AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 2, 2026

Jo Adell

Travis Bazzana

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Jo, in the days leading up to this game, what have your emotions been like and what's kind of been your mindset as you kind of prepare yourself?

JO ADELL: Yeah. Obviously with the break, we're excited to kind of get that bye and definitely the anticipation of wanting to get started, and we've been working really hard to simulate just like we would regular game, regular situations and had our inner squads.

So we're feeling ready to go, but I think the big message around the locker room is just keep playing our game and do what we do and good things are going to happen.

Q. Jo, so much has been said about this being your first postseason, your celebration, all that. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

JO ADELL: Yeah. Obviously I haven't had a chance to play in October in meaningful baseball since I debuted. So really just being in this environment, having this opportunity and being with the team that knows what it takes to play at this time of year and to win, it's been awesome.

The coolest part is just being able to come in and be myself and play my game, and that's all they've asked of me. And it's made things easier and transitioned well. So I'm excited to really get started and get the first postseason game.

Q. Jo, what do you think it was for you and the rest of the deadline guys to get as comfortable as you did as quickly as you did and become obviously kind of main contributors to this team?

JO ADELL: Really the first day I showed up, it was just welcome with open arms. Like I alluded to earlier, just being told that I go out and play my game, they're not asking me to do something that I'm not capable of doing. I came in as a middle of the order power bat, and I was told to, hey, get out there and take your swings, you're going to help us win by doing so.

Really just the clear cut message from Vogt of just going out and being you. That's really helped me and Nate and Foster kind of just go do our thing.

Q. Jo, you feel like this has been your best season, because I mean it started with the Angels in April with those two or three amazing outfield catches and kind of been consistent throughout the whole year just not only fielding, but hitting.

JO ADELL: Yeah. I think from the year entirely, I've put together a consistency of who I am. I've been very adamant about every day I coached up to the ballpark. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I am just being who I am and play my game.

Baseball is a game that ebbs and flows, and I feel like I've done a really good job of if things don't go well one day, I've been able to bounce back the next day. And that's how you have to play this game.

Just really trying to find a way to win every day was goal, and I feel like I've done that.

Q. Jo, what would you be doing this week if you weren't in the playoffs?

JO ADELL: Probably watching the playoffs, wishing that I was there. (Laughs).

Q. Jo, what's allowed you to sort of take those at-bats with runners in scoring position since you've come over? Is there an approach? Is there a philosophy that you sort of reset when you're in that spot to be so productive as you have been since you joined the Guardians?

JO ADELL: Yeah. Definitely runners in scoring position, the focus of getting a pitch to do damage with and a pitch to get the job done becomes really crucial. And I think I've just really done a really good job even from the beginning of the year in Anaheim of recognizing what they're trying to do and really just honing in on that zone and picking those pitches out.

A lot of the hits with runners in scoring position for me this year were singles. They weren't swings to try to get the big fly and try to do too much. I just was in there trying to find pitches to get forward to the middle part of the field, which gives us the best chance. That's really just kind of the goal, kind of similar to two-strike approach.

So really have kept that all the way through and being here in Cleveland and hoping that I continue with that process and move forward.

Q. Travis, what's been your biggest takeaways of your first season here in the Big Leagues, just maybe on and off the field?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: Travis, I think the days and even the plays kind of compound really quickly, or can compound really quickly. So I think like one of the most valuable skills throughout a clubhouse or whether it's a team or a player is just being able to have things that anchor you to your success and being able to flip back to them when it's not going so well quickly.

So for me, I'm still working through that and trying to become more consistent. But, yeah, it's like what are the things that you do well and what are the things the team does well. And when it starts to trend downhill, how can you flip back into those things and feel confident and calm when you go out there to then execute what you've worked on your whole life.

Q. Jo, I wondered if you talked to anybody from outside the organization, any mentors or friends about what this is like, going to be like, what the postseason is going to be like?

JO ADELL: Yeah. A guy that would always reach out to me and talk to me about it off to the side about how exciting the playoffs is is Torri Hunter. I came up through the Minor Leagues playing with his son, and he was somebody who was always around.

So he always told me, dude, like I want you to have this experience. Like there's nothing like it. You get a taste of it, you're always going to want to go back and you're always going to play your seasons wanting to get back in that atmosphere.

So I just -- the moment we clinched, that was one of the first guys that I thought about and one of the conversations I remembered most was talking about that and wanting that to be something that I can have that experience and know what that's like and be able to make that push.

Q. Travis, back home when you were growing up, what memories do you have watching MLB postseason? Any players, games, moments stand out to you?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: The first thing that came to my mind of like a postseason moment that I recall as a kid was probably the last time this city was super, super heart broken.

I remember watching that whole World Series in '16 like in class throughout. Yeah. Shouldn't have been probably watching it, but sneaking ways to watch the baseball, and I just remember the last inning, the last out, those things kind of stick in my mind.

But I definitely watched playoff baseball, that's what came to my head was like in school trying to find a way to watch that.

Q. Following up, being here now with this team 10 years later, what does it mean that you have the chance to flip that script versus the last time they were here?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: Yeah. That was an incredible team, and we just gotta take it one day at a time. But we all understand the opportunity we have to bring something to the city of Cleveland that they've waited a long time for. And they're behind us fully, and we're just going to walk in and give it everything we got.

Q. Travis, how much playing in the WBC do you think will help as far as maybe acclimate or resemble a postseason setting, because I mean, you guys playing in Tokyo was pretty wild?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: Yeah. I mean, I would be the first one to say I think it resembles that setting pretty well.

I can't say that yet, but I think it will. Sorry. I mean, between playing in the Taipei dome in a tournament, Tokyo dome, not a seat, not field, every fan off their phone watching, cheering, chanting names, like and then the power of like playing for your country, I think that resembles like the moments we're going to see this postseason for us.

I love that. I love the noise, and I feel like it's good fuel to go out and perform your best.

Q. You got a taste of that last night with the Browns game obviously. What was that experience like for you and how do you think that's going to translate into the crowd tomorrow?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: Yeah. That was my first NFL game. Super exciting, super amazing to see the Browns having a great start to the season.

But, yeah, I think it sounded more like the White Sox clubhouse than Cleveland with all the barking. They love to bark. Yeah, it was kind of a combination. I don't know how much barking we want this series.

Q. Travis, did you get caught watching the series in 2016? Did you get in trouble by any of your teachers?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: I'm not sure. I think there was bigger things to worry about in class, but yeah. I couldn't tell you any funny stories. I just know that I was always finding a way to watch postseason baseball, home run derbies, All-Star games and then the highlights of the regular season kind of daily stuff.