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00:00By the end of this hour, 93thefan.com to get registered to win.
00:03Tickets available at SeatGeek.com.
00:06Guardians taking on the White Sox today, 5 p.m. over at the stadium.
00:09You can watch Sean Casey on MLB Network's Emmy Award winning MLB Tonight,
00:14which airs live before and after every postseason game,
00:16including on-site at the World Series.
00:18Plus, check out Sean's The Mayor's Office podcast,
00:23available everywhere, wherever podcasts are got.
00:25He's on the Wise Heart Right.
00:26We make a right called Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:27And Sean Casey joins us, three-time MLB All-Star.
00:30Again, MLB Network Analyst.
00:31He joins us right now on that hotline.
00:33Hello, Sean.
00:34Good morning.
00:35Good morning.
00:36How's it going?
00:37Well, it'd be going a lot better if we were up 1-0 in this series.
00:41Is today the season for the Guardians?
00:46I mean, listen, you don't want to go down 2-0 to anybody.
00:50You know, to win three in a row in the big leagues is not an easy thing.
00:53So, yeah, I think there's a lot on the line for the Guardians today
00:56to get this series back 1-1.
01:00Well, what did you think overall of the way they attacked the pitching?
01:05I know it's a weird dynamic when you're sitting there after all that rest
01:09in game one and it's an opener that you're going up against.
01:13But to have guys like Odell go 0-4,
01:17just looked like he had no shot up at the plate,
01:20really the top of their water, all the way down to the middle,
01:22just could not get on base.
01:24What did you see on their approach?
01:27Well, I mean, obviously the White Sox came at it with, you know,
01:31just kind of, you know, a bunch of different arms, you know,
01:35guys just coming out of the pen.
01:37You know, obviously Taylor pitched well.
01:39Hagan Smith started off well, had that funky delivery from the left side.
01:43You know, I think at the end of the day when you look at the Guardians,
01:45I mean, you really are going to rely on guys that come up with big hits.
01:49I mean, they had a couple of situations, I believe a couple of bases loaded
01:52situations where they just weren't able to capitalize.
01:55And if you've seen every series so far in the postseason,
01:59man, it really is about who's getting the big hit,
02:01who's coming through with the bases loaded.
02:03I mean, you know, who's leaving guys on, who's not.
02:06But so, you know, when you go back to that game one, you know,
02:10Murakami comes out with a two-run bomb and, you know,
02:14they kind of just let that bullpen settle in and, you know,
02:17for the White Sox and they just, they put together a couple runs,
02:20but they couldn't cash in when they needed to.
02:22So I think, you know, coming into game two,
02:24you're going to need Gavin Williams, you know,
02:26to be the guy that he's been this year and, you know,
02:29have punched some tickets.
02:30But, you know, at the end of the day, if you're that Guardians offense,
02:33when you get guys on, you've got to find a way to cash in.
02:36Do you believe in something like momentum over the small sample sizes?
02:41Like, obviously, everything was about the Guardians
02:44trying to win the division to set themselves up for a lengthy run.
02:47But now you've got the White Sox who win a couple of games
02:51against the Astros and now they're feeling like
02:53a different baseball team right now.
02:55Yeah, you know, I think there is something to that, you know,
02:58because baseball players are creatures of habit
03:01and the rhythm of 162 playing every single night, you know,
03:05kind of loving the grind of like, you know, you're not feeling your best,
03:08but you're still out there playing and you're still out there going.
03:11It's almost like the more you play, the stronger you get.
03:14And so, you know, when you see the White Sox got to play those games
03:18against the Astros and sweep that series, and then all of a sudden, bam,
03:22they're out there in Cleveland playing game one and kind of rolling on.
03:26And then Cleveland gets a couple days off.
03:28It's, you know, I think there is sometimes something about that rhythm
03:31and timing and just the rhythm of playing every day when the baseball
03:36postseason comes, you know, you have a couple days off
03:39like you wouldn't have during the regular season.
03:41What is the challenge?
03:42Sean Casey joining us on the show.
03:44What is the challenge for Steven Vogt where this is his third time
03:47in the postseason as a manager of the Guardians?
03:49But a lot of those faces have changed.
03:50I mean, they've started, what, 11, 12 rookies this year, Sean?
03:54Yeah.
03:55Well, I think for Voter, you know, it's just, hey, listen, you know,
03:58this is the hand you're dealt every year is going to be a little different,
04:02especially when you're in the, you know, in the market like Cleveland.
04:04You're going to have different guys.
04:05You're going to need rookies to come up and help you.
04:08And, you know, it's not going to be the same every year.
04:10But, obviously, Voter is one of the best managers in the game.
04:13And, you know, the way he does it, the way he can navigate, you know, people,
04:18I think that his strength is that he's a great communicator.
04:21His strength is that he can have a guy, a rookie guy,
04:24make that rookie feel like, hey, you know,
04:26we really need you up here to do well and, you know, do your thing.
04:30So, I mean, like I said, every year it's a little different for Vogt.
04:34But he does it.
04:35He's one of the best in the business.
04:36And, you know, he's kind of able to navigate the landscape
04:39of whatever they give him.
04:41How do young guys get acclimated to the postseason?
04:45Well, I mean, I think the postseason is one of those things where, you know,
04:49I think you just can't teach experience.
04:51And at the end of the day, you have to kind of be in the fire.
04:53There's nothing anybody can really tell you when you're a young guy
04:57about the postseason.
04:58You know, you just got to kind of get in it.
05:00And sometimes, you know, as a young player,
05:02maybe it's even better to be young where you're like, okay,
05:05I don't know any different than to just get in here and do what I need to do.
05:08So, you know, like I said, you just kind of got to go through it.
05:12All right, we're joined by Sean Casey right now on the hotline.
05:16We look at so much of this stuff through sometimes the wrong prism.
05:21Like in football, they're talking about big pump-up speeches
05:24and pregame stuff.
05:26What kind of conversations, though, in baseball are had
05:28when the offense looks that listless going into game two?
05:32Because the last thing you want to do is have guys start to press
05:35in a five-game series.
05:39Yeah, you know, baseball is a different animal as far as, you know,
05:41in football you're playing once a week.
05:43You can maybe get a little rah-rah.
05:45You can, you know, the mentality of a football player
05:47is so different than a baseball player.
05:49You know, baseball is really golfing a team environment.
05:52That's how I like to think about it.
05:53You're in a batter's box by yourself.
05:55You're on the bump by yourself.
05:56You're in the field by yourself.
05:58Like no one can really help you.
05:59So, like, slowing the game down, slowing down,
06:02but staying aggressive is, like, such a big part of baseball.
06:06So, you know, I think one of the biggest things is, like, listen,
06:09if you're not hitting in game one, let's make sure we stay aggressive.
06:11Let's make sure that we're not getting passive, trying too hard.
06:14You know, you've got to let this game come to you.
06:16So, you know, it's really like if I was the hitting coach,
06:18I would kind of be the same way.
06:20Like, hey, let's make sure that we're staying calm, let's stay aggressive,
06:23and let's make sure that we're hunting where we want to hunt out over the plate.
06:29I want you to help me with future arguments here
06:31because Lima threw something in my face earlier today.
06:33Sean Casey joining us here on the show.
06:35He's on MLB Network.
06:37He's an Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight Show,
06:39which is before and after all these games here in the postseason.
06:42You can see him on an MLB Network.
06:44I had said last week I still think it's a successful season
06:47considering how many rookies they played.
06:50You know, they were well – they were five, six games under 500 at one point.
06:53They got going at the right time, got back into the postseason,
06:56and won the division again.
06:58What do you say to, though, like a football-first fan,
07:02which usually is a lot of America, where they just want the championship, that's it.
07:07But, you know, I've got to balance this with it's a long season, it's a marathon,
07:13all the words that you say.
07:14And it's like, well, you still won the division, you still did good.
07:17But, you know, over the last three years,
07:18I don't know if that's enough for a regular Guardians fan anymore.
07:22You know what, at the end of the day, it's tough to – if you really, you know,
07:27look at the body of work of a Major League Baseball season,
07:31162 games in 180 days, you know, to win the division is not an easy thing to do.
07:36And for the Guardians to kind of do what they did,
07:38they were scuffled most of the year.
07:40It looked like the White Sox were going to run away with it.
07:42And Steven Boat, I feel like he sprinkles that vote magic on this team.
07:46And all of a sudden, they make the run that, you know,
07:48they're one of the hottest teams at the end of the year.
07:50And then that went in the division, that's not easy to do.
07:53So you do have to tip your cap to any team that wins the division, you know,
07:58and get to the postseason, you know.
07:59And then the bottom line is, you know, when you get into the postseason,
08:03and it's – the hot teams usually do well.
08:06And, you know, I think when I look at the Guardians, they got great pitching.
08:09And I think one of the things that has held them back is maybe having those big
08:14bats outside of Ramirez in that lineup.
08:16I mean, they go and go get Joe Adele.
08:18And, you know, they have – obviously, Bazzana is a nice little player.
08:23And they have some – the lotter – they have some guys that can swing it.
08:25Kwon's been one of the best hitters in the second half.
08:28But, man, I still think the Guardians are looking for those boppers in the middle
08:32of that lineup to score runs.
08:33Because we've seen it in the last couple years.
08:35They've gotten the postseason.
08:37And they probably had – you know, a couple years ago when they had the Yankees
08:40on the ropes, they just could not get that big hit to hit the ball out of the ballpark,
08:44which you kind of need in the postseason.
08:46So, at the end of the day, to win the division is a big deal.
08:49To win the whole thing is even tougher.
08:52When David Fry gets yanked after just one at bat – and I know, again,
08:56it was a weird situation for them to be facing, but they know the White Sox in and out.
09:01Nobody ended up hitting in that game.
09:02But does that mean that Vogue made the wrong call to start him to begin with?
09:07I don't know.
09:08I mean, you know, at the end of the day, you know, Lowe's a good player too.
09:13Obviously, Fry has some pop.
09:15But I think, you know, Stephen Vogt, you're really navigating, you know,
09:21the landscape of maybe a gut feeling or a situation that pops up.
09:26So, you know, like I said, it's one of those things where you have – when you don't have
09:31clear-cut superstars on your team, you're going to try and mix and match and figure out
09:35a, you know, a play that day that might work.
09:38So, I think Vogue just went what he thought was going to – you know, what was the best.
09:41And who knows if, you know, it was the right call.
09:46We see a lot of organizations setting lineups instead of managers anymore.
09:50You know, I think that Stephen Vogt, and they've said it a bunch of times,
09:54that he has a significant role in picking lineups.
09:58How do you, as an analyst – you've done this a long time now – how do you judge
10:02a good manager anymore where, you know, they seem to be just push-button guys
10:06that a lot of teams just kind of put them in, put them out,
10:08and it's almost a figurehead position to some of these organizations?
10:13Yeah, I mean, I think a guy like Stephen Vogt, who's, you know, he's been a catcher.
10:18He's, you know, he's had a lot of success.
10:20He's been an all-star in the big leagues.
10:21You know, he came right off the field into a situation.
10:24I think a guy like that, you know, if you're the Guardians front office,
10:28you're like, you know, we're going to rely on him to pick the, you know,
10:31pick the lineup more often than not.
10:33But they're all – you know, I think the biggest thing is you have to be able
10:37to marry the analytics and, you know, the old-school mentality or what have you,
10:42the on-field player mentality because there are numbers you have to look at.
10:47There are things that the front office gives you that are really real.
10:51So when I was in the dugout in 2023 with the Yankees as the hitting coach,
10:55I really saw that firsthand.
10:57Like, there is a lot of information to digest,
11:00to look at what the best matchups are in the lineup.
11:04Now, if you're a player like Stephen Vogt and you understand, you know,
11:08sometimes the best way to get guys to get going is to just play them.
11:12You know, the whole lefty-righty matchup sometimes drives me crazy.
11:15We're platooning these guys.
11:16Like, I know for me, like, I had to play against lefties, righties.
11:20If I was struggling, I wasn't going to get any better on the bench.
11:23I needed to get in there.
11:24So I think just different organizations do it differently,
11:27but I also think who the manager is matters for the least they get for setting a lineup.
11:33Do you dislike platooning?
11:36No, I don't dislike it.
11:37I just think – I just think sometimes that's where, you know,
11:41if the analytics part of it can get a little bit to, oh, yeah,
11:46just put the righty-lefty matchup.
11:47Like, how do you hit lefties?
11:49You've got to play.
11:50If I'm a lefty hitter, how do I hit lefties?
11:52I've got to play against them.
11:53You can't just have me come up and say, oh, you're a lefty.
11:57We're going to platoon you against lefties.
11:59No, dude, I have to play.
12:01I have to be able to get out there and do it.
12:03So sometimes I do think we do that lefty-righty matchup too often,
12:08and I really feel like sometimes we're not bringing some of these guys' talent
12:12all the way out because we're just making a judgment on the lefty-righty thing,
12:15and that's how you can justify the analytics.
12:19Have you changed your mind based on anything you've seen so far in the postseason
12:22on what the World Series is going to look like?
12:26Oh, man, I literally have no idea.
12:29Look at all these teams.
12:30These teams are really good.
12:32You know, even the Braves kind of tying that series up against the Dodgers at 1-1
12:36with Sale being able to navigate that to get Sale to go game three.
12:41You know, the Yankees and Rays, you know,
12:44locked up with Schlittler coming in game two with how good Rasmussen was.
12:47I just think there's a lot of good teams in this postseason,
12:50so it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
12:53I don't know if the – I think the Dodgers are more vulnerable than ever
12:57with that bullpen.
12:59So, I really think it's up in the air.
13:02One thing I will say, the Brewers that are up 2-0 against the Padres,
13:07I've loved them all year.
13:08I love the way they play the game.
13:09I love Pat Murphy.
13:10I think he's a true leader of men, and we'll see what happens there.
13:16I think the Brewers are a really good team,
13:18and they're showing it in the postseason.
13:19Sean, thank you very much for the time.
13:21All the best to you and yours.
13:22Hope to talk to you again shortly.
13:24Okay, guys.
13:25Go Guardians.
13:26Thanks.
13:26Thank you, Sean Casey, three-time MLB All-Star, MLB Network analyst.
13:31You can see him on MLB Network's Emmy-winning MLB tonight.
13:34It airs live before and after every postseason game,
13:36including on-site at the World Series.
13:38Plus, check out Sean's The Mayor's Office podcast,
13:42available everywhere.
13:42He's on the Wiseheart Right.
13:44We make it right.
13:44Call Kyle Right Hotline.
13:45Is tonight the season for the Guardians?
13:47Or I should say this afternoon.
13:48The game is at 5.