00:00But it is time for us to go out to the Wiseheart Wright, We Make It Right, Call Kyle Wright
00:06Hotline.
00:09Going out to Joe Noga, a guy who covered a championship team in 2016.
00:14It was just a 2016 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs.
00:21Joe Noga joins us on the hotline.
00:23Joe, where were you 10 years ago today when you watched the Cavs finally get the job done?
00:28Nick, I was actually on vacation with my family in a cabin down in Cambridge, Ohio.
00:34But I had a feeling, so I brought a bottle of champagne down with me.
00:38And as soon as they won, I popped a cork and I sprayed my seven-year-old son with champagne.
00:43I got the video of it, too.
00:45Well, we hope that our Guardians get to pop some champagne at some point this fall.
00:51But before they get to that point, even the boat afloat without Jose Ramirez,
00:57Chase Zalotter, and Angel Martinez is going to be the challenge.
01:02Obviously, Joe, they lost all three of those guys in Saturday's win over Detroit.
01:07They all wind up on the injured list at some point throughout this week.
01:12As we head into this weekend series against the Astros, in your mind,
01:15what do the Guardians need to do over the next month to stay alive in this American League Central?
01:20Well, they need to keep getting contributions from guys like Kyle Manzardo, who hit a home run yesterday.
01:27Travis Bazzana sort of showing up and also hitting a home run.
01:31But I think one of the big key guys there, a guy who's going to get a lot more playing
01:35time now, is David Fry.
01:37And I think this is a really good thing, because David Fry, we haven't really seen get an extended, long
01:44look as a guy regularly this season.
01:47I think the more at-bats he gets, the better it's going to be.
01:50This is a guy who can give you a little pop and gives you a chance.
01:53And plus, he can play in multiple positions.
01:57We've seen him in the outfield mostly, but if things get crazy and Steven Vogt likes to flip-flop things
02:04late in the game,
02:05he can jump behind the plate if he needs to.
02:08There's a lot of versatility there, and this is a guy who can lead.
02:12He's a guy that other people in that clubhouse look up to.
02:15Joe, do you think these injuries change how Cleveland approaches the trade deadline?
02:20Do they make a move because of these injuries,
02:22or does that not have anything to do with how they'll approach the trade deadline and what they do moving
02:28forward?
02:29Well, I really wish that my answer was something different than what I'm going to tell you.
02:35From an observer standpoint, I really wish that they would go out and make a move and make a big
02:40splash,
02:41trade a top prospect, bring in a bat, something like that.
02:44I just really don't.
02:45It's just not in the character of this front office.
02:48It's just not the way that these guys operate.
02:51And you can kind of understand it, I guess, but I think right now the guys that are going to
02:56have to carry them
02:58through this next month and a half, that are going to have to carry them to a division championship
03:03or competing for one, are the guys in that clubhouse and the guys at AAA.
03:07They're going to rely on guys within the system.
03:11I don't think they're going to look outside right away.
03:14Maybe as they get closer to the trade deadline, a minor deal might pop up, might surface.
03:21But, again, it might be one of those thread-the-needle kind where they don't mortgage the future,
03:26ransom the future for the present.
03:30We've seen those kind of moves in the past.
03:32Where do you think they need to be when these guys get back, games back, et cetera?
03:37Where do they need to be to make a serious run?
03:40You know, within 10 games, we've seen them.
03:44The history has shown 15 and a half games back in the second half of the season, 11 and a
03:51half games back in September.
03:54It's possible with the pitching staff that they have.
03:56You know, the starting rotation, last year in September, they decided, hey, we're going to give them six innings every
04:03night
04:03and we're not going to give up more than two runs.
04:05And you turn it over to the bullpen and they were excellent.
04:09That's the formula.
04:10Play great defense and, you know, scratch out, you know, two to three runs a night.
04:17It lightning struck once.
04:19Who's to say it can't strike again?
04:21Joe, we're obviously going to get a good look at a lot of the young hitters that this organization has
04:27to offer.
04:28It's another opportunity for Gabriel Arias, who maybe I was wrong for writing him off a couple of months ago.
04:35Khalil Watson's now going to get an opportunity.
04:38Of course, fans are already clamoring for Cooper Engel.
04:41Which one of these young bats in your mind do you think fans should be most excited about?
04:47Well, as far as excitement goes, Cooper Engel, you look down there and you see three home runs and a
04:53double last night.
04:53And you say, wow, get this guy on the first plane to Houston to meet him there.
04:58But, no, I don't think that's the way they're going to operate.
05:02I talked with Hoinsey yesterday about just the idea of maybe giving Cooper Engel, you know,
05:11a cup of coffee at the major league level to get his feet wet so that later on in the
05:14season,
05:14if you're in a position where bringing him up makes sense, then you can do it then.
05:20But I think right now, Khalil Watson, I liked what I saw.
05:25This is a kid who, if he can control the strike zone and not strike out 60 times like he
05:30did, you know,
05:32for the first 200 bats in AAA this season, I think, you know, he's got a lot of potential
05:38just because of the slug that he has and the speed.
05:41We saw that with the catch that he made in the second inning yesterday.
05:46You know, a lot to like there.
05:47Will he get an opportunity when, you know, Martinez and DeLauter are ready to come off the injured list?
05:53That remains to be seen.
05:55It's going to be going to be interesting.
05:57But Gabriel Arias, a guy who, yeah, I think a lot of people wrote him off.
06:01I think a lot of people said, you know, this is a guy who's played his last game on the
06:06infield for Cleveland
06:07after he went on the injured list there because Brian Rocchio had stepped up and made such a contribution.
06:12But now he gets that long, extended look at third base, and we're really going to find out, you know,
06:18what he's made of and what he can do.
06:22And, you know, I don't know if beyond Jose coming back he's going to be around.
06:30But, you know, we'll see what he's able to do.
06:33Joe, speaking of Jose, obviously we know he loses his bat.
06:36But, you know, for a young team, he's the emotional leader of that team.
06:39He's the veteran.
06:41He's kind of the chemistry guy.
06:42And, you know, I've always been a believer, regardless of sports, you've got to have chemistry.
06:46Who's going to step up and kind of fill that role that he's out now?
06:49Yeah, they've got a lot of chemistry guys in that clubhouse, if you've been paying attention.
06:54He's not the only one.
06:56He's not the most vocal leader in that clubhouse.
06:58He really sets the example, and I think he'll continue to do that.
07:01I think he'll still be around, and the young players will still, you know, be learning from him,
07:07be growing as they, you know, are able to be around him.
07:11He's just not going to be out there on the field doing it.
07:14Obviously, Austin Hedge is the guy that, you know, steps forward all the time.
07:17He's a big leader there.
07:19I mentioned David Fry.
07:22And I guess you've got veterans like Stephen Kwan who's there.
07:27He just needs to step up and do a little bit more with the bat in order for him to,
07:32you know,
07:33sort of make a difference in this lineup.
07:34Outside of all of this injury stuff, Joe, I did want to ask you about some other Guardians news that
07:39we had this week.
07:41And Daniel Espino made his debut.
07:43You wrote about it for Cleveland.com, two strikeout performance.
07:47This is a guy that was the top prospect in the farm system for a really long time,
07:52and we finally get to see him make a long-awaited debut because of all of the injuries.
07:57For Espino, obviously you were impressed.
08:00I think everybody was impressed with the two strikeouts.
08:03Do you think that bullpen is probably where he's best suited for now?
08:07For now, yeah.
08:08I think, you know, if beyond this season, if he can prove that the injuries are behind him or are
08:14manageable
08:15and he wants to maybe, you know, work his way into the rotation that way, if they can think of
08:21him that way, sure, why not?
08:23But for right now, I think, you know, this bullpen hasn't exactly instilled a lot of confidence the last couple
08:30of nights out.
08:31But Hunter Gattis, Tim Heron have been a little bit shaky in their last couple of outings.
08:37And I think they need a guy like Daniel Espino to sort of bolster that back end of the bullpen.
08:42He's going to get opportunities there eventually as long as he stays healthy and he's up.
08:47I just, the story of Daniel Espino is, you know, it's been told a bunch of times already in terms
08:53of going through all the injuries,
08:54the loss of his father, all the...
09:02Do we have Joe?
09:04Did we lose him?
09:06I think we lost Joe there.
09:07I know he is.
09:08Oh, we got you, we got you.
09:11I just muted myself, which is typical.
09:15Just talking about Daniel Espino real quick.
09:18I talked to Chase DeLauter, who did a lot of rehab with him while the two were in Arizona.
09:23You know, both of them struggling through injuries to get to the major league level.
09:28And DeLauter said his first impressions of this guy were just off the charts in terms of his character and
09:34his work ethic and all that.
09:35And then he said he talked to other people around Arizona who had seen the guy pitch before he was
09:41injured.
09:41And he said, you know, this is probably one of the best pitchers with the best stuff that I've seen,
09:47you know, in a long time.
09:48So, the reputation preceded him, and now it's, you're seeing the character come forward.
09:55This is a guy who shook the hand of every reporter who interviewed him on his first time in the
10:00press room at Progressive Field.
10:02So, he's a tremendous individual, and it's easy to pull for a guy like that.
10:08Joe, I'm going to go to Steven Vogt here.
10:09You know, he comes in, he replaces Tito.
10:13It's been a tremendous transition for him.
10:15Obviously, this is kind of the biggest challenge he's had losing these three guys.
10:19What do you want to see from him over this next month or so to kind of keep these guys
10:23afloat?
10:24What can he do as a manager to kind of help these guys get where they ultimately want to go?
10:30I mean, that's saying a lot.
10:31This is the biggest challenge he's faced.
10:33I mean, you're talking about a guy who led a team back from 15 and a half games, you know,
10:38in the middle of a gambling scandal within his own team.
10:42It seems like every year they put a new challenge in front of Steven Vogt, and he rises to it.
10:49He is the definition of one of those guys where you call him a leader of men in that clubhouse.
10:55Guys get behind him, and they want to play for him.
10:58I don't really have any doubt in my mind that he'll figure out a way to keep this team competitive
11:04over the next, you know, month and month and a half.
11:10It's really sort of impressive to watch him do that.
11:12Now, it doesn't mean going to a six-man rotation or finding something like that that he did last year
11:18to key in on.
11:19And maybe it's just completely changing the way that their offense operates in order to produce more runs.
11:29Something has to happen there.
11:31But there's going to be one thing that he does, and I can't wait to, you know,
11:35sit there at the end of the year and sort of discern, hey, last year it was they went to
11:40the six-man rotation,
11:41and that worked.
11:42But, you know, at the end of 2026, we're going to have that one thing that Stephen Vogt did
11:47that really sort of turned things and was the focal point of the season.
11:52Joe Noga, Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, joining us on the Wiseheart Right.
11:57We make it right.
11:58Call Kyle Right hotline.
12:00Joe, one more for you.
12:02I got like 60 seconds here.
12:03Travis Bazzana homered yesterday, and it was a lot of fun, and he's been a lot of fun.
12:07What's it been like covering the number one overall pick?
12:11And this guy just seems to have the makeup of the future second baseman in this organization
12:15for a long time, in my opinion.
12:18Yeah, and he's handled everything.
12:21He's never looked overwhelmed at any point.
12:24And you just sort of look at him, and you look at the at-bats that he's put up,
12:27the quality of the at-bats.
12:29You know, that's his reputation was to be able to go deep in counts and, you know,
12:33work at-bats and get on base.
12:36And now we're starting to see a little bit of the slug, too.
12:38So he's been a lot of fun to be around.
12:41You know, I've sort of taken the approach.
12:44He's got a lot on his plate and just sort of learning his routines and getting set.
12:48So eventually we'll get close to him.
12:51We'll sit down with him, and we'll have a nice long conversation.
12:54But for right now, he's handled everything they've thrown at him.
12:57Well, I'm looking forward to that long conversation.
12:59I'm sure when it does happen, you'll be able to read all about it on Cleveland.com.
13:04And the Cleveland Plain Dealer, he is Joe Noga, does a great job covering the Cleveland
13:09Guardians over there.
13:10Joe, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
13:13All right, Nick.
13:13Take care, guys.
13:14All righty.
13:15We are going to react to a little bit of what Joe Noga had to say.
13:19Some really good thoughts there on how the Guardians can keep their season alive.
13:23Some great thoughts on Steven Vogt.
13:25We are going to react to a little bit of what Joe Noga had to say.
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