AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 2, 2026

Will Venable

Progressive Field

Chicago White Sox

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Will, just what went into the decision -- I know he pitched great against Houston, but making Hagen the opener, the starter, whatever you want to call him.

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Excited about Hagen for the same reason that we chose him in Houston. I think he gives us a really good shot up front here.

As we're looking at kind of a longer series here, we do have these off days in between, so I do feel like we can lean on some of the bullpen arms to get us through some bulk here and Hagen is as good as any for us.

Considering the lineup that we expect the Guardians to have, obviously the type of team that we know very well, Hagen is our guy.

Q. If I can piggyback on that real quick, just Davis Martin is one of your best starters, you know, overall throughout the year, especially for the first two months and hasn't pitched in the post season yet. What are your plans for him, how you approach him and what he can do in the post season?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. We're taking it game by game. You have to evaluate what these kind of lanes and opportunities look like for each one of your arms. And as we're looking at Cleveland, obviously there's a lot of left-handed spots. We got switch hitters. They do such a good job of matching up.

I'm sure there will be an opportunity -- as we looked to Houston, in that series, the opportunity just never really came up for Davis, but he's certainly somebody we're very confident in. Like you mentioned, he's someone that has been in the middle of everything and a stable part of our rotation the entire year.

Q. Expanding on having the longer series here, it kind of sounds like you're open for more longer outings from bullpen guys because of the days off, then, or like that is a possibility of how you guys go ahead and attack some of these pockets in the lineup?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. I would say maybe not longer outings. I think that we can use guys more, just with the built-in off days. You'll have certainly the first three games here, we have an off day in between each one of them. Obviously we'll be mindful of usage, if we use Hagen for three innings let's say tomorrow and he needs an extra day, maybe he's not in the mix in game two, but we'll take it game by game.

But, yeah, I think that we can use our guys frequently up front here just knowing we have the off days.

Q. There's obviously (indiscernible) -- the Guardians. What can you take away from those regular season matchups that can be helpful in the ALDS?

WILL VENABLE: Really everything. I think we know each other very well. We understand the challenges that we each present. In the case of the Guardians, they're a team that they're going to take advantage of every mistake that we make, whether that's walks, giving them extra bases. Obviously their pitching is elite. We know very well exactly who you they are and the challenges we have to beat. We also know what we have to do to beat them. It's just really hard to do.

When I think about the back and forth with them, I think we won one more game than them this year. Obviously they took the division. I think we scored maybe like one more run. I mean, it really has been crazy kind of the back and forth that we've had all year. So we're excited about the opportunity to play these guys, but we know full well how challenging it is to beat them.

Q. Is there anything that you can do differently against a team you've played 13 times. Like in football, you throw a trick play at them. But here, is it just a matter of being better executing game plans or is there anything you can do differently?

WILL VENABLE: I think it is about executing game plans. I think at this point there's not some big adjustment in game plan or attack plan or some trick play that we have up our sleeve that we can throw at them or a different way we want to attack their lineup with different guys, whatever it might be.

I think it is about the guys going out and executing and playing, probably as much as any matchup that we've had where, as far as strategically, we know what we want to do on our side. They know what they want to do on their side. It's really going to come down to the players going out and executing.

Q. Do you see this more as a bullpen game and with the longer series, do you feel more -- or anticipate more need of a traditional start at any point or can you kind of play the matchup with what you have available as much as possible?

WILL VENABLE: I think that's what it's going to be like these first couple, just with the off days, I think potentially that changes game two with Sean Barksdale availability. But I think the way it's set up with these off days, we're going to leverage the arms that we want to leverage when we want to use them throughout these first couple.

And if that means that one of the guys who we've been giving starts to throughout the season takes a bulk role in that, there's certainly potential for that. But I think you can expect us to mix and match and use our best arms in the most optimal way.

Q. You got to see these guys six games in September. How much of a different lineup is it with Lowe and Adell in there and also with Griffin pitching?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Those guys, you're adding some really good pieces to an already really good club that is very challenging to beat, certainly in the case of Adell and Lowe, you add some power to a lineup that can do a lot of different things.

We saw Griffin when he was in the Nationals and know how good he is. And obviously we saw him again more recently with the Guardians. But yeah, they added some really good pieces to a really good club.

We know that Stephen Vogt does a good job of utilizing those pieces and putting them in the right spots, and we'll have additional challenges with those guys, but that's what you expect with the Guardians, just really good players that continue to add pieces and really use them really well.

Q. Nothing against any of the other catchers that you guys have used. They've all had good moments. But you guys have waited for Kyle Teel because of injuries throughout the whole season. He was five for five in challenges against the Astros. Had a big hit in the first.

For you and the coaches, what does this roster feel like now that you've got what looks to be a fully operational Kyle Teel and how much does he affect what you guys were able to do from an offensive and defensive standpoint?

WILL VENABLE: Kyle is in the middle of everything. And obviously going through this season and not having him for most of it, and you get him for a week or two and then he gets hurt again, and you never really got in the mix fully until down the stretch.

But I think we're seeing now here in the playoffs and really down the stretch of the regular season where the player that we all expect him to be is showing up, showing up in a big way offensively, defensively. And his growth with these challenges, this is the first year with the challenges.

And I'm not sure what his experience was in Triple A. I'm sure -- actually, yeah, he was in the big leagues with us a lot. So yeah, there wasn't a lot of experience with the challenges with Kyle. So he's kind of growing in that department, and we've seen him being really effective with that, blocking the ball well, throwing the ball well.

So we're getting the full Kyle Teel experience and he's been in the middle of everything. He's one of our best players and he's getting locked in at the right time.

Q. Sam was in here about a half hour ago. What does he bring to this team as a rookie this year?

WILL VENABLE: Sam has been amazing. He's been in the middle of everything. He's a guy when you think about the identity of our club and the characteristics of our club and being tough and having the competitive spirit and just the energy and not backing down from anything, it all starts with Sam.

I mean, he really is the guy that embodies all those things and goes out there on a daily basis and sets the tone for us. He's been awesome.

And in the clubhouse, too. I mean, he's a great, great piece of that clubhouse. He's got a great personality and kind of different from a lot of the other guys, but adds his own character to the mix.

Q. How long did it take you this year to start to see Murakami's personality emerge?

WILL VENABLE: Like two days. Honestly, it was really early in spring training where we knew that there was a language barrier. To be honest, he knew more English and spoke more English than I had anticipated, but obviously still very limited.

But you saw like really early on, day two, him having a conversation with Chase Meidroth out on the field and then you start having these meetings, and he's got little one-liners that he's throwing out there to the group and kind of bringing some humor to the group.

So it's been very early that he really -- I started noticing him engage with his teammates, engage with the staff, coaches very well and, yeah, really just engage with the group.

Q. What have you made of Hagen's mentality and maturity obviously throughout the season being able to switch from starter to reliever now again in the post season, getting that starter role? What does that say about him not only as a pitcher and his readiness, but as a person as well?

WILL VENABLE: He's a big dog, man. He's a guy that wants the ball. He's got really good stuff. He wants to be on the mound in the moment. He does it very quietly. He's not a guy that is very vocal, at least as far as I've seen.

He's got a great personality, but he's not a vocal guy that is talking about how he wants the big moment and talking about how good he is. He just goes out there and he does it. So when we're evaluating kind of these guys and how we want to put them in spots to succeed, as far as these big moments, as far as matchups, whatever it might be, Hagen is a guy that has very much earned to be in the spot, to be the guy. And we have a few of those guys, but Hagen is definitely one of them.

Q. Obviously you want to get out of Houston any way possible to advance to the DS. And now you've won that series in two and given how you're looking at pitching assignments here, how big is getting out of there given what you guys are looking to do with your pitching staff here in this series?

WILL VENABLE: It's really huge. I have a day that we didn't have to use any arms and then a day off to come into this with fresh arms is huge, especially as Cleveland has been sitting and resting and gearing up to come at us.

I mean, it's huge to have that extra day. These guys will be refreshed and ready to go, and we're going to need it because we know it's going to be a battle.

Q. The last series against the Guardians we saw a lot of Doyle, some Grichuk, obviously (indiscernible) as well. Are you anticipating getting those right-hand at bats in this series as well?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Same with Messick tomorrow. You're going to see all those guys in there. We're going to talk about the lineup a little bit more here. But as we've done the whole year, we have guys that we throw in there in the starting lineup. And we have a bunch of guys that were ready to kind of capture some matchups and get in the game mid game.

So it will be the same thing with Messick tomorrow. We'll have guys that a lot of right-handed guys in there and have some lefties waiting in the wings to pop whenever the time comes?

Q. Over this last week, Steve Vogt has talked a little bit about his relationship with you and how you guys have gotten to know each other over the years as managers.

How does that kind of play into this matchup and maybe the strategy and also knowing the person along with what they might do stylistically on the ball field?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, I'm not sure how it plays into the strategy. But I will say I have as much respect for Stephen as any other manager here, and I have very good personal relationships with Dave Roberts, Mark Kotsay, some guys that I really look up to that have had a huge impact on my career and my life. But I put Stephen Vogt up there as arguably the best manager in this league. The way that you see his guys want to play for him, the way he strategizes and always seems to have a move ready for my move. He's tough.

Not only that, we've had a number of times in which there's been weather things, weather delays, things we've had to work through, things that have happened on their field here, things that have happened on our field, and you have to talk about those things.

And he's just a dude that we're able to work through problems with easily. He is, yeah, a very personable guy. So, yeah, I don't want to say too many good things about the opposing manager, but I have a ton of respect for him. He is as good as they get, but also, because of that and because of how good he is, you want to beat him, too.

And I think that's what special about this rivalry that we have is that there's a lot of respect on both sides. We're also both extremely competitive, and obviously our players are too.

Q. Just going back to talking about Mune in spring. Obviously that showed you things about Mune, but what are the kind of things that hinted to you early on about the group or the collective in the clubhouse atmosphere you have that how accepting and how welcoming they were?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. I think it's a really good example of really everyone that comes into our environment, that they're brought in and that those relationships are nurtured by everyone in the clubhouse and that our group is very welcoming to everyone that comes in. And I think that shows up in a big way as you continue to add pieces throughout the year, you're trying to maintain your culture, your environment and the vibe in the clubhouse.

It's very important that people come in and feel like they can be themselves, that they are themselves and can play at their best. I think that that's a huge thing, too. So that's a really special thing. I think that's one of the reasons that our group is successful is that they're very welcoming. They're very open. They communicate well and they're just good guys and they like to be around each other.