22:33

success doesn't come by, you know, being suc successful, you got

22:38

to fail a little bit. And I think that's where I'm at right now

22:41

and kind of putting all that knowledge that I have learned throughout the year and

22:45

being my own being my own teacher and my own hating coach and all that,

22:49

and so, Yeah, You've been a part of some good teams,

22:52

some teams that have struggled. When you look around this clubhouse here this spring,

22:56

but what are you seeing that that gives you hope that this could a

23:00

really good season for this ball club. Well, for me, I hope

23:03

is ah. I won't be a home in October, I'll tell you that.

23:08

So so yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. And um and you

23:14

know, whenever you're in October, anything can happen. So we have the

23:17

tools to continue to move forward on that and continue to go to the get

23:22

to the goal that we have I used to win the World Series. So

23:27

that's outfielder Ramon Loriano. And another player in that outfield picture who figures to

23:33

see a lot of time in center field is Tyler Freeman. And if you

23:37

had said that a year or two ago, it wouldn't have been on the

23:41

radar. He was a middle infielder coming up through the minor league system,

23:45

had always been a good offensive player, hitting over three hundred in the minor

23:48

leagues. But that work in the outfield this spring has certainly paid off,

23:55

as the Guardians view him now as a potential reg in center field, and

24:00

maybe not every day, but certainly someone who plays out there a lot in

24:04

addition to his work on the infield. And when we visited with Tyler earlier

24:08

this spring, he talked about some of the challenges of learning a new position

24:12

at this stage of his career. Yeah, it's a work in progress.

24:17

I haven't I haven't ever really stepped foot in the outfield. So working out

24:21

of the spring was a top of my list, and you know, early

24:23

on it was working at it about four times a week and just drilling work

24:29

with jt Our outfield coach. And it's been fun so far. And I

24:33

guess players could look at it differently in terms of moving off your normal position.

24:38

But how do you view this when they ask you, hey, go

24:41

play some outfield and increase your versatility. I look at as an honor.

24:45

You know, if they want me to keep expanding wherever position, I'll do

24:48

whatever I can to help this team win. So I viewed as an honor.

24:52

I don't view it as like, hey, we got to move you away from your normal position. I viewed it as adding another tool in my

24:57

backyoor. So spring training game, you play out there and then you've done

25:02

that already and you had some action, which isn't always you know, you

25:07

can't predict that. But as you're out there, are you hoping for balls

25:10

to be hit? Two years so you can show what you can do more than anything, because you know, the first game out there was nervous.

25:15

I was nervous, but once the first one happened in the first inning,

25:18

once that was out of the way, it was kind of more comfortable.

25:21

I was like, Okay, I can do this. I can handle the spot, and so now I'm just hoping to get more innings out there more

25:26

than anything. Who helps you the most as you're trying to go through this

25:30

process. For as a player, it was Ernie Clement. You saw him

25:34

here. He was bouncing around everywhere, and that was a guy was setting

25:37

messages, Hey, what what can I do to get better? To expand

25:41

my game? And he just kept he kept saying, just keep moving positions.

25:45

Whenever the team may need you in a spot, they can throw you

25:47

out wherever if need be. So as a player was him, and then

25:51

I would say as a coach, would definitely be JT. He's our outfield

25:55

coach. He's you know, I've talked to him on and off the field and he's just like, hey, I'll help you get to whoever you want

26:00

to be. So and those two guys definitely for sure regular outfielders on this

26:04

team. I've talked about the work that j T McGuire does. What has

26:07

he done for you. That's helpful everything. He's taken extra time just to

26:12

just to help me work out there. You know, he's he's taking his

26:17

time to answer answer my calls, my messages and just to kind of improve

26:21

my game in any way possible. And he's just he's looking out for me

26:23

more than anything. So I definitely value him more more than more than a

26:27

lock of guys off season. I know last year you tried to add a

26:33

little bit of muscle and and maybe adjust your swing a little bit to hit

26:36

the ball harder. Similar path this offseason, Yeah, absolutely, And you

26:40

know spring is the time to make mistakes. And I'm like, as our

26:44

identity as headers, we're trying to do damage this year and I might not

26:47

show up in spring, but during the season it will show up. And so it's it is the same thing, trying to do more damage to the

26:53

ball and just being patient with the results anything in particular last year. The

26:59

first real extent is retching the big leagues. That that you learn that's been helpful, Just keeping keeping your your your mind in one spot. Don't don't

27:07

have a good or bad game, like, can't let it affect you.

27:11

You gotta stay even keel and I think once I figured that out as earlier

27:15

as possible, the results started showing. So I just got to stay even

27:19

keel and just try to have fun more than anything. Ant utility man Tyler

27:25

Freeman who figures to see a lot of time in center field once the year

27:29

begins. Stay with us our final segments coming your way shortly as we continue

27:33

with Guardians Weekly, a Cleveland Clinic, Guardians Radio Network, and stay tuned,

27:45

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliate's not available in all states now. The one

28:33

too swing in a fly ball in the medium deep center Loriana will make the

28:38

cats. What a job by Gattis as he was able to get out of

28:42

it and keep the vases loaded. Here's the one two pitch got him swinging

28:48

in another great curveball. Hunter Gaddis six up, six down, four punch

28:53

outs, the one two curveball and a knee buckler for straight three. Oh

29:00

what an inning for a Hunter Gaddis Stretch time in the desert. Jim Rosenow's

29:07

back with you. It's Guardians Weekly from Goodyear, Arizona, and we finish

29:12

our show talking pitching. We'll start with Hunter Gaddis, who has had a

29:17

tremendous spring, mainly out of the bullpen and the former starting pitcher. It

29:21

looks like that bullpen roll will really suit him well. And we caught up

29:25

with him recently and he talked about what's led to the good success that he's

29:30

had this spring being consistent as of right now, it's just I'm trying to

29:33

keep it the same. It's rolling well, so I'm just trying to stay

29:37

right there in that mindset. And you're from Atlanta, but you came out

29:41

here and you've done it for a while. But how much of the off

29:45

season did you spend here and why is it so beneficial to be out here.

29:48

I spent almost the whole off season out here, except for the holidays.

29:52

I was obviously wanting to be with my family, but I mean it's

29:55

just so easy out here. These guys work really well with me, and I work well with them. So it's been really And is it primarily pitching

30:03

things that you're doing or is it more fitness, flexibility, all that kind

30:07

of good stuff. I'd say it's fifty to fifty. I mean there's importance

30:11

in both of them, you know, definitely, you know, get my

30:14

body filling right always in the off season is a big importance. And then

30:18

I wouldn't say it was really pitching, you know, bias in the off

30:21

season. It's more armstring arm path, you know, just getting the body

30:25

moving good. And when you talk about I don't know if fitness is the

30:30

right word, but flexibility you mentioned how important has that been And what have

30:33

you noticed here this spring after going through an off season really focusing on that.

30:38

I mean it's it's really like I said, it's like making your body

30:42

feel good, and I mean flexibility is a big part of that. And

30:45

I know last spring training it was like kind of tough to touch my toes,

30:49

like I could do it, but now it's like much easier and it

30:52

just feels better. Are you bending your knees when you touch your toes?

30:55

Are you doing it? Legit? It's legit. Nown I can say that velocity everyone's chasing it and trying to get the most they can. How did

31:03

you get to a better spot velocity wise? And how does that impact your

31:07

other pitches too? You know, I don't I don't really know the key

31:11

to velocity. I think i've you know, I think three years ago it

31:17

was like the first time I hit like ninety seven. So it's not like it's really increased from then. It's maybe been more consistent. My you know,

31:25

average has been higher. So I think it's just getting the reps in, make sure you're moving well and not trying to do too much. And

31:30

then always, you know, villa makes every other pitch better. So if

31:33

you got the villa, it definitely you know, makes your sighter that much

31:36

better. That's that change up that much better. We talk about mechanics a

31:40

lot. Obviously you have to focus on those, but you mentioned earlier,

31:44

is it okay not to think about mechanics when you're on the mound maybe to

31:47

your benefit. Oh yeah, if I'm on the mound, you know,

31:51

I don't I don't like to think about mechanics. I just try and you know, throw the ball pretty much as hard as I can, as long

31:56

as I can throw it where I want. So, you know, I've

32:00

thought about mechanics on move before and it's never ended well for me, So I definitely try and go out there with no mechanical thoughts. Role wise,

32:07

you've done a little bit of everything in the Major League, starting releading. How do you see it right now and how are you building up this spring

32:14

in terms of your role as of right now. You know, we had

32:16

a meeting before spring chartered started, and you know they're building me up for

32:22

now and we'll see what happens after a couple appearances. You know what it's

32:24

looking like for the seed that is Hunter Gaddis, who has thrown the ball

32:30

extremely well in spring training, and with some of the injuries to the relief

32:35

cores for the Cleveland Guardians, he figures to play a key role, especially

32:39

early in this season. Joining him in that bullpen. Veteran right hander Eli

32:44

Morgan, entering his fourth full season with the Guardians, he's still young at

32:49

twenty seven. I asked him if he's starting to feel like one of the

32:52

veterans on this young Guardians ball club. Yes, and no. I mean

32:58

from a comfort standpoint, no, But from a familiarity standpoint, yeah,

33:00

I've seen all these guys for you know, my seventh year with the team

33:04

now, a lot of familiar flaces, a lot of new ones. Though

33:07

maybe from an advice standpoint, yet, we do have so many young pitchers

33:10

that have guys coming up asking questions. Certainly not a veteran from like a

33:15

comfort standpoint. Just yet. When you say comfort standpoint, what do you

33:20

mean by that? I mean, you know you you watch Hosey and Bieber

33:22

like that's that's a comfort standpoint. They walk in here, they know exactly

33:25

what they're gonna do. They're not fighting to do anything. There's no there's

33:30

no make or break in a spring for them. So it's a little different situation. As a bullpen guy, you've had some good usage the last couple

33:37

of years, how do you manage that in the off season to make sure

33:42

you're ready to go for the following year. I'd say a lot of that's

33:45

actually in season, you know, off season is good time to give the

33:47

arm a chance to rest. You can switch up things from a biomechanical standpoint

33:52

a lot easier than once you get into competition mode. But I think for

33:57

me, my arms started to feel really good once I locked in my routine

34:00

last year, and taking that through an off seasons putting me in a good

34:02

spot. Now. Has it been different as a relief pitcher compared to when

34:07

you were a starter, say in the minor leagues. Definitely for me. I mean, as a guy in the miners at good control, good stuff,

34:14

not a whole lot of v low, So that allowed me the opportunity

34:16

to just play catch as much as I wanted. I mean, I'd throw

34:20

the ball for an hour a day and not get too much arm soreness. Now that I'm throwing a little harder, that's something I have to be more

34:24

congressant off so I get my work in still, but it's not as much

34:28

of a volume more so than a focus on the throws that I do have.

34:32

We're talking earlier, that change up is such a bread and butter pitch

34:37

for you, and when we see it early in spring training, it's kind

34:39

of fun. It brings you back to what makes you such a good pitcher,

34:43

And is that something that's always been there for you or has it just

34:46

kind of developed where now it's that pitch that really helps you since college it's

34:52

been there. Yeah, I mean, but once I was Once I was there, that was a big, big thing. They told me. It

34:57

was like, if you're going to pitch the D one level, you should have a really good you. So that that's when I switched over from a

35:00

split finger to a change up. And then you know, it's been about

35:05

ten years throwing that, so it's you know, it's definitely very comfortable.

35:07

I know what I'm supposed to do with it now. It's just a matter

35:10

of location. You know, when I get it below the zone, it's

35:13

in a good spot. When it hangs in the zone, you know, it gives them a chance to get on it sometimes. So when I put

35:17

in a good spot, it usually has good results. And obviously in this

35:22

league people know about it now and that type of thing. Is it good

35:25

enough where they can know it's coming and if it's in the right spot doesn't

35:29

matter. Not quite. No, I do still have to mix it up,

35:32

you know that. I think the slider is going to be a good

35:35

pitch to get them off that. Certainly, if it's knees and below,

35:38

then then I'll be in an okay spot, you know where if they know

35:40

it's come and there's still not too much slug to be done down there.

35:45

But yeah, it's probably the number one thing on most of their scouting reports,

35:49

and I can see it in some of their approaches, like when they

35:52

might be looking for it, when they might be you know, trying to ambush it fastball early and that's something we'll take in a season and you know,

35:58

try to find some good pitch seq once it's for it. Eli Morgan

36:01

joining US Guardians reliever camp much different this year because of the new staff,

36:07

or is spring training spring training? No matter who's running it. I mean,

36:10

the day to day stuff's all the same. You know, we play

36:13

our catch, we run a little bit, we do pfps, there's a lot of downtime to you know, hang around with teammates, get to know

36:19

new faces. Certainly all the new coaching staff like that. That adds a

36:22

little bit different than a wrinkle, But we're still playing the same game.

36:25

It's a lot of the same stuff. And what do you see here early

36:29

in camp in terms of a team looking to bounce back and have a good

36:32

season, really good energy. I mean, it's it doesn't look like a

36:36

team that was, you know, ten games below last year. You know, last year is disappointing, but no one's hanging their heads on it,

36:40

like we're all just excited to have another year together and to our best.

36:45

How long does it take to get used to there's gonna be some new faces

36:49

in the bullpen? Does it take a little while to for everybody to gel

36:52

down there? And can that only happen once you get into that regular season and you guys are out in the pen game after game. Well, so

36:58

we have a thing where you know, you got to come for three inings.

37:01

So a lot of the bullpen guys are down there. We're starting to

37:05

get into those you know, camaraderie routines. Barlow's fitting right in, and

37:07

you know, some of the new guys are getting a taste of, you

37:10

know, the weirdness that goes down in the bullpen. But will be just

37:13

fine. AT's Eli Morgan who figures to play a key role in that Guardian's

37:19

bullpen along with Hunter Gaddison and several others, but with some injuries and illness.

37:23

That bullpen will take on a different look, especially early in the campaign,

37:29

and that season starts in less than a week now Thursday night from the

37:34

Open Coliseum. Tom Hamilton will have the first pitch shortly after ten o'clock Eastern

37:38

time. Should be a lot of fun as the season begins with a long

37:44

road trip of ten games, four in Oakland, three in Seattle, and

37:47

three in Minnesota. And we'll be there every step of the way each week

37:52

with Guardians Weekly, and next week that means from Oakland Coliseum. So for

37:57

Brian Matsee who does great work each week and put our show together, this

38:00

is Jim rosen House reminding you that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly on the

38:06

Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly has been brought to you by Progressive

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